Impact to US West Coast from Fukushima disaster likely larger than anticipated, several reports indicate

Charles Digges, 19/09-2012

The massive release of anthropogenic – or non-naturally occurring radionuclides such as cesium 137 and cesium 134 – by the meltdowns and explosions that rocked Fukushima Daiichi occurred in the five days following the beginning of the accident, according to a new report.

http://www.greenpeace.org

Non-naturally occurring radionuclides from the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant’s triple meltdown last year radioactively contaminated the entire northern hemisphere within days and the US west coast bore a significant brunt of so called hot particles, an independent scientific paper released yesterday claims.

[…]

US government environmental agencies remain mum

In the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima accident, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refused to answer questions or to explain the exact location and number of monitors, or the levels of radiation, if any, being recorded at existing monitors in California, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

On March 21, 2011, the EPA pulled 8 of 18 air monitors in California, Oregon and Washington state that track radiation from Japan’s nuclear reactors out of service for “quality reviews.”

By April, 2011 the EPA had temporarily raised limits for radiation exposure by rewriting its Protective Action Guides (PAGs) to radically increase the allowable levels of iodine-131 by 3,000 times, a 1,000-fold hike for exposure to strontium-90, and a 25,000-fold increase in exposure limits to radioactive Nikel-63.

The EU followed suit by implementing an “emergency” order without informing the public that increased the amount of radiation in food by up to 20 times previous food standards, according to Kopp Online and Xander News. According to EU bylaws, radiation limits may be raised during a nuclear emergency to prevent food shortages.

[…]

CRIIRAD of France tried to warn us though, as did the euractive web-site

Radiation risks from Fukushima ‘no longer negligible’

Published 11 April 2011, updated 12 April 2011

[..]

The risks associated with iodine-131 contamination in Europe are no longer “negligible,” according to CRIIRAD, a French research body on radioactivity. The NGO is advising pregnant women and infants against “risky behaviour,” such as consuming fresh milk or vegetables with large leaves.

[…]

http://www.euractiv.com/health/radiation-risks-fukushima-longer-news-503947

and some more here

https://nuclear-news.net/2012/09/15/the-lies-of-nuclear-food-alcohol-water-and-the-iaea-cover-up/

and proof that the japanese in fukushima are still growing rice in contaminated areas

Reality in Fukushima Prefecture 2012 Sept.

Published on Sep 20, 2012 by aristoman007

Me visiting Nihonmatsu and Motonomiya.

Healthy Child, Healthy World should be concerned about nuclear radiation

From a contributor to Christina Macpherson’s Facebook page Dear Friends, as a mother of young children I am concerned about the damage nuclear power has done to children around Chernobyl and in Fukushima, Japan and the fact that if one of our 104 aging reactors goes it can do the same thing to our kids.

I have posted about this on a FB site called Healthy Child Healthy World as they have many parents following them and all those people have a right to know the truth too. You would think this would be a concern of HCHW too, right? I mean if a nuclear power plant explodes here in the states, our kids would endure the same suffering. I went to go post today and guess what, it appears that we cannot post. Would somebody mind asking them why this is the case? Maybe it is just a FB glitch.

September 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | 6 Comments

A true and open USA Presidential Election Forum October 23

Free & Equal Set To Host Presidential Debate by Free & Equal Sep 19th, 2012Free & Equal Announces Presidential Debate A Truly Open Forum for All Candidates CHICAGO, IL – Free & Equal Elections Foundation announced their hosting of the 2012 Presidential Debate today. The debate will be held at 8:00pm CST at University Club of Chicago in Chicago on Tuesday, October 23rd. Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, Constitution Party candidate Virgil Goode and Green Party candidate Jill Stein have confirmed their participation. Incumbent and Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama and Republican Party candidate Mitt Romney have been invited to participate in this important debate.

Free & Equal Elections Foundation gained national attention in 2008, when it hosted the only Presidential debate in the country in which every candidate whom had ballot access in enough states to become President was invited. Both Ralph Nader and Chuck Baldwin participated in 2008, and Free & Equal is seeking to increase that number for the 2012 election. The debate made history, being the first and only all-inclusive, nationally televised debate on C-SPAN2. …… http://freeandequal.org/blog-talk-radio/free-equal-set-to-host-presidential-debate

September 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The wisdom of being afraid of nuclear weapons and nuclear power

Lies, Damn Lies, and Nuclear Lies The International News Magazine , 22 September 2012 David Swanson USA Our government likes to lie to us about nuclear weapons. This poor impoverished nation halfway around the world is about to nuke us. No, that one is. The result, of course, is mass murder. But there’s another result potentially even worse. We begin to think there’s something wrong with being terrified of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy.

There isn’t. This stuff should scare the hell out of us. And the arrogant lunacy of imagining that even an honest and accountable authority, much less our government, could set up a commission to regulate the winds of hell and deadly substances with a half-life as long as the age of the Earth must give us serious pause.

What are we thinking? How are we thinking? Are we thinking?

One Pentagon report documents 563 nuclear mistakes, malfunctions, and false alarms over the years so far — near misses, near apocalypses.

Soldiers in war sometimes learn to accept the senseless risk to their lives. But need our whole species and all the other species that we write off as collateral damage accept catastrophic risks as part of a permanent state of war? Or has accepting that risk in fact facilitated our acceptance of this permanent state of war? If nuclear weapons and nuclear energy were done away with, imagine the space that would open up in our minds for the possibility of living in peace and looking back on war as we look back on more small-scale forms of human sacrifice, and on cannibalism, slavery, or duelling. Continue reading →

September 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Tsunami danger to 23 nuclear power plants

23 Nuclear Plants in Tsunami Risk Zones, Study Finds http://www.livescience.com/23392-nuclear-plants-tsunami.html LiveScience Staff : 21 September 2012 “… A recent study led by European researchers found Fukushima is not alone, as 22 other plants around the world may be similarly susceptible to destructive tsunami waves, with most of them in east and southeast regions of Asia.

The 23 facilities on the list (including Fukushima) house a total of 74 nuclear reactors. Thirteen of the plants are active, while the others are either nearing completion or being expanded to house more reactors. The researchers say East and Southeast Asia are at the greatest risk of a nuclear crisis triggered by a tsunami because of the rise of atomic power stations in the region, especially in China, which houses 27 of the world’s 64 nuclear reactors currently under construction.

“The most important fact is that 19 (two of which are in Taiwan) out of the 27 reactors are being built in areas identified as dangerous,” state the authors of the study. Meanwhile, in Japan, seven plants — one of which is currently under construction — are located in zones at risk of a tsunami, and South Korea is now expanding two plants in risk zones, the researchers said.

The study, which appears in a recent issue of the journal Natural Hazards, urges energy officials in these countries to consider how they would deal with the potentially far-reaching consequences of a catastrophe.

“The location of nuclear installations does not only have implications for their host countries but also for the areas which could be affected by radioactive leaks,” study researcher Joaquín Rodríguez-Vidal, of the University of Huelva, told SINC, a Spanish news agency.

September 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety | Leave a comment

Renewable energy revolution is paying off in Germany

German Green on Wind Energy Benefits & Nuclear Phaseout SEPTEMBER 21, 2012 BY ZACHARY SHAHAN Here’s a nice bit of a Guardian interview with Cem Özdemir, Chair of the German Green party , that was just published yesterday:
Clean Technica (http://s.tt/1nZNl) “…….We are looking at a third industrial revolution, and just as there were once those who opposed the invention of the steam engine, there are now those who hark back to nuclear energy. In Germany we now have just over 20% of our energy coming from renewable sources. All predictions from the past have turned out not to be true: when I went to school, my teachers used to say that maybe, just maybe we might have 3% of renewable energy one day. Angela Merkel says we’ll have 35% by 2020; we at the Green party say it’ll be 45%. My guess is: we’ll both be wrong, because it’ll be even more than that….

don’t listen to what the Greens have to say, listen to what Siemens is doing. Siemens are not switching from nuclear to clean energy because they want to lose money: they want to make profit. And I’d warn anyone who questions whether they’ll manage: industrial policy, that’s one thing the Germans know how to get right. If the Brits would rather hand the first mover advantage down to us, then so be it – as a German, I thank them for it. We already cater for many of the markets for renewable energy around the globe, and our future competitors are more likely to come from China than from the other side of the Channel.
In Germany, industry is now starting to thank us for pestering in the past, because it forced them to go through the kind of innovations that the rest of the world is now catching up with. The Brits are still discussing whether they should insulate their houses better in the future, and we insulate them. http://cleantechnica.com/2012/09/21/german-green-on-wind-energy-benefits-nuclear-phaseout/

September 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

UK’s new nuclear programme hangs on the question of waste disposal

Nuclear new build programme faces uncertainty, FT.com By Andrew Bounds and Jim Pickard, September 21, 2012 Britain’s nuclear new build programme is facing fresh uncertainty amid fears that Cumbria county council will postpone or even reject plans to host a permanent storage facility for the country’s nuclear waste.

Local politicians have warned that the council is increasingly wary about volunteering to store hundreds of thousands of tonnes of radioactive material underground amid the rolling hills of the north-west…….

Sir David King, former chief scientific adviser to the government, has warned that the uncertainty around nuclear waste could “really set back” the process of building new nuclear plants.
“Implementation of a final policy solution for radioactive wastes in Britain is now long overdue and . . . if we don’t manage the legacy issue with the best science this in itself could hinder nuclear new build,” he said.
At present most of Britain’s nuclear waste is in temporary storage in Sellafield, awaiting a permanent home elsewhere. If the local authorities in Cumbria say Yes – the county council and either Copeland district or Allerdale district – this would pave the way for geological surveys of the area. Yet it could still take another 15 years before a final decision is made on storage, with the repository not opening for at least two decades.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fefcb306-040d-11e2-9675-00144feabdc0.html#axzz27ETNh6qF

September 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, wastes | Leave a comment

Transparent solar cells – a revolution in solar energy

every building could be designed with south-facing windows that would absorb some amount of electricity without impeding peoples’ views.

These types of applications would not necessarily require huge renovations either, simply requiring owners to apply the film on top of the existing glass window.

Transparent Solar Cells Could Make Windows Into A Power Source http://why.knovel.com/all-engineering-news/1743-transparent-solar-cells-could-make-windows-into-a-power-source.html July 24, 2012 Over the past few years, the U.S. has already become a growing player in the solar energy industry, with states like New Jersey and California seeing solar panels cropping up on rooftops from houses to warehouses.

Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles are hoping to bring this revolutionary new power source down off the roofs specifically to where people will not see them – windows. Continue reading →

September 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | decentralised, USA | Leave a comment

Continuing sickness in children from irradiated food in Belarus

Children Radiation Maps, Blog by Jan Hemmer April 14, 2012 by Mikkai“………“for 15 years new children were born who, thanks to God, did not experience the first radioactive shock. For 15 years, they have eaten contaminated food. Children receive the highest doses, because the dose coefficients, in a 3 year old child, are 5 times higher than in adults. Contaminate food spreads like locusts In the whole Republic. It is not surprising to find in Minsk, children with a dose load of 700-900 Bq/kg.

I want to draw your attention on the research of Prof. Bandazhevsky. We worked with him. He came to the conclusion that 50 Bq/kg bodyweight in children, represent a threshold where pathologies appear in vital organs like kidneys, liver, heart and others. I want to say that today the health of children is such that if we do not take urgent measures, I cannot see good prospects for our children.” Continue reading →

September 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Belarus, health | Leave a comment

Doom and gloom for the uranium industry – no improvement in sight

End of last month, the price had fallen to US$49.25 and for most of September, it hovered at the US$48 mark. This is almost 60% below the entry level target as calculated by Bannerman. The impact on the development of new mines, is obvious.

I believe the commodities boom is over, or at least on hold for another five years. In the meantime, no new mines.

Our Anticipated Uranium Projects Will Not Go Ahead, Except One [analysis] Equities.com Daniel Steinmann All Africa Global Media 22 Sept12, Bannerman Resources, the Australian company driving one of four new uranium projects in Namibia, recently said at a mining conference, the price for uranium U308 needs to be between US$75 and US$90 per pound (0.454kg) to drive any new investment in greenfields uranium mines.

Hidden in this seemingly neutral observation and analysis, are many serious consequences for the further development of the uranium sector Continue reading →

September 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Namibia, Uranium | Leave a comment

USA elections: Republicans and Democrats exclude other from the debates

Open the Debates: Demand inclusion of Jill Stein and Gary Johnson! My FDL, By: Scott McLarty Thursday September 20, 2012 It’s time for Americans of all political persuasions to unite and demand real presidential debates, with the participation of Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson.
Three debates are planned, the first on October 3. The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which controls the debates, is determined that only Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will be allowed in front of the microphones.

That’s because the CPD is owned and run by the Democratic and Republican parties and the two parties’ corporate funders. The CPD took over the debates to limit the stage to their own candidates and to make sure that no challenging questions get asked.

The League of Women Voters, which sponsored the debates before the CPD took over, has called this situation “a fraud on the American voter.”

But we don’t have to remain silent about this affront to democracy and fair elections. • Challenge the Commission on Presidential Debates!

Visit the ‘Occupy the CPD!’ web site and sign on to the statement. Tell the CPD that the debates must include every candidate who is on enough ballots to win the White House and who has demonstrated a minimal level of support — either 1% of the vote in a credible national poll or qualification for federal matching funds or both. Jill Stein and Gary Johnson meet all of these criteria.

• Challenge the Media!….. http://my.firedoglake.com/scottmclarty/2012/09/20/open-the-debates-demand-inclusion-of-jill-stein-and-gary-johnson/

September 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

UK: No new nukes if no waste solution

Nuclear new build programme faces uncertainty, FT.com, September 21, 2012
By Andrew Bounds and Jim Pickard“……In the run-up to the general election, David Cameron accused the Labour government of being “irresponsible” for failing to deal with the issue of nuclear waste: “They have to be dealt with in order to make any new investment [in nuclear power] possible,” he said, Jim
Pickard reports.
Two years later, as Mr Cameron’s administration tries to draw in private investment for a new wave of nuclear reactors, the issue is as far from resolved as ever.
Britain is not alone in its attempts to find a site for a gigantic underground repository, a construction project on the same scale as the Channel tunnel.

Governments worldwide have failed to find a permanent solution for the tens of thousands of tonnes of high-level radioactive waste currently stored in temporary facilities.

The disaster at Fukushima in Japan in 2011 highlighted the potential dangers; spent fuel rods were stuffed into cooling tanks at the site, each packed with lethal levels of radioactive isotopes.
Campaigners such as Greenpeace argue that it is foolish for governments to proceed with new nuclear plants when they have not yet resolved this legacy problem from half a century of nuclear power.
One of the few countries going ahead with a permanent repository is Sweden, where two communities competed for the project and the hundreds of jobs it provided.
By contrast, the US has a deep level repository in New Mexico, but it only accepts waste from weapons research and production. A permanent repository for civil waste was proposed for Nevada but the controversial project was scrapped by President Barack Obama. Opponents of underground repositories say spent fuel can be safely
kept for decades while more research is done on alternatives. But the Fukushima crisis has placed a question mark over that argument. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fefcb306-040d-11e2-9675-00144feabdc0.html#axzz27ETNh6qF

September 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, wastes | Leave a comment