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Dangerously high levels of radiation in northwestern Fukushima Prefecture,

Radiologist Jan van de Putte told the same news conference that areas with high levels of radioactivity were concentrated in northwestern Fukushima Prefecture, especially in areas between the villages of Iitate and Tsushima, which registered 48 microsieverts per hour.

“This is really dangerous and a very high level,” van de Putte said.

High radiation well past no-go zone: Greenpeace,  The Japan Times Online, 12 April 11By JUN HONGO, Staff writer Radiology experts from Greenpeace urged the government to revise their evacuation protocol Monday after they found high levels of radiation around the greater Fukushima area and in the region’s fresh produce.

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April 12, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Jaitapur nuclear project highlights conflict of interest

Despite assurances by the government, experts feel an honest assessment of hazards is impossible. “Like the International Atomic Energy Authority, the Indian DAE too is trapped in conflict of interest. They are both the promoters and regulators of atomic energy. How can one expect an honest assessment from them?” asks Krishna. “Safety audit should be independent,” says Bidwai. Even Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has called for an independent regulatory body for nuclear energy.  “Fukushima has changed everything,” says Krishna

JAITAPUR’S own Fukushima | Hard News After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it’s time for a moratorium on all unsafe nuclear complexes in India, Sadiq Naqvi 12 April 11, “…….”JAPAN HAS CHANGED the paradigm of debate vis-à-vis the proposed Jaitapur nuclear park,” says Vivek Montero of the Konkan Bachao Samiti. He says that the Fukushima disaster has shown that radioactivity affects everything, all life, agriculture, plantations, animals, human lives. “People have categorically stated their position. The question is not of compensation. We don’t want the project, that’s all,” he adds. Continue reading →

April 12, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, environment, India | Leave a comment

Supreme Court upholds State’s rights over water intake at nuclear plant

SJC upholds state’s right to regulate water intake at Pilgrim nuclear –  Boston Globe , by Beth Daley, 12 April 11, The state Supreme Judicial Court has upheld Massachusetts’ right to regulate the intake of vast amounts of water by the Pilgrim Nuclear Station and other power plants, which can harm fish and other marine organisms.Power plants use the water to cool equipment then discharge it later — and hotter — into waterways. Environmental studies show the heated water can harm aquatic life. The state and environmentalists have also long argued that the sucking in of water can kill vast amounts of fish larvae, eggs, shellfish, and other aquatic organisms – larger creatures become trapped on screens covering the intake pipes, and smaller ones are sucked into the cooling system. Continue reading →

April 12, 2011 Posted by | Legal, USA, water | Leave a comment

Top scientists research radioactive waste in Pacific Ocean

“The levels that we observe are not likely to be dangerous to humans at present, but of course over time the levels will be magnified in the food web and with time the levels in the upper level of the food web and the higher predators will probably lead to levels that might be in conflict with human use of those organisms,”

VIDEO Mid-Pacific search for Japan nuclear water : World News Australia on SBS, *By Jenny Curtis, 8 April 11, A Spanish research vessel that’s just finished testing the waters off the South coast of Australia, will head to the Pacific Ocean to search for traces of radioactive waste from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant.  Hesperides research vessel is part of the Malaspina expedition that’s analysing the quality of the oceans around the world.Costing around 23 million dollars, it’s an ambitious project with hundreds of the world’s top scientists involved. Continue reading →

April 9, 2011 Posted by | environment, OCEANIA | 2 Comments

High radiation levels at Minamisoma

“While the Japanese government’s data is not necessarily incorrect, it is neither telling the full story, nor being adequately used to protect the health of people in Minamisoma…“Our measurements, taken between government monitoring points, show elevated levels of contamination outside the official 20 km mandatory evacuation zone that indicate a risk to health, yet people in Minamisoma are only being advised to stay indoors or leave on a voluntary basis. This is unacceptable.”

Greenpeace Team Identifies “High Contamination Levels“ in Minamisoma Vegetables, April 6, 2011 Yonezawa, Japan- (PanOrient News) Greenpeace said in a statement today that its radiation experts investigating impacts from the Fukushima nuclear crisis have discovered high levels of contamination in crops grown on the outskirts of Minamisoma city, raising further concerns over health risks to residents and a lack of official information outside the 20 km evacuation zone. Continue reading →

April 8, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Pacific peoples endangered by radiation in fish

claims by some Japanese scientists said that the radioactivity found in fish will be concentrated in the bones, and thus not harmful to humans, didn’t make sense. “Each year, thousands of tons of fish and their bones are processed into fish meal, animal food and in part to fish sticks,”

Radioactive Decay an Emerging Threat for Pacific People, Online Journal Apr 5, 2011,   by David Hope Radioactive decay is looming as a tremendous threat to the Pacific people. Radioactivity unleashed by the Japanese Fukushima reactor into the Pacific Ocean endangers the livelihoods of millions of people, Continue reading →

April 7, 2011 Posted by | environment, OCEANIA | 2 Comments

No one knows how to deal with Fukushima’s radioactive water

international law forbids Japan from dumping contaminated water into the ocean if there are viable technical solutions available down the road….So Tepco is considering bringing in barges and tanks, including a “megafloat” that can hold about 2.5 million gallons….Yet even using barges and tanks to temporarily handle the water creates a future problem of how to dispose of the contaminated vessels.

Cleaning up Japan’s radioactive water could take decades, latimes.com, 7 April 11, No one is sure how to safely dispose of millions of gallons of highly radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. ‘There is nothing like this, on this scale, that we have ever attempted to do before,’ a U.S. expert says. Continue reading →

April 7, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan, technology | 1 Comment

Radioactive Cesium can travel up the food chain, in fish

Power company back pedals over reactor plans, Sydney Morning Herald, Andrew Higgins April 7, 2011, FUKUSHIMA:”…….After unsuccessful attempts with concrete, and even newspapers and sawdust, engineers used sodium-silicate to stop the leak, but radioactivity in fish exceeding health guidelines has been detected for the first time off northern Japan.Caesium radioactivity in sand lance caught south of the Fukushima Daiichi plant was 526 becquerel per kilogram, compared with a health ministry standard of 500 becquerel.With a radioactive half-life of 30 years, caesium can build up in the meat of marine predators as they eat smaller animals…..Power company back pedals over reactor plans

April 7, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Fukushima radiation and the marine food chain

there is a very strong likelihood that caesium, iodine and strontium could accumulate in the food chain from phytoplankton and algae to edible fish.

The World Today – Scientists monitor fallout from Fukushima 04/04/2011 The World Today , 4 April 11, ELEANOR HALL: Conservation groups and marine scientists say they remain very concerned about the ocean fallout from Japan’s crippled nuclear plant. The Japanese government says it could take months to stop radiation leaking from the plant. Continue reading →

April 5, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | 1 Comment

Fukushima “worst nuclear disaster in history”? – with release of radioactive Cesium 137

The highest cesium-137 levels in some villages near Chernobyl were 5 million Bq/m2. If true, Fukushima has already released higher levels of Cesium 137 than Chernobyl, making it the worst source of nuclear radiation release in history…..If preliminary information is correct, Fukushima already is the worst nuclear disaster in history.

Japan’s Government Needs to Move Quickly, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Daniel Wagner, 4 April 11, Daniel Wagner is managing director of Country Risk Solutions, a political risk consulting firm based in Connecticut, and senior advisor to the PRS Group. Why the Japanese Government Needs to Move Quickly The focus of much of the press since the quake and tsunami has been on levels of radioactive iodine that has been released into the environment, but cesium-137 is a much greater health concern and has been linked to cancer deaths nine times greater than radioactive iodine, with a half life of 30 years. Last week, for the first time, the Japanese science ministry began to release measurements of cesium-137 in soil around the plant. Continue reading →

April 4, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | 1 Comment

Japanese village Iitate has dangerous radiation levels

IAEA worried about radiation in Japan village(, Google News, AFP) – 31 March 11, VIENNA — Radiation levels recorded at a village outside the evacuation zone around the quake-striken Fukushima nuclear plant are above safe levels, the UN atomic watchdog said Wednesday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said safe limits had been exceeded at Iitate village, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Fukushima, well outside the government-imposed 20 kilometre exclusion zone and the 30-kilometre “stay indoors” zone.”The first assessment indicates that one of the IAEA operational criteria for evacuation is exceeded in Iitate village,” the IAEA’s head of nuclear safety and security, Denis Flory, told reporters here……Iitate lies 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the Fukushima nuclear power plant,……AFP: IAEA worried about radiation in Japan village

 

March 31, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Japanese radiation in Scotland, strengthens antinuclear feeling

Japanese radiation found at three more Scottish locations – Scotsman.com News 31 March 2011By CLAIRE SMITH RADIOACTIVE iodine believed to be from the Fukishima nuclear plant has been found at three more locations in Scotland, according to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency.Sepa said yesterday that samples believed to be from Fukushima had been detected at Dounreay in Caithness and at Lerwick in Shetland. Radioactive iodine has also been detected in East Kilbride.The news follows reports on Monday that radioactive iodine from the stricken Japanese power station had been detected in Glasgow……..Rob Gibson, SNP candidate Caithness, Sutherland and Ross said the latest detections were a reminder of the hazards of nuclear power.

He said: “It is important to stress that there is no threat to public safety. However, even at such a distance it does remind us of the hazards of nuclear power, and the terrible events in Japan.”

Mr Gibson said the Japanese nuclear crisis had strengthened the SNP’s resolve to realise Scotland’s potential for renewable energy: “No country with Scotland’s energy mix would contemplate a new nuclear power programme.”
Japanese radiation found at three more Scottish locations – Scotsman.com News

March 31, 2011 Posted by | environment, UK | Leave a comment

More radiation to come in rainwater, says USA’s EPA

EPA: Expect More Radiation in Rainwater, – Forbes, Mar. 28 2011 – tBy JEFF MCMAHON  nIodine-131 found in rain. The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday reported finding elevated levels of iodine-131, a product of nuclear fission, in rainwater in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. The levels exceed the maximum contaminant level (MCL) permitted in drinking water, but EPA continues to assure the public there is no need for alarm:…….EPA said it is receiving “verbal reports” of higher levels of radiation in rainwater samples from other states as well, and that Americans should continue to expect short-term contamination of rainwater as radioactive isotopes spread through the atmosphere from Japan…..EPA: Expect More Radiation in Rainwater – Jeff McMahon – The Ingenuity of the Commons – Forbes

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

Winds could carry Fukushima nuclear radiation across Japan’s mainland

Global rescue teams depart as winds threaten to turn nuclear cloud inland * Brendan Nicholson  The Australian * March 22, 2011 AUSTRALIAN authorities have warned that the wind direction in the region surrounding the stricken Japanese nuclear reactors was set to change last night and could carry radioactive contamination over the mainland.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency said the prevailing wind had been carrying radiation out to sea since the Fukushima Daiichi power stations were damaged. But during the next 36 hours, a wind change is likely to produce a complex pattern of wind directions over mainland Japan.”Any radioactivity that may occur from deterioration in the current status of any of the Fukushima Daiichi reactor units is predicted to pass across mainland Japan during this time.”

ARPANSA said the wind should swing back out over the ocean after that time.ARPANSA has recommended that Australians within 80km of the power plant move out of the area….Global rescue teams depart as winds threaten to turn nuclear cloud inland | The Australian

March 24, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment | Leave a comment

Wide area around Fukushima nuclear plant will be radioactively contaminated for decades

“Given the weather, it is likely that contaminations have occurred beyond that, up to 100 kilometres or so.”…..

Contamination at Fukushima nuclear plant for decades, says France’s Nuclear Safety Authority | Herald Sun, From: NewsCore * March 22, 2011 LOCAL contamination from Japan’s quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant would be a problem that would last “for decades and decades”, France’s Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) said. Continue reading →

March 22, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

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