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Japan will no longer measure plutonium

Japan ceases measuring the plutonium, Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 4 Oct 11, At the press conference of TEPCO and related ministries of Japanese government, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology stated they will not measure plutonium anymore.

The measurement of plutonium was abandoned in Japan.It was announced on 10/3/2011 by staff from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Now Japanese people are allowed to take 1~10 Bq/kg of plutonium. However, 1 in a million gram of plutonium causes cancer.

They announced that plutonium and strontium were detected in 45km / 79km area on 9/30.They seem afraid of having the contamination situation known by more people. http://fukushima-diary.com/2011/10/breaking-news-the-measurement-of-plutonium-was-abandoned-in-japan/#.Tomr6dmxwk4.facebook

JGov and TEPCO are disgusting.

http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/japan-ceases-measuring-the-plutonium/

October 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | - plutonium, health, Japan | Leave a comment

Plutonium in soil 40 Km from Fukushima nuclear plant

Plutonium 40km from Fukushima plant, FT.com Asia Pacific By Mure Dickie in Tokyo, 3 Oct 11 Small amounts of plutonium believed to have escaped from Japan’s tsunami-crippled nuclear plant have been detected in soil more than 40km away, say government researchers, a finding that will fuel already widespread fears about radiation risk……

The plutonium was found at six sites – including one in Iitate around 40km from the plant – all of which are subject to evacuation orders. However, plutonium’s long half-life and the potential for even small amounts to pose a health hazard if ingested is likely to make it a focus of popular concern.

Japanese authorities, who significantly underestimated radiation releases from the plant in the early days of the crisis, have since struggled to convince the public that they are able effectively to guard against radiation health threats…. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7e3af460-ece6-11e0-be97-00144feab49a.html#axzz1Zkkm68Sy

October 3, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | - Fukushima 2011, - plutonium, environment, Japan | Leave a comment

New plutonium nuclear fuel plant, costly, delayed, and unsafe, too?

More than a decade later, the mixed oxide fuel [2] (MOX) plant is running into mounting troubles [3], including long delays, soaring costs and the lack of utilities committed to use the new fuel in their reactors

But there’s another aspect of the story that has received little attention…

Safety Reviewers Raise Questions about Construction of New Nuclear Fuel Plant, ProPublica By Donna Deedy, w ith Michael Grabell, May 5, 2011, . In the late 1990s, U.S. policymakers approved a plan to turn plutonium from nuclear weapons into fuel for commercial reactors. The first-of-its kind plant [1], now being built in South Carolina, was intended to reduce the Cold War stockpile and the threat of nuclear material theft while supplying the country’s energy needs. Continue reading →

May 6, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | - plutonium, safety, USA | Leave a comment

Facts on plutonium and Mox nuclear fuel

some reactors do use Mox, but only as a small percentage (less than 30 per cent) of the total fuel. The rest of the fuel is conventional uranium oxide…Mox, which in any case remains far more expensive than conventional uranium fuel…

(UK) Government’s doomed £6bn plan to dispose of nuclear waste, The Independent, 11 April 11“……Q & A: Why has it come to this?

Q: What is Britain’s “plutonium mountain”?

A: It is the nation’s stockpile of radioactive plutonium, kept as plutonium dioxide powder, packed into special drums stored at Sellafield in Cumbria. A further, smaller amount is stored at the Dounreay nuclear facility in Scotland, the site of the doomed nuclear fast-breeder reactor programme. Continue reading →

April 11, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | - plutonium, reprocessing, UK | Leave a comment

Britain has world’s biggest pile of plutonium and now Japan won’t buy it

Chubu Electric and nine other Japanese power companies have also indicated that because of long-term production problems that have dogged the SMP, they will not now be taking any reprocessed fuel from Britain until at least the end of the decade – nearly 20 years after the plant was opened to serve the Japanese market.

Government’s doomed £6bn plan to dispose of nuclear waste, The Independent, 11 April 11, One month after the Japanese tsunami, the world’s biggest reserve of plutonium waste is reaching crisis point. It was meant to be reprocessed and sold – but now no nation will take it. So where is this vast stockpile? Not Fukushima, but Sellafield, CumbriaBy Steve Connor, Science Editor The nuclear crisis in Japan threatens a carefully choreographed UK Government plan to tackle the world’s biggest mountain of plutonium waste stored at the Sellafield site in Cumbria. Continue reading →

April 11, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | - plutonium, politics international, UK | Leave a comment

Refuting George Monbiot on the dangers of ionising radiation

If you inhale a millionth of a gram of plutonium, the surrounding cells receive a very, very high dose. Most die within that area, because it’s an alpha emitter. The cells on the periphery remain viable. They mutate, and the regulatory genes are damaged. Years later, that person develops cancer….]t’s imperative that people understand that internal emitters cause cancer, but the incubation time for cancer is any time from two to 60 years. …

VIDEO Nuclear industry propaganda about low-level radiation is “absolute rubbish” says physician who taught at Harvard Med School — It’s all about internal emitters (VIDEO) « Energy News Energy News, HELEN CALDICOTT, 4 April 11, : … Up to a million people have already died from Chernobyl, and people will continue to die from cancer for virtually the rest of time. Continue reading →