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Kazakhstan’s land of danger due to nuclear testing

Soviet nuclear legacy surfaces at atomic museum  , By Keith Rogers, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, Sep. 3, 2011 Kazakhstan is grappling with lingering health issues and trying to rehabilitate the land 20 years after nuclear weapons testing stopped at the former Soviet Union’s proving ground .

Heavily contaminated areas of the Semipalatinsk nuclear site are closed to access by Kazaks who used the land for farming and grazing. The government, with the United States, is working to keep dangerous materials out of sinister hands, said Erlan Idrissov, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the United States.

“All those years we have been trying to make a full assessment of the dangers that were brought to the land by nuclear testing,” Continue reading →

September 5, 2011 Posted by | environment, Kazakhstan | Leave a comment

People can stay in Japanese town, but avoid the radiation outdoors

—as long as residents don’t spend too long outside, and avoid spots such as parks and forests, where radioactive elements tend to gather. Radioactive cesium has a tendency to bind to earth, and flow along with silt in water.

In One Japanese City, Hot Spots to Avoid, Government Advises Residents of Contaminated Town to Stay—but Keep Clear of Places With Radiation Risk, WSJ, 3 Sept.  By PHRED DVORAK, DATE, Japan—This sprawling city, 35 miles away from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi reactors, is leading the next phase of Japan’s struggles with radiation: deciding how to handle populations in contaminated communities where the level isn’t high enough to justify evacuation. Continue reading →

September 3, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Nuclear physicist recommends permanent relocation for Fukushima area residents

Mamoru Fujiwara, assistant professor of nuclear physics at Osaka University, said the residents from these locations “need to be relocated permanently.”

Japan Finds Radiation Spread Over a Wide Area, WSJ, By MITSURU OBE, 31 Aug 11, TOKYO—The first comprehensive soil survey from areas around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant showed extensive ground contamination and another report warned of the continued threat to Japan’s food chain, underscoring the major challenges the country still faces in its radioactive cleanup efforts…. Continue reading →

September 1, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Evacuate high radiation area North West Japan, says Caldicott

Dr Helen Caldicott says radiation many times in excess of that which led to the evacuation of Chernobyl has been reported in North-West Japan — so the area should be evacuated immediately.

Fukushima Crisis: Caldicott Says Evacuate North-West Japan, 31 August 2011,by: David Donovan, Independent Australia .………The problem is that the reliability of claims from TEPCO, NISA and the Japanese Government are – as we have reported before – highly questionable. All three bodies have a major credibility crisis, with clear evidence that they colluded to cover up evidence that they knew the nuclear reactors melted down within hours of the March 11 tsunami. The reason for this seems to be that Japan is highly dependent on nuclear energy for its power needs, such that NISA has become more or less a branch of TEPCO – with staff perenially shuffling between the two bodies – and with a Japanese Government that is primarily concerned with talking down the extent of the crisis to avoid widespread panic amongst the Japanese population and allay rumblings about the viability of nuclear power…. Continue reading →

September 1, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Uranium mine closed in 1966, still emitting ionising radiation

Firm begins cleanup at Stanislaus National Forest uranium mine site, The Modesto Bee, Aug. 27, 2011, By John Holland KENNEDY MEADOWS — A crew has started cleanup at a uranium mine that operated in the Stanislaus National Forest from 1956 to 1966.The site, about three miles west of Kennedy Meadows, has emitted radiation that exceeded health standards, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.

forest spokesman Jerry Snyder, in an e-mail Friday, noted “concerns that hunters may camp on waste piles and contaminated sediment might migrate down Red Rock Creek.”
The cleanup is funded by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, better known as the Superfund…   http://www.modbee.com/2011/08/27/1833616/firm-begins-cleanup-at-uranium.html

August 29, 2011 Posted by | environment, USA | Leave a comment

Long process of radiation cleanup in Japan

Japan aims to halve radiation in affected areas in 2 yrs

 —  Japan aims to bring radiation levels below 20 millisieverts annually

* Thorough cleanup of areas frequented by children also a priority

* Group launched which will form core of new nuclear watchdog 

By Shinichi Saoshiro TOKYO, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Japan aims to halve radiation over two years in places contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear crisis, removing soil, plants and trees as well as cleaning roofs of buildings in an area spanning thousands of square kilometres.

The cleanup could cost tens of billions of dollars, and thousands of evacuees may not be able to return home for years, if ever. Continue reading →

August 27, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

No end in sight to the cleanup and the costs of Fukushima radiation

“Fukushima is mountainous and such large-scale and highly concentrated contamination has not taken place on earth before in an area like this. How things will go is unpredictable.”

Japan faces costly, unprecedented radiation cleanup, By Yoko Kubota, TOKYO | Thu Aug 25, 2011 (Reuters) – Nearly six months after the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years at the Fukushima nuclear plant, Japan faces the task of cleaning up a sprawling area of radioactivity that could cost tens of billions of dollars, and thousands may not be able to return home for years, if ever. Continue reading →

August 26, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

China finding excessive radiation levels in seafoods east of Fukushima

Excessive Radiation Found in Sea Organisms Near Japan’s Nuke Plant 2011-08-24     Xinhua       Web Editor: Guo  Biological samples taken from waters in the Western Pacific region east of Fukushima, Japan show excessive radiation levels, said a statement from China’s State Oceanic Administration on Wednesday.
The administration suggested that government agencies intensify radiation testing of marine products from the targeted waters to protect public health in China. According to the statement, the levels of strontium-90, a radioactive isotope of strontium, found in squids are 29 times higher than the average background level of samples taken from China’s coastal waters.  This indicates that these waters have been clearly affected by radioactive material that leaked from the crippled nuclear power plant in Fukushima during the massive earthquake and tsunami disaster on March 11, the statement said.

The samples were also found to contain argentum-110m and cesium-134, which are normally difficult to detect in biological samples from China’s coastal waters, the statement said. Continue reading →

August 25, 2011 Posted by | China, oceans | Leave a comment

Japan increasing radiation monitoring, as more “hot spots” appear

Japan Triples Airborne Radiation Checks as ‘Hot Spots’ Spread, Bloomberg, By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuji Okada – Aug 23, 2011 Japan will more than triple the number of regions it checks for airborne radiation as more contaminated “hot spots” are discovered far from Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power station.

The government said it will increase radiation monitoring by helicopter to 22 prefectures from the six closest to the plant, which began spewing radiation after an earthquake and tsunami struck the station in March. The plan comes after radioactive waste more than double the regulatory limit was found 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the plant this week.

Authorities have refused to give a cumulative figure for radiation released from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant after estimating in June that fallout in the six days following the quake was equal to 15 percent of total radiation released in the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. The authorities have been too slow to widen airborne radiation testing, said Tetsuo Ito, the head of Kinki University’s Atomic Energy Research Institute in Osaka…..http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-24/japan-triples-air-radiation-checks-for-hot-spots-.html

August 25, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Radiation evacuees from Fukushima not to return home, ever?

The government is expected to tell many of these residents that they will not be permitted to return to their homes for an indefinite period.

Large Zone Near Japanese Reactors to Be Off Limits, NYTimes.com, By MARTIN FACKLER August 21, 2011 TOKYO — Broad areas around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant could soon be declared uninhabitable, perhaps for decades, after a government survey found radioactive contamination that far exceeded safe levels, several major media outlets said Monday.
The formal announcement, expected from the government in coming days, would be the first official recognition that the March accident could force the long-term depopulation of communities near the plant, an eventuality that scientists and some officials have been warning about for months. Continue reading →

August 23, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Japan’s intractable problem of virtually permanently irradiated areas

Fukushima zone likely off-limits for ‘decades’, ABC Radio 774 ,Mark Willacy, August 22, 2011 The Japanese government says highly radioactive areas around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant will remain no-go zones for decades after the damaged complex is stabilised.

Authorities say they plan to bring the stricken nuclear plant to a state of cold shutdown early next year. But with some areas near the complex continuing to show high levels of radioactive contamination, the government says it is unavoidable that some places will remain no-go zones.

Japanese newspaper The Daily Yomiuri reports government sources have said it could be “several decades” before the area is considered safe to enter. For the first time, the government has released figures revealing that many communities within 20 kilometres of the complex have contamination levels up to 500 times higher than safety limits.

The radiation readings were taken in 50 locations within a 20-kilometre radius of the Fukushima nuclear plant.Based on that data, the government has released estimates of the annual dose of radiation residents would be exposed to.

It found that in one town, Okuma, people would receive a dose of 508 milisieverts per year – more than 500 times the acceptable limit.At more than half the locations it was more than 20 times the limit.Tokyo Institute of Technology’s associate professor of radiobiology, Yoshihisa Matsumoto, says efforts to decontaminate the area will likely prove difficult…http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-22/fukushima-radiation-500-times-safe-limit/2849394/?site=melbourne

August 22, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not protect public from radioactive groundwater leaks

The NRC’s decision on groundwater protection comes four months after an Asbury Park Press investigation documented hundreds of leaks and spills of radioactive water called tritium over the decades at plants, including Oyster Creek in Lacey. The NRC has never issued a fine against any plant.

NRC fails to change groundwater protection rules for nuclear plants, Activist says NRC needs to enforce its rules on radioactive water leaks and spills, Aug. 17, 2011 APP.com, Todd B. Bates:After years of criticisms that they were lax in dealing with radioactive leaks, spills and groundwater contamination at nuclear power plants, federal regulators have decided to let the industry keep policing itself.

The five-member U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission agreed to maintain the status quo and not add a tougher level of oversight Continue reading →

August 18, 2011 Posted by | USA, water | Leave a comment

The spread of Fukushima nuclear radiation in our interconnected world

amazed that particles could be spread across the world from such a small footprint like a reactor, which he compared in size to a swimming pool.

“It shows you how connected the world is,” he said. “What happens in one place can show up someplace else.”

How much Japan radiation? Scientists answer, By PAT BRENNAN / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, Aug. 17, 2011  What appears to be the first scientific estimate of radiation released during the height of the Japanese nuclear crisis reveals a burst hundreds of times the background levels near the crippled reactors. Continue reading →

August 18, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Radioactive Tritium in Connecticut River, from Vermont Yankee nuclear plant

Tritium has leaked from dozens of nuclear plants around the country, but it has been particularly problematic for Vermont Yankee as it seeks to renew its license….

Within weeks, the state Senate voted 26-4 to block the state Public Service Board from issuing a permit for the plant to operate after its initial 40-year license expires in March 2012. Vermont is the only state with a law requiring its Legislature to give the OK before regulators can issue a new nuclear plant permit.

Tritium from Vt. nuke plant in Connecticut River, Boston.com, By Dave Gram, Associated Press / August 17, 2011, MONTPELIER, Vt.—Radioactive tritium that leaked from the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant into surrounding soil and groundwater has now reached the nearby Connecticut River, the state Health Department said Wednesday as it released new river water test results….. Continue reading →

August 18, 2011 Posted by | environment, USA | Leave a comment

Confusion: radioactivity in town of Iitate and other “hot spots” in Japan

Murky Science Clouded Japan Nuclear Response,WSJ By YUKA HAYASHI, 15 Aug 11, “………Confusion over what to do about radioactive contamination is playing out in various forms all over Japan. Officials are struggling to figure out where it is safe to live, what is safe to eat and how farmers decontaminate their fields. At present, 116,000 people remain unable to return to their homes due to the radiation threat. Even as the government continues to ask more people to evacuate, it is mulling allowing others to return to towns where contamination is relatively light…..

On April 22, Tokyo finally ordered residents of Iitate and four other municipalities with similar hot spots to evacuate. The government cited a recommendation by the International Commission on Radiological Protection that once the emergency phase of a nuclear accident passes—it didn’t specify when that point arrives—the exposure of local residents should not exceed 20 millisieverts per year….
By last week, the only people still living in Iitate were 108 residents of a nursing home—the elderly were not required to evacuate—and 10 others who refused to budge, including Mr. Sato and his mother…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903554904576458230766485092.html

August 16, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

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