Japan: 6.5 earthquake, small tsunami, not far from Sendani nuclear reactors
Japan hit by 6.5 magnitude earthquake, Brock Press, November 17, 2015 Chace King On Nov. 14, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Japan, hitting the coastal island of Kyushu and triggering a small tsunami, according to the U.S Geological Survey.
Initially, the earthquake was thought to be close to a 7.0, but was downgraded later Saturday.
According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA), the 30 cm tsunami registered off the island of Nakanoshima, part of the Kagoshima region. The earthquake struck 159 km south of the town Makurazaki at a depth of about 10 kilometers, prompting fear that the quake would affect a pair of reactors in Sendani owned by the Kyushu Electric Power Co.
“There was no abnormality at the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors following the quake,” stated spokesman for Kyushu Electric Naoyuki Igawa in an interview with the Japan Times……. Far from uncommon, Japan is hit by roughly 1,500 earthquakes annually. The most deadly in recent history being when in 2011, Japan was hit by an earthquake in eastern Japan, leaving more than 18,000 dead or missing and sending three nuclear reactors into meltdown. http://www.brockpress.com/2015/11/briefs-japan-hit-by-6-5-magnitude-earthquake/
Radiation effects from Fukushima have been chronically underestimated
‘Million Cancer Deaths From Fukushima Expected in Japan,’ New Report Reveals A shocking new report defies the chronically underestimated impacts of the Fukushima’s triple meltdown on the risk of cancer in exposed populations, which does not just include Japan, but arguably the entire world. Sayer Ji, Green Med Info Waking Times, 10 Nov 15
A new report from Fairewinds Energy Education (FEE), “Cancer on the Rise in Post-Fukushima Japan,” reveals that the ongoing multi-core nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant that started in March 2011 has produced approximately 230 times higher than normal thyroid cancers in Fukushima Prefecture, and could result in as many as one million more cancers in Japan’s future as a result of the meltdown.
According to the new report, data provided by a group of esteemed Japanese medical professionals and TEPCO, confirm a direct link of numerous cancers in Japan to the triple meltdown. Continue reading
Japan’s nuclear reprocessing boondoggle – Monju reactor still in trouble
NRA’s ‘new management’ call for Monju reactor proves divisive, Japan Times, BY ERIC JOHNSTON OSAKA, 6 Nov 15, – Two decades after a sodium leak and fire shut it down and nearly six decades after it was first conceived, the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, suffered another blow Wednesday when the Nuclear Regulation Authority called for it to be turned over to another operator.
To date, over ¥1 trillion has been poured into Monju — a plant that has never produced commercial electricity. Despite remaining inactive, safety measures alone cost ¥50 million a day.
Anti-nuclear activists have hailed the NRA’s unusually critical language as an important step toward scrapping the reactor, which was supposed to burn plutonium mixed with uranium.
Fukui politicians who heavily support Monju, including the prefecture’s governor and the mayor of Tsuruga, doubt that another operator can be found. They also worry that scrapping it would create local concerns as well as safety issues.
“What does it mean when the NRA says that it can’t leave Monju’s operations to the (government-backed) Japan Atomic Energy Agency? There aren’t any other organizations it can be left to,” Tsuruga Mayor Takanobu Fuchikami told reporters after the decision…….
Monju, conceived in the 1950s, has faced nothing but technical trouble, domestic and international controversies, and scandals.
Originally slated to go live in 1970, monju did not reach criticality until 1994. It was shut down following a December 1995 leak and fire involving liquid sodium. The incident was at that time Japan’s worst nuclear-related accident.
Further delays and scandals meant that by 2005, when Monju was taken over by JAEA after its predecessor organization was disbanded, officials hoped it would be commercially viable by around 2050.
But after it was revealed in 2012 that JAEA had failed to inspect nearly 10,000 reactor components in and after 2010, the NRA ordered Monju not to engage in preparatory work until it was satisfied safety had been improved…..
Activists are urging the government to give up on the project.
“Monju should be permanently shut down. If the Japanese government is capable of immediately and permanently scrapping Monju, we can gain some trust that it intends to have a logical, functional basic energy policy,” said Aileen Mioko Smith, executive director of Kyoto-based anti-nuclear group Green Action. “If it continues the status quo by flogging a horse that has been dead for 20 years, it bodes badly for Japan’s energy future.” http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/05/national/nras-new-management-call-monju-reactor-proves-divisive/#.Vj0CA9IrLGj
Uncontrolled nuclear chain reactions could be underway at Fukushima
Former Japan Ambassador: Uncontrolled nuclear chain reactions could be underway at Fukushima — “Troubling indications of recurring criticality” as Tellurium-132 detected over 100 miles from plant — ‘Recriticality’ discussed by Japan’s top nuclear official http://enenews.com/former-japan-ambassador-uncontrolled-nuclear-chain-reactions-suspected-fukushima-troubling-indications-recurring-criticality-tellurium-132-detected-100-miles-plant-recriticality-issue-discussed?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Japan Times, Nov 4, 2015 (emphasis added): The former Japanese ambassador to Switzerland,Mitsuhei Murata, recently suggested that Japan should stage an ‘honorable retreat’ from hosting the 2020 Olympics due to the unpredictable situation at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Japan Times (Hotline to Nagatacho — Brian Victoria, Kyoto), Nov 4, 2015: [F]ormer Japanese ambassador to Switzerland, Mitsuhei Murata, recently proposed… for Japan to stage an “honorable retreat” from hosting the 2020 Olympics… [I]n the September issue of Gekkan Nippon, Murata… noted the danger still posed by large numbers of spent fuel rods suspended in spent fuel pools in reactors 1, 2 and 3 [which] can’t be removed from the damaged reactor buildings due to the high levels of radioactivity surrounding these reactors… Murata’s gravest concern is a number of troubling indications of recurring criticality [ i.e. uncontrolled nuclear chain reactions] in one or more of the reactors at Fukushima No. 1. For example, he notes that in December 2014, both radioactive iodine-131 and tellurium-132 were reported as having been detected in Takasaki city, Gunma Prefecture [~130 miles SW of Fukushima Daiichi]. Given the short half-lives of these radioactive particles, their presence could not be the result of the original meltdowns at Fukushima.
Ambassador Murata to Dr. Thomas Bach (President of the International Olympic Committee), Jun 15, 2015: Allow me to send you a letter, motivated by my sense of mission to inform you of the worsening situation in Fukushima, which regrettably is being downplayed by our Government and does not seem to be well known internationally… Contrary to the assurances of the Japanese Government and [TEPCO], the situation at the site of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is not at all under control… Not only do we have a continued contamination of the groundwater and the Pacific Ocean… but the brittle structure of the damaged plant represents itself a serious threat, in particular in our earthquake prone region.
Ambassador Murata to Susana Malcorra (United Nations Chef de Cabinet), Aug 27, 2015: I am sending you my fourth message to President Bach of The IOC. I inform him of my message addressed to Prime Minister Abe. In my message… I ask for the first concrete international cooperation concerning the method of cooling spent fuel rods making use of zinc instead of water. This is crucially important. The Pacific Ocean is more and more contaminated with the daily release of more than 300 tons radioactive groundwater. I remind Prime Minister Abe that the decision to retreat from the Tokyo Olympic Games and carry out an international verification of the suspected re-criticality is urgently needed… My interview article was published in the magazine “Monthly Japan” (September). The article entitled “An honorable retreat from the Tokyo Olympic Games” is given a central place. Reactions are noteworthy and encouraging. Conscientious citizens start questioning the integrity of the IOC. Please convey my warmest greetings to Secretary-General Ban-kimoon.
Interestingly, two weeks ago the head of Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority addressed the recriticality issue:
Fukushima Minpo, Oct 20, 2015: Nuclear regulator chief says Fukushima Daiichi recriticality“physically impossible” — Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, visited the Minamisoma city government for talks with Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai on Oct. 22. Regarding Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tanaka said, “We are no longer in a situation that prevents residents from returning (to their evacuated hometowns). Recriticality is physically impossible.”
Thyroid abnormailities in 112 of 173 children in Kashiwa city Chiba
112 of 173 children diagnosed with thyroid abnormality 
, Fukushima Diary, by Mochizuki , November 4, 2015 On 10/30/2015, Kashiwa city government announced 112 of 173 children were diagnosed with thyroid cyst or nodule.
6 of them were diagnosed with cyst (larger than 5.1 mm) or nodule (larger than 20.1 mm), 11 of them were required to have follow-up test.
The testees are the children born in 1992 ~ 2011. It was implemented from this July to September.
In order to receive the subsidy to have this test, the parents were required to sign the declaration of consent. It declares that the test does not guarantee the potential health state in the future but only represents the present’s state, and also that it is not to evaluate the radiation effect because of the nuclear accident but only alleviate the anxiety for radiation exposure……http://fukushima-diary.com/2015/11/112-of-173-children-diagnosed-with-thyroid-abnormality-in-kashiwa-city-chiba/
Time to stop Tokyo 2020 Olympics plan: instead deal with Fukushima nuclear disaster
Murata is not opposed to the Tokyo Olympic Games per se, but finds them a major distraction to what needs to be done immediately — namely, gathering the best minds and expertise from around the world and, with the full support of the Japanese government, doing everything humanly possible to bring Fukushima No. 1 truly “under control.” This will help to ensure the Pacific Ocean is no longer used as an open sewer for Fukushima-produced radiation, and also address the ongoing pain and distress of the residents of Fukushima Prefecture and beyond.
Time has come for an ‘honorable retreat’ from Tokyo 2020 over Fukushima, BRIAN VICTORIA
Kyoto http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2015/11/04/voices/time-come-honorable-retreat-tokyo-2020-fukushima/#.VjvGN9IrLGh
Dear Olympics minister Toshiaki Endo, Let me begin this message by offering you my sincerest condolences. Condolences for what? For the death of the belief that a trouble-free 2020 Tokyo Olympics would serve to showcase Japan’s economic revival.
Up to this point, the exact opposite has been the case, due to the scrapping of plans for a very expensive new National Stadium, the scuttling of the Olympic logo amid charges of plagiarism and newspaper headlines alleging, for example, that “Japan’s Olympics fiascoes point to outmoded, opaque decision-making.” Even more recently, Japan sports minister Hakubun Shimomura offered to resign over the Olympic stadium row.
Among these developments, the charge alleging “outmoded, opaque decision-making” is perhaps the most troubling of all, because it suggests that both of the major setbacks the 2020 Olympics has encountered are systemic in nature, not merely one-off phenomena. If correct, this indicates that similar setbacks are likely to occur in the future. But how many setbacks can the 2020 Olympics endure?
At this point it may be apt to recall the warning of 13th-century Zen master Dogen: “If there is the slightest difference in the beginning, the result will be a distance greater than heaven is from Earth.”
One lesson to be learned from Dogen’s words is that in order to understand the mess you are in now, you should reflect on how you got into it in the first place. When this is done, the “beginning” becomes clear, i.e., Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s 2013 statement to the International Olympic Committee that the situation at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant was “under control.” The prime minister went on to tell the Diet, “The effect of radioactive substances in the nearby waters is blocked within 0.3 sq. km of the plant’s harbor.”
One needs only to look at recent stories describing the torrential downpours in the Fukushima area to know that this claim, if it were ever true, is clearly no longer valid. Even Tepco stated: “On Sept. 9 and 11, due to typhoon No. 18 (Etau), heavy rain caused Fukushima No. 1 drainage rainwater to overflow to the sea.” This is not to mention the high probability that relatively decontaminated areas have been contaminated once again by the heavy rains carrying radioactive particles lodged in the nearby mountains down onto the plains. Nor does it take into account that no one knows the location or condition of the melted fuel in reactors 1, 2 and 3.
At this point it may be apt to recall the warning of 13th-century Zen master Dogen: “If there is the slightest difference in the beginning, the result will be a distance greater than heaven is from Earth.”
One lesson to be learned from Dogen’s words is that in order to understand the mess you are in now, you should reflect on how you got into it in the first place. When this is done, the “beginning” becomes clear, i.e., Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s 2013 statement to the International Olympic Committee that the situation at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant was “under control.” The prime minister went on to tell the Diet, “The effect of radioactive substances in the nearby waters is blocked within 0.3 sq. km of the plant’s harbor.” Continue reading
There is no end to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster: it is just getting worse
Fukushima Gets A Lot Uglier NOVEMBER 3, 2015 http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/11/03/fukushima-gets-a-lot-uglier/ by ROBERT HUNZIKER
As time passes, a bona fide message emerges from within the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster scenario, and that message is that once a nuclear power plant loses it, the unraveling only gets worse and worse until it’s at its worst, and still, there’s no stopping it. Similar to opening Pandora’s box, there’s no stopping a ferocious atom-splitting insanity that knows no end.
Four years of experience with Fukushima provides considerable evidence that splitting atoms to boil water is outright unmitigated madness. After all, nuclear power plants are built to boil water; yes, to boil water; it’s as simple as that, but yet at the same time it’s also extraordinarily complex. Conversely, solar and wind do not boil water and are not complex and never deadly (Germany knows).
As it unfolds, the Fukushima story grows more convoluted and way more chilling. For example, according to The Japan Times, October 30th Edition: “Extremely high radiation levels and the inability to grasp the details about melted nuclear fuel make it impossible for the utility to chart the course of its planned decommissioning of the reactors at the plant.”
Thereby, the bitter truth behind a major nuclear meltdown shows its true colors: “Impossible for the utility to chart the course of its planned decommissioning…” is very definitive, divulging the weak underbelly of the fission-to-heat process; only one slip-up, and it’s deadly dangerous and likely out of control!
Not only that, but the entire Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex is subject to recurring mishaps and setbacks, as well as various technical tribulations, something different going wrong on any given day. And, it’s always big, never small.
For example, according to The Japan Times, October 30thEdition: “Deadly 9.4 Sieverts Detected Outside Fukushima Reactor 2 Containment Vessel; Checks Stop.”
TEPCO also detected deadly radiation levels outside of reactor No. 1. According to a direct quote from the article: “People exposed to the maximum radiation dose for some 45 minutes will die.” Death in 45 minutes!
The potency contained within 9.4 Sieverts (Sv) is enormous. One Sievert, which is a measure of the health effect of radiation on the human body, is normally considered a massive dose, causing immediate radiation sickness. But, since levels beyond one Sievert are rarely, if ever, encountered in the normal course of everyday life, the industry standard uses millisieverts (mSv = 1/1000th) or microsieverts (uSv = one millionth of a Sievert) when measuring radiation.
Miserably, eight (8) Sieverts causes severe vomiting, severe headache, severe fever, incapacitation, and a 100% death rate over a period of time greater than 10 minutes within 48 hours (Radiation Survival Guide).
Chernobyl is a prime example of the potency of radiation. Immediately after the explosion (1986), radiation levels in the control room reached 300 Sv/hr, resulting in the deaths of the operators of the plant. Thirty years later, radiation levels in the same control room run approximately 8-10 mSv/hr.
It’s little wonder TEPCO finds it impossible to plan decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which begs the question of if, and when, decommissioning will be possible. Who knows, if ever?
Furthermore, according to The Japan Times’ article: TEPCO planned to start checking inside the containment vessel in August by use of a remote-controlled robot but “high radiation levels have stalled the examination.”
Unfortunately, not only is radiation sizzling outside of reactor No. 1, but a pipe connection at reactor No. 2 also shows extremely high radiation levels. Reactor No. 2 is where the hot melted radioactive core (corium) still has not been located. But, then again, with so much hot stuff sizzling throughout the entire Fukushima complex, how are workers expected to locate a melted nuclear core that may have already penetrated the steel-reinforced concrete containment vessel, entering the earth?
If total meltdown occurred/occurs, nobody has any idea of what to do next. There is no playbook. It’s likely impossible to do anything remedial once a melted nuclear core has burrowed into the ground because deadly isotopes uncontrollably spread erratically, ubiquitously into the surrounding underground soil and water. Then what?
In the final analysis, there is a distinct probability that Fukushima has no final analysis. . Reports out of Japan indicate that Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant cleanup and decommissioning is severely restricted by extremely high radiation levels and the inability to grasp the details about melted nuclear fuel. What could be worse? Keep reading.
Footnote: China plans on building 400 nuclear plants “fast and cheap” over the next few decades. (Source: Oliver Tickell, Does China’s Nuclear Boom Threaten Global Catastrophe? CounterPunch, Oct. 30th.) Answer: YES!
Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at roberthunziker@icloud.com
Extremely high radiation measured in Fukushima mushroom sample
[Photo] 52,339 Bq/Kg of Cs-134/137 still measured from mushroom in Fukushima http://fukushima-diary.com/2015/10/photo-52339-bqkg-of-cs-134137-still-measured-from-mushroom-in-fukushima/ by Mochizuki , October 29, 2015 A Japanese citizen measured extremely high density of Cs-134/137 from mushroom in Fukushima.
On 10/22/2015, the person posted on Twitter that 52,339 Bq/Kg of Cs-134/137 was detected from a type of mushroom called “Ramaria botrytis” (Photos A). The sample was collected in a copse of Futaba county in Fukushima.
Cs-134/137 density was 2,378 Bq/Kg in the soil around the sample to show the mushroom concentrated Cs-134/137 over 22 times.
30,865 Bq/Kg of Cs-134/137 was also measured from a sample of “Cortinarius violaceus” (Photos B). The sampling location was the same.
Mystery of “Deadly” radiation levels detected outside Fukushima containment vessel
Japan Times: “Deadly” radiation levels detected outside Fukushima containment vessel — “Details behind situation are unknown” — Officials unable to grasp location of melted nuclear fuel — “Impossible” to plan for decommissioninghttp://enenews.com/japan-times-deadly-94-sieverts-detected-fukushima-containment-vessel-details-behind-situation-unknown-officials-unable-grasp-location-melted-nuclear-fuel-impossible-plan-decommissioning?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29Jiji Press, Oct 29, 2015: 9.4 Sieverts Detected outside Fukushima Reactor Containment Vessel– [TEPCO] said Thursday that radiation levels of up to 9.4 sieverts per hour have been detected outside a reactor containment vessel… People exposed to the maximum radiation dose for some 45 minutes will die. TEPCO expects decontamination work to take at least one month. Checks conducted on Sept. 4-25 found the extremely high radiation levels at a cell which accommodates a pipe connected to the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor…
Japan Times (via Jiji), Oct 30, 2015 (emphasis added): Deadly 9.4 sieverts detected outside Fukushima reactor 2 containment vessel; checks stop… Details behind the situation are unknown, according to the company. Tepco planned to start in August to check the inside of the containment vessel by using a remote-controlled robot but high radiation levels have stalled the examination. Extremely high radiation levels and theinability to grasp the details about melted nuclear fuel make it impossible for the utility to chart the course of its planned decommissioning of the reactors at the plant.
Fukushima: underground walls built to contain radioactive water
Walls to halt tainted groundwater from flowing into sea completed at Fukushima plant http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201510260048 October 26, 2015 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Tokyo Electric Power Co. announced Oct. 26 that the construction of seaside walls to block radiation-contaminated groundwater from seeping into the sea has been completed at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The walls, comprising numerous cylindrical steel pipes, were installed at a 780 meter-long stretch along the plant’s coastal embankment near the damaged No. 1 to No. 4 reactor buildings.
TEPCO officials said the underground walls will reduce the daily flow of contaminated groundwater into the sea from the previous estimated 400 tons to 10 tons.
However, they said it will take a month or two to confirm the effectiveness of the barriers.
The seaside walls are one of the three pillars of TEPCO’s efforts to deal with tainted groundwater accumulating at the plant.
The other projects are a plan to treat groundwater pumped from subdrain wells around the reactor buildings and release it into the sea and a frozen soil wall being constructed to divert untainted groundwater away from the damaged reactor buildings and into the ocean.
Cone of silence about Fukushima, as Abe prepares for 2020 Tokyo Olympics
But, wait a moment, where’s the corium?
Corium is a lava-like radioactive hot molten mix of a nuclear reactor core formed during a meltdown. The corium is missing at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant No. 2. Nobody knows where it is. Nobody knows! Better yet, or rather worse yet, finding No.2’s melted core is an ongoing challenge of enormous, humongous proportions, kinda like hovering at the edge of a Black Hole. What’s next?
Fukushima – a Hushed Up Catastrophe, CounterPunch, by ROBERT HUNZIKER , OCTOBER 30, 2015 The Fukushima disaster is radiantly exposed in the Pacific Ocean, but as for people behind the disaster, it is treated like the Manhattan Project, circa 1942… Top Secret!
Still, “Its against international law to dump radioactivity into the sea, but that is precisely what is happening on a daily basis,” according to Dr. Keith Baverstock, former regional adviser for Radiation and Public Health, World Health Organization (“WHO”), speaker at the Citizen-Scientist International Symposium on Radiation Protection, October 23, 2015.
As intimated by Dr. Baverstock, inexplicably Fukushima is immune to international law, standards, and conventions, and nobody cares enough to do anything about it.
Surely, nobody intentionally caused the disaster behind the meltdown, similar to a chain reaction of falling dominoes: an earthquake, tsunami, massive flooding, black-outs, loss of power, hydrogen explosions, nuclear meltdown, and four years of highly radioactive water spewing into the Pacific Ocean, and who knows what else or where else?
But, “cause” is not the issue with Fukushima. The issue is whether nuclear power is a satisfactory source of energy, whether it is safe. In that regard, Angela Merkel (61), PhD physics, University of Leipzig and current chancellor of Germany is shutting down all nuclear reactors because of the Fukushima incident. Germany favors renewable sources of energy like solar and wind. Meanwhile, Japan’s PM Abe (61), a graduate in political science from Seikei University, is reopening nuclear power plants as quickly as possible, proving that politics overrides science. Continue reading
Outside Fukushima reactor containment vessel deadly 9.4 sieverts detected
Deadly 9.4 sieverts detected outside Fukushima reactor 2 containment vessel; checks stop http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/10/30/national/deadly-9-4-sieverts-detected-outside-fukushima-reactor-2-containment-vessel-checks-stop/#.VjPyu9IrLGj Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday that radiation levels of up to 9.4 sieverts per hour have been detected outside a reactor containment vessel at the meltdown-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
People exposed to the maximum radiation dose for some 45 minutes will die. Tepco expects decontamination work to take at least one month.
Sept. 4-25 checks found the extremely high radiation levels at a cell that accommodates a pipe connected to the containment vessel of reactor 2 at the plant, which was devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Tepco said.
The highest contamination was detected on the floor. Details behind the situation are unknown, according to the company. Tepco planned to start in August to check the inside of the containment vessel by using a remote-controlled robot but high radiation levels have stalled the examination.
Extremely high radiation levels and the inability to grasp the details about melted nuclear fuel make it impossible for the utility to chart the course of its planned decommissioning of the reactors at the plant.
Nobody knows what to do with Fukushima nuclear reactors’ corium – melted fuel
Fukushima – a Hushed Up Catastrophe, CounterPunch, by ROBERT HUNZIKER , OCTOBER 30, 2015 “……..As the situation now stands, what if the corium leaked or leaks into the ground beneath the reactor’s final cement & steel containment vessel, the last line of defense? Answer: Nobody knows because it has never happened before, but the smell test says it can’t be good; in fact, it’s gotta be awful, really awful and deadly out of control, impossible to stop.
Tragically, nobody knows what to do. They really don’t.
Still, here’s what sources claim probably happens when a nuclear meltdown hits pay dirt, immersing into Earth: Some isotopes uncontrollably spread erratically, for example, Cesiun-137, which is deadly toxic to all life forms, and only one of many dangerous isotopes, is water-soluble and makes its way into soils and waters and quickly becomes ubiquitous in the ecosystem; that’s what happens, “ubiquitous in the ecosystem.”
Thereafter, assuming a situation similar to Chernobyl (1986), an exclusion zone is established to keep everybody out due to excessive levels of radiation. But, questions like how big of an exclusion zone and how prolific the underground hot radioactive corium reacts nobody knows how to answer. When Ihor Gramotkin, director of the Chernobyl Power Plant was asked how soon the Chernobyl reactor site would be inhabitable again, he replied: “At least 20,000 years,” Eben Harrell, Apocalypse Today: Visiting Chernobyl, 25 Years Later, Time Magazine, April 26, 2011.
Nevertheless, the Abe government is already moving people back into some of the four-year-old exclusion zones of Fukushima………… http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/10/30/fukushima-a-hushed-up-catastrophe/
No foreseeable end to Fukushima’s daily dumping of radioactive waste to Pacific Ocean
Former WHO Official: Fukushima plant is dumping nuclear waste into ocean on a daily basis; “There’s no foreseeable end to it… and nobody has any good ideas on how to stop it” — Japan gov’t worried that attempts to reduce leakage will cause even more radioactivity to flow into sea (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/former-official-fukushima-plant-dumping-radioactivity-ocean-daily-basis-foreseeable-good-ideas-stop-japan-govt-worried-attempts-stop-going-nuclear-waste-flow-sea-video?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Asahi Shimbun, Oct 26, 2015 (emphasis added): [TEPCO announced] the construction of seaside walls to block radiation-contaminated groundwater from seeping into the sea has been completed at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant… TEPCO officials said the underground walls will reduce the daily flow of contaminated groundwater into the sea from the previous estimated 400 tons to 10 tons. However, they said it will take a month or two to confirm the effectiveness of the barriers.
Japan Times, Oct 26, 2015: Tepco hopes the wall will significantly reduce the amount ofcontaminated water that has continued to flow into the Pacific more than four yearsafter the 2011 meltdown crisis… 400 tons of groundwater was draining along the sides of the buildings and into the sea each day, after being contaminated with fallout from the 2011 meltdown crisis, according Tepco. The utility says an estimated 150 tons of underground water is still flowing into the basements of the damaged reactor buildings each day… Recent tests of water samples from the nearby sea have detected radioactive substances such as cesium-137 and strontium-90, but scientists have said the density is so low that it poses no immediate danger to human health. Yet, the ongoing flow of tainted water from the plant has raised anxiety and concerns among local fishermen and many consumers across the country. Tepco plans to keep monitoring the density of radioactive materials in the nearby sea over the next month. To isolate the four reactor buildings from the underground water, Tepco hopes to freeze the soil around them… The Nuclear Regulation Authority has yet to give permission for the operation, saying creation of frozen soil could drastically change the underground water level around the plant. If the water level outside falls lower than that inside, the contaminated water could leak out. Meanwhile, Tepco has not explained exactly how it will control the water levels, an NRA official said.
Dr. Keith Baverstock, former World Health Organization regional adviser for radiation and public health, published Oct 23, 2015 (at 37:00 in): “I’m really appalled at the way the international system has failed… Quite frankly, we don’t get anything through the media… There is no general understanding of the situation here in Europe, because the media are not putting this view forward. In fact, I think many people would be very surprised that it was still a matter for discussion. They would be even more surprised to learn that it’s still an ongoing accident, and that it hasn’t terminated yet. They’d be even more surprised that nobody has any good ideas on how to stop it. So this is a very big black point… for the nuclear industry — that they can cause a situation like this, where there’s no foreseeable end to it. It’s against international law to dump radioactivity into the sea, but that is precisely what is happening on a daily basis.”
Japan’s govt admits that 40% of Fukushima evacuation personnel exposed to radiation of 1 mSv
40% of Fukushima evacuation personnel exposed to radiation of 1 mSv http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/40-of-fukushima-evacuation-personnel-exposed-to-radiation-of-1-msv OCT. 27, 2015 TOKYO —
Nearly 40% of Self-Defense Forces troops, police officers and firefighters involved in evacuation operations right after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis were exposed to radiation above the annual public limit of 1 millisievert, the government said Monday.
The Cabinet Office surveyed for the first time 2,967 personnel who assisted in evacuating residents living within a 20-kilometer radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex as well as radiation cleanup and other activities from March 12 to 31, 2011.
The survey found that around 62% were exposed to radiation of less than 1 millisievert. But 38% were exposed to 1 millisievert or more, of whom 19% received 1 to 2 millisieverts and 5% received 5 to 10 millisieverts.
Daily radiation doses remained high until around March 15—the day the third reactor building suffered an explosion at the plant—and dropped below 0.1 millisievert from March 18.
The Cabinet Office revealed the data at a meeting to discuss ways to mitigate the radiation exposure of civilians helping others to evacuate in the event of a nuclear accident. The Japanese government is pushing for the reactivation of reactors that have cleared a set of new safety requirements imposed in the wake of the Fukushima crisis, triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, but public concern persists about whether smooth evacuations would be possible in the event of a nuclear accident.
The government plans to set a 1-millisievert-limit for civilians assisting in evacuations such as bus drivers. But some bus drivers are reluctant to accept the proposal.
The maximum radiation dose for ordinary members of the public is set at 1 millisievert per year. The limit for workers at nuclear facilities is 100 millisieverts over five years and 50 millisieverts per year in normal times, but it is raised in emergencies.
1 This Month
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