nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Underestimation of radiation exposure to Fukushima workers

Radiation estimates for No. 1 workers likely 20% too low: U.N .Japan Times 13 Oct 13 KYODO  NEW YORK – THE RADIATION DOSES WORKERS RECEIVED IN THE INITIAL PHASE OF THE FUKUSHIMA DISASTER MAY HAVE UNDERESTIMATED BY 20 PERCENT, A REPORT BY A U.N. PANEL SAYS.

The U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation said in a summary report on its website that the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Co., known as Tepco, used tests that failed to take into account some types of radiation released by the three meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant in March 2011……http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/13/national/radiation-estimates-for-no-1-workers-likely-20-too-low-u-n/#.UlxMO9JJMgs

October 16, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013 | Leave a comment

Higher radiation levels in sea near Fukushima

Cesium-137Radiation levels in harbour off Fukushima hit two-year high Australia Network News 10 Oct 2013 Radiation levels in harbour seawater beside one of the damaged Fukushima reactors spiked this week to the highest level in two years.

The operator of the crippled Japanese nuclear plant, TEPCO, says Cesium-134 and Cesium-137 readings on Wednesday jumped 13 times the previous day’s reading.

The readings were taken in the harbour right next to the Fukushima plant, hundreds of meters from the port entrance that connects to the Pacific Ocean.

Radiation from water leaking from the facility is mostly confined to the harbour around the plant, officials have said……http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-10/an-radiation-levels-in-harbour-off-fukushima-hit-two-year-high/5015082

October 11, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, oceans | 1 Comment

High radiation levels remain in parts of Fukushima’s evacuated areas

text-radiationflag-japanGreenpeace critical of Japan radiation Sky News, 10 Oct 13 Japan’s efforts to scour areas around Fukushima have been insufficient, pressure group Greenpeace said Thursday, as the government considers letting some residents return to homes near the crippled nuclear plant.

The environmental group said tests it had carried out inside the original 20-kilometre no-go zone around the plant showed that high levels of radiation remain.

Local and national officials are mulling lifting the exclusion order in parts of Tamura city, allowing people to return to homes they abandoned more than two and a half years ago. They cite lowered pollution levels in the wake of large cleaning operations.

A recent Greenpeace survey found that decontamination programmes have been effective for houses and many parts of major routes in the city.

But some lesser-used public roads, large areas of farmland and mountain areas still have high contamination levels, said Jan Vande Putte, Greenpeace radiation protection adviser.

He said the cleaned houses and roads were like ‘islands’ and ‘corridors’ in an otherwise polluted region.

It would be ‘unrealistic’ to ask residents to stay off contaminated roads and farmland, he said.

‘They can be exposed to high levels of radiation’ if they returned home, he said.

Decontamination ‘is a sticky problem. It is very difficult’, he told a press briefing……. http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=913978

October 11, 2013 Posted by | environment, Fukushima 2013, Japan | Leave a comment

2 holes leaked radioactive water from bottom of Fukushima tank

[Photo] 2 holes found in the bottom of 300m3 leakage tank / Entirely deteriorated http://fukushima-diary.com/2013/10/photo-2-holes-found-in-the-bottom-of-300m3-leakage-tank-entirely-deteriorated/  by Mochizuki on October 8th, 2013

 Following up this article.. [300m3 leakage] Tepco found 2 leaking bolts in the tank / The bolts are not loosened [URL]

hole-in-tank-Fuk-13

Tepco has been dismantling the tank since yesterday that experienced the 300m3 of leakage. The structural flaw may cause other tanks of the same type to leak commonly. Tepco is investigating the potential leaking points.

From their inspection, they found 2 holes around the bolt parts, which are 3mm × 11mm and 3mm × 22mm.

The flange parts were rusting inside and outside. The bottom parts of the tank were found severely deteriorated.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2013/images/handouts_131008_03-j.pdf

http://photo.tepco.co.jp/date/2013/201310-j/131008-01j.html

News is not the truth. It’s a virtual reality that the sponsor wants us to live in.

October 10, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, incidents, Japan | Leave a comment

Yuki Karakawa speaks on radiation emergency management

Japan Expert: Second explosion was “more like a bomb” at Fukushima — Spent nuclear fuel flew 30 kilometers away, pellets collected by military — Very strange materials like europium were found — Should have evacuated out to 300 kilometers (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/japan-expert-second-explosion-more-like-a-bomb-at-fukushima-nuclear-fuel-flew-30-kilometers-away-pellets-collected-by-japan-military-should-have-evacuated-300-kilometer-zone-150-years-t
October 7th, 2013  
Title: Lessons from Fukushima
Source: Journal Tribune
Author: Tammy Wells
Date: Oct. 1, 2013

An ambassador to an international emergency management organization and a former minister of defense in Japan stopped by the York County Emergency Management Agency Monday […]

Yuki N. Karakawa, of the Karakawa Foundation and ambassador to the International Association of Emergency Managers, along with Kazuo Aichi, Japan’s defense minister in the 1990s, are both members of the Japan Resilience Initiative. […]

He said the disaster at Fukushima will be felt in Japan for a long time, and that there will be long-term medical effects – something he claims the country hadn’t put into their planning systems. […]

He estimated it will take 150 years for decontamination around Fukushima to be complete.

Yuki Karakawa – Lessons from Japan

Former York County Emergency Management Agency Director Bob Bohlmann said he’d known Karakawa for 15 years, and that he’s done a lot to spread the word about emergency management globally. […]

Yuki Karakawa’s presentation to InfraGard (“a partnership between U.S. businesses and the Federal Bureau of Investigation… dedicated to prevent hostile acts against the United States”), Published February 2013 (At 7:30 in): “300 kilometers should be evacuated, but we did not, Japan did not evacuate. […] In some areas, we can find very strange material like europium and so on. Now Self Defense Forces is collecting all materials. Also spent fuel flew because of a second explosion; it’s more like a bomb, exploded and flew like 30 kilometers. So government, or Self Defense, is now collecting all spent fuel pellets.”   Watch Karakawa’s presentation here
See also: New Book: Nuclear explosion may have occurred at Fukushima Unit 3 after ‘supercritical condition’ — Sudden increase in plutonium, uranium recorded by U.S. at several EPA stations

October 10, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, Resources -audiovicual, safety | Leave a comment

PHOTOS: broken support braces on 400-foot tower near Fukushima reactors

New report shows support braces completely severed on 400-foot tower near Fukushima reactors (PHOTOS) http://enenews.com/new-report-shows-support-braces-completely-severed-on-400-foot-tower-near-fukushima-reactors-photos

broken-poles-Fukushma-13

Title: (Systran Translation) Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant — Safety appraisal for the component damage of the machine chimney
Source: Tepco
Date: Oct. 7, 2013
h/t Fukushima Diary

See also: Gundersen: Quite likely that 400 foot tall tower near Fukushima reactors “buckled” from massive earthquake — Consequences of it collapsing being analyzed by Tepco (VIDEO)

October 10, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, incidents, Japan | 1 Comment

Possible Olympics site in Tokyo has high radiation levels

Japan-Olympics-fear“Saying there is no problem without even measuring for radiation is the same response as the Democratic Party of Japan government immediately after the Fukushima nuclear accident”
“As host nation for the Olympics, it is imperative that radiation levels at the venues be released to the world”

Asahi: High radiation levels found at possible Olympic sites — Japan Professor: Radioactive materials have spread throughout greater Tokyo; Region remains in “emergency situation”? http://enenews.com/asahi-high-radiation-levels-found-at-possible-olympic-sites-japan-professor-radioactive-materials-have-spread-throughout-greater-tokyo-region-remains-in-emergency-situation
Title: High radiation levels found at possible Olympic sites; Tokyo dismisses data
Source: Asahi Shimbun (Weekly Aera)
Author: Shoji Nomura
Date: October 8, 2013

A citizens group said it measured high radiation levels at candidate venues for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but the metropolitan government disputes the data and the International Olympic Committee has shown little interest. […]

The group said some of the potential venues for the Summer Games had radiation levels exceeding the Tokyo metropolitan government’s standards for decontamination […] Continue reading →

October 10, 2013 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Radiation exposure to 6 Fukushima workers following pipe incident

6 Fukushima workers exposed to radiation after pipe incident Rt.com  October 09, 2013 Six people working at the site of crippled Fukushima power plant have been exposed to radiation after one of them mistakenly removed a pipe connected to a contaminated water treatment system. It’s the second incident at Fukushima in three days.

The accidental pipe detachment on Wednesday resulted in the leak of several tons of water, which Fukushima operator TEPCO uses to cool the reactors. ……http://rt.com/news/fukushima-leak-radiation-workers-919/

October 10, 2013 Posted by | incidents, Japan | Leave a comment

Japan’s secrecy over health consequences of Fukushima radiation

International Scientists: Japan experts must be allowed to report health consequences of Fukushima — “The official data is all denial” — Pressured to downplay true impact of disaster http://enenews.com/international-scientists-japan-experts-must-be-allowed-to-report-health-consequences-of-fukushima-the-official-data-is-all-denial-pressured-to-downplay-true-impact-of-disaster  October 6th, 2013

Georgia Straight  (Canada), Oct. 2, 2013: “The official data is all denial,” [Eiichiro Ochiai, a retired chemistry professor in Vancouver who taught at University of British Columbia and the University of Tokyo] said. “The nuclear industry tries to suppress the truth.”

Fukushima News 10/1/13: Thousands in Japan Suffering Massive And Recurring Nosebleeds In Recent Days

Letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon  from 17 international scientists and experts urging international action on Fukushima crisis, Sept. 13, 2013: […] it is clear that the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi reactor site is progressively deteriorating, not stabilizing. […] It is clear now that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is far from over, and that there can be no credible estimate of total environmental or human health impacts because the radiological release has not ceased and the outcomes from exposing large populations to low doses over long time frames is unclear. A final estimation of the radiological release from the Fukushima Daiichi site, of necessity lies in the future; perhaps the distant future. […] Japanese physicians and scientists in Japan must be allowed and supported to treat and report Fukushima related health consequences. Nuclear calamities to date result in institutional pressure to under report and even distort patient health data and other evidence […] Such institutional pressure is now contributing to a downplaying of the true impact of the Fukushima accident.

See also: Gundersen: Japan doctors tell us, “We know ou

October 8, 2013 Posted by | environment, health, Japan | Leave a comment

Scientists don’t buy Japan’s claims that Fukushima radiation is “contained”

New! Worker has minor injury at Fukushima Nuclear site due to snow build up - Tepco report”Once strontium gets into fish, it stays in them for months and years and it’s going to be an additional reason why they won’t be able to open up their fisheries.”

“The credibility problem is as great as the engineering solution,”

Scientists dismiss claims that radiation in Japan is contained TEPCO’S radiation claims called ‘silly’ The Columbian, By Jonathan Tirone, Bloomberg News  October 7, 2013, VIENNA — Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s claim that radioactive water leaking into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant is confined to the coast doesn’t make scientific sense, according to a U.S. researcher who surveyed waters off the site last month.

Japan’s government has supported the utility’s statement that the irradiated groundwater flowing into the Pacific Ocean at a rate of some 400 tons a day remains in an area of 0.3 square kilometers (0.12 square miles) within the bay fronting the atomic station. Continue reading →

October 8, 2013 Posted by | Japan, spinbuster | 2 Comments

Final curtain staying down for nuclear energy in Japan?

flag-japan“Some people may say it is irresponsible to call for zero nuclear plants,” he said, “but I think it is even more irresponsible not to have a disposal site for the waste or even any prospect of constructing such a facility.”

He now doubted the claims by experts in the industry that nuclear energy was “safe, clean, and inexpensive” and wondered “if human beings can really control nuclear energy” Abe,-Akie

Koizumi has an accomplice: Abe’s wife. She has been whispering into her husband’s ear at night – and making anti-nuclear speeches during the day 

The End Of Nuclear Energy In Japan? Zero Hedge by testosteronepit  10/04/2013 Wolf Richter   www.testosteronepit.com   www.amazon.com/author/wolfrichter

“I’m calling for zero nuclear power,” said Junichiro Koizumi, the hugely popular former prime minister of Japan, on Tuesday at a lecture in Nagoya. He’d served from 2001 to 2006. In 2005, he’d led the Liberal Democratic Party to win an extraordinarily large parliamentary majority. Then he groomed Shinzo Abe to become his successor. By September 2006, Abe was PM – only to get kicked out a year later. Now that Abe is PM again and is trying to restore the scandal-plagued nuclear industry to its former glory, Koizumi’s words ripped into his policies at the perfect moment…..

Though retired from politics since 2009, Koizumi remains influential. He was pro-nuclear throughout his career. But on Tuesday, he said that the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 and the subsequent nuclear fiasco in Fukushima should be used as an opportunity to build a resource-recycling society. And he called on his former protégé to abandon nuclear power…….

If he were an active politician, he’d want “to convince lawmakers to move in the direction of zero nuclear plants,” he said. Now would be the ideal time to move that direction. All 50 nuclear reactors were off line. All opposition parties favored zero nuclear power. It could be done “as long as the prime minister made the decision” – putting the onus squarely on his former protégé. And nuclear politics in Japan haven’t been the same since. Continue reading →

October 5, 2013 Posted by | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Just the bare 6,700 times higher than the legal limit – Fukushima’s latest radioactive spill

water-radiationflag-japanWater 6,700 times more radioactive than legal limit spills from Fukushima By Arata Yamamoto and Alexander Smith, NBC News TOKYO 4 Oct 13 — Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has suffered yet another leak, spilling out 430 liters of contaminated water thousands of times more radioactive than legal limits, its operator said Thursday. Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, said the water which spilled from the storage tanks had radiation readings as high as 200,000 becquerels per liter — almost 6,700 times higher than the legal limit of 30 becquerels.

Although sandbags have been placed to prevent further spread of the leak, some of that water may have already reached the plant’s harbor on the Pacific Ocean through a drainage trench, TEPCO said.

The leak comes one day after Japanese fast food company Yoshinoya Holdings announced plans to grow vegetables on a farm just 60 miles from the nuclear plant…… http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/03/20797895-water-6700-times-more-radioactive-than-legal-limit-spills-from-fukushima?lite

October 5, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013 | Leave a comment

Japan’s Nuclear Regulator not happy with Fukushima Plant’s Operator

flag-japanJapanese Nuclear Agency Scolds Fukushima Plant’s Operator NYT, By   October 4, 2013TOKYO — In an unusually public scolding, Japan’s nuclear watchdog agency criticized the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant on Friday for making mistakes that allowed radioactive water to leak into the Pacific Ocean, and ordered it to quickly fix the problems. The agency, the Nuclear Regulation Authority, summoned the president of the operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, to explain the accidents and spills that have plagued the cleanup of the Fukushima Daiichi plant since it suffered a triple meltdown two years ago……

In a public hearing, an official at the regulatory agency, Katsuhiko Ikeda, dressed down Tepco’s president, saying the problems raised serious questions about the company’s ability to operate its other nuclear plants, like the huge Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility, which Tepco wants to restart……

Critics have faulted the government for leaving the plant in the hands of the same operator that many blame for failing to sufficiently fortify it before the huge earthquake and tsunami that struck in March 2011, knocking out vital reactor cooling systems. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/05/world/asia/fukushima-nuclear-plant-in-japan.html?_r=0

October 5, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, politics | Leave a comment

AUDIO: discussion on Japan’s non reporting of stillborns and birth defects

Hear-This-wayAUDIO: Arnie discusses Fukushima Daiichi on WBAI’s Morning with Michaelhttp://fairewinds.org/media/radio/arnie-discusses-fukushima-daiichi-wbais-morning-michael

Gundersen: Deformities, stillbirths not being reported after Fukushima — Officials withholding truth about health effects — Gov’t suppressing studies on deformed animals (AUDIO) http://enenews.com/gundersen-deformities-stillbirths-kept-secret-after-fukushima-officials-not-being-honest-with-public-about-health-effects-govt-suppressing-studies-on-deformities-in-animals-audio

Title: Arnie Gundersen discusses Fukushima Daiichi 

Source: WBAI’s ‘Morning with Michael’

Date: October 2, 2013

Arnie Gundersen, Fairewinds Chief Engineer: We’re constantly frustrated — We have scientists contacting us, doctors contacting us, telling us that their patients are suffering from radiation induced injuries, or they’re noticing deformities in animals and plants, but yet the Japanese government is trying to put the heat on them to prevent those studies from moving forward.

Morning with Michael, Host:: E[NE]News, the website, they talk about 100 babies with polydactyl situation — they have 6 fingers — this kind of exotic, strange, ‘Night of the Living Dead’ kind of thing’s happening here. There’s an x-ray picture on their website of a hand with 6 digits. Have you heard about that?

Gundersen:: Yes — ENENews is a great source; I check it a couple times a day — We’ve seen that and we’ve also seen the thyroid cancers. The deformities, the stillbirths, and the increased morbidity is not being reported by the Japanese. They used to publish a report every year that had a prefecture-by-prefecture breakdown […] of deformities and stillbirths and things like that. Well, they stopped publishing that report. They did say in 2011 there was an increase stillbirths and deformities, but they’re not providing scientists with the prefecture-by-prefecture breakdown. So that’s bad news for science, and clearly they would rather have the Olympics than be honest with their own people about the health effects they’re facing.
[Note: The report of 100 polydactyl babies was not on ENENews, it was posted by ‘Fukushima Appeal’ (link: Fukushima: 100 babies with polydactyly are on the waiting list for operation)]
Full interview here

See also: Reporters in Japan write about rise in birth defects for 2011 — University won’t publish data on malformed babies after many years of doing so; Not releasing figures for Fukushima, other prefectures — Expert: This is ridiculous

October 5, 2013 Posted by | health, Japan, Reference, Resources -audiovicual | 1 Comment

Fukushima’s latest radioactive water leak

water-radiationNew leak of radioactive water at Fukushima nuclear plant may have flowed into Pacific Ocean: TEPCO Radio Australia  3 October 2013, 13:50 AEST By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy, wires

More radioactive water is leaking at Fukushima and it may be flowing into the Pacific.The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant says it has found a new leak of radioactive water that might have flowed into the Pacific Ocean.

The leak from the 450-tonne storage tank is the second of its kind in as many months, and involved water with high concentrations of radioactive strontium and caesium.

Fukashima operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) says it does not know how much water leaked, adding that it could have flowed from an adjoining drainage ditch into the sea.

TEPCO has apologised for causing anxiety…….http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2013-10-03/new-leak-of-radioactive-water-at-fukushima-nuclear-plant-may-have-flowed-into-pacific-ocean-tepco/1199662

October 4, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013 | Leave a comment