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L'Autre Monde 4 avril 2011: Partie 2 - Japon radioactif
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L'Autre Monde 4 avril 2011: Partie 2 - Japon radioactif
Pour écouter, ou pour télécharger, simplement cliquer sur le lien ici:
L'Autre Monde 4 avril 2011
120 min / Radio de l'UQAM, CHOQ FM
 | Diffusion en direct : Lundi à 15:00h
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Au programme cette semaine, 4 avril 2011:
Japon et la situation des centrales nucléaires hors de contrôle, actualité mondiale, économie et Moyen-Orient.
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:
Radiation Update 31 March 2011
And here we thought the reactors might be in bad shape.
Latest Satellite Imagery From Fukushima Tells Sobering Tale
Noting that the press has largely turned its resources off of the Fukushima complex, and needing up-to-date information on the status of the damage control efforts there, we secured the most up-to-date satellite photo from DigitalGlobe (dated March 31st), which we analyze below. This is the first photo of the damaged reactor site at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear facility made available to the public in over a week. That means you, our readers, are the first public eyes anywhere to see this photo.
Drawing upon the expertise of our resident nuclear engineer and Ann Stringer, imaging expert, we conclude that the situation at Fukushima is not stabilized: things are not yet at a place of steady progress in the containment and clean-up efforts. It's still a dance, forwards and backwards, with the workers making gains here and there but the situation forcing them to react defensively all too often.
In this report, we will tell you what we know for sure, what we are nearly certain of, and what we remain forced to speculate about.
Here is a portion of a much larger image (covering 25 square kilometers in total) showing the reactor complex as of March 31, at roughly mid-day:
TEPCO ordered to stop issuing "too high" radiation numbers.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's nuclear safety agency ordered a review Friday of the latest radiation measurements taken in air, seawater and groundwater samples around a leaking, tsunami-disabled nuclear plant, saying they seemed suspiciously high.
The utility that runs the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant has repeatedly been forced to retract such figures, fueling fears over health risks and a lack of confidence in the company's ability to respond effectively to the crisis. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. has not been able stabilize the plant's dangerously overheating reactors since cooling systems were knocked out in the March 11 tsunami.
Among the measurements called into question was one from Thursday that TEPCO said showed groundwater under one of the reactors contained iodine concentrations that were 10,000 times the government's standard for the plant, the safety agency's spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama said. Seawater and air concentrations from Wednesday also are under review.
"We have suspected their isotope analysis, and we will wait for the new results," Nishiyama said, adding that the agency thinks the numbers may be too high.
TEPCO has conceded that there appears to be an error in the computer program used to analyze the data and that recent figures may be inaccurate. They have indicated they are probably too high but have also said that the figures may be correct, despite the glitch.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has held out the possibility that a complete review of all radiation data collected since the tsunami might eventually be ordered.
Though the size of more recent leaks is now unclear, it appears radiation is still streaming out of the plant, underscoring TEPCO's inability to get it under control. The company has increasingly asked for international help in its uphill battle, most recently ordering giant pumps from the U.S. that were to arrive later this month to spray water on the reactors.
"We must ensure safety and health of the workers, but we also face a pressing need to get the work done as quickly as possible," said nuclear safety agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama. Until now, sharing meters "has been an unavoidable choice."
TEPCO has repeatedly relaxed safety standards during the crisis in order to prevent frequent violations. That is not uncommon during emergencies.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Here starts the cover-up.
Mainstream media journalists flunk high school physics when reporting on radiation
Nuclear safety spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama says the air above the leak contains 1,000 millisiverts of radioactivity.
Source: http://www.boston.com/news/world/as...
For starters, even the unit is spelled incorrectly. It's not "millisiverts" but rather "millisieverts." But that's a small issue compared to the bigger one.
Millisieverts describe a measured dose of received radiation. Exposure to millisieverts only makes sense in the context of this nuclear catastrophe when it is measured over time. In other words, it makes no sense to say "the air has 500 millisieverts of radiation." That's a complete nonsense sentence. The correct statement is that a person standing in that area would be exposed to "500 millisieverts of radiation PER HOUR."
Without the unit of time, the sentence makes no sense. This writer of this article, it seems, must have flunked high school physics. Do they also describe the speed of their car as "55 miles?"
Millisieverts are emitted over time
Furthermore, the air does not "contain" a fixed quantity of millisieverts. The radioactive particles in the air are EMITTING radiation at a certain rate (millisieverts per unit of time). If the air only "contained" 1000 millisieverts, as explained by the Boston Globe, then once it emitted those 1000 millisieverts, there would be no more radiation, right?
But in reality, the radiation being emitted by the particles in the air can continue to emit that radiation for weeks, months, years or even millennia, depending on the half life of the radioactive isotopes contained in the air.
The half-life of iodine-131, for example, is much shorter than the half-life of cesium-137. The half life of cesium-137 is roughly thirty years, meaning that air contaminated with cesium-137 that's releasing 1000 millisieverts of radiation per hour right now would still be emitting 500 millisieverts of radiation per hour 30 years from now. And then 250 millisieverts of radiation per hour 60 years from now.
The story was actually written by the Associated Press
Now, here's something else may truly shock you: This story published by the Boston Globe wasn't even written by the Boston Globe. It was written by the Associated Press (AP).
Aikichi Kuboyama, the boat’s chief radioman, died less than seven months later, on September 23, 1954, suffering from acute radiation syndrome.
Même une bombe à hydrogène peut prendre des mois pour tuer ses victimes, et dans ce cas, le Daigo Fukuryu Maru était à 112 km de la source de rayonnement et a quitté la zone le plus rapidement possible. Un mois plus tard, l’opérateur radio meurt. Parce que les États-Unis ont refusé de discuter la nature de l’arme testé, les poissons à bord de Daigo Fukuryū Maru et des autres bateaux de pêche ont été vendus sur les marchés japonais, déclenchant une épidémie de maladies reliées au rayonnement radioactif et de malformations congénitales.
Alors les affirmations des médias selon lesquelles les fuites de Fukushima seraient inoffensives sont sans fondement.
La quantité de matière fissile utilisée dans l’essai Castle Bravo a été de moins de 500 kg. (La bombe « Little Boy » utilisée sur Nagasaki en contenait 64 kg, mais en raison de la conception initiale inefficace, moins de 1 kg faisait fission.)
Tchernobyl contenait seulement 180 tonnes de matériel nucléaire.
Le complexe Daiichi à Fukushima au Japon avait un total de 1760 tonnes de combustible nucléaire neuf et utilisé sur le site selon le dernier rapport de TEPCO.
1760 tonnes.
L’explosion de la bombe était terminée en un instant. Fukushima va continuer de déverser des radiations pendant des décennies, tout comme Tchernobyl l’a fait.
Vous voulez continuer à comparer des patates avec des melons?
Personne ne sait vraiment, mais Keith Harmon Snow estime que chaque piscine de combustible usé au complexe nucléaire de Fukushima pourrait avoir 24 000 fois la quantité de césium qui a été produite par la bombe nucléaire que les États-Unis ont largué sur Hiroshima à la fin de la Deuxième guerre mondiale.
More absurd pro-nuclear spin at Fukushima.
As the situation at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powerplant slowly winds down, the salient facts remain the same as they have been throughout: nobody has suffered or will suffer any radiological health consequences.
Webmaster's Commentary:
"Repeat after me: Radiation is my friend! Radiation is my friend! Radiation is my friend! Radiation is my friend!"
UPDATE - Radiation surging in Ibaraki, Japan. IS A SECOND REACTOR COMPLEX IN TROUBLE?
Webmaster's Commentary:
The real time radiation monitoring by prefecture showed radiation levels in the city of Ibaraki going from 639 to 2040 over a period of 12 hours March 20th!
Click for larger image
However, Ibaraki is 83 miles from the Fukushima power station!
Click for larger image
But there is another nuclear power station right next to Ibaraki, the Tōkai Nuclear Power Plant, which has one operational reactor and one decommissioned reactor, with an undetermined status of the spent fuel rods.
It seems unlikely that radiation from Fukushima is the reason for the radiation surge at Ibaraki in the last 12 hours, without corresponding increases in other cities within 80 miles of the Fukushima reactors. Of course, there are no readings from Fukushimna or Miyagi prefectures at all and maybe the entire coastline for 100 miles is rapidly becoming hotter. But given the nearly identical circumstances of nuclear power stations on the shoreline added to massive quake and tsunami, one must wonder if there is more damage to the other coastal nuclear power stations than is being admitted to.
One thing is obvious from the radiation surge; something bad just happened somewhere!
UPDATE: Confirmation of problems at Tokai-2 reactor, March 13, 2011.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said a cooling system pump stopped operating at Tokai No. 2 Power Station, a nuclear power plant, in the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture.
UPDATE 2: Tokai Reactor has had prior criticality accident.
Update 3: April 2, 2011. I find and load a free app for my iPhone that shows real time radiation levels collected by an ad hoc network of science enthusiasts with radiation meters. This is what the screen shows.
The tiny radiation symbol towards the top of the display is the location of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power station. Since the area surrounding the Fukushima plant has been evacuated, it makes sense there will be no radiation readings in that area. Yet to the south we see an obvious hot spot where radiation readings are much higher. It turns out those higher radiation readings cluster around Ibaraki and in particular the nuclear power station located at Tokai!
Taking a look at the same data through a Google Earth View, we again see a high radiation spike.
In the following framecap, the location of Fukushima relative to the radiation hit spot is indicated with the green arrow.
It should be obvious from this data that something bad happened or is happening at Tokai, which is much closer to Tokyo. Aside from the initial report of cooling failure on the 13th, there has been no reports at all of conditions at Tokai. Yet the raw data suggests all may not be well at that facility.
Canadian Govt Refuses To Test For Radiation In Milk Claiming It's Not Necessary
Turmel: Big Lie of low-level radiation being harmless
Japan nuclear crisis: Fukushima 50 'expect to die'
Mr Sarkozy, on the first trip by a foreign leader to Japan since the devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11, said he would call a meeting of the G20's nuclear power watchdogs to discuss safety regulations. "We must address this anomaly that there are no international safety norms for nuclear matters ... We need international safety standards before the end of the year."
The French president's proposal comes only days after Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, cast doubt over the future of nuclear energy due to the potentially high costs required to standardise safety.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Sarkozy is grandstanding. There are standards; they are just not being followed. We know that three GE scientists quit over their concerns for the design and one Japanese engineer has come forward revealing that at least one of the reactors was known to be substandard in its construction. The problem is not the standards but letting the money junkies make the final choices; as demonstrated by Nick Clegg's comment.
Flashing Blue Light Seen Above Exploded Nuclear Reactor
Localized criticality happening now: Blue flashing light over Fukushima — “Not good news” says Fox (VIDEO)
Mike Rivero
The blue glow is Cherenkov Radiation, a sure sign fission is taking place in the ruined reactor.
Nuclear Fuel Pool Has NO WATER, RODS EXPOSED - Plutonium Could Become Volatile
Newly released TEPCO data provides evidence of periodic chain reaction at Fukushima Unit
Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associate
Newly released TEPCO data provides evidence of periodic chain reaction at Fukushima Unit 1 from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.
Fukushima au point de non-retour, car le coeur radioactif fond à travers le bassin de confinement
(NaturalNews) La bataille pour sauver la centrale de Fukushima semble aujourd’hui perdue car le coeur radioactif provenant du réacteur n ° 2 a fondu à travers l’enceinte et est tombé dans le sous-sol en béton de la structure du réacteur. C’est « la crainte majeur d’une fuite importante de radiations sur le site », rapporte The Guardian, qui a révélé l’affaire. Un ancien expert en nucléaire de General Electric a déclaré au Guardian que le Japon semble avoir « perdu la course » pour sauver le réacteur.
La seule interprétation possible de cette analyse est que les radiations émises par Fukushima pourraient augmenter soudainement. Il est également devenu évident que les retombées radioactives de Fukushima vont durer des décennies, sinon des siècles.
Le Premier ministre japonais Naoto Kan a admis la nuit dernière que la situation à Fukushima reste «imprévisible». Pendant ce temps, la présence de plutonium dans des échantillons de sol est la preuve que les barres de combustible ont été compromises et sont en train de libérer des matériaux dans l’atmosphère.
Mais ne vous inquiétez pas (et ne vous préparez pas)
Combien de fois nous a-t-on dit au cours des deux dernières semaines que la situation à Fukushima a été résolue? Combien de fois avons-nous été assurés qu’il n’y avait « aucun danger » pour le monde? Le Président Obama est même jusqu’à dire aux Américains qu’ils ne devraient pas se préparer à quelque chose, car il n’y avait rien à craindre.
N’achetez pas d’iodure de potassium, a-t-on dit aux gens. La situation est totalement sous contrôle et l‘énergie nucléaire est sûre, propre et verte!
C’est la machine de propagande qui parle, bien sûr, et je ne parle pas du cycle d’essorage de votre vieille machine à laver rouillée. C’est un réseau de mensonges des corporations qui a caractérisé l’industrie de l’énergie nucléaire depuis au moins les trois dernières décennies. Et maintenant, ces mensonges vont venir tous nous hanter.
Que se passe-t-il ensuite : du gaz radioactif
Donc quese passe-t-il maintenant que le coeur du réacteur n ° 2 a brûlé en faisant son chemin à travers la cuve de confinement et qu’il retombe sur le sol en béton? Il suit les lois de la physique, bien sûr: le super combustible nucléaire réagit avec les composants du béton du sol, produisant du gazradioactif qui maintenant risque de s’échapper dans l’atmosphère s’il passe à travers la paroi de confinement extérieure.
Mais c’est précisément le problème, voyez-vous. Le mur de confinement extérieure a été partiellement détruit par l’explosion d’hydrogène de départ qui a secoué les réacteurs 2 et 3. On peut donc se pencher sur une situation à l’heure actuelle où il n’y a rien qui empêche un dégagement massif de gaz radioactif. On a tous les ingrédients d’une (sale) bombe à retardement. très
Quand les Américains devraient-ils effectivement commencer à se préparer? Jamais!
C’est à se demanderà quel moment la situation s’aggravera suffisamment à Fukushima pour faire franchir le seuil de résistance du président Obama afin d’exhorter les Américains à prendre de prudentes précautions contre la possibilité de retombées radioactives graves? La politique à Washington aujourd’hui semble être qu’aucun événement n’est suffisamment grave pour justifier une préparation du peuple américain.
Notre lauréat du prix Nobel de la paix, semble être trop occupé à déclarer une guerre illégale en Libye pour dépenser encore cinq minutes à inciter les gens sur la côte Ouest à prendre des précautions raisonnables contre la possibilité croissante d’une l’augmentation des radiations.
C’est ce qu’est la presse alternative, bien sûr: apporter aux gens les nouvelles et l’information qu’ils n’obtiendront pas de sources «officielles» ayant de forts liens financiers avec l’industrie nucléaire. Pendant qu’Obama dit aux Américains de ne rien faire, NaturalNews exhorte les Américains à préparer des précautions de base pour être prêt pour n’importe quel événement que le monde peut traverser.
La préparation est une rareté dans les cités modernes
Comme les citoyens du Japon l’ont récemment appris à la dure, presque personne n’a aucun supplément d’eau, de nourriture ou de médicaments en stock dans les villes ces jours-ci. Très peu de gens sont préparés, même pour des petites perturbations dans les infrastructures de base et les lignes d’alimentation. L’Américain moyen vivant dans une ville aujourd’hui mourrait en moins de 7 jours si on lui coupait la nourriture et l’eau. Leur plan de préparation d’ensemble est de «faire confiance au gouvernement. »
Et maintenant ils paient pour cette confiance mal placée dans ce qui pourrait bientôt devenir le désastre nucléaire le plus catastrophique dans l’histoire de la civilisation humaine.
Bien que Fukushima ne semble pas susceptible de subir une grosse explosion de radiation comme à Tchernobyl, il est maintenant clair que le complexe nucléaire de Fukushima va émettre des radiations pendant un temps très, très long. Il semble maintenant presque certain que le Japon doive enterrer l’installation sous des millions de tonnes de béton et de sable.
Comment enterrez-vous Fukushima pour de bon?
Le problème est qu’il n’y a même pas assez de béton au Japon pour faire le travail. Pour accomplir une telle tâche, le Japon devra importer non seulement des milliers de camions mais il aura également à importer du béton par navire. Nous parlons de millions de tonnes de béton, livrés par mer, de partout dans le monde.
Quelqu’un a-t-il fait le calcul pour savoir combien de temps cela prendra pour être coordonné ? Le simple fait d’une expédition de matériaux vers le Japon en trente 30 jours serait un miracle. Et vous ne pouvez pas juste jeter le béton et espérer qu’il tiendra: vous devez construire un béton assez fort pour pouvoir résister à de futurs tsunamis et tremblements de terre. Normalement, ce serait un projet d’une durée d’au moins cinq ans .
Essentiellement, vous avez à construire une toute nouvelle structure de confinement en béton massif au-dessus du complexe nucléaire existant. Et n’oubliez pas: ça a été la corruption et le camouflage du premier de ces projets d’ingénierie qui ont contribué à provoquer cette situation en premier lieu!
====================
Radioactive water continues to leak
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says there has been no change in the amount of radioactive water seeping from the Fukushima nuclear plant after a polymer absorbent was injected into a cracked pit.
Japan says it may take months to end radiation leaks
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's government warned on Sunday it may take months to stop radiation leaking from a nuclear plant crippled by a huge earthquake and tsunami three weeks ago, as more bodies were recovered in devastated areas of northeast Japan.
An aide to embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the government's priority was to stop radiation leaks which were scaring the public and hindering work on cooling overheated nuclear fuel rods.
"We have not escaped from a crisis situation, but it is somewhat stabilized," said Goshi Hosono, a ruling party lawmaker and aide to Kan.
"How long will it take to achieve (the goal of stopping the radiation leakage)? I think several months would be one target," Hosono said on a nationwide Fuji TV programme on Sunday.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) found a crack in a concrete pit at its No.2 reactor in the Fukushima Daiichi complex at the weekend, generating readings of 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour in the air inside.
The leaks did not stop after concrete was poured into the pit, and TEPCO turned to water-absorbent polymers to prevent any more contaminated water from going out.
The latest effort to staunch the flow of radioactive water into the Pacific started on Sunday afternoon. Workers then topped the polymers with more concrete.
"We were hoping the polymers would function like diapers but are yet to see a visible effect," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a deputy director general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
Officials believe the crack could be one source of the radiation leaks that have hobbled efforts to control the six-reactor complex and sent radiation levels in the sea soaring to 4,000 times the legal limit.
The battle to cool overheated reactors and avoid dangerous meltdowns of the highly radioactive fuel rods has seen workers hose saltwater into reactors, but this has left the facility awash with contaminated saltwater, preventing workers getting closer to the reactors.
Nishiyama said fresh water was now being pumped into No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors using external power, which was more stable than the emergency diesel generators previously being used.
He said the three reactors were now generally stable. TEPCO has said it will scrap at least four reactors once they are under control, but this could take years or even decades.
The 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami on March 11 has left nearly 28,000 people dead or missing and Japan's northeast coast a splintered wreck. The disaster has hit economic production and left a damages bill which may top $300 billion.
More than 163,710 people are living in shelters, with more than 70,000 people evacuated from a 20 km (12 mile) no-go zone area the nuclear plant, and another 136,000 people living a further 10 km out have been told to leave or stay indoors.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Okay, so let us recap. We have four wrecked reactors. According to Greenpeace, each one of reactors 1, 2, and 3 are already a Chernobyl all by themselves. Stopping the radiation leaks is still months away. Cleanup will take decades. The people evacuated from the 20km evacuation zone may never be allowed to return home. Even if they do they face an old age of increased cancers and leukemia and the next generation faces an increased chance of birth defects. Japan has lost 21% of their electrical generation capacity and the entire nation is under rolling blackouts. Japanese manufacturing has had to slow down and a Toyoto plant here in Texas has had to slow production because they cannot get parts. All around the North Pacific, sales of seafood is slowing due to fears of radioactive contamination. Despite heavy lobbying by Japanese trade officials, sales of Japanese seafood and produce has plummeted. There may be a global food shortage in the coming months.
Japan's efforts to soak up contaminated water still unsuccessful
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Sunday that efforts to stem the flow of radioactive water leaking from the troubled No. 2 reactor building of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean have as yet been unsuccessful.
Earlier Sunday engineers injected 80 kilograms of a polymer- based powder into pipes leading to a pit connected to the plant's No. 2 reactor's building, where a 20-centimeter crack has been found to be leaking radioactive water.
« S’éloigner le plus possible de Tokyo »
image : « S’éloigner le plus possible de Tokyo »
L’annonce par le Premier ministre japonais de rejets radioactifs dans l’atmosphère pousse les habitants de Tokyo à partir. Témoignage de notre correspondant
Ce n’est pas encore l’exode. Mais le mouvement semble bien entamé. Tokyo, ville de 15 millions d’habitants, agglomération de 35 millions d’habitants ne peut certes pas se vider en un jour. Certains Mais ils sont de plus en plus nombreux à se presser aux guichets des shinkansen, ces TGV japonais, pour s’éloigner de la zone à risque. Le témoignage de notre correspondant sur place, Miguel Quintana.
« Je rentrais chez moi ce matin vers 11h et j’ai entendu un responsable du gouvernement dire ’fuite radioactive’ et ’possibilité de dommages au caisson du réacteur’, je n’ai pas hésité une seconde, j’ai attrapé mon sac, qui était prêt depuis 24 heures et j’ai pris la direction de la gare de Tokyo. »
Miguel n’est évidemment pas le seul à chercher à quitter la capitale, située à seulement 250 km de la centrale nucléaire de Fukushima 1, en perdition. Quatre de ses six réacteurs ont connu des explosions, dont l’une, ce mardi, a provoqué des rejets radioactifs dans l’atmosphère. « Le niveau de radioactivité a considérablement augmenté », a reconnu le Premier ministre japonais ce matin, avant d’affirmer que le niveau avait baissé.
Le calme des Japonais dans ces circonstances inspire le respect. « J’ai eu la chance de trouver un billet rapidement. Ce n’était pas la panique. Il y avait beaucoup de monde. Les gens avec qui j’ai parlé cherchaient tous la même chose : s’éloigner le plus possible de Tokyo. »
Miguel est Suisse. Quitter le Japon ? « J’aimerais pouvoir continuer à travailler le plus longtemps possible. Je continue à évaluer la situation. Mon plan de repli serait de partir plus à l’ouest, soit dans la préfecture de Yamaguchi, tout à l’ouest du Honshu, voire carrément rejoindre le Kyushu », la plus au sud des îles de l’archipel japonais, « la plupart des passagers avec qui j’ai parlé allaient jusque là. »
D’autres préfèrent rester. Et faire des réserves de vivres en vue d’une éventuelle aggravation de la crise.
Propos recueillis par Corentin Di Prima
http://iphone.lesoir.be/actualite/Monde/article_828336.shtml
===================================
''Au départ, les autorités japonaises avaient minimisé l'accident en le classant au niveau 4 sur une échelle internationale qui comprend 7 degrés de gravité. L'Autorité de sûreté nucléaire française a très rapidement considéré que c'était en réalité un accident de niveau au moins 5, c'est-à-dire l'accident de Three Mile Island en 1979 aux Etats-Unis, et plus probablement de niveau 6, c'est-à-dire juste en dessous de l'accident de Tchernobyl en 1986, qui a été classé au niveau 7.
Depuis, il n'y a pas eu de reclassement, mais on peut très certainement considérer que l'accident de Fukushima est de même ampleur que celui de Tchernobyl.''
Time – distance – shielding those are the three things that matter for those who work at Fukushima
Some Fukushima Workers May Die In A Matter Of Days
Tepco Workers Threatened by Heat Bursts; Sea Radiation Rises
Japan’s damaged nuclear plant may be in danger of emitting sudden bursts of heat and radiation, undermining efforts to cool the reactors and contain fallout.
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s damaged nuclear plant may be in danger of emitting sudden bursts of heat and radiation, undermining efforts to cool the reactors and contain fallout.
The potential for limited, uncontrolled chain reactions, voiced yesterday by the International Atomic Energy Agency, is among the phenomena that might occur, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters in Tokyo today. The IAEA “emphasized that the nuclear reactors won’t explode,” he said.
Three workers at a separate Japanese plant received high doses of radiation in 1999 from a similar nuclear reaction, known as ‘criticality.’ Two of them died within seven months.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant’s operator, and Japan’s nuclear watchdog, dismissed the threat of renewed nuclear reactions, three weeks after an earthquake and tsunami triggered an automatic shutdown. Tokyo Electric has been spraying water on the reactors since the March 11 disaster in an effort to cool nuclear fuel rods.
‘Ethereal Blue Flash’
Nuclear experts call such reactions “localized criticality.” They consist of a burst of heat, radiation and sometimes an “ethereal blue flash,” according to the U.S. Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory website. Twenty-one workers worldwide have been killed by criticality accidents since 1945, the site said.
The IAEA acknowledged “they don’t have clear signs that show such a phenomenon is happening,” Edano said.
Radioactive chlorine found March 25 in the No. 1 turbine building suggests chain reactions continued after the reactor shut down, physicist Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, wrote in a March 28 paper. Radioactive chlorine has a half-life of 37 minutes, according to the report.
Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said there’s no possibility of uncontrolled chain reactions. Boron, an element that absorbs neutrons and hinders nuclear fission, has been mixed with cooling water to prevent this, Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the agency, told reporters today.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Yep, it's melting down.
Radioactive water removal hits snag, high iodine detected in sea
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/82090.html
Efforts to remove radiation-contaminated water filling up at a troubled reactor building and an underground trench connected to it at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have hit a snag, casting a shadow on restoration of the vital cooling functions at the site, the government's nuclear safety agency said Wednesday.
The evolving nuclear crisis also showed no signs of abating, as the agency said the same day the highest concentration of radioactive iodine-131 was detected Tuesday in a seawater sample taken near the plant's drainage outlets in the Pacific Ocean. The density was 3,355 times the maximum level permitted under law.
Radioactive water escaping from No. 2
Nevertheless, Nishiyama said the radioactive material has dispersed and gave more assurances that it did not present an "immediate" danger to the public.
Webmaster's Commentary:
"Immediate" isn't the problem. It's the cancers and birth defects that show up in the months to come that has everyone worried.
Smoke Rises from DIFFERENT Nuclear Complex ... 7 Miles from the Leaking Reactors
The 6 problem reactors which have gotten all of the press are located within the Fukushima Daiichi complex.
However, the same nuclear power plant operator that runs the Daiichi complex - Tepco - runs a separate nuclear complex 7 miles away, called Fukushima Daini. There are 4 reactors located at the Daini complex.
On March 12th, Tepco reported:
Unit 1
- At 8:19am, there was an alarm indicating that one of the control rods
was not properly inserted, however, at 10:43am the alarm was automatically
called off. Other control rods has been confirmed that they are fully
inserted (reactor is in subcritical status)
***
- At 6:08PM, we announced the increase in reactor containment vessel
pressure, assumed to be due to leakage of reactor coolant. However, we
do not believe there is leakage of reactor coolant in the containment
vessel at this moment.
- At 5:22AM, the temperature of the suppression chamber exceeded 100
degrees. As the reactor pressure suppression function was lost, at 5:22AM,
it was determined that a specific incident stipulated in article 15,
clause 1 has occurred.
(Article 15, Clause 1 of Japan's Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency Preparedness simply provides that there are elevated radiation levels or that "an event specified by a Cabinet Order as an event that indicates the occurrence of a nuclear emergency situation has occurred.")
On March 14th, Reuters reported:
Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc said on Monday it had detected a rise in radiation levels at its Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant.
A company spokesman said that the cooling process at the plant has been working properly and that the rise was probably due to radiation leak at the nearby Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, where cooling functions were damaged by Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami.
Today, Tepco announced that smoke was seen rising from Daini reactor number 1:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/30/japan.daini/?hpt=T2
Smoke was spotted at another nuclear plant in northeastern Japan on Wednesday, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.
The company said smoke was detected in the turbine building of reactor No. 1 at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant around 6 p.m. (5 a.m. ET).
Smoke could no longer be seen by around 7 p.m. (6 a.m. ET), a company spokesman told reporters.
Dangerous Levels of Radioactive Isotope Found 25 Miles From Nuclear Plant
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/world/asia/31japan.html?_r=3
A long-lasting radioactive element has been measured at levels that pose a long-term danger at one spot 25 miles from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, raising questions about whether Japan’s evacuation zone should be expanded and whether the land might need to be abandoned.
The isotope, cesium 137, was measured in one village by the International Atomic Energy Agency at a level exceeding the standard that the Soviet Union used as a gauge to recommend abandoning land surrounding the Chernobyl reactor, and at another location not precisely identified by the agency at more than double the Soviet standard.
The measurements, reported Wednesday, would not be high enough to cause acute radiation illness, but far exceed standards for the general public designed to cut the risks of cancer.
While the amount measured would not pose an immediate danger, the annual dose would be too high to allow people to keep living there, according to Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an American organization that is often critical of nuclear safety rules. Cesium persists in the environment for centuries, losing half its strength every 30 years.
IAEA reports high radiation outside exclusion zone
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/31_18.html
The International Atomic Energy Agency says radiation levels twice as high as its criterion for evacuation were detected in a village 40 kilometers from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
This is outside the 20 kilometer exclusion zone and the 20-to-30 kilometer alert zone where the Japanese government advises voluntary evacuation.
The nuclear watchdog reported the findings at a meeting of its members in Vienna on Wednesday.
The IAEA said its experts measured levels of Iodine 131 and Cesium 137 in soil around the plant between March 18th and 26th.
It said measurements in Iitate Village, 40 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima plant, was double the IAEA operational criteria for evacuation and that it has advised Japan to carefully assess the situation.
In Tokyo on Thursday, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters that the government has been notified by the IAEA of its radiation findings.
Edano said the reported radiation levels in Iitate will not have an immediate impact on human health but could be harmful if exposed over a long period of time. He said the government will closely assess the long-term impact and take appropriate action.
GREENPEACE Measures EXTREME RADIATION 40KM From Fukushima - Why No Evacuation?
Maximum Annual Dose In Few Days!
Regardless of what anyone thinks about GreenPeace and their stance on fraudulent man made warning, this video clearly shows that levels at least 40km from the plant are EXTREMELY high!
People NEED to be evacuated from the area. The Japanese government is involved in a CRIMINAL cover up that possibly extends to the IAEA and various other governments who are openly lying about the situation.
Radiation in seawater at new high
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/31_19.html
Radiation 4,385 times higher than the legal standard has been detected in seawater at a location 330 meters south of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Company says 180 becquerels per cubic centimeter of radioactive iodine-131 have been detected in seawater sampled on Wednesday afternoon.
The figure is far above the 3,355-times level detected on Tuesday.
Wednesday's sampling also revealed cesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years, at a level 527 times higher than the legal standard.
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says no fishing is being carried out in waters within 20 kilometers of the plant, and the radiation is likely to be diluted significantly by the time humans take it in through seafood.
The agency says it will monitor radiation levels in seawater at points 15 kilometers from the plant, in addition to surveys being carried out by the science ministry at 30-kilometer points.
UPDATE: Radioactive Iodine-131 in Pennsylvania rainwater sample 3300% above federal drinking water standard
EPA: Expect More Radiation in Rainwater, Forbes Blog, March 28 2011:
[Emphasis Added]
… The levels [of iodine-131 in rainwater in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts] exceed the maximum contaminant level (MCL) permitted in drinking water, but EPA continues to assure the public there is no need for alarm:
“It is important to note that the corresponding MCL for iodine-131 was calculated based on long-term chronic exposures over the course of a lifetime – 70 years. The levels seen in rainwater are expected to be relatively short in duration,” the [EPA] states in a FAQ that accompanied yesterday’s brief news release. …
EPA said it is receiving “verbal reports” of higher levels of radiation in rainwater… “We continue to expect similar reports from state agencies and others across the nation given the nature and duration of the Japanese nuclear incident.” …
Read the report here.
Read more:
- Radioactive Iodine-131 in Pennsylvania rainwater sample is 3300% above federal drinking water standard
- Radioactive Iodine-131 in rainwater sample near San Francisco was 18,100% above federal drinking water standard
- Don’t drink the rainwater says State of Virginia (VIDEO)
- EPA: Penn. and Mass. have seen elevated levels of radiation in rain — “Short-term elevations” not a health concern… How about Long-term?
- Highest yet: 3,355 times legal limit of radioactive iodine-131 found in seawater — Reactor cores may have been continuously leaking into Pacific
Webmaster's Commentary:
"The EPA has raised that maximum to a new higher standard, so now you are all safe. Aren't they doing a swell job? As a side note, since you can now read at night from the glow of your own bodies, please remember to turn off unnecessary lights to save electricity and reduce human-caused global warming! Next week Michelle will present a demonstration on how California residents can now BBQ their Gulf Coast Shrimp using only the heat generated from their hands!" -- Official White Horse Souse
Japan Nuclear Fallout Radiation Found In San Francisco Rainwater 18,100% Above Drinking Water Limits
Despite countless reassurances that no harmful levels of radiation from the Japan nuclear fallout would hit the US from the EPA the University of Berkley in California is now reporting that rainwater in San Francisco water has now been detected at levels 18,100% above federal drinking water standards.
Again, with just about all other news of the radiation hitting the US, the news is once again reported to the public over a week after it was first detected.
UCB Rain Water Sampling Results, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Nuclear Engineering:
Iodine-131 level in rainwater sample taken on the roof of Etcheverry Hall on UC Berkeley campus, March 23, 2011 from 9:06-18:00 PDT
20.1 Becquerel per liter (Bq/L) = 543 Picocuries per liter (pCi/L)
Conversion calculator here.
The federal drinking water standard for Iodine-131 is 3 pCi/L. (Source)
UCB Rain Water Sampling Results here.
Scientists Warn Japan Nuclear Radioactive Fallout Now At Chernobyl Levels
Independent scientists are warning, contrary to statements from the talking heads on corporate media outlets who say Japan is not Chernobyl, the levels of radioactive material being released in from Japan's nuclear fallout already rivals Chernobyl Levels.
News of the high levels of radioactive fallout comes at the same time that levels of radiation in US rainwater are being measured at levels 1000's of times higher than drinking water limits and the EPA has announced radiation has been found in US milk. To make matters worse Japan medical facilities are refusing to treat people unless they have been certified to be free of radiation.
Still corrupt Japan Politicians and US EPA officials continue to tell the public the radiation poses no risk to human life.
Dr. Michio Kaku says three raging meltdowns under way at Fukushima
Fukushima update: Three raging meltdowns are underway. Direct quote from Dr. Kaku:
"If it goes to a full-scale evacuation of all personnel, it means that firefighters are no longer putting water onto the cores. That's the only thing preventing a full-scale meltdown at three reactor sites. Once they evacuate, then we past the point of no return. Meltdowns are inevitable at three reactor sites, leading to a tragedy far beyond that of Chernobyl, creating permanent dead zones in Japan."
In this nuclear world, what is the meaning of 'safe'?
The assertion that low-level exposure to radiation represents no human threat is an artifact of Cold War-era science that was shaped to meet government and industry needs.
Nuclear secrecy in context. In the initial hours after the earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese government and Tokyo Electrical Power Company issued statements reporting minor damage at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. In the days that followed, government and industry officials reported the "venting of hydrogen gas", but that there was "no threat to health." This reassurance of health safety was echoed when hydrogen gas explosions occurred at the power plant.
In fact, the hydrogen released is tritium water vapor, a low-level emitter that can be absorbed in a human body through simply breathing, or by drinking contaminated water. Tritium decays by beta emission and has a radioactive half-life of about 12.3 years. As it undergoes radioactive decay, this isotope emits a very low-energy beta particle and transforms to stable, nonradioactive helium. Once tritium enters the body, it disperses quickly, is uniformly distributed, and is excreted through urine within a month or so after ingestion. It produces a low-level exposure and may result in toxic effects to the kidney. As with all ionizing radiation, exposure to tritium increases the risk of developing cancer.
So, then, why no mention of tritium in the government or industry statements? Relatively speaking, the health effects of a low-level emitter like tritium are minor when compared to the other radiogenic and toxic hazards in this nuclear catastrophe. Such omission is a standard industry practice, designed to reassure the public that the normal operating procedures of a nuclear power plant represent no significant threat to human health.
The assertion that low-level exposure to radiation represents no human threat is an artifact of Cold War-era science that was shaped to meet government and industry needs.
During the Cold War, scientific findings on health effects to nuclear fallout that contradicted the official narrative were typically censored. Scientists were not only punished for their work, they were also blacklisted -- one example of this was American anthropologist Earle Reynolds whose work for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission was censored in 1953 by the US government. His research showed that Japanese children who were exposed to fallout were not only smaller than their counterparts, but had less resistance to disease in general and were more susceptible to cancer, especially leukemia. The consequences of this censored history was examined in 1994 by the US Advisory Commission on Human Radiation Experimentation, which concluded that the radiation health literature of the Cold War years was a heavily sanitized and scripted version meant to reassure and pacify public protests while achieving military and economic agendas.
Decades of such control reinforced, again and again, the core message: Humans have evolved in a world where background radiation is present and is natural and beneficial at some level; any adverse heath effect of radiation exposure is the occasional and accidental result of high levels of exposure.
Cold War classification and the close nature of government, military, and industry agendas made it difficult to challenge the assumptions that underlie the "trust us" narrative. For example, the assumption that radiogenic health effects must be demonstrated through direct causality (one isotope, one outcome) meant science on cumulative and synergistic effects was not pursued. Discounting or ignoring the toxic nature of varied radioisotopes meant health risks were assessed and regulations promulgated on the basis of acute exposures and outcomes (radiation poisoning and deadly cancer).
There are other sources of conclusive data that allow a very different interpretation of the health hazards posed by a nuclear disaster. Several of these sources document radiogenic health outcomes that sharply contrast mainstream reports: Declassified records of US human radiation experiments and similar Soviet records; Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission records; new research conducted by Japanese scientists; long-term research on Chernobyl survivors; and research done for the Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal proceedings.
But what does this mean? From this record of studied and lived experience, there are a few things that we know. For example, fallout and the movement of radionuclides through marine and terrestrial environments ultimately get into the food chain and the human body. The toxicity of contaminants and radioactivity in fallout represent significant health risks. Acute exposures are further complicated when followed by chronic exposure, as such assaults have a cumulative and synergistic effect on health and well-being. Chronic exposure to fallout does more than increase the risk of developing cancers, it threatens the immune system, can exacerbate pre-existing conditions, affects fertility, increases rates of birth defects, and can retard physical and mental development, among other things. And we know the effects of such exposures can last for generations.
Japan's nuclear disaster demonstrates in powerful and poignant terms the degree to which the state prioritizes security interests over the fundamental rights of people and their environment. Japan's response to its nuclear disaster -- similar to other government responses to catastrophic events like Katrina and Chernobyl -- has struggled to control the content and flow of information to prevent wide panic (and the related loss of trust in government), reduce liability, and protect nuclear and other industry agendas.
There are many lessons to be learned here, not the least of which is how to respond, adjust, and adapt to the hazards and health risks associated with life in this nuclear world. These responses will most assuredly include a demand for transparency and accountability -- that is, governance that truly secures the fundamental rights of its citizens to life and livelihood.
As the world's nations reassess nuclear power operations and refine energy development plans, now -- more than ever -- we need to aggressively tackle this question: How do we define the word "safe"?
By Stephen Lendman
Despite a disaster multiples worse than Chernobyl, major media reports all along downplayed it. Now they largely ignore it, moving on to more important things like celebrity features and baseball's opening day, besides pretending American-led Libya bombing is well-intended when, in fact, it's another brazen power grab - an imperial war of conquest, explained in numerous previous articles.
The horror of all wars aside, waged solely for wealth and power, never humanity, Japan deserves regular top billing, given its global implications and potential millions of lives affected. Ignoring it is scandalous, yet it's practically disappeared from television where most people get news, unaware only managed reports are aired omitting vital truths.
Over three weeks and counting, Japan's crisis keeps worsens. Radiation levels in Fukushima's underground tunnel water reached 10,000 times above normal and rising. In nearby seawater, they're 4,385 times too high. Heavy rainfall exacerbates the problem. Food, water, air and soil contamination is spreading.
On March 31, New York Times writer Henry Fountain headlined, "Cleanup Questions as Radiation Spreads," saying:
At issue is "how to clean up areas that have been heavily contaminated by radioactivity," stopping short of suggesting they're dead zones that may affect all northern Japan, an area comparable to Pennsylvania, potentially making it uninhabitable.
On March 31, the IAEA (the industry's global promoter) "said a soil sample from Iitate, a village of 7,000 about 25 miles northwest of the plant, showed very high concentrations of cesium-137," a harmful gamma ray-producing isotope, contaminating air, water and soil for decades.
Levels found are "double" those in Chernobyl's dead zone, raising concerns about extending Japan's evacuation, not done so far. Moreover, they're rising daily and will continue for months, perhaps years, creating permanent contamination combined with uranium, plutonium, and other hazardous toxins.
On April 1, Al Jazeera headlined, "Japan nuclear evacuation will be 'long term,' " saying:
"Residents of evacuated areas....have been warned that they may not be able to return to their homes for months," if ever, given increasing hazardous contamination levels. Cleanup will take decades and fall far short of making areas toxin-free.
Experts call conditions "unchartered territory," wondering what, if anything can be done. The nuclear genie is out of the bottle. The imponderables are huge, and potential implications staggering.
On March 25, Helen Caldicott highlighted "a medical problem of vast dimensions," saying "the situation has grown increasingly grave." A week later, it's worse with no end of crisis in sight, Caldicott calling nuclear power's harm "the greatest public health hazard the world will ever see."
On March 31, physicist Michio Kaku said "three (Fukushima) raging meltdowns" plus one or more (melting) spent fuel ponds opened to the air are ongoing, adding:
"This is huge," involving "uncontrolled radiation releases into the environment," including plutonium, the most toxic substance known. "A speck of plutonium, a millionth of a gram, can cause cancer if ingested." Moreover, if the plant site is abandoned, "we could be in free fall." Before it ends, Kaku believes it may far exceed Chernobyl. Perhaps it already has, though no one's admitting it or knows for sure.
Every Radiation Dose Is an Overdose
Experts like Harvey Wasserman agree. On March 27, he headlined, " 'Safe' Radiation is a Lethal TMI Lie," saying:
-- No amount of radiation is safe; they're harmful, cumulative, permanent and unforgiving;
-- It's why pregnant women aren't x-rayed;
-- "Any detectable fallout can kill;"
-- Fukushima's "serious danger" requires everyone to "prepare for the worst;"
-- "Fukusima is deadly to Americans;"
-- Minimally, "it threatens countless embryos and fetuses in utero, the infants, the elderly, the unborn who will come to future mothers now being exposed;"
-- There's "no defense against even the tiniest radioactive assault;"
-- "Science has never found such a 'safe' threshold, and never will;"
-- "All doses, 'insignificant' or otherwise, can harm the human organism;"
-- Three Mile Island (TMI) victims experienced "cancer, leukemia, birth defects, stillbirths, sterility, malformations, open lesions, hair loss, a metallic taste and much more....;"
-- Pennsylvania's Department of Agriculture also documented the farm and wild animal death and mutation rate;
-- TMI was minor compared to Fukushima; its radiation is "pouring into the air and water;" operators reported levels "a million times normal, then retracted the estimate to a 'mere' 100,000;"
-- Most frightening is what's unrevealed; coverup after TMI and Chernobyl was scandalous;
-- All North America and Europe are affected, especially by rain, increasing soil and water contamination;
-- "Fukushima's worst may be yet to come," by far the worst ever environmental and human disaster;
-- "The response of the Obama Administration has been beyond derelict," claiming Americans face no threat; he lied and now remains silent;
-- " 'Impossible' accidents continue to happen, one after the other, each of them successively worse."
What will it take to stop this monster? Because of enormous industry profits, perhaps it will take ending human life to convince skeptics.
Japan deploys 100,000 troops for recovery, most since WWII
ISHINOMAKI, Japan - Since World War II, Japan's military has never been involved in combat. Its forces have never fired a shot in war. But few are questioning their value now.
In its biggest mission since 1945, more than 100,000 troops — roughly half the force — have been mobilized to lead the recovery effort after a March 11 tsunami that devastated the coast of northeast Japan.
Japan will scrap troubled nuclear reactors
Radiation leaking into seawater from Japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear complex has reached its highest level yet, prompting officials to declare that four reactors will be scrapped.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said seawater tested near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station was found to contain iodine-131 at 3,355 times the safety standard.
"We have no choice," Tsunehisa Katsumata, chair of Tokyo Electric Power Company, known as TEPCO, said as he told a news conference Wednesday that Units 1, 2, 3 and 4 at the plant will be scrapped.
"So what that means is they're going to keep cooling them down and when they're sufficiently cool, they'll have to remove the highly toxic radioactive material and store it safely and demolish the reactors," CBC reporter Craig Dale said in an interview.
France will send in two nuclear experts and the U.S. will send robots to examine the reactor rods and fuel pools. The whole process could take three decades and cost upwards of $12 billion US and then there is the question of what to do with reactors 5 and 6.
Radiation leaking from the plant has seeped into the soil and seawater nearby and made its way into produce, raw milk and even tap water as far away as Tokyo, 220 kilometres to the south.
Japan's government has been saying since March 20 that the entire plant must be scrapped.
Earlier, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the government is considering a number of options to stop the spread of radiation from the crippled nuclear plant.
They include using a special cloth to cover the damaged reactor buildings to stop radioactive substances from leaking. Another option is spraying a resin on the grounds of the facility, which could happen as soon as Thursday.
The resin would stick to the ground and form a film. This would trap any radiation that could leak from the reactors. The resin would stop the radiation from reaching the Pacific Ocean or from being released in the air, however, it's not clear if the resin can stop radiation from seeping into the soil.
The official death toll from the earthquake and tsunami stood at 11,259, with the final toll likely surpassing 18,000. The total number of missing is 16,344.
The government said damage is expected to cost $310 billion US, making it the most costly natural disaster on record.
Japan to scrap stricken nuclear reactors
Japan is to decommission four stricken reactors at the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, the operator says.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Gee, you think?
Isn't that like the White Star Line announcing they plan to scrap the Titanic?
Like there was a choice?
Tokyo Electric says $24 billion loans not enough
Tokyo Electric Power warned on Wednesday that a $24 billion bank loan was not enough to keep it afloat and pay for Japan's worst nuclear disaster, adding to expectations the government will step in to bail out the stricken company.
Webmaster's Commentary:
So, the people of Japan have suffered...
1. The worst quake in modern history.
2. The worst tsunami in modern history.
3. The worst radiation leak in history (probably)
And now their own government is going to make the Japanese people pay for the reactor damage.
World's largest concrete pump heads for Fukushima
The world's largest concrete pump, deployed at the construction site of the U.S. government's $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, is being moved to Japan in a series of emergency measures to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors.
Webmaster's Commentary:
The plan is to pour concrete all over the top of the ruined reactors, which will not stop the leaking into the ground and ocean, but will look good in the TV reports.
Up to 1,000 bodies of victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami have not been collected because of fears of high levels of radiation.
Police sources said bodies within the 12-mile evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant had been 'exposed to high levels of radiation after death'.
It follows the discovery of a body on Sunday in Okuma, just three miles from the power plant, which revealed elevated levels of radiation.
- Workers warned they're facing a 100-year battle to make fuel rods safe
- American recruiter asked to hire technicians to help
- World's largest concrete pump is being flown from U.S. to assist
- Evacuation zone refugees won't be able to go home for months, admits Japanese minister
- Joint Japanese-U.S. mission recovers bodies from sea
- Man arrested after crashing car through gate of stricken N-plant
- TEPCO releases video showing damage inside Fukushima's Unit 4
The mother of one of the workers who are battling to stop a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant said today that they all expect to die from radiation sickness 'within weeks'.
The so-called Fukushima 50 are all repeatedly being exposed to dangerously high radioactive levels as they attempt to restore vital cooling systems following the earthquake and tsunami on March 11.
And speaking tearfully through an interpreter by phone, the mother of a 32-year-old worker told Fox News: 'My son and his colleagues have discussed it at length and they have committed themselves to die if necessary to save the nation.
And so begins the radioactive ruination of Japan, and much of the rest of the world, at the hands of the nuclear demons unleashed in Fukushima by General Electric and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The harsh reality, the cruel truth of the matter, is that this ghastly crisis is going to last months or maybe years, and maybe even a very, very long lot of years, given that the half-life of plutonium 239 is twenty-four thousand years.
But don't take my word for it. Here it is straight from the horse's mouth, a bit evasive, but nevertheless a tolerable admission of the truth:
“'Regrettably, we don't have a concrete schedule at the moment to enable us to say in how many months or years (the crisis will be over),' TEPCO vice-president Sakae Muto said ...” (1)
Months or years, the man says. Meanwhile, by the day, the crisis spirals more and more out of control and radiation levels are soaring to their highest levels since the reactors first began melting down and exploding. (2,3,4)
Tokyo is only about 160 miles from the site of the reactors that are melting down. As radiation levels rise in the region it is a firm guarantee that more and more radioactivity will fall out on Tokyo.
No doubt about it.
Do you think I'm full of it? That I don't know what I'm talking about?
Tell that to the 25 foreign governments that have already either closed their embassies in Tokyo, or have evacuated Tokyo and moved their embassies to Osaka. (5)
Japan To Make Citizens Pay Bill For TEPCO’s Nuclear Radioactive Fallout
Crooked Japanese politicians are undertaking steps to let TEPCO off the hook for the measly $1.2 billion in liabilities it faces for the Japan nuclear fallout disaster and will instead make the citizens of Japan pay the bill. If a similar disaster happened in your own country, you’d be paying the bill as well.
It seems to be a recurring theme in modern capitalist society. Greedy corporations bend tax payers over the barrel at every possible corner raking in massive record-breaking profits. Then when the shit hits the fan and it’s time for greedy corporations to take a loss crooked politicians step up and say “Don’t worry about buddy. I am on your payroll, we’ll make the taxpayer foot the bill”.
Consider the history. For example
Japan Weighs Nationalizing a Stricken Utility
Japanese lawmakers publicly debated nationalizing the Tokyo Electric Power Company on Tuesday, as there seemed no end in sight to the problems at the company’s crippled nuclear power plant.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Translation: "We are going to save TEPCO and its investors from this financial black hole by dumping it onto the Japanese people. Hey, if Washington DC can get away with dumping the losses from Wall Street's mortgage-backed security fraud on the gaijin and not provoke a revolution, then we can get away with the same thing here. Right? Right? ... What's that pounding on the walls, and who are all those people outside with those swords?!?"
Radioactive Nuclear Reactor Core Melts Through Containment Vessel Floor
Just hours after the Prime Minister of Japan declares a "maximum alert" due to plutonium leaking from a reactor breach the Guardian is reports a nuclear reactor core has melted through the containment vessel floor.
The news comes alongside another NY Times article reporting a huge crack in another containment vessel that may prevent workers from ever containing the nuclear disaster.
The radioactive core in a reactor at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant appears to have melted through the bottom of its containment vessel and on to a concrete floor below, experts say, raising fears of a major release of radiation at the site.
Richard Lahey, who has worked on the plant at Fukushima, told the Guardian officials seemed to have “lost the race” to save the reactor, but added that there was no danger of a Chernobyl-style catastrophe
'Suicide squads' paid huge sums amid fresh fears for nuclear site
The radioactive core in one reactor at Fukushima's beleaguered nuclear power plant appeared to have melted through the bottom of its containment vessel, an expert warned yesterday, sparking fears that workers would not be able to save the reactor and that radioactive gases could soon be released into the atmosphere.
Richard Lahey, who was a head of reactor safety research at General Electric when the company installed the units at Fukushima, said the workers, who have been pumping water into the three reactors in an attempt to keep the fuel rods from melting, had effectively lost their battle. "The core has melted through the bottom of the pressure vessel in unit two, and at least some of it is down on the floor of the drywell," he said.
The damning analysis came as it emerged that workers at Japan's stricken nuclear plant are reportedly being offered huge sums to brave high radiation in an attempt to bring its overheated reactors under control. The plant's operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, is hoping to stop a spreading contamination crisis which could see another 130,000 people forced to leave their homes.
State broadcaster NHK said underground tunnels linked to reactors 1, 2 and 3 are flooded with water containing radiation measured in some spots at a highly dangerous 1,000 millisieverts an hour. Workers in protective gear are shoring up the tunnel shafts with sandbags to stop the water – which reportedly contains concentrations of long-lived caesium-137 – from seeping into the sea about 55 to 70 metres away.
Subcontractors to several companies connected to the plant have reportedly been offered 80,000 to 100,000 yen a day (£608 to £760) to join the operation, according to one former plant worker. The team of men inside the complex have been dubbed "samurai" and "suicide squads" in the popular press.
Japan nuclear crisis: workers 'losing race' to save reactor
Workers at Japan’s earthquake hit nuclear plant lost ground in the battle to save the plant from meltdown after the radioactive core of one reactor appeared to have melted through the bottom of its containment vessel.
Study: Japan Nuclear Disaster Is THREE Separate Chernobyl Level 7 incidents
A recent Greenpeace study based on data from the French and Austrian governments showed that by March 23 so much radiation had already been released from Fukushima that the crisis already equates to 3 Chernobyl INES level 7 incidents.
Here we are over a week after the study.
How bad is it now?
From Greenpeace:
Greenpeace study ranks Fukushima as Chernobyl Level 7 incident
amburg — As new reports emerge of highly radioactive water leaks at Fukushima’s reactor 3, a new analysis prepared for Greenpeace Germany by nuclear safety expert Dr Helmut Hirsch shows that Japan’s nuclear crisis has already released enough radioactivity to be ranked at Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). This is the scale’s highest level, and equal to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.Dr. Hirsch’s assessment, based on data published by the French government’s radiation protection agency (IRSN) and the Austrian governments Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) found that the total amount of radionuclides iodine-131 and caesium-137 released between March 11 and March 23 has been so high that the Fukushima crisis already equates to three INES 7 incidents.
“What is happening at Fukushima is just as serious as Chernobyl. It’s crucial that Japan’s authorities, the nuclear industry and the IAEA immediately stop their downplaying of the threat of radioactive contamination, and instead provide clear and honest communication about the risks to public health in order to protect people”, said Greenpeace energy campaigner Dr Rianne Teule.
”The events of the last two weeks are a wake up call for governments around the world to bring the nuclear age to a close, by shifting investments towards energy efficiency, and redoubling efforts to harness safe and secure renewable energy sources.”
The report can be downloaded from:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/Fukushima–INES-scale-rating/
From the study
Fukushima – INES scale rating
23 March 2011
Helmut Hirsch
_________________________________________________________
Aim and structure of the INES scale
In 1990 the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) was developed through international experts, summoned via the IAEA and the nuclear agency of the OECD (OECD / NEA). The aim of the INES scale is to provide prompt and consistent information covering the relevance of an event connected to radioactive material.
The INES scale covers eight levels:
| Level 7 | major accident |
| Level 6 | serious accident |
| Level 5 | accident with wider consequences |
| Level 4 | accident with local consequences |
| Level 3 | serious incident |
| Level 2 | incident |
| Level 1 | anomaly |
| Level 0 | no safety significance |
Chernobyl in 1986 was rated an INES 7 event, Three Mile Island in 1979 an INES 5 event. The rating follows three main criteria areas: offsite radiological effects, onsite radiological effects, impairment of safety measures.
For accidents (level 4 – 7) the radiological effects outside the plant are primarily relevant.
Criteria for INES event rating
According to the INES handbook the radiological impacts outside a nuclear complex can be described through (a) the release of radioactive material into the atmosphere and (b) the radiation doses.
Following (a) will be applied. This is because releases can be estimated more precisely compared to received radiation doses. Besides this an INES rating of 6 is the maximum when based on radiation doses only.
For the rating the releases into the atmosphere are in J-131 equivalents. Specific factors for different nuclides are given to specify the J-131 equivalent. The factor for rare gases, for example, is 0, for Cs-137 it is 40 and for Pu-239 the factor is 10,000.
INES level 7 – more than a couple of 10,000 J-131 equivalents
INES level 6– some 1,000 to a couple of 10,000 TBq J-131 equivalents
INES level 5– some 100 to a couple of 1,000 TBq J-131 equivalents
INES level 4– some 10 to a couple of 100 TBq J-131 equivalents
The IAEA states it not being appropriate to use exact numbers to define ratings as early estimations are inevitably rough estimations only. To provide some orientation the IAEA suggests 50,000, 5,000 and 500 TBq.
Adaptability to a number of reactors
The handbook suggests the IAEA generally assuming that the INES scale of is applied to an event in one specific block of a nuclear power station. In general practical experience confirms this.
How to deal with a combination of evens (like in Fukushima) remains open in the handbook.
As mentioned above, the aim of the INES scale is to provide prompt and consistent information covering the relevance of an event. Without doubt the overall release during an event is the most important part of information for the public. The overall release is relevant for air, ground, water, foodstuff contamination. Therefore it reflects the idea of the INES scale to take into account all events in a nuclear complex (like Fukushima Daiichi) where releases of a number of reactors overlap within a short time period, and rate them together. Additionally the course of events interlink through contamination, explosions, fires, direct radiation.
Beside this an individual rating can also be reasonable approach to add transparency to the course of events.
Fukushima releases to date
There have been estimations on releases from Fukushima Daiichi reactors, two are known to the author.
On 22.03.2011 the French Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) (www.irsn.fr) published an estimation covering reactors 1 – 3 and the time period between 12.03.2011 and 22.03.2011: 90,000 TBq j-131, 10,000 TBq Cs-137 (plus specification covering other nuclides).
On 22.03.2011 the Austrian Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik (ZAMG) (www.zamg.ac.at) published estimations covering the total release of J-131 and Cs-137 in the first four days. This estimation has been specified on the 23.03.2011: 400,000 TBq J-131, 85,000 TBq Cs-137.
For J-131 the author did further estimations. Based on core inventory specifications and medium burn up (source: WNIH 2010) a J-131 inventory of 1,000,000 TBq for block 1 at the time of the shutdown due to the earthquake and for bocks 2 and 3 1,800,000 TBq each seems to be reasonable.
A release of 2.75% (equalling a non-filtered release during containment venting) results in an overall release of approx. 125,000 TBq J-131 (summing up the three blocks). These numbers closely represent IRSN numbers and will be used as the base for further estimations. It is not to be assumed that this results in any kind of overestimation. Radioactive decay is not taken into account by the author. It remains unclear whether it was taken into account by IRSN or ZAMG. Radioactive decay is – having the time period in mind – only relevant for J-131 (half life: eight days), not for Cs-137 (half life: 30 years).
Fukushima
The release of J-131 and Cs-137 alone (as stated through IRSN) corresponds to a 500,000 TBq J-131 equivalent. Taken all Fukushima Daiichi reactors into consideration this is obviously an INES 7 event. Each reactor considered individually results in more than 100.000 TBq per block (all releases divided by three and proportionally to the inventory) – three INES 7 events. If the release is not divided proportionally different ratings are possible.
As the Cs-137 release is the biggest share the above assessment remains unchanged, even when the radioactive decay is taken into consideration.
Scientists Warn Japan Nuclear Radioactive Fallout Now At Chernobyl Levels
Independent scientists are warning, contrary to statements from the talking heads on corporate media outlets who say Japan is not Chernobyl, the levels of radioactive material being released in from Japan’s nuclear fallout already rivals Chernobyl Levels.
News of the high levels of radioactive fallout comes at the same time that levels of radiation in US rainwater are being measured at levels 1000′s of times higher than drinking water limits and the EPA has announced radiation has been found in US milk. To make matters worse Japan medical facilities are refusing to treat people unless they have been certified to be free of radiation.
Still corrupt Japan Politicians and US EPA officials continue to tell the public the radiation poses no risk to human life.
As I’ve previously noted, many experts say that the Fukushima plants will keep on leaking for months. See this and this.
And the amount of radioactive fuel at Fukushima dwarfs Chernobyl.
As the New York Times notes, radioactive cesium is the main danger from the Japanese nuclear accident:
Over the long term, the big threat to human health is cesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years.
At that rate of disintegration, John Emsley wrote in “Nature’s Building Blocks” (Oxford, 2001), “it takes over 200 years to reduce it to 1 percent of its former level.”
It is cesium-137 that still contaminates much of the land in Ukraine around the Chernobyl reactor.
***
Cesium-137 mixes easily with water and is chemically similar to potassium. It thus mimics how potassium gets metabolized in the body and can enter through many foods, including milk.
So it is bad news indeed that, as reported by New Scientist, cesium fallout from Fukushima already rivals Chernobyl:
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2011/03/caesium-fallout-from-fukushima-already.html
So it is bad news indeed that, as reported by New Scientist, cesium fallout from Fukushima already rivals Chernobyl:
Radioactive caesium and iodine has been deposited in northern Japan far from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, at levels that were considered highly contaminated after Chernobyl.
The readings were taken by the Japanese science ministry, MEXT, and reveal high levels of caesium-137 and iodine-131 outside the 30-kilometre evacuation zone, mostly to the north-north-west.
***
After the 1986 Chernobyl accident, the most highly contaminated areas were defined as those with over 1490 kilobecquerels (kBq) of caesium per square metre. Produce from soil with 550 kBq/m2 was destroyed.
People living within 30 kilometres of the plant have evacuated or been advised to stay indoors. Since 18 March, MEXT has repeatedly found caesium levels above 550 kBq/m2 in an area some 45 kilometres wide lying 30 to 50 kilometres north-west of the plant. The highest was 6400 kBq/m2, about 35 kilometres away, while caesium reached 1816 kBq/m2 in Nihonmatsu City and 1752 kBq/m2 in the town of Kawamata, where iodine-131 levels of up to 12,560 kBq/m2 have also been measured. "Some of the numbers are really high," says Gerhard Proehl, head of assessment and management of environmental releases of radiation at the International Atomic Energy Agency.
While Japan has been exposed to very high levels of cesium, so far, the levels of cesium in other parts of the world appear to be relatively low:
----------------------------------------
However, contrary to the EPA statements and the news being reported by the corporate media, Energy news points us to a press release issued by the Governor of Pennsylvania on the levels being detected in their rainwater:
Radioactive Iodine-131 in Pennsylvania rainwater sample is 3300% above federal drinking water standard
Governor Corbett Says Public Water Supply Testing Finds No Risk to Public From Radioactivity Found in Rainwater, Pennsylvania Office of the Governor, March 28, 2011:
[Emphasis Added]
… The [Iodine-131] numbers reported in the rainwater samples in Pennsylvania range from 40-100 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). Although these are levels above the background levels historically reported in these areas, they are still about 25 times below the level that would be of concern. The federal drinking water standard for Iodine-131 is three pCi/L. …
On Friday, rainwater samples were taken in Harrisburg, where levels were 41 pCi/L and at nuclear power plants at TMI and Limerick, where levels were 90 to 100 pCi/L.
Corbett emphasized that the drinking water is safe and there is no cause for health concerns. …
“Rainwater is not typically directly consumed,” Corbett said. “However, people might get alarmed by making what would be an inappropriate connection from rainwater to drinking water. By testing the drinking water, we can assure people that the water is safe.” …
Read the release here.
EPA Detects Radiation In Washington State Milk
Today the Environmental Protection Agency reported that radiation has been found in milk from Spokane, Washington.
The EPA released data taken on March 25th that indicates low levels of radiation have been detected. Not only is this startling, it also shows that it either takes the EPA five days to test milk or there is a five day waiting period before information is released to the public.
The EPA’s Radnet system conducts radiological monitoring of milk and then hands jurisdiction over safety, labeling, and identify of milk and milk products to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/03/29/1604937/dtuch-harbor-monitor-registers.html
… The EPA report, issued Monday, is based upon laboratory analyses of filters and charcoal canisters on the monitors…
[A]ll reported some fallout, with Anaheim coming closest to Dutch Harbor [Alaska] in reported levels of radioactive iodine — 1.9 picocuries of radioactivity in each cubic meter of air in Anaheim to Dutch Harbor’s 2.8. …
Officials at UC Berkeley have tested rain water that turned out to be 181 times the limit for drinking water. This is happening at the same time that our FAKE corporate media is telling the sheeple that there is absolutely nothing to worry about.
“As shown in the graph below, published by UC Berkeley, Iodine-131 peaked at 20.1 becquerels per liter, a measure of radioactivity, on the roof of Etcheverry Hall during heavy rains a week ago. The federal maximum level of iodine-131 allowed in drinking water is 0.111 becquerels per liter,” The Bay Citizen reported Saturday.
The Norwegian Institute of Air Research is also predicting that moderate levels of radiation will hit the U.S. west coast on April 5th and 6th.
NY Times Contributor Confirms High CA Rainwater Radiation - But Lies About Tap Water Radiation
In a report that blasts the Federal Government for not reporting this to the public The New York Times affiliate, The Bay Times, confirms levels of radiation in San Francisco tap water were measured at levels 18,100% above federal drinking water standards.
This confirms the story as reported here which many refused to believed.
The report however still contains a lie - that there is no radiation in the drinking water - while the original University of Berkeley study clearly detected radiation in the drinking water.
China detects 10 cases of radiation, 2 People Hospitalized With Severe Radiation Poisoning
From The Australia Newspaper The Age:
China detects 10 cases of radiation
April 3, 2011 – 1:24PM
China has detected 10 cases of radioactive contamination among passengers, aircraft, ships and containers arriving from Japan since March 16, quarantine authorities said on Saturday.
On Wednesday, radiation exceeding permitted levels was detected on two ships from the Japanese port of Chiba, near Tokyo, in the ports of Nantong and Zhangjiagang, Li Yuanping, spokesman of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said on its website.
Similar radiation was measured on four vessels that arrived from Japan at various ports over the next two days.
Higher than normal radiation was also detected Friday on a flight from Tokyo to the eastern city of Hangzhou, the administration’s website said.
Abnormally high radioactivity was first detected on a ship that arrived from Japan at the southeast port of Xiamen on March 22.
Two Japanese travellers were briefly hospitalised the next day with elevated radiation levels after arriving in eastern China on a commercial airliner from Tokyo. Their clothing and luggage was destroyed.
The ministry of environmental protection reported late Friday that very small quantities of iodine-131 and caesium-137 and -134 had been detected in the atmosphere of every Chinese province except Tibet.
The amounts were too small to represent a health hazard, the ministry said.
China last week banned the import of fruit, vegetables, dairy products and seafood from regions close to the site of the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, which has continued to release radioactivity into the environment since it was crippled in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan.
ABC news reports:
Japanese treated for radiation in China
Two Japanese travellers have been hospitalised in China with “severe” radiation levels after they arrived on a commercial airliner from Tokyo, China’s safety watchdog said.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said radiation levels that “seriously exceeded limits” were detected on the two when they arrived in the eastern city of Wuxi on Wednesday.
But China’s customs body said they did not present a risk to others.
Until now, no-one in Japan except workers at the stricken plant has been found with seriously elevated radiation levels, and Japan’s foreign ministry noted that as of March 18 the International Civil Aviation Association had declared that screening of airline passengers from Japan was not necessary.
The first case of contaminated Japanese travelling abroad came as injuries to workers slowed the battle to control the Fukushima complex, 240 kilometres north of Tokyo.
Chuiko reports:
In China, two Japanese tourists were hospitalized with radiation
The two Japanese tourists, who arrived March 23 at the airport of the city of Wuxi in east China, revealed elevated levels of radiation.Quarantine Service staff during the measurement of radiation arriving at Wuxi plane from Tokyo found that two Japanese passengers radiation levels “severely higher than normal.” About this fact had been notified local health and environmental services.
The same evening, with the assistance of the Government of Wuxi City Japanese were sent to the second clinic at Suzhou Medical University, where they were treated by radiation, and their clothes and baggage were necessary treatment.
Now, according to experts, men do not pose radiation risk to others, reported on Friday, March 25, the General Directorate of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the PRC.
I WANT TO ESCAPE JAPAN! Japanese Protesters Take To The Streets In Tokyo
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110329a8.html
Embassies ready iodide tablets, Japan Times, March 29, 2011:
… [T]he Swedish Embassy is recommending on its website that citizens within 250 km of the Fukushima plant take [iodide tablets] once every three days.
An embassy official was unavailable for comment.
“The recommendation by the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority that all Swedes who are staying within a radius of 250 km from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant to take iodide tablets every three days is still valid,” the embassy’s website, last updated Saturday, says. “Best protection against radioactive iodine is to take iodide tablets before the exposure, as doing so afterward will prove too late.” …
Read the report here.
Excessive radiation found beyond Japan's evacuation zone
Radiation levels in a Japanese village outside a government-ordered evacuation zone have exceeded one of the criteria for evacuation, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday.
Biggest Spike in Radiation at Japan Power Plant
TOKYO – Seawater outside the hobbled nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan was found to contain 3,335 times the usual amount of radioactive iodine — the highest rate yet and a sign that more contaminated water was making its way into the ocean, officials said Wednesday.
The amount of iodine-131 found offshore some 300 yards (meters) south of the coastal Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant does not pose an immediate threat to human health but was a “concern,” said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official. He said there was no fishing in the area.
NGO finds high levels beyond no-go zone
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110330x2.html
Radiology experts from Greenpeace urged the government Wednesday to expand the evacuation zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant after they found high levels of radiation outside the 20-km mandatory no-go zone.
Jan van de Putte, the radioactivity safety adviser of the NGO, said the survey, taken on a road between the villages of Iitate and Tsushima in Fukushima Prefecture, saw a radiation level of 100 microsieverts per hour, despite being outside of the evacuation area.
One would reach the annual legal limit of 1,000 microsieverts — or 1 millisievert — of radiation in about 10 hours in such an environment, van de Putte said, adding that it is likely the people living in Iitate, about 9 km outside the no-go zone, "have surpassed that level" of exposure already.
There IS No Safe Level of Radiation Exposure. Period.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23902
Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) expressed alarm over the level of misinformation circulating in press reports about the degree to which radiation exposure can be considered “safe.”
According to the National Academy of Sciences, there are no safe doses of radiation. Decades of research show clearly that any dose of radiation increases an individual’s risk for the development of cancer.
“There is no safe level of radionuclide exposure, whether from food, water or other sources. Period,” said Jeff Patterson, DO, immediate past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility. “Exposure to radionuclides, such as iodine-131 and cesium-137, increases the incidence of cancer. For this reason, every effort must be taken to minimize the radionuclide content in food and water.”
“Consuming food containing radionuclides is particularly dangerous. If an individual ingests or inhales a radioactive particle, it continues to irradiate the body as long as it remains radioactive and stays in the body,”said Alan H. Lockwood, MD, a member of the Board of Physicians for Social Responsibility. “The Japanese government should ban the sale of foods that contain radioactivity levels above pre-disaster levelsand continue to monitor food and water broadly in the area. In addition, the FDA and EPA must enforce existing regulations and guidelines that address radionuclide content in our food supply here at home.”
As the crisis in Japan goes on, there are an increasing number of sources reporting that 100 milliSieverts (mSv) is the lowest dose at which a person isat risk for cancer. Established research disproves this claim. A dose of 100 mSv creates a one in 100 risk of getting cancer, buta dose of 10 mSv still gives a one in 1,000 chance of getting cancer, and a dose of 1 mSv gives a one in 10,000 risk.
Even if the risk of getting cancer for one individual from a given level of food contamination is low, if thousands or millions of people are exposed, then some of those people will get cancer.
Recent reports indicate the Japanese disaster has released more iodine-131 than cesium-137. Iodine-131 accumulates in the thyroid, especially of children, with a half-life of over 8 days compared to cesium-137, which has a half-life of just over 30 years. Regardless of the shorter half-life, doses of iodine-131 are extremely dangerous, especially to pregnant women and children, and can lead to incidents of cancer, hypothyroidism, mental retardation and thyroid deficiency, among other conditions.
“Reports indicate that the total radioactive releases from the Fukushima reactor have been relatively small so far. If this is the case, then the health effects to the overall population will be correspondingly small,” said Ira Helfand, MD, a member of the Board of Physicians for Social Responsibility. “But it is not true to say that it is "safe" to release this much radiation; some people will get cancer and die as a result.”
ABOUT PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (PSR)
Founded in 1961 by physicians concerned about the impact of nuclear proliferation, PSR shared the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War for building public pressure to end the nuclear arms race. Since 1991, when PSR formally expanded its work by creating its environment and health program, PSR has addressed the issues of global warming and the toxic degradation of our environment. PSR educates and advocates for policies to curb global warming, ensure clean air, generate a sustainable energy future, prevent human exposures to toxic substances, and minimize toxic pollution of air, food, and drinking water. More information is available at www.psr.org
Japan nuclear crisis: evacuees turned away from shelters
Hospitals and temporary refuges are demanding that evacuees provide them with certificates confirming that they have not been exposed to radiation before they are admitted.
"Radiation levels are skyrocketing around Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant as reports indicate that a radioactive core has overheated and melted through its containment vessel and onto a concrete floor. Radiation levels inside reactor two were recently gauged at 1,000 millisieverts per hour — a level so high that workers could only remain in the area for 15 minutes under current exposure guideline."
'Worse Than Chernobyl': When the Fukushima Meltdown Hits Groundwater
The disaster is occurring the opposite way than Chernobyl, which exploded and stopped the reaction. At Fukushima, the reactions are getting worse. I suspect three nuclear piles are in meltdown and we will probably get some of it.
If reactor 3 is in meltdown, the concrete under the containment looks like lava. But Fukushima is not far off the water table. When that molten mass of self-sustaining nuclear material gets to the water table it won’t simply cool down. It will explode – not a nuclear explosion, but probably enough to involve the rest of the reactors and fuel rods at the facility.
EU Secretly Authorizes Emergency Order Allowing Large Increase Of Radiation In Food
Kopp Online, Xander News and other non-English news agencies are reporting that the EU implemented a secret “emergency” order without informing the public which increases ed the amount of radiation in food by up to 20 times previous food standards.
According to EU bylaws radiation limits may be raised during a nuclear emergency to prevent food shortages, but there is anger across Europe. Foodwatch is quoted “These rules now to bring into force is absurd, because in Europe there are no nuclear emergency, and certainly no shortage of food”.
The European Union has authorized radioactive load in foods in Japan has increased substantially. Until now, a maximum of 600 becquerels of radioactivity (cesium 134 and cesium 137) per kilogram allowed, but since last weekend for example oil or herbal suddenly 12,500 becquerels per kilogram, more than 20 times as high. The increase was recorded in Emergency Ordinance 297/2011 on March 27 and was in force.
While politicians talk about “enhanced control measures” and “special protection standards” is universally silent on the huge increase in the allowable limits in food in Japan. Nevertheless we are reassured with the assurance that we have no worry about radioactive products from Japan.
============================================
Japan’s Top Official puts Japan on a state of “high alert” after admitting nuclear meltdown is underway and confirming a breach in the nuclear reactor core is leaking plutonium outside the plant.
Radiation levels outside the plant are now so high they are lethal within 4 hours and insiders say there is a huge crack in the nuclear reactor that will prevent the nuclear fallout from ever being contained.
From the BBC:
Japan nuclear: PM Naoto Kan signals ‘maximum alert’
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said his government is in a state of maximum alert over the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Plutonium has been detected in soil at the facility and highly radioactive water has leaked from a reactor building.
Officials say the priority remains injecting water to cool the fuel rods.
Mr Kan told parliament the situation at the quake-hit plant “continues to be unpredictable”.
…
From Bloomberg:
Radiation Found Outside Japan Reactor, Signaling Meltdown
Radiation levels that can prove fatal were detected outside reactor buildings at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, signaling a partial fuel meltdown and complicating efforts to contain the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Water in a tunnel outside the No. 2 reactor had radiation levels exceeding 1 sievert an hour, a spokesman for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. told reporters yesterday. Exposure to that dose for 30 minutes would trigger nausea and four hours might lead to death, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
A partial meltdown of fuel rods in the No. 2 reactor probably caused a jump in the readings, Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said. Preventing the contaminated water from leaking into the ground or air is key to containing the spread of radiation beyond the plant.
“There’s not much good news right now,” said Gennady Pshakin, a former official with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Questions of how much fuel will leak, what isotopes will be carried and how quickly they will settle mean “it’s becoming less predictable.”
…
Elevated radiation levels have been detected in crops grown near the stricken plant as well as the water supply in Tokyo, 220 kilometers to the south, and other regions.
Plutonium-239, a byproduct of fission used in nuclear weapons, was found in soil samples taken on the plant site March 21 and March 22, Tokyo Electric said in a statement today. Two of the five samples contained more plutonium than known to have been deposited by atmospheric nuclear-bomb fallout and probably came from the damaged plant, according to the statement.
The amount found shouldn’t be enough to affect human health, Sakae Muto, a Tokyo Electric vice president, said at a press conference yesterday.
“The high radiation levels seem to have come from fuel rods that partially melted down and came into contact with water used to cool the reactor,” Edano said at a briefing in Tokyo, citing a draft report from Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission. “We’re trying to contain the whole situation while preventing the health impact from spreading.”
…
From KATO News:
Expert: ‘Breach of containment’ scariest words for scientists
PORTLAND, Ore. – A physicist who’s been on national news talking about the Japanese nuclear crisis said Friday the word “breach” is one of the most frightening words known to nuclear engineers.
Michio Kaku’s comments came after news that Japanese nuclear experts said they suspect there has been a possible breach at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex.
“This is huge. For the first time, they’re using that dreaded word, ‘breach,’ Kaku said during an interview at KATU’s studios. “Plutonium is the most toxic chemical known to science. A speck of plutonium, a millionth of a gram, could cause cancer.”
Via Poor Richards Blog:
Is Fukushima About to Blow?
By MIKE WHITNEY at counterpunch.org
Conditions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are deteriorating and the doomsday scenario is beginning to unfold. On Sunday, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) officials reported that the levels of radiation leaking into seawater at the Unit 2 reactor were 100,000 times above normal, and the airborne radiation measured 4-times higher than government limits. As a result, emergency workers were evacuated from the plant and rushed to safe location. The prospect of a full-core meltdown or an environmental catastrophe of incalculable magnitude now looms larger than ever. The crisis is getting worse.
If spent fuel rods catch fire from lack of coolant, the intense heat will lift radiation plumes high into the atmosphere that will drift around the world. That’s the nightmare scenario, clouds of radioactive material showering the planet with lethal toxins for months on end. And, according to the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics of Vienna, that deadly process has already begun. The group told New Scientist that:
“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 have used a worldwide network of radiation detectors – designed to spot clandestine nuclear bomb tests – to 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. (“New Scientist”, March 24 —thanks to Michael Collins “They said it wasn’t like Chernobyl and they were wrong”)
So, volatile radioactive elements are already being lofted into the jet stream and spread across continents. What’s different here is that the quantities are much larger than they were at Chernobyl, thus, the dangers are far greater. According to the same group of scientists “the Fukushima plant has around 1760 tonnes of fresh and used nuclear fuel on site” (while) “the Chernobyl reactor had only 180 tonnes.” The troubles at one nuclear facility now pose a direct threat to humans and other species everywhere. Is this what Obama meant when he called nuclear power, “Safe and green?”
This from CNN:
“Authorities in Japan raised the prospect Friday of a likely breach in the all-important containment vessel of the No. 3 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a potentially ominous development in the race to prevent a large-scale release of radiation.”
And this from the New York Times:
“A senior nuclear executive who insisted on anonymity but has broad contacts in Japan said that there was a long vertical crack running down the side of the reactor vessel itself. The crack runs down below the water level in the reactor and has been leaking fluids and gases, he said….
“There is a definite, definite crack in the vessel — it’s up and down and it’s large,” he said. “The problem with cracks is they do not get smaller.” (Thanks to Washington’s Blog)
So, there’s a breach in the containment vessel and radioactive material is being released into the sea killing fish and marine life and turning the coastal waters into a nuclear wasteland.
This is from the Kyodo News:
“Adding to the woes is the increasing level of contamination in the sea near the plant….Radioactive iodine-131 at a concentration 1,850.5 times the legal limit was detected in a seawater sample taken Saturday around 330 meters south of the plant, near a drainage outlet of the four troubled reactors, compared with 1,250.8 times the limit found Friday, the agency said.
Nishiyama told a press conference in the morning that he cannot deny the possibility that radioactive materials are continuing to be released into the sea. He said later that the water found at the basement of the turbine buildings is unlikely to have flowed into the sea, causing contamination.” (“Woes deepen over radioactive water at nuke plant”, Kyodo News)
Predictably, the media has switched into full “BP Oil Spill-mode”, making every effort to minimize the disaster and to soothe the public with half-truths and disinformation. The goal is to conceal the scale of the catastrophe and protect the nuclear industry. It’s another case of profits over people. Still, the truth is available for those who are willing to sift through the lies. Radiation has turned up in the Tokyo water supply, imports of milk, vegetable and fruit from four prefectures in the vicinity of Fukushima have been banned, and the evacuation zone around the plant has widened to an 18 mile radius.
Also, monitors have detected tiny radioactive particles which have spread from the reactor site across the Pacific to North America, the Atlantic and Europe…According to Reuters: “It’s only a matter of days before it disperses in the entire northern hemisphere,” said Andrea Stahl, a senior scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research.”
Here’s more from Brian Moench, MD:
“Administration spokespeople continuously claim “no threat” from the radiation reaching the US from Japan, just as they did with oil hemorrhaging into the Gulf. Perhaps we should all whistle “Don’t worry, be happy” in unison. A thorough review of the science, however, begs a second opinion.
That the radiation is being released 5,000 miles away isn’t as comforting as it seems…. Every day, the jet stream carries pollution from Asian smoke stacks and dust from the Gobi Desert to our West Coast, contributing 10 to 60 percent of the total pollution breathed by Californians, depending on the time of year. Mercury is probably the second most toxic substance known after plutonium. Half the mercury in the atmosphere over the entire US originates in China. It, too, is 5,000 miles away. A week after a nuclear weapons test in China, iodine 131 could be detected in the thyroid glands of deer in Colorado, although it could not be detected in the air or in nearby vegetation.” (Washington’s Blog)
The smoldering Fukushima hulk is a perpetual death machine poisoning everything around it–sea, sky and soil. Here’s a clip from the Collin’s article:
“…The soil contamination is really high. Soil found 40 kilometers away…. the levels on the soil were very high—in fact, a thousand times iodine, 4,000 times the cesium standard. And we just got a report from the Kyoto Research Reactor Institute, Dr. Tetsuji Imanaka, that said that—he had to look a little bit more into the sampling of the Japanese government, but depending on how the sampling was done, this level of contamination in the soil could be twice the amount that was compulsory evacuation for Chernobyl. Aileen Mioko Smith, March 24 (thanks to Michael Collins “They said it wasn’t like Chernobyl and they were wrong”)
Twice as high as Chernobyl already, and the disaster is likely to persist for months to come. Things are getting worse, much worse.
The Japanese government has been downplaying the crisis to make it look like they have matters under control, but it’s all a sham. They control nothing. The rescue mission has been a flop from the get-go and now things are at a boiling point. The emergency effort has been overtaken by events and now it’s a matter of “wait and see”. We’re approaching zero hour.
So why the cover up? Why is the media trying to soft-peddle the real effects of a nuclear cataclysm? Does the Japanese government really believe they can make things better by tweaking their public relations strategy? They should focus on saving lives and abandon “perception management” altogether. This is from the Union of Concerned Scientists website:
“Our assessment is that the Japanese government is squandering the opportunity to initiate an orderly evacuation from larger areas around the site–especially of sensitive populations, like children and pregnant women. It is potentially wasting valuable time by not undertaking a larger scale evacuation at this time.”
The Japanese government is trying to protect the powerful nuclear lobby. The same is true of Obama, who continues to promote nuclear energy even while radiation belches from battered Fukushima. He’s not thinking about the public; he’s thinking about the deep pocket constituents who fill his campaign coffers.
Japanese workers are putting their lives on the line to regain control of the broken facility, but with little success. The probability of another fire, another monstrous explosion, or a full-core meltdown increases by the day. The Fukushima fiasco is gaining pace putting tens of thousands of people at risk of thyroid cancer, childhood leukemia and other life-threatening ailments.
On Saturday, Japan’s prime minister, Naoto Kan, said the situation at the Fukushima nuclear plant was ”serious”. That might be the understatement of the century.
Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He can be reached at: fergiewhitney@msn.com.
At 1:45, the newscaster states that a crane collapsed onto the fuel rods. This is MOX fuel, meaning they damaged rods that contained plutonium.
From Energy News:
RADIOACTIVE SEAWEED found in Vancouver
Radiation detected in B.C. seaweed and rainwater not dangerous: researchers, Vancouver Sun, March 28, 2011 at 4:11 pm EDT:
A research team has detected an increased level of radiation in seaweed and rainwater samples gathered in B.C., and attribute the rise to the crippled Fukushima nuclear complex in Japan.
Nuclear physicist Kris Starosta of Simon Fraser University said… “As of now, the levels we’re seeing are not harmful to humans. … [W]e have not reached levels of elevated risk [of cancer].”
A press release sent by the university says that radiation from Japan is being carried to North America on the jet stream, but the most harmful radioactivity was scattered in the atmosphere. What radioactivity remains falls into the Pacific, and falls to land in the form of rain.
…
Via The Washington Post:
Vanishing act by Japanese executive during nuclear crisis raises questions
TOKYO — In normal times, Masataka Shimizu lives in The Tower, a luxury high-rise in the same upscale Tokyo district as the U.S. Embassy. But he hasn’t been there for more than two weeks, according to a doorman.
The Japanese public hasn’t seen much of him recently either. Shimizu, the president of Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco, the company that owns a haywire nuclear power plant 150 miles from the capital, is the most invisible — and most reviled — chief executive in Japan.
Amid rumors that Shimizu had fled the country, checked into a hospital or committed suicide, company officials said Monday that their boss had suffered an unspecified “small illness” because of overwork after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake sent a tsunami crashing onto his company’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
After a short break to recuperate, they said, Shimizu, 66, is back at work directing an emergency command center on the second floor of Tepco’s central Tokyo headquarters.
Still, company officials are vague about whether they have actually seen their boss: “I’ll have to check on that,” said spokesman Ryo Shimitsu. Another staffer, Hiro Hasegawa, said he’d seen the president regularly but couldn’t provide details.
Vanishing in times of crisis is something of a tradition among Japan’s industrial and political elite. During Toyota’s recall debacle last year, the carmaker’s chief also went AWOL. “It is very, very sad, but this is normal in Japan,” said Yasushi Hirai, the chief editor of Shyukan Kinyobi, a weekly news magazine.
…
From Reuters:
U.S. experts: significant water contamination in Japan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Groundwater, reservoirs and sea water around Japan’s earthquake damaged nuclear plant face “significant contamination” from the high levels of radiation leaking from the plant, a worrying development that heightens potential health risks in the region.
Nuclear and environmental scientists in the United States darkened their assessment of the risks markedly on Monday after operators at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant said that highly radioactive water has entered underground concrete tunnels extending beyond the reactor.
Sea water and fresh water used to cool the reactors, critically damaged by Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and spent fuel pools at the plant have been put in storage tanks there. But reports indicate these tanks are full or over-flowing with tainted water, experts said.
“It’s just hard to see how this won’t result in significant contamination of, certainly, sea water,” said Edwin Lyman, a physicist and expert on nuclear plant design at the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists.
“There will be dilution, some of that will be reconcentrated, but I don’t think this can be sugar-coated at this point.”
…
Via Piccasso Dreams:
Crane collapses on fuel rods at Fukushima
At 1:45, the newscaster states that a crane collapsed onto the fuel rods. This is MOX fuel, meaning they damaged rods that contained plutonium.
========================================================
Ils sont rendu à 823 tremblements de terre depuis le 9.0 du 11 Mars, et ça tremble encore.
De l’iode-131 radioactif aurait été détecté sur Hong Kong, de même qu’en Chine.(Kyodo)
Aux dernières nouvelles, une grue se serait effondrée sur les barres de combustible MOX: Une grue s’est effondrée sur les barres de combustible du réacteur n ° 3. Il s’agit d’une grue interne intégré à la structure d’acier qui se déplace des barres du réacteur à la piscine de combustible usé. Il s’agit du combustible MOX, ce qui signifie que les tiges qui contenait du plutonium sont endommagées.
Cette grue s’est effondrée il y a deux semaines. Le gouvernement japonais et TEPCO ont menti à ce sujet, sachant très bien que ce seul incident aurait déclenché une catastrophe nucléaire aussi grave que Tchernobyl. Les gouvernements et les banquiers ne veulent pas de panique. Le Nikkei, Dow Jones, et le maintien de la corruption du système État-nation sont plus importants que la vie humaine.
Ce qui se passe à Fukushima
La centrale nucléaire de Fukushima 1 préoccupe particulièrement les autorités de sûreté nucléaire depuis le séisme du vendredi 11 mars. Plusieurs explosions ont endommagé les réacteurs et provoqué des rejets de matières radioactives dans l'air. LEXPRESS.fr fait le point.
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.
EPA To Change Radiation PAGS?!?
In the wake of the continuing nuclear tragedy in Japan, the United States government is still moving quickly to increase the amounts of radiation the population can “safely” absorb by raising the safe zone for exposure to levels designed to protect the government and nuclear industry more than human life.
It’s all about cutting costs now as the infinite-growth paradigm sputters and moves towards extinction. As has been demonstrated by government conduct in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of Deepwater Horizon and in Japan, life has taken a back seat to cost-cutting and public relations posturing.
The game plan now appears to be to protect government and the nuclear industry from “excessive costs”… at any cost.
Protective Action Guides , or PAGs as they are called by the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ), are used to enforce the law following any incident involving the release of radioactive material. If there were a dirty bomb attack in America or nuclear meltdown, how would the EPA interpret the Clean Water Act? How would it interpret a whole suite of laws that impact upon our food, water and soil? As with the incredibly toxic pollution which has claimed many lives of 9-11 responders, the sole decision about what is safe is an administrative EPA process shielded from public scrutiny.
In 1992, the EPA produced a PAGs manual that answers many of these questions. But now an update to the 1992 manual is being planned, and if the “Dr. Strangelove” wing of the EPA has its way, here is what it means (brace yourself for these ludicrous increases):
- A nearly 1000-fold increase for exposure to strontium-90;
- A 3000 to 100,000-fold hike for exposure to iodine-131; and
- An almost 25,000 rise for exposure to radioactive nickel-63.i
The new radiation guidelines would also allow long-term cleanup thresholds thousands of times more lax than anything EPA has ever judged safe in the past. Under long-established EPA policy, in conformity with long-accepted international standards on “acceptable” amounts of radiation these proposed changes would increase the permissible amounts of radiation to levels where 25% of those exposed to these “new acceptable levels” would develop cancer based on the EPA’s own numbers.ii
EPA Set To Increase Radioactive Release Guidelines! This Must Be Stopped! - PAGs
These changes were talked about BEFORE the Fukushima nuclear disaster. They have now become much more important!
Group warns EPA ready to increase radioactive release guidelines
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110316/NEWS08/110316027/1969/NEWS/...
FALLOUT - Emails of EPA officials
http://theintelhub.com/2011/03/28/fallout/
http://www.collapsenet.com/free-resources/collapsenet-public-access/it......
PEER
http://peer.org
Committee To Bridge The Gap
http://www.committeetobridgethegap.org/
URGENT - USA / EU Radiation and Jetstream Forecast - UPDATE - March 26, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JDNJEW8MJs
Radiation particles from Fukushima reach the Azores
Webmaster's Commentary:
Okay BBC; now it is in your backyard!
Radiation Detected In 12 U.S. States
EPA Admits to Traces of Japan radioactivity in US rain
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Traces of radioactivity from damaged nuclear power facilities in Japan have been detected in rainwater in the northeast United States, but pose no health risks, officials said.
The Environmental Protection Agency, in an update Sunday, said it had received reports of "elevated levels of radiation in recent precipitation events" in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and that it was "reviewing this data."
Japan copes with 21st-century dark age
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014616863_quakenergy28.html
TOKYO — The first pitch of Japan's baseball season has been pushed back so people don't waste gasoline driving to games. When the season does start, most night games will be switched to daytime so as not to squander electricity. There will be no extra innings.
Tokyo's iconic electronic billboards have been switched off. Trash is piling up in many northern cities because garbage trucks don't have gasoline. Public buildings go unheated. Factories are closed, in large part because of rolling blackouts and because employees can't drive to work with empty tanks.
This is what happens when a 21st-century, technologically sophisticated country runs critically low on energy. The March 11 earthquake and tsunami have thrust much of Japan into an unaccustomed dark age that could drag on for up to a year.
"It is dark enough to be a little scary. ... To my generation, it is unthinkable to have a shortage of electricity," said Naoki Takano, 25, a pony-tailed salesman at Tower Records in Tokyo's Shibuya district, normally infused by neon lights.
The store has switched off its elevators and a big screen that used to play music videos late into the night, a situation Takano expects to last until summer.
Japan's energy crisis is taking place on two fronts: The explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear compound and the shutdown of other nuclear plants owned by Tokyo Electric Power have reduced the supply of electricity to the capital by nearly 30 percent.
Nine oil refineries also were damaged, including one in Chiba, near Tokyo, which burned spectacularly, creating shortages of gasoline and heating oil. Gasoline lines in the northern part of Honshu, Japan's main island, extend for miles. About 30 percent of gas stations in the Tokyo area are closed because they have nothing to sell.
In the Middle of Hell - 360 Degree Panoramas from Japan
Radiation detected in US rainwater
The low level of radioiodine-131detected in Massachusetts rainwater samples is comparable to the amounts found in California, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Webmaster's Commentary:
But Ann Coulter says radiation is GOOD for you!
(Ahem)
The media appears to be focusing on the iodine because that is the isotope with the shortest half life and also the one that is easiest (cheapest) to deal with. But there are other materials from the reactor which are longer lasting, such as cesium-37 and strontium-90, and harder to remove from the body. Plutonium, being an alpha emitter, is very hard to detect and harmless outside the body. But a single particle inhaled into the lungs will remain, constantly irradiating the unprotected tissues, until cancer results. Plutonium can also decay into far more deadly materials after it has been in your soil and water for a while. Plutonium-241 can decay into Americium-241, which is a gamma-ray emitter.
Fukushima: Crane Collapses onto Fuel Rods
At 1:45, the newscaster states that a crane collapsed onto the fuel rods. This is MOX fuel, meaning they damaged rods that contained plutonium.
Plutonium Detected In Soil At Fukushima Nuclear Plant
Plutonium has been detected in soil at five locations at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday.
The operator of the nuclear complex said that the plutonium is believed to have been discharged from nuclear fuel at the plant, which was damaged by the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
3 types of plutonium detected at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant
Three types of plutonium have turned up amid the radioactive contamination on the grounds of the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, its owner reported Monday.
The plutonium is a byproduct of nuclear reactions that is also part of the fuel mix at the damaged No. 3 reactor.
It was found in soil at five different points inside the plant grounds, the Tokyo Electric Power Company said late Monday.
Plutonium can be a serious health hazard if inhaled or ingested, but external exposure poses little health risk, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Webmaster's Commentary:
Be nice if they told us which ones!
Japan Radiation May Be Spreading In Seawater
Workers discovered new pools of radioactive water leaking from Japan's crippled nuclear complex, officials said Monday, as emergency crews struggled to pump out hundreds of tons of contaminated water and bring the plant back under control.
Officials believe the contaminated water has sent radioactivity levels soaring at the coastal complex and caused more radiation to seep into soil and seawater. Crews also found traces of plutonium in the soil outside of the complex on Monday, but officials insisted there was no threat to public health.
Webmaster's Commentary:
"Crews also found traces of plutonium in the soil outside of the complex on Monday, but officials insisted there was no threat to public health."
Hmmm....
And only yesterday TEPCO was saying they could not detect any plutonium!!!
TEPCO, your pants are on fire!
Fukushima Meltdown – From Bad To Worse
Officials have admitted a partial meltdown has taken place in reactor #2 as problems with all 4 reactors are anticipated to worsen.
Radioactive plutonium has been found in the soil around the Fukushima nuclear power plant signifying how this situation has gone from bad to worse.
The problems at this point are overwhelming the emergency reactor workers including flooding of the reactor buildings with radioactive water 100,000 times or more above normal levels.
The flooding water from the reactor buildings is now pushing free flowing radioactive water into the Pacific ocean threatening sea life and human health.
Plutonium Found In Soil Around Japanese Nuclear Power Plant
How Dangerous is the Plutonium from the Japanese Nuclear Plant?
MSNBC reports that plutonium has been found in soil around the Fukushima plant:
The Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the plant, said it found three radioactive isotopes of plutonium — plutonium 238, 239 and 240 — in five locations outside the plant in soil tests on March 21-22.
NHK tv notes that a giant crane fell over and probably crushed spent fuel rods at in Fukushima reactor number 3, which contain a plutonium-uranium mix.
CNN points out:
Plutonium can be a serious health hazard if inhaled or ingested, but external exposure poses little health risk, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
As the Argonne National Laboratory notes:
Essentially all the plutonium on earth has been created within the past six decades by human activities involving fissionable materials.
***
Atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, which ceased worldwide by 1980, generated most environmental plutonium. About 10,000 kg were released to the atmosphere during these tests.
Average plutonium levels in surface soil from fallout range from about 0.01 to 0.1 picocurie per gram (pCi/g).
Accidents and other releases from weapons production facilities have caused greater localized contamination.
So like radioactive cesium and iodide - which I discussed yesterday - plutonium doesn't exist in nature in any significant quantity, and so "background radiation" is a meaningless concept.
Plutonium stays radioactive for a long time. Pu-238 has an 88-year half-life, Pu-239 has a 24,000-year half-life, and Pu-240 has a 6,500-year half life.
As I noted yesterday, "internal emitters" (radioactive substances which get inside our bodies) are more dangerous than "external emitters". Plutonium is not that dangerous as an external emitter, but deadly as an internal emitter.
As Argone National Labs notes:
When plutonium is inhaled, a significant fraction can move from the lungs through the blood to other organs, depending on the solubility of the compound. Little plutonium (about 0.05%) is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract after ingestion, and little is absorbed through the skin following dermal contact. After leaving the intestine or lung, about 10% clears the body. The rest of what enters the bloodstream deposits about equally in the liver and skeleton where it remains for long periods of time, with biological retention halflives of about 20 and 50 years, respectively, per simplified models that do not reflect intermediate redistribution. The amount deposited in the liver and skeleton depends on the age of the individual, with fractional uptake in the liver increasing with age. Plutonium in the skeleton deposits on the cortical and trabecular surfaces of bones and slowly redistributes throughout the volume of mineral bone with time.
Plutonium generally poses a health hazard only if it is taken into the body because all isotopes except plutonium-241 decay by emitting an alpha particle, and the beta particle emitted by plutonium-241 is of low energy. Minimal gamma radiation is associated with these radioactive decays. However, there is an external gamma radiation hazard associated with plutonium-244 from it short-lived decay product neptunium-240m. Inhaling airborne plutonium is the primary concern for all isotopes, and cancer resulting from the ionizing radiation is the health effect of concern. The ingestion hazard associated with common forms of plutonium is much lower than the inhalation hazard because absorption into the body after ingestion is quite low. Laboratory studies with experimental animals have shown that exposure to high levels of plutonium can cause decreased life spans, diseases of the respiratory tract, and cancer. The target tissues in those animals were the lungs and associated lymph nodes, liver, and bones.
NPR claims:
Although plutonium is a long-lived emitter of radiation, it is also quite heavy, so it is not likely to move very far downwind from its source.
However, plutonium from Chernobyl has been discovered in Sweden and Poland.
So plutonium might be heavier than other radioactive materials, but it is not so heavy that it can't travel hundreds of miles in the right circumstances.
Highly radioactive water spreads at Japan plant
Highly radioactive water has leaked from a reactor turbine building at a stricken nuclear plant in Japan, the operator said Monday, adding to fears the liquid is seeping into the environment.
The water, found in an underground tunnel linked to the number two reactor at the Fukushima plant, showed a radiation reading of more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour, a Tokyo Electric Power official told reporters.
There is estimated to be several thousand cubic metres of water inside the tunnel.
"We need to check if the water could flow directly into the sea," he said.
Each reactor turbine building is connected to a maintenance tunnel large enough for workers to walk through.
In the case of the reactor two tunnel, the water has risen to within one metre (three feet) of the top of a 15.9-metre access shaft which is located 55 metres from the sea, raising concerns it could overflow.
Levels of radioactive iodine some 1,850 times the legal limit were reported Sunday several hundred metres offshore, but officials ruled out an immediate threat to marine life and seafood safety.
Radiation of more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour was earlier found in water in the turbine building of the number two reactor, delaying urgent work to restore the cooling systems and bring the facility back under control.
The exposure limit set by the government for workers at the tsunami-stricken plant is 250 millisieverts per year. A single dose of 1,000 millisieverts can cause temporary radiation sickness, including nausea and vomiting.
Workers are trying to pinpoint the exact source of the radioactive water leak, but there are concerns that fuel rod vessels or their valves and pipes are damaged.
Meanwhile, new readings showed ocean contamination had spread about a mile (1.6 kilometers) farther north of the nuclear site than before but is still within the 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius of the evacuation zone. Radioactive iodine-131 was discovered offshore at a level 1,150 times higher than normal, Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told reporters.
JAPAN NOW ADMITTING MELTDOWN AT FUKUSHIMA
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171996.html
Tension grows in the Tokyo metropolis. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has now admitted that a partial meltdown has taken place at one of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, and this is a cause of the relatively high levels of radiation escaping from the plant. Critics have been pouncing on the sluggish communications from the government.
Japan nuclear crisis: Pool of radioactive water found OUTSIDE Fukushima Daiichi plant
Workers trying to prevent a total meltdown at a Japanese nuclear power plant suffered another setback Monday when they found a pool of highly radioactive water leaking from the crippled facility.
"The trench is located outside the building and the water contains radioactive materials," Hiro Hasegawa, a spokesman for the Tokyo Electric Power Co., told The Daily Telegraph of London.
"There is normally no water found in this area."
Webmaster's Commentary:
It is time to face reality. It has been repeatedly reported over the last few weeks that the reactor cores are breached and containment is breached. Then the next day we get the official denial and assurances all is well and we should go back to paying taxes and breeding soldiers, then the day after we learn that yes indeed, things are as bad as we first suspected while the media castigates those of us reporting the truth as "fear mongers."
Conditions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are deteriorating and the doomsday scenario is beginning to unfold. On Sunday, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) officials reported that the levels of radiation leaking into seawater at the Unit 2 reactor were 100,000 times above normal, and the airborne radiation measured 4-times higher than government limits. As a result, emergency workers were evacuated from the plant and rushed to safe location. The prospect of a full-core meltdown or an environmental catastrophe of incalculable magnitude now looms larger than ever. The crisis is getting worse.
So, volatile radioactive elements are already being lofted into the jet stream and spread across continents. What's different here is that the quantities are much larger than they were at Chernobyl, thus, the dangers are far greater. According to the same group of scientists "the Fukushima plant has around 1760 tonnes of fresh and used nuclear fuel on site" (while) "the Chernobyl reactor had only 180 tonnes." The troubles at one nuclear facility now pose a direct threat to humans and other species everywhere. Is this what Obama meant when he called nuclear power, "Safe and green?"
This from CNN:
"Authorities in Japan raised the prospect Friday of a likely breach in the all-important containment vessel of the No. 3 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a potentially ominous development in the race to prevent a large-scale release of radiation."
And this from the New York Times:
"A senior nuclear executive who insisted on anonymity but has broad contacts in Japan said that there was a long vertical crack running down the side of the reactor vessel itself. The crack runs down below the water level in the reactor and has been leaking fluids and gases, he said....
"There is a definite, definite crack in the vessel — it's up and down and it's large," he said. "The problem with cracks is they do not get smaller." (Thanks to Washington's Blog)
So, there's a breach in the containment vessel and radioactive material is being released into the sea killing fish and marine life and turning the coastal waters into a nuclear wasteland. This is from the Kyodo News:
"Adding to the woes is the increasing level of contamination in the sea near the plant....Radioactive iodine-131 at a concentration 1,850.5 times the legal limit was detected in a seawater sample taken Saturday around 330 meters south of the plant, near a drainage outlet of the four troubled reactors, compared with 1,250.8 times the limit found Friday, the agency said.
Nishiyama told a press conference in the morning that he cannot deny the possibility that radioactive materials are continuing to be released into the sea. He said later that the water found at the basement of the turbine buildings is unlikely to have flowed into the sea, causing contamination." ("Woes deepen over radioactive water at nuke plant", Kyodo News)
Predictably, the media has switched into full "BP Oil Spill-mode", making every effort to minimize the disaster and to soothe the public with half-truths and disinformation. The goal is to conceal the scale of the catastrophe and protect the nuclear industry. It's another case of profits over people. Still, the truth is available for those who are willing to sift through the lies. Radiation has turned up in the Tokyo water supply, imports of milk, vegetable and fruit from four prefectures in the vicinity of Fukushima have been banned, and the evacuation zone around the plant has widened to an 18 mile radius.
Also, monitors have detected tiny radioactive particles which have spread from the reactor site across the Pacific to North America, the Atlantic and Europe...According to Reuters: "It's only a matter of days before it disperses in the entire northern hemisphere," said Andrea Stahl, a senior scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research."
Here's more from Brian Moench, MD:
"Administration spokespeople continuously claim "no threat" from the radiation reaching the US from Japan, just as they did with oil hemorrhaging into the Gulf. Perhaps we should all whistle "Don't worry, be happy" in unison. A thorough review of the science, however, begs a second opinion.
That the radiation is being released 5,000 miles away isn't as comforting as it seems.... Every day, the jet stream carries pollution from Asian smoke stacks and dust from the Gobi Desert to our West Coast, contributing 10 to 60 percent of the total pollution breathed by Californians, depending on the time of year. Mercury is probably the second most toxic substance known after plutonium. Half the mercury in the atmosphere over the entire US originates in China. It, too, is 5,000 miles away. A week after a nuclear weapons test in China, iodine 131 could be detected in the thyroid glands of deer in Colorado, although it could not be detected in the air or in nearby vegetation." (Washington's Blog)
The smoldering Fukushima hulk is a perpetual death machine poisoning everything around it--sea, sky and soil. Here's a clip from the Collin's article:
"...The soil contamination is really high. Soil found 40 kilometers away.... the levels on the soil were very high—in fact, a thousand times iodine, 4,000 times the cesium standard. And we just got a report from the Kyoto Research Reactor Institute, Dr. Tetsuji Imanaka, that said that—he had to look a little bit more into the sampling of the Japanese government, but depending on how the sampling was done, this level of contamination in the soil could be twice the amount that was compulsory evacuation for Chernobyl. Aileen Mioko Smith, March 24 (thanks to Michael Collins "They said it wasn't like Chernobyl and they were wrong")
Twice as high as Chernobyl already, and the disaster is likely to persist for months to come. Things are getting worse, much worse.
The Japanese government has been downplaying the crisis to make it look like they have matters under control, but it's all a sham. They control nothing. The rescue mission has been a flop from the get-go and now things are at a boiling point. The emergency effort has been overtaken by events and now it's a matter of "wait and see". We're approaching zero hour.
So why the cover up? Why is the media trying to soft-peddle the real effects of a nuclear cataclysm? Does the Japanese government really believe they can make things better by tweaking their public relations strategy? They should focus on saving lives and abandon "perception management" altogether. This is from the Union of Concerned Scientists website:
"Our assessment is that the Japanese government is squandering the opportunity to initiate an orderly evacuation from larger areas around the site–especially of sensitive populations, like children and pregnant women. It is potentially wasting valuable time by not undertaking a larger scale evacuation at this time."
The Japanese government is trying to protect the powerful nuclear lobby. The same is true of Obama, who continues to promote nuclear energy even while radiation belches from battered Fukushima. He's not thinking about the public; he's thinking about the deep pocket constituents who fill his campaign coffers.
Japanese workers are putting their lives on the line to regain control of the broken facility, but with little success. The probability of another fire, another monstrous explosion, or a full-core meltdown increases by the day. The Fukushima fiasco is gaining pace putting tens of thousands of people at risk of thyroid cancer, childhood leukemia and other life-threatening ailments.
On Saturday, Japan's prime minister, Naoto Kan, said the situation at the Fukushima nuclear plant was ''serious''. That might be the understatement of the century.
Caesium fallout from Fukushima rivals Chernobyl
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20305-caesium-fallout-from-fukushima-rivals-chernobyl.html
Radioactive caesium and iodine has been deposited in northern Japan far from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, at levels that were considered highly contaminated after Chernobyl.
The readings were taken by the Japanese science ministry, MEXT, and reveal high levels of caesium-137 and iodine-131 outside the 30-kilometre evacuation zone, mostly to the north-north-west.
Iodine-131, with a half-life of eight days, should disappear in a matter of weeks. The bigger worry concerns caesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years and could pose a health threat for far longer. Just how serious that will be depends on where it lands, and whether remediation measures are possible.
The US Department of Energy has been surveying the area with an airborne gamma radiation detector. It reports that most of the "elevated readings" are within 40 kilometres of the plant, but that "an area of greater radiation extending north-west… may be of interest to public safety officials".
Caesium contamination
An analysis of MEXT's data by New Scientist shows just how elevated the levels are. After the 1986 Chernobyl accident, the most highly contaminated areas were defined as those with over 1490 kilobecquerels (kBq) of caesium per square metre. Produce from soil with 550 kBq/m2 was destroyed.
People living within 30 kilometres of the plant have evacuated or been advised to stay indoors. Since 18 March, MEXT has repeatedly found caesium levels above 550 kBq/m2 in an area some 45 kilometres wide lying 30 to 50 kilometres north-west of the plant. The highest was 6400 kBq/m2, about 35 kilometres away, while caesium reached 1816 kBq/m2 in Nihonmatsu City and 1752 kBq/m2 in the town of Kawamata, where iodine-131 levels of up to 12,560 kBq/m2 have also been measured. "Some of the numbers are really high," says Gerhard Proehl, head of assessment and management of environmental releases of radiation at the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Japan's radiation reaches Tampa Bay
It took two weeks, traveling thousands of miles, but officials confirm radiation from Japan's nuclear disaster has now reached our area.
Similar findings have been reported at all three nuclear power plants in Florida. Each is equipped with super-sensitive monitoring equipment.
After Almost Two Weeks Media Reveals Nuclear Radiation Detected In College Campus Ventilation System
The general public must currently feel like they are living in the days of the pony express. One story after the next reveals that Japan nuclear radiation hit over a week ago.
Now the Seattle weekly revels University of Washington Scientists have been detecting radiation from Japan since Match 18th in the campus air filtration system. There seems to be no concern for the public to make their own decisions about the whether or not they CHOOSE to be exposed, just the people behind the scenes saying we'll let them know when we feel fit.
Fukushima fallout reaches Iceland.
Radiation from the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, has been detected in the atmosphere in Iceland. Iceland is the first European country where traces of radiation have been found after the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan.
Webmaster's Commentary:
No, Portgual announced they detected fallout yesterday.
Nuclear power report: 14 'near misses' at US plants due to 'lax oversight'
The report, the first in what the UCS expects will become an annual study, details both successes and failures by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which it calls "the cop on the beat." Charged with overseeing America's fleet of 104 nuclear reactors, the NRC made some "outstanding catches," but was also inconsistent in its oversight, seeming at times to nod off when most needed.
Webmaster's Commentary:
This is becoming an epidemic. SEC turns a blind eye to Bernie Madoff for 12 years, to Wall Street as a whole during the entire Mortgage-Backed Securities Fraud, MMS dropped the ball with safety oversight of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. The Bureau of Mine Safety was lax leading up to the mine disaster of early 2010. The FEC simply refuses to investigate vote fraud in the USA. On and on and on the machinery of government intended to protect the population has been shut down or hamstrung, and always in the name of higher profits. In every major disaster from Challenger to Chernobyl to Deepwater Horizon to Fukushima to the above near-misses, it always comes down to some business executive making the decision to not spend the money on the very safety system that would have averted the disaster, coupled with government that looks the other way while accepting the next campaign donation. It is the overarching quest for profit, not the underlying technology, that is the enemy of all humankind.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has also voiced frustration at Tepco’s bunker mentality. Japanese newspapers reported that Kan visited Shimizu before dawn at the start of the crisis and later, upon learning that the company might withdraw its last workers from the smoldering nuclear plant, shouted, “What the hell is going on?” Since then, however, the prime minister himself has mostly dropped from view and officials have stopped criticizing Tepco.
Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Owner May Avoid All Liability for Nuclear Accident
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/business/global/30tepco.html?_r=1&src=busln
Despite extremely questionable design engineering that saved Tokyo Power and Electric many millions of dollars, but ignored the threat of a major tsunami, the company may not be liable for any damages resulting from its Fukuskima Daiichii nuclear power plant disaster.
According to Paul J. Scalise, a former financial analyst, who is writing a book on Japan’s electric power system, under Japanese law governing compensation for nuclear damage, companies are liable for the cost of all nuclear accidents resulting from reactor operations except when the accidents are provoked by a “grave natural disaster of an exceptional nature or by an insurrection.” The company might plausibly seek to avoid liability altogether within that definition, he said, according to NYT.
TOKYO — Japanese lawmakers publicly debated nationalizing the Tokyo Electric Power Company on Tuesday, as there seemed no end in sight to the problems at the company’s crippled nuclear power plant.
The prime minister’s office said the government was not considering a takeover of Tokyo Electric “at the moment.” But the plunging stock price indicated investors were abandoning hope that the company could cope with the cost of its rebuilding and the potential liabilities from its nuclear disaster.
The share price plunged an additional 19 percent Tuesday with virtually no buyers, and trading was suspended by an automatic stop.
Voices from the Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident 1979
A collection of voices from press conferences, radio shows and interviews after the accident at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania, on March 28, 1979.
Radiation Worker With Over 20 Years Of Experience on Japan Nuclear Disaster
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