Japanese Diplomat: “Worsening situation” at Fukushima Daiichi — 40+ more years of radiation contamination coming out of plant may have sizeable effects in neighboring countries

http://enenews.com/japan-diplomat-worsening-situation-at-fukushima-daiichi-at-least-40-more-years-of-radiation-contamination-coming-from-plant-may-have-sizeable-effects-in-neighboring-countries

August 20th, 2012
By ENENews

Title: Fukushima Needs a Hero: Responsibility and Democracy in Japan
Author: Akio Matsumura
Date: August 20, 2012

[…]

I have growing concerns about the management of the national crisis where the central government, local government, TEPCO and media have barriers to speak out about the worsening situation [See also: Fukushima Nuclear Situation Deteriorating].

[…]

On the other end of the spectrum, in age at least, are the three girls of Soma High School who staged a play about the suicide of a friend in the wake of the accident. Young colleagues in the United States, calling themselves Friends of Fukushima, admired their courage and created English captions that allowed it to be watched around the world.

Friends of Fukushima has been offered by their friends in Pakistan, Germany, France and others to translate it into their languages. In democratic countries, those old enough are able to express our opinions with our vote. If you’re too young, this opportunity—the focal point of democracy—is lost. However, YouTube provided a place to grieve and call for something different. Their message was of despair tinged with hope. It is hard for me to understand why Soma High School had YouTube remove the video. (They claim there is a copyright issue). They should be encouraging their students’ brave messages, not censoring them.

It is fundamental issue for democracy that the freedom of speech for those too young to vote is guaranteed.

Mr. Yamada is a hero of the older generation. The three actresses are heroines of the young. I am ashamed that those in the middle generation, those who have the power to tackle the largest issues, are weak, cowering behind the excuse of a stoic culture. Hiding in the anonymity of bureaucracy. Bowing to an unshakeable status quo. Fearing for their careers and reputation while their country’s health is at stake.

Fukushima needs a hero. Where are the champions of this current generation?

[…]

Here is my impressions and memory of the play.

3 girls are talking about normal interests but the dynamics of the girls personalities change throughout.. the play move into the darker side of their existence and they then start talking about the issues except one girl who is more playful and animated, she ignores the conversation at annoyance of the other two.

Eventually, the lively happy girl succumbs to the conversation and joins in.. much to the surprise of the other two girls. she then makes a good breakdown of the tragedy and then the school bell rings for home time..

The other two girls then make to leave and the lively girl says she needs to sort through her bag and for them to go on..

The two girls leave and the lights dim, the child slowly transforms and becomes slower and slumped.. she sits down and says a few sad words.. end of scene..

The new scene opens with the three chairs and the two girls occupying two of them. the third chair has flowers on it.

The two remaining girls start a conversation about why there friend committed suicide. they had some guilt about they way they treated her but the conversation was about her normal behaviour before and then as the conversation deepened they realised that she had a more difficult time because of the disaster than they had realised.

This summary from memory is as close as i could get.. it was a very powerful and emotive play.. i have not seen anything with that much power. the girls acting was superb and the script and concept were worthy of great acclaim. frankly i didnt think i would see anything any where near as good from a school play. well i was wrong! i am sorry that i can not provide links to this play but the ones i have are now dead links.

Here is the summary that came with the video

Continue reading →

August 23, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Nuclear Chief: Belgium reactor could have ’1,000s of cracks’ — Same as used at U.S. plants — Suggests permanent closure all but certain

http://enenews.com/nuclear-chief-belgium-reactor-could-1000s-cracks-suggests-permanent-closure-all

Published: August 21st, 2012 at 4:55 pm ET 
By ENENews

Title: Nuclear chief says Belgium reactor could have ‘thousands of cracks’
Source: Power Engineering International
Author: Diarmaid Williams
Date: Aug 17, 2012

“…The cracks, which possibly date back to the reactor’s construction some 40 years ago, were discovered using ultra-sound during inspections in June and July…”

August 22, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

3 additional radioactive isotopes detected in latest sinkhole sample — Over 80 picocuries per kilogram of radium (PHOTOS)

http://enenews.com/3-radioactive-isotopes-detected-latest-sinkhole-sample-sinkhole

Published: August 21st, 2012 at 8:37 pm ET 
By ENENews 

“…

ARS Data – radiological (NORM) results for 1 water sample collected near the sinkhole
Source: Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Sample Collected:  August 15, 2012
Sample Tested: August 17, 2012
Results Published: August 21, 2012

There are 6 isotopes — not besides Potassium-40 — that are above the minimum detectable concentration (MDC).

• Thallium-208 @ 4.819 pCi/kg*
• Bismuth-214 @ 15.590 pCi/kg
• Lead-214 @ 15.517 pCi/kg
• Radium-226 @ 63.569 pCi/kg*
• Radium-228 @ 18.705 pCi/kg*
• Thorium-228 @ 12.776 pCi/kg

*In the last report from a week ago, only 3 isotopes — Bismuth-214, Lead-214, and Thorium-228 — were detected….”

August 22, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Nuclear Reactor Unprepared For Global Warming

Published on Aug 15, 2012 by SamSeder

From the Majority Report, live M-F 12 noon EST and via daily podcast at http://Majority.FM:
What happens when the water used to cool off a nuclear plant becomes too hot because of well, let’s see…I don’t know…global warming?

this video describes manipulation of averaging the temperature..
and more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1EB5jRwjmY

August 21, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Radiation – 1 cancer per 2,500 person-rem, sez UC-Berkeley physics professor, relying on linear, no-threshold extrapolation model

Link to headline

http://news.nuclear.com/index.php/radiation-1-cancer-per-2

Annual background radiation in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province

Background: Measurement of background radiation is very important from different points of view especially for human health. The aim of this survey was focused on determining the current background radiation in one of the highest altitude regions ( Zagros Mountains ), Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, in the south west of Iran .

Materials and Methods: The outdoors-environmental monitoring exposure rate of radiation was measured in 200 randomly chosen regions using portable Geiger-Muller and Scintillation detectors. Eight measurements were made for each region and an average value was used to calculate the exposure rate from natural background radiation.

Results: The exposure dose rate was found to be 28.4 m Rh^-1 and the annual average effective equivalent dose was found to be 0.49 mSv. An overall population weighted average outdoor dose rate was calculated to be 49 nGyh^-1, which is higher than the world-wide mean value of
44 nGyh^-1 and is comparable to the annual effective equivalent dose of 0.38 mSv.

Conclusion: A good correlation between the altitude and the exposure rate was observed, as the higher altitude regions have higher natural background radiation levels. Iran . J. Radiat. Res.; 2003; 1(2): 87 – 91….”

And while they looked for the causes of cancer in the below study they found two main contributing (alleged) factors, consanguineous marriage and altitude/radiation exposure.

http://www.ijrr.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-12&slc_lang=en&sid=1&sw=radiation

Pancreatic Cancer: State of the Art and
Current Situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Govaresh\ Vol. 14, No.3, Autumn 2009; 189-197

“…Most of these provinces
including Khorasan, Hormozgan, Chaharmahal
and Bakhtiari, Ilam, and Kohkiloueh and
Boyerahmad are among the provinces with high
rate of consanguineous marriage in Iran (12,13).
Other environmental factors may also be
associated with the higher rate of pancreatic
cancer in these provinces as Chaharmahal and
Bakhtiari and Kohkiloueh and Boyerahmad are
two provinces close to each other in the
surrounds of Zagros mountain range. People
living in these two provinces have many cultural
characteristics and behavioral habits in common…”

http://www.iagh.org/Portals/44fa7561-56f7-47e4-a228-477ca071e439/Volume%2014,%20Number%203,%20Autumn%202009/Sufferlin-14-3-4.pdf

an interesting study as the west is generally looking at alcohol as the main cause now because the “virus” theory has no proof after 20 years..

example of western approach to research

A quantitative assay for assessing the effects of DNA lesions on transcription

“..Affiliations

1. Department of Chemistry, University of California–Riverside, Riverside, California, USA.

   • Changjun You,
   • Xiaoxia Dai,
   • Bifeng Yuan,
   • Jin Wang,
   • Jianshuang Wang &
   • Yinsheng Wang

2. Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, Maryland, USA.

   • Philip J Brooks…….”

NOTE : there is no research into radiation causing cancers this year as Prof C Busby nor any independent researcher is getting any funding.. and the budget has tripled this year for R and D in cancer.. Arclight

August 21, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Forest near Fukushima nuclear plant turning into high-radiation jungle via The Mainichi

August 17, 2012(Mainichi Japan)

“…Contaminated materials from the mountains reach inhabited areas, rivers and the sea, so decontamination of the mountains is necessary. But we know better than anyone that it’s hard to get far into the mountains where there are no paths, and there’s no way you can wash down every tree and dig up the soil,” he says.

“What are we going to do about the mountains that are becoming overgrown? As residents start to return, that worries me,” he says…”

“…Radiation readings near the saplings struggling to get sunlight were a little over 40 microsieverts per hour. After just one day in the area, a person would be exposed to more than the government’s designated yearly limit of 1 millisievert.

Facing the mountain, Akimoto lowered his head as he spoke to the saplings.

“I’m sorry that the readings are so high. I’m sorry that I can’t do anything.”…”

“…If trees wither, then the ground becomes unstable, making landslides and flash floods more likely. Akimoto, who has spent time in forests for over 40 years as a worker for the Fukushima Prefecture village of Kawauchi, has many times witnessed disastrous scenes when people have abandoned forests. Now, radiation is also a problem.

“Contaminated materials from the mountains reach inhabited areas, rivers and the sea, so decontamination of the mountains is necessary. But we know better than anyone that it’s hard to get far into the mountains where there are no paths, and there’s no way you can wash down every tree and dig up the soil,” he says…..”

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/features/news/20120817p2a00m0na015000c.html

August 21, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Movie that examined nuclear risks draws new audience via the Asahi Shimbun

(This article was written by Akira Nakamura and Tatsuro Sakata.)

“…SENDAI–Can one predict disasters? A documentary film that some consider did so is showing again in cinemas across Japan.

“Ashita ga Kieru: Doshite Genpatsu?” (Tomorrow is disappearing: Why the nuclear plant?) examines the risks from nuclear-plant radiation. It was made 22 years before the triple meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The movie follows a housewife who seeks answers after the death of her father, a nuclear power plant engineer. She visits people related to the nuclear industry and questions them.

Moviegoers feel it strikes a chord, but the cast and crew report mixed emotions….”

“…

Makiko Kasai lost her father to bone cancer in 1984. He was a thermal insulation engineer. He worked on the piping around nuclear reactors, and had been involved in construction and inspections at most of Japan’s nuclear plants. He was 52 when he died.

The 26-year-old Kasai found a book in her father’s study which described the effects of radiation exposure.

She discussed it with her mother and found that they shared suspicions over the cancer.

Troubled by the possible connection, Kasai wrote a letter to The Asahi Shimbun for publication.

“Whenever my father saw newspaper and television reports about anti-nuclear power protests he would insist: ‘Nuclear plants are safe,’ ” she wrote.

She recalled the broken look on his face as he was admitted to hospital. “I guess I may never be able to return to this house,” he said….”

“…After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster Hirakata became determined to use the big screen to spread awareness of the risks of nuclear power.

He approached the then 26-year-old Kasai. She agreed to take part, on condition that the movie respected her father’s work. She was anxious not to dishonor his contribution to Japan’s power plants.

Shooting began, and the production team followed her across Japan. She visited nuclear plants, interviewed workers, and probed their feelings about radiation exposure.

In Fukushima Prefecture a doctor examining nuclear-plant workers confirmed Kasai’s suspicions: radiation exposure was, he said, the likely cause of her father’s cancer…”

“…Since the March 2011 disaster, the documentary has been screened at 20 or more locations.

Official inquiries have accused Tokyo Electric Power Co. and state nuclear regulators of complacency and mismanagement.

In light of this, one movie scene resonates particularly strongly.

An ex-engineer describes his work helping to design the plant’s No. 4 reactor. He alleges there were defects in its construction, which were then covered up.

Looking back, the movie director says he feels helpless.

“I have a sense of resignation that the film didn’t do any good,” Hirakata said….”

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/cool_japan/movies/AJ201208210035

August 21, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Health Risks of Nuclear Power: Report

June 17 2012

“…Assessment of nuclear health risks proves to be a complicated and multilayered issue. The first layer concerns the technical aspects and empirical observations. The second layer comprises the views and perspective of the nuclear industry and the information flow on nuclear matters to the public and to decision makers. The third layer concerns the relationship between health risks and common economic views….”

“…

Starting point of this study is formed the following observations:

•  The generation of nuclear energy irrevocably goes together with the generation of immense amounts of human-made radioactivity.
• Radioactivity cannot be destroyed.
• Radioactivity cannot be made harmless to humans.

Nuclear power involves the mobilization of naturally occurring radioactivity and the generation of human-made radioactivity, a billionfold of the mobilized natural radioactivity. Each reactor of 1 GWe power generates each year as much radioactivity as 1000 exploded nuclear weapons (Hiroshima bombs).
Nuclear health risks are posed by the spread of radioactive substances into the environment. Non-radioactive substances posing health risks are not included in this study to limit its scope….”

“…Furthermore there is strong empirical evidence that damage also occurs in cells not directy hit by radiation: the so-called non-targeted and delayed effects (e.g. the bystander effect), via unknown mechanisms. Adverse health effects from low radiation doses might be far more serious than previously assumed on the basis of the classic dose-effect models….”

“…

The pathways of tritium and carbon-14 into the human body via drinking water and the food chain are briefly discussed. The biomedical effects of these two biochemically very active radionuclides in the human body are not well understood. Both tritium and carbon-14 are released on daily routine basis in large quantities by nuclear power plants, spent fuel storage facilities and reprocessing plants, under nominal operating conditions.

Health risks of nuclear power are exacerbated by the fact that a number of hazardous radionuclides are difficult to detect, such as tritium, carbon-14 and iodine-129. These radionuclides are routinely discharged into the environment.
But also numerous other hazardous radionuclides in scrap and debris, including some actinides, are hard to detect by commonly used radiation detectors and so these radionuclides can easily enter the public domain….”

“…

Information on nuclear matters to the public and politicians originates almost exclusively from institutions with vested interests in nuclear power, for example IAEA, WNA, NEA, NEI, and from the nuclear industry itself, e.g. Areva and EdF.
There are strong connections between the IAEA and UNSCEAR and ICRP and consequently these institutions do not operate independently of each other.

Even the World Health Organization (WHO) cannot operate independently of the IAEA on nuclear matters.

The nuclear industry has a habit of Après nous le déluge by postponing indefinitively the actions required to deal adequately with the human-made radioactivity. The assertion of the World Nuclear Association, representing the Western nuclear industy, that all safety matters are fully under control is in flagrant contradiction to the practice…”

“…

A nuclear reactor discharges significant amounts of radioactivity into the environment, even when operating nominally. Empirical evidence points to seriously adverse health effects of these ‘routine releases’, as mentioned above.

Reprocessing plants are extremely polluting. All gaseous radionuclides from spent fuel are released into the air. A great deal of the chemically mobile radionuclides are released into the sea, along with a significant fraction of the uranium, plutonium and other actinides from the spent fuel. Separation processes never go to completion (a consequence of the Second Law), so unavoidably a fraction of the radionuclides from the spent fuel end up in the waste streams of the reprocessing plant….”

“…

Furthermore the nuclear system hides the potential of severe accidents of extremely large spatial extent and long timescales. Such accidents, which may pale the Chernobyl disaster, are possible even with ‘inherently safe’ reactors (which do not exist). Several scenarios are conceivable, involving nuclear reactors, spent fuel cooling ponds and reprocessing plants. A number of risk enhancing factors are discussed, some technical, other non-technical.

The chances of severe accidents and the magnitude of the imposed health risks increase with time for three reasons:

• rapidly increasing amounts of human-made radioactive materials in mobile state
• unavoidable deterioration of materials and constructions
• increasing economic pressure.

Nuclear facilities are vulnerable to terroristic attacks. Severe accidents could also be initiated by hostile actions in an armed conflict anywhere in the world. The consequences of a Chernobyl- type accident do not stop at our borders.

The use of MOX fuel in civil nuclear reactors poses a great risk for terroristic use of plutonium in primitive but effective bombs….”

http://www.dianuke.org/health-risks-of-nuclear-power/

August 21, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Soybeans Susceptible to Man-Made Materials in Soil

August 21, 2012

“…Researchers contend that manufactured nanomaterials–now popular in consumer products such as shampoos, gels, hair dyes and sunscreens–may be detrimental to the quality and yield of food crops, as reported in a paper in the online edition ofProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences….”

“…

Manufactured nanomaterials are man-made materials produced by manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Their effects on human health and the environment are the subject of much scientific study.

“As MNMs are used more and more in consumer products, there is a higher likelihood that they will end up in wastewater treatment facilities,” said lead researcher John Priester, an environmental scientist at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at University of California, Santa Barbara.

Conventionally-treated wastewater is a primary source of normally nutrient-rich organic materials applied to agricultural soil, and farmers beneficially use this treated water and the biosolids from it as fertilizer. As MNMs become more prevalent, there is concern about MNM buildup in soils and possible MNM entry into the food supply….”

“…

“These results indicate broader risks to the food supply,” the researchers write in the paper. They go on to say the environment could be affected even more since increased synthetic fertilizer would be required to offset lost nitrogen fixation, a process that soybeans and other legumes use to convert atmospheric nitrogen into natural fertilizer.

“These are very significant findings; they highlight the importance of full life-cycle tracking of manufactured nanomaterials in consideration of environmental impacts,” said Alan Tessier, a program director in the National Science Foundation’s Biology Directorate. “If the nanomaterials tested in this paper were to move into the biosolids or irrigation system used in agriculture, they could seriously harm agricultural production.”

“Completely preventing nanomaterials from entering agricultural soils may be difficult,” said Priester. …”

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?org=NSF&cntn_id=125233&preview=false

August 21, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

New laboratory test assesses how DNA damage affects protein synthesis

The chemists report that the method, called “competitive transcription and adduct bypass” or CTAB, can help explain how DNA damage arising from anticancer drugs and environmental chemicals leads to cancer development.

“Aberrant transcription induced by DNA modifications has been proposed as one of the principal inducers of cancer and many other human diseases,” said Yinsheng Wang, a professor of chemistry, whose lab led the research. “CTAB can help us quantitatively determine how a DNA modification diminishes the rate and fidelity of transcription in cells. These are useful to know because they affect how accurately protein is synthesized. In other words, CTAB allows us to assess how DNA damage ultimately impedes protein synthesis, how it induces mutant proteins. ”

Study results appeared online in Nature Chemical Biology on Aug. 19.

Wang explained that the CTAB method can be used also to examine various proteins involved in the repair of DNA. One of his research group’s goals is to understand how DNA damage is repaired — knowledge that could result in the development of new and more effective drugs for cancer treatment.

“This, however, will take more years of research,” Wang cautioned.

Wang was joined in the research by

UC Riverside’s Changjun You (a postdoctoral scholar and the research paper’s first author), Xiaoxia Dai, Bifeng Yuan, Jin Wang and Jianshuang Wang;

Philip J. Brooks of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Md.;

and Laura J. Niedernhofer of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Penn.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-08/uoc–nlt082112.php

August 21, 2012 Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized | Leave a comment