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For the Pacific Ocean? – 400 tons daily of Fukushima radioactive water

water-radiationBloomberg: Radioactive water from Fukushima reactors to be dumped in Pacific? “It’s obvious they can’t keep storing it forever”http://enenews.com/bloomberg-tepco-to-dump-radioactive-water-from-fukushima-reactors-into-pacific-its-obvious-they-cant-keep-storing-it-forever
 Title:Title: Tepco Faces Decision to Dump Radioactive Water in Pacific Ocean
Source: Bloomberg
Author: Tsuyoshi Inajima
Date: Apr 11, 2013

[Tepco]’s discovery of leaks in water storage pits at the wrecked Fukushima atomic station raises the risk the utility will be forced to dump radioactive water in the Pacific Ocean.

Leaks were found in three of seven pits in the past week, reducing the options for moving contaminated water from basements of reactor buildings. […]

Not Ruled Out

Officials at the utility known as Tepco, including President Naomi Hirose, have said the company will not “easily” release radiated water into the ocean, indicating it’s not ruling out the possibility if it runs out of storage.

“It’s obvious Tepco cannot keep storing water forever as it increases by 400 tons a day,” said Hideyuki Ban, co-director of the antinuclear group Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center. That’s why the company won’t rule out discharge into the sea, Ban said in a telephone interview. […]
See also: Tepco: It’s ‘really impossible’ for us to keep storing liquid from Fukushima reactors — We need to think about discharging it into ocean (VIDEO)

April 13, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, oceans | Leave a comment

Fukushima radiation levels rise in rivers, in food 225 miles away

text ionisingDeadly levels of radiation found in food 225 miles from Fukushima: Media blackout on nuclear fallout continues 
http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2013/04/08/deadly-levels-of-radiation-found-in-food-225-miles-from-fukushima-media-blackout-on-nuclear-fallout-continues/   – Source: NaturalNews By Ethan A. HuffAPRIL 8, 2013 NEW DATA flag-japanRELEASED BY JAPAN’S MINISTRY OF HEALTH, LABOR AND WELFARE (MHLW) SHOWS ONCE AGAIN THAT THE FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR DISASTER IS FAR FROM OVER. DESPITE A COMPLETE MEDIA BLACKOUT ON THE CURRENT SITUATION, LEVELS OF CESIUM-137 (CS-137) AND CESIUM-134 (CS-134) FOUND IN PRODUCE AND RICE CRACKERS LOCATED ROUGHLY 225 MILES (~ 362 KM) AWAY FROM FUKUSHIMA ARE HIGH ENOUGH TO CAUSE RESIDENTS TO EXCEED THE ANNUAL RADIATION EXPOSURE LIMIT IN JUST A FEW MONTHS, OR EVEN WEEKS. Continue reading →

April 9, 2013 Posted by | environment, Japan, radiation | Leave a comment

TEPCO on a tightrope in attempt to move tons of radioactive water

water-radiationJapan nuclear safety plans too lax for crowded, quake-prone nation, say nuclear experts The Star,  By: Mari Yamaguchi The Associated Press,Apr 08 2013 TOKYO

“…….TEPCO is moving tons of highly radioactive water from the temporary tanks to two similar ones nearby to minimize the leak. They are among seven underground tanks of different sizes which employ the same design.

TEPCO admitted Sunday it had dismissed earlier signs of water loss as within a margin of error and waited until a spike in radiation levels around the tanks was detected. Critics suspect cash-strapped TEPCO built poorly designed underground pits instead of safer and more manageable steel tanks to save money. TEPCO has also been criticized for delaying replacement of makeshift equipment, raising questions about whether the plant is really under control.

The underground tanks, several times the size of an Olympic swimming pool and similar to an industrial waste dump, are dug directly into the ground and protected by double-layer polyethylene linings inside an outermost clay-based lining, with a felt padding between each layer. Officials suspect there were ruptures in the linings due to the weight of the water.

Contaminated water at the plant, which suffered multiple meltdowns after the 2011 disaster, has escaped into the sea several times during the crisis. Experts suspect a continuous leak into the ocean through an underground water system, citing high levels of contamination in fish caught in waters just off the plant.

The contaminated water in the tanks is part of more than 270,000 tons of water used to cool melted fuel at the plant’s reactors damaged in the disaster. So much water has been used that TEPCO is struggling to find storage space. The water is also kept in hundreds of steel tanks.

NRA commissioner Toyoshi Fuketa told reporters Monday that the water leak poses a more immediate threat to the plant’s water management than to the environment. He questioned TEPCO’s risk evaluation in the tanks’ design process, but acknowledged that regulators have to allow TEPCO to use the remaining underground tanks for now.

“Although we need more long-term plans, we have to tackle the most immediate problem first. TEPCO’s decommissioning process is a tightrope situation to begin with,” he said. http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/04/08/japan_nuclear_safety_plans_too_lax_for_crowded_quakeprone_nation_say_nuclear_experts.html

April 9, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, Reference, water | Leave a comment

Asbestos killed a town. Uranium towns next?

WA GOVERNMENT TO MOVE LAST RESIDENTS FROM ASBESTOS TOWN ABC Radio National 3 April 2013  By:Catherine Van Extel The West Australian Government is looking to move a group of residents who continue to live in the deadly asbestos mining town of Wittenoom, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. But while there are moves to finally clean up the toxic site, many continue to face the legacy of their time spent growing up in or visiting the notorious town.

asbestos-town

The 1990 Midnight Oil song ‘Blue Sky Mine’ was inspired by Wittenoom and its deadly mining industry. It’s estimated that more than 20,000 people lived at Wittenoom before the mine closed in 1966.

Asbestos-related diseases have killed more than 2000 former workers and family members of Wittenoom, a death toll that continues to rise.

In 2007, the state government withdrew Wittenoom’s town status—disconnecting services like water and electricity—but a small group of residents stayed. Now the government wants them out in order to remediate the contaminated site.  Continue reading →

April 5, 2013 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, environment | Leave a comment

AUDIO Groundwater flows from Fukushima reactors to the ocean

water-radiationTecpo shows groundwater flowing from Fukushima reactors into ocean April 2nd, 2013 http://enenews.com/tecpo-shows-groundwater-flowing-from-fukushima-reactors-into-ocean-photo
Title: Progress Status of the Groundwater Bypass Construction
Source: Tokyo Electric Power Company
Date: March 27, 2013
[…] Gradual Reduction of Groundwater

The groundwater level will be gradually reduced with the groundwater bypass put in operation. Careful water level control will be implemented to prevent the accumulated water in the buildings from leaking to the outside while monitoring the groundwater level reduction and its water quality. The sub-drains installed around the buildings will be fully utilized for the monitoring. An observation hole will be newly installed between the Reactor Building and the pump well. […]
See also: Graphic shows ‘direct discharge’ going from Fukushima Daiichi reactors into Pacific — Underground flow of contaminated water also indicated (VIDEO)

April 4, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, oceans | Leave a comment

Fukushima radiation into ocean: is it killing sea lions?

water-radiationUnfortunately, the nuclear accident is nowhere near contained.  Japanese experts say that Fukushima is currently releasing up to 93 billion becquerels of radioactive cesium into the ocean each day, the reactors have lost containment, and groundwater is flooding into the stricken reactors(delaying clean-up).

And things may get worse for California, instead of better .

Is Fukushima Radiation Causing the Epidemic of Dead and Starving Sea Lions In California? http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-03-31/fukushima-radiation-causing-epidemic-dead-and-starving-sea-lions-california  by George Washington on 03/31/2013 Associated Press reports:

 

  At island rookeries off the Southern California coast, 45 percent of the pups born in June have died, said Sharon Melin, a wildlife biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service based in Seattle. Normally, less than one-third of the pups would die.

It’s gotten so bad in the past two weeks that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared an “unusual mortality event.” That will allow more scientists to join the search for the cause, Melin said. Continue reading →

April 3, 2013 Posted by | oceans, USA | 1 Comment

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could be lost for uranium’s petty financial gain

The price tag of the uranium deposits in Queensland, if all extracted and sold is about $10 billion. A pretty big chunk of cash, but worth only a paltry two years of tourism dollars that the Great Barrier Reef brings in.

To anyone who has looked in wonderment at the fish on a reef, this is not an “Australian issue”,  this is an issue that speaks to how we want to leave the world to future generations. Our kids will remember visiting a reef teeming with tropical fish, turtles and fluorescent coral, but what will they remember if it isn’t there to be seen? They sure as heck won’t remember the quick buck made by uranium mining companies a few decades previous

Radioactive scuba diving a potential new Aussie destination sport http://www.vancouverobserver.com/city/outdoors/radioactive-scuba-diving-potential-new-aussie-destination-sport Kevin Grandia   Mar 19th, 2013 Okay, I am exaggerating, but only slightly, but new anti-regulation laws have recently been passed in Australia that could mean uranium will be shipped out directly over this oceanic masterpiece of nature.  Continue reading →

March 22, 2013 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, environment, Uranium | Leave a comment

Fukushima radiation is transforming Japan’s forest ecosystems

butterflies-mutant-0812Japan Scientists: Truly unusual deformities in Fukushima — Forests may be evolving into different ecosystems — “There’s been a sudden, large change” http://enenews.com/japan-scientists-truly-unusual-deformities-in-fukushima-theres-been-a-sudden-large-change-forests-may-be-evolving-into-different-ecosystems
 February 27th, 2013
 Excerpts from ‘Radiant Wildlands‘ by Winifred Bird and Jane Braxton in the Spring 2013 issue of Earth Island Journal  

[…] When Joji Otaki began looking closely at the [pale grass blue butterflies] the size of a silver dollar, however, he was struck by abnormal patterns in the dark dots on their wings. Then he noticed dents in their eyes and strangely shaped wings and legs.

Otaki, a professor at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, was in the Abukuma Mountains west of the disaster site collecting butterflies to study their response to the accident [2 months after 3/11].

[…] the aberrations they found took them by surprise. Abnormalities in the first generation were within normal boundaries. But when Otaki bred these butterflies in his laboratory, mutations in the offspring increased to 18 percent. That suggested inherited genetic damage. Field samples collected in September 2011, representing the fourth or fifth generation of butterflies since the disaster, had even higher abnormality rates. The changes may not all have been caused by radiation; Otaki had previously found evidence that temperature can affect wing markings. But the deformities his team found in antennae, legs, and other body parts are truly unusual, says Hokkaido University entomologist Shin-ichi Akimoto, who is studying the impact of Fukushima fallout on aphids. The abnormalities are troubling not only because insects are commonly assumed to be more resistant to radiation than humans, but also because they suggest the Fukushima nuclear disaster may be changing individual species, even entire forests.

“There is no question that ecosystems as a whole are suffering,” Otaki says. “There has been a sudden, large change.”

[…] As plants and animals continue to live in these irradiated environments, forests themselves may be evolving into different ecosystems. […]See also: Biologist on Mutated Butterflies: Study is overwhelming in its implications for humans — Japan Researcher: Insects were believed to be very resistant to radiation — Irregularly developed eyes, malformed antennae, much smaller wings (PHOTO)

March 1, 2013 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Ocean fish to be studied for Fukushima radiation

radiation-in-sea--food-chaiL.A. Times: NOAA to start testing wildlife for Fukushima contamination  http://enenews.com/l-a-times-noaa-to-start-testing-wildlife-for-fukushima-radiation
  February 26th, 2013 
 Title: Radioactive tuna from Fukushima? Scientists eat it up
Source: Los Angeles Times
Author:  Eryn Brown
Date: February 25, 2013
Title: Radioactive tuna from Fukushima? Scientists eat it up 

[…] In coming months, the three researchers and colleagues at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other institutions plan to analyze hundreds more bluefin tuna, as well as albacore tuna; mahi mahi; ocean sunfish; opa; mako, blue and salmon sharks; loggerhead turtles; and sooty shearwaters, a type of migratory seabird.

They’ll examine samples collected in New Zealand, Hawaii and Alaska as well as in California. They might look through archived specimens for salmon and whales to test. Other research groups may track the contamination to study marine animals too, [Dan Madigan of Stanford University] said.

If scientists find Fukushima radiation in swordfish, for example, it will be the first evidence that the species migrates across the entire Pacific. […]

“Amazing”

They concluded that their tracking method worked, and that Fukushima provided “an unprecedented opportunity” for scientists to use radioactive tracers to follow animal movement. “This was just nature being amazing,” [Nicholas Fisher of Stony Brook University] said.
He imagines pulling together a map of the Pacific crisscrossed by the paths of radiation-toting animals — “an amazing image of transport … all from a little dot” in Japan, Madigan said.

See also: HuffPost: “Radioactive Fish Found In California” — Is it a good thing?

March 1, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, oceans, radiation | Leave a comment

STOP THE GREAT LAKES NUCLEAR DUMP FACT SHEET

highly-recommended 

Global Research, February 23, 2013
Region: , 

by Stop The Great Lakes Nuclear Dump     

1.     Ontario Power Generation (OPG), a multi-billion dollar corporation wholly owned by the Province of Ontario, plans to build a nuclear waste dump at the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant site, Municipality of Kincardine, Ontario “located approximately 1 km inland from the shore of Lake Huron at the surface and more than 400 metres below the deepest near-site point of Lake Huron.”  http://tinyurl.com/arc34y2  , page 55  OPG owns all Ontario’s nuclear plants and all radioactive nuclear waste created.

2.     Low and intermediate level radioactive nuclear waste will be buried in the nuclear waste dump. Intermediate level nuclear wastes are highly radioactive and many remain toxic for over 100,000 years.  Some are as dangerous as nuclear spent fuel.  No scientist or geologist can provide a 100,000 year guarantee that this nuclear waste dump will not leak. Continue reading →

February 25, 2013 Posted by | Canada, environment, Reference | Leave a comment

Washington’s Governor alarmed at major radioactive leak from Hanford

text-radiationEditorial: Radioactive leak at Hanford may suggest “serious tank failure of such magnitude that even semisolid materials are now able to find a way out” http://enenews.com/editorial-radioactive-leak-hanford-suggest-serious-tank-failure-magnitude-semisolid-materials-able-find
Title: Editorial: A perfect radioactive storm
Source: Daily Astorian
Date: February 19, 2013 

“Perfect radioactive storm” are not words any resident along the Columbia River ever wanted to hear coming from the lips of a top elected official about the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

Yet this is how Washington Gov. Jay Inslee last week characterized news about a major leak of highly toxic sludge from a single-wall storage tank, at the very time the nation nears across-the-board funding cuts that could hobble any response.

[…] All the liquids that could be pumped from it were removed in 1995. That a serious new breach has developed suggests the possibility additional water is seeping into the tank, or there has been a serious tank failure of such magnitude that even semisolid materials are now able to find a way out. […]

It is time for Pacific Northwest leaders and citizens to express our concern about this matter in the strongest possible terms. […]

See also: Governor alarmed about leak at most contaminated nuclear site in U.S. — “You couldn’t find a more perfect radioactive storm” (VIDEO)

February 21, 2013 Posted by | environment, USA | Leave a comment

Ocean near Fukushima still getting radiation leakage, blue fin tuna with radiation

“…The answer was yes. (See below for the PDF of the study.) That means, ultimately, that there is still a high level of radiation in the waters near the Fukushima plant most likely because, as marine chemist, Ken Buessler, asserts, the plant is still leaking radiation into the ocean nearly two years later….”

Bluefin Tuna From The Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Still Have Traces Of Radiation, Forbes, Monte Burke, 20 Feb 13,  

Last May I wrote a piece about Bluefin tuna caught off the coast of southern California that carried radiation from the Fukushima,Japan, nuclear plant that was damaged in the March 2011. The fish were caught in August 2011 as they migrated east 6,000 miles from their spawning grounds in Japan in search of prey….

 Last May I wrote a piece about Bluefin tuna caught off the coast of southern California that carried radiation from the Fukushima,Japan, nuclear plant that was damaged in the March 2011. The fish were caught in August 2011 as they migrated east 6,000 miles from their spawning grounds in Japan in search of prey…..

Last week one of the authors of the study from last year, Daniel J. Madigan from Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station—along with five other scientists— published a new follow-up study. The main question that this new study wanted to answer: Would the migratory Bluefin tuna show up again a year later off the coast of California carrying radiation from Fukushima?  Bluefin Tuna Study    http://www.forbes.com/sites/monteburke/2013/02/20/bluefin-tuna-from-the-fukushima-nuclear-meltdown-still-have-traces-of-radiation/

February 21, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, oceans | Leave a comment

Rocky Flats development raises dangers of ionising radiation

Judith Mohling: Rocky Flats development risks exposure to nuclear radiation http://www.dailycamera.com/letters/ci_22620349/judith-mohling-rocky-flats-development-risks-exposure-nuclear 02/20/2013  Dr. Daniel A. Kinderlehrer illuminated many reasons for the current myriad of mental and physical illnesses in the United States (Guest commentary, Feb. 10). However, his excellent guest commentary and description of the “toxic chemical soup” we are all living in left out at least one major toxin: nuclear radiation. Continue reading →

February 21, 2013 Posted by | environment, USA | Leave a comment

Fukushima evacuation zone – all 47 cows tested had radioactive silver

Study: Radioactive silver found inside all 47 cows tested from Fukushima evacuation zone http://enenews.com/study-radioactive-silver-found-inside-every-cow-tested-fukushima-evacuation-zone
Title: Distribution of Artificial Radionuclides in Abandoned Cattle in the Evacuation Zone of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
Source: PLoS One. 2013; 8(1): e54312
Published Online: January 23, 2013

[…] Between August 29 and November 15, 2011, we collected 79 cattle in total, 27 of which were from Minami-soma city located north and 52 from Kawauchi village located southwest of the FNPP. […]

In the liver (100%: 47/47 animals) and PB [whole peripheral blood] (9.8%: 5/51 animals), 110mAg (half-life: 249.8 d) was detected  (Table 1). […]

Although Silver and Tellurium […] were efficiently captured by the mother’s organs and were not delivered to the fetus. […]

We detected 110mAg in the liver of all of the cattle except for fetuses examined (Table 1 and Figure 3A). […]

See also: CNN: Scientists surprised by high levels of radioactive silver in fish off Japan coast

February 8, 2013 Posted by | environment, Fukushima 2013, radiation | Leave a comment

Plutonium in ocean near Fukushima

PuStudy: Fukushima plutonium in Pacific Ocean from ‘liquid direct releases’? http://enenews.com/study-plutonium-could-be-pacific-ocean-liquid-direct-releases-fukushima
Title: Should we measure plutonium concentrations in marine sediments near Fukushima?
Source: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
Author: R. Periáñez, Kyung-Suk Suh, Byung-Il Min
Date: February 2013

Excerpt

Much less information is available in the case of plutonium isotopes. Trace amounts of Pu isotopes originating from the accident have been identified in soil samples. While it is known that atmospheric releases of Pu were several orders of magnitude lower than that from Chernobyl accident, no information on Pu isotopes in the liquid direct releases to the sea is available. Pu isotopes have been measured in marine sediments outside a 30 km radius circle around Fukushima. Results do not show any contamination due to the accident. Instead Pu isotopes here detected are attributed to global fallout.

However, the situation inside the 30 km zone remains unknown. It could be possible that Pu isotopes entered this coastal area from the direct release of contaminated water in early April 2011. The objective for this work consists of showing, by means of numerical modelling, that, if Pu contamination originating from the accident would be present in sediments of the close area to Fukushima, contamination would not reach areas far from the plant. Contamination would be restricted to the close area because of the low mobility of Pu. Thus, it would not be detected if samples are not collected there. Consequently, further studies on the determination of Pu isotopes in seawater and sediments within the 30 km zone would be required.


Note the objective: “The objective for this work consists of showing […] that, […] Pu contamination […] would not reach areas far from the plant.”

See more from the study here

February 7, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, oceans, Reference | Leave a comment

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