Environment

Japanese Government To Send Seafood, Goods Made in Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate As AID To Developing Nations

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– Japanese Government to Use Seafood, Goods Made in Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate as Aid to Developing Nations as Part of ODA (EX-SKF, Sep. 18, 2011):

I reported this already in late June, but now it’s a formal request from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the appropriation for the 3rd supplementary budget for the fiscal 2011.

Back in June, the talk was only for processed seafood like canned fish. Now, as part of the ODA (Official Development Assistance) the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to use 5 billion yen (US$65 million) to buy up canned fish, wheelchairs and other industrial products from the disaster-affected areas and offered them to developing nations, says NHK News Japanese (9/19/2011).

Read moreJapanese Government To Send Seafood, Goods Made in Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate As AID To Developing Nations

Japan To Promote Use Of Potentially Radioactive Lumber With ‘Eco-Point’ Incentive

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See also:

– Voluntary Radiation Decontamination In Japan: Shorts, Short-Sleeve T-Shirts, No Masks, Sneakers, With Small Kids (In Other Words, All The Things You Should Never Do)

– Potentially Radioactive Lumber to Be Promoted with “Eco-Point” Incentive? (EX-SKF, Sep. 16, 2011):

Seiji Maehara, who lost his bid to become the party leader and the prime minister of Japan, has nonetheless landed on a very powerful party position as the chairman of the DPJ’s policy bureau.

He went to Fukushima, and after visiting with the evacuees from Iitate-mura, he disclosed his party’s plan to use the “eco-point” system for residential housing to promote timber from the disaster-affected area.

Aggghhhhh.

What is the “eco-point” for houses? Well, if you build or renovate your house with energy saving features and alternative energy features (eg. solar panels) the government will give you “eco-points”. Then you can use the points at participating stores and buy whatever you want to buy with the points.

Read moreJapan To Promote Use Of Potentially Radioactive Lumber With ‘Eco-Point’ Incentive

Neptunium-239 (Decays Into Plutonium-239) Potentially Detected In Saint Louis Radioactive Rainfall (09/14/2011)

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For your information…

– [MAXIMUM ALERT] Neptunium 239 Potentially Detected In Saint Louis 9/14/11 Radioactive Rainfall (Sep. 16, 2011):


YouTube

The source has a calculated average 2.4 day half life. The half life matches Neptunium 239. Np239 decays into Plutonium 239.

IF WE ARE LUCKY, the source will not be Americium 243 but rather Uranium 239 (in Fukushima); given the 2.4 day half life of Np 239, it is possible that source came directly across the jet-stream as Np-239. The result would be higher levels of Np-239 and Plutonium 239 the further west one went from Saint Louis.

Otherwise, the source would probably be Americium 243 created in the MOX fuel reactor at Fukushima Unit 3.

UPDATE 9/17/11:

The video below records raw data being taken from the 1.33 mR/hr radioactive rainfall which fell in Saint Louis, Mo on 9/14/11. This data was taken after shorter half life contamination had mostly burned off.

The data shown is from one hour total count readings taken of the radioactive source, and local background. The raw data from the later part of the video has yet to be fully analyzed.

YouTube

STAY OUT OF THE RAIN!

 

Japan: Area Of More Than 8,000 Square Km Accumulated Cesium-137 Levels Of 30,000 Bec/Sq Meter

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And how about plutonium?

– Huge Amounts Of Neptunium 239 Detected 60 Km From Fukushima!!!:

To recap, uranium-239, whose half life is about 24 minutes, decays into neptunium-239 with a half life of about 2.5 days, which then decays into plutonium-239 whose half life is 24,200 years.

– Fukushima cesium contamination widespread but less than Chernobyl (Asahi, Sep. 14, 2011):

An extensive area of more than 8,000 square kilometers has accumulated cesium 137 levels of 30,000 becquerels per square meter or more after the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, according to Asahi Shimbun estimates.

The affected area is one-18th of about 145,000 square kilometers contaminated with cesium 137 levels of 37,000 becquerels per square meter or more following the 1986 Chernobyl accident in the former Soviet Union.

The contaminated area includes about 6,000 square kilometers in Fukushima Prefecture, or nearly half of the prefecture. Fukushima Prefecture, the third largest in Japan, covers 13,782 square kilometers.

The government has not disclosed the size of the area contaminated with cesium 137 released from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant. Cesium 137 has a long half-life of about 30 years.

The Asahi Shimbun calculated the size of the contaminated area based on a distribution map of accumulated cesium 137 levels measured from aircraft, which was released by the science ministry on Sept. 8.

The estimated size may increase in the future because the distribution map will be subject to corrections and because it currently covers only five prefectures.

Read moreJapan: Area Of More Than 8,000 Square Km Accumulated Cesium-137 Levels Of 30,000 Bec/Sq Meter

Japan: Sunflower Planting Hardly Did Anything to Reduce Radioactive Cesium in Soil

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– Sunflower Planting Hardly Did Anything to Reduce Radioactive Cesium in Soil (EX-Skf. Sep. 14, 2011):

Well, it sure looked pretty, a field of sunflowers, but if the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is to be believed, it did not do much more than looking pretty, and creating radioactive sunflowers that’ll have to be somehow safety disposed as nuclear waste.

Sunflower seeds were planted in many, many areas within the 20-kilometer radius exclusion zone. Who is going to dispose these nuclear waste, and how?

Read moreJapan: Sunflower Planting Hardly Did Anything to Reduce Radioactive Cesium in Soil

Huge Amounts Of Neptunium 239 Detected 60 Km From Fukushima!!!

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– Nikkan SPA Magazine: Researcher Says Large Amount of Neptunium-239 Also in Date City, Fukushima (EX-SKF, Sep. 12, 2011):

It’s the same researcher who said several thousand becquerels/kg of neptunium-239 was found in the soil in Iitate-mura, about 35 km northwest of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. It seems it’s not just Iitate-mura that got doused with neptunium, which decays into plutonium. Date City, about 25 km northwest from Iitate-mura and 60 km from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, also got a large amount of neptunium.

To recap, uranium-239, whose half life is about 24 minutes, decays into neptunium-239 with a half life of about 2.5 days, which then decays into plutonium-239 whose half life is 24,200 years.

Read moreHuge Amounts Of Neptunium 239 Detected 60 Km From Fukushima!!!

30 Microsieverts Per Hour Just Inside Fukushima Exclusion Zone (BBC)

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“As we keep watch on the Geiger counter, the radiation level, as expected, is generally higher down on the ground, very occasionally peaking at around 30 microsieverts an hour.”

– Inside Japan’s nuclear ghost zone (BBC, Sep. 13, 2011):

The shops of the main street are deserted, motorbikes and cars are abandoned, weeds push through gaps in the concrete.

Vending machines selling drinks and snacks – always popular in Japan – stand unlit and silent.

Tomioka lies just inside the 20km exclusion zone that was hurriedly enforced last March when a radioactive cloud escaped from the stricken power plant.

Read more30 Microsieverts Per Hour Just Inside Fukushima Exclusion Zone (BBC)

Japan Prepares For New Large-Scale Emission Of Radioactive Materials From Fukushima Nuclear Plant

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– GSDF holds emergency evacuation drill near stricken Fukushima nuclear plant (Mainichi, Sep. 13, 2011):

FUKUSHIMA — The Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) and residents of the zone between 20 and 30 kilometers from the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant held an emergency evacuation drill on Sept. 12.

The drill, held in preparation for any further large-scale emission of radioactive materials from the plant, was the first involving local residents. The GSDF held a similar drill without civilian participation in July.

Read moreJapan Prepares For New Large-Scale Emission Of Radioactive Materials From Fukushima Nuclear Plant

Japanese Government Trying To Stop Citizens From Taking Their Own Radiation Measurements (NHK ‘Sunday Debate’ Program)

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– Japanese gov’s trying to stop citizen measuring radiation (Fukushima Diary, Sep. 11, 2011):

On this morning’s NHK “Sunday Debate” program, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary-General Nobuteru Ishihara stated, “Geiger counters costing between 40,000 and 50,000 yen ($500-600) provide patchy measurements. We have to try and stop citizens from taking their own radiation measurements.” It seems that he really doesn’t like the fact that citizens are taking their own radiation readings. Even if the figures are patchy, the measurements still tell us correctly whether the radiation level is high or low.

Read moreJapanese Government Trying To Stop Citizens From Taking Their Own Radiation Measurements (NHK ‘Sunday Debate’ Program)

This Has Been The Worst Year For Natural Disasters In US History

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– This Has Been The Worst Year For Natural Disasters In U.S. History (Economic  Collapse, Sep. 9, 2011):

There has been a natural disaster that has caused at least a billion dollars of damage inside the United States every single month so far this year.  According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there have been 10 major disasters in the United States this year.  On average, usually there are only about 3 major disasters a year.  At this point, disasters are happening inside the United States so frequently that there seems to be no gap between them.  We just seem to go from one major disaster to the next.  Last year, FEMA declared an all-time record of 81 disasters inside the United States.  This year, we are on pace for well over 100.  We just got done dealing with Hurricane Irene, and now we are dealing with historic wildfires in Texas and unprecedented flooding up in the northeast part of the country.  This has been the worst year for natural disasters in U.S. history, and we still have nearly four months left to go.  Hopefully after everything that has happened this year it has become abundantly clear to all of us why we need to prepare for emergencies.  The world is becoming an increasingly unstable place, and you never know what is going to happen next.

Read moreThis Has Been The Worst Year For Natural Disasters In US History

Geiger Counter Measures 0.378 Microsieverts In Tokyo Train Station 1 Meter Above Ground!!!

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YouTube

11, Sep, 2011. At JR Hachioji station stairway to north exit. Geiger counter detected 0.378uSv/h was peek. Geiger counter position was around 1m so not on ground. It was shocking.

See also:

– Japan ‘Misstated’ Radiation … ‘And So Exposed People Unnecessarily’ (WSJ)

– Prof. Hiroaki Koide of Kyoto University: ‘Massive amounts of radioactive materials will be released into the environment again’ – Fukushima Reactor Core May Have Sunk Into The Ground – ‘We are now head to head with a situation that mankind has never faced before’

– Fukushima Nuclear Plant Back Into Recriticality

Read moreGeiger Counter Measures 0.378 Microsieverts In Tokyo Train Station 1 Meter Above Ground!!!

24 More Wildfires Erupt In Texas As It Faces Worst Dry Spell Since 1895

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– More wildfires erupt in Texas as it faces worst dry spell since 1895 (CNN, September 11, 2011):

In a dry spell unseen since 1895, Texas added 24 new wildfires burning 1,154 acres to a disaster that has so far torched more than 1,000 homes, the state’s Forest Service said Saturday.

In all, Texas has experienced 179 fires over 170,686 acres the past week, the service said. The past 10 months have been the driest in Texas since 1895, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said.

Read more24 More Wildfires Erupt In Texas As It Faces Worst Dry Spell Since 1895

Fukushima Radiation In Washington State 10,000-100,000 Times Normal In March

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– Research on US nuclear levels after Fukushima could aid in future nuclear detection (PHYSORG, September 9, 2011):

The amount of radiation released during the Fukushima nuclear disaster was so great that the level of atmospheric radioactive aerosols in Washington state was 10,000 to 100,000 times greater than normal levels in the week following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that triggered the disaster.

Despite the increase, the levels were still well below the amount considered harmful to humans and they posed no (Sure!) to residents at the time, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.

Read moreFukushima Radiation In Washington State 10,000-100,000 Times Normal In March

Japan ‘Misstated’ Radiation … ‘And So Exposed People Unnecessarily’ (WSJ)

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The Japanese government knew exactly what has been going on.

And to this day there is no adequate response.

Criminals of the worst kind!

– Japan Misstated Radiation (Wall Street Journal, Sep. 9, 2011):

TOKYO—The Japanese government initially underestimated radiation releases from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, in part because of untimely rain, and so exposed people unnecessarily, a report released this week by a government research institute says.

Adding to earlier evidence of initial government missteps, the report by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency saysan unlucky combination of heavy rains and shifting winds meant that much of the airborne radioactive debris washed down over a broad area around the crippled plant. Before the changing weather, the radiation had been expected to drift over the Pacific Ocean, which would have posed less of a risk to public health, at least in the short term.

“Local residents would have stayed indoors and avoided radiation if they had been told about the dangers of the rainfall,” said Tetsuo Sawada, assistant professor of reactor engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Read moreJapan ‘Misstated’ Radiation … ‘And So Exposed People Unnecessarily’ (WSJ)

Prof. Hiroaki Koide of Kyoto University: ‘Massive amounts of radioactive materials will be released into the environment again’ – Fukushima Reactor Core May Have Sunk Into The Ground – ‘We are now head to head with a situation that mankind has never faced before’

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– Radiation expert says outcome of nuke crisis hard to predict, warns of further dangers (Mainichi Japan, Sep. 9, 2011):

As a radiation metrology and nuclear safety expert at Kyoto University’s Research Reactor Institute, Hiroaki Koide has been critical of how the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) have handled the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. Below, he shares what he thinks may happen in the coming weeks, months and years.

The nuclear disaster is ongoing. Immediately after the crisis first began to unfold, I thought that we’d see a definitive outcome within a week. However, with radioactive materials yet to be contained, we’ve remained in the unsettling state of not knowing how things are going to turn out.

Without accurate information about what’s happening inside the reactors, there’s a need to consider various scenarios. At present, I believe that there is a possibility that massive amounts of radioactive materials will be released into the environment again.

At the No. 1 reactor, there’s a chance that melted fuel has burned through the bottom of the pressure vessel, the containment vessel and the floor of the reactor building, and has sunk into the ground. From there, radioactive materials may be seeping into the ocean and groundwater.

Read moreProf. Hiroaki Koide of Kyoto University: ‘Massive amounts of radioactive materials will be released into the environment again’ – Fukushima Reactor Core May Have Sunk Into The Ground – ‘We are now head to head with a situation that mankind has never faced before’

Fukushima Nuclear Plant Back Into Recriticality

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From the article:

“The future of this blog is bright.”

– Breaking News: Fukushima in recriticality (Fukushima Diary, Sep. 9, 2011):

At four different places in Japan, Iodine 131 was detected between 15th-25th August.

The half life time of Iodine 131 is about 8 days.

It’s natural to think Fukushima got into the recriticality state.

1) Between 8/15?16,they detected 150 Bq/kg of Iodine 131 from sewage sludge in Tokyo.

source link

2) Between 8/25?9/6,they also detected 2,300 ? 4,800 Bq/kg of Iodine 131.

Read moreFukushima Nuclear Plant Back Into Recriticality

Fukushima: Radioactive Release Into Sea Estimated Triple

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– Radioactive release into sea estimated triple (NHK, Sep. 08, 2011):

A group of Japanese researchers say that a total of 15,000 terabecquerels of radioactive substances is estimated to have been released from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.

Researchers at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kyoto University and other institutes made the calculation of radioactivity released from late March through April.

The combined amount of iodine-131 and cesium-137 is more than triple the figure of 4,720 terabecquerels earlier estimated by Tokyo Electric Power Company, the plant operator. The utility only calculated the radioactivity from substances released from the plant into the sea in April and May.

The researchers say the estimated amount of radioactivity includes a large amount that was first released into the air but entered the sea after coming down in the rain.

They say they need to determine the total amount of radioactivity released from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant in order to accurately assess the impact of the disaster on the sea.

UCB Finds 5.18 Bq/kg Cesium-134 And 7.93 Bq/kg Cesium-137 In Dried Manure Sample From Sacramento

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– UCB Food Chain Sampling Results (Sep. 6, 2011):

Dried manure sample — was produced about one year ago, left outside exposed to rain after Fukushima:

Collection date: 08/16/2011

Cesium-134: 5.18 Bq/kg

Cesium-137: 7.93 Bq/kg

08/16/2011

How To Find Radioactive-Free Food In Japan

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For your information…

– (Guest Post) How to Source Radioactive Material-Free Food in Japan: Food Co-Op (EX-SKF, Sep. 6, 2011):

Not all co-ops (grocery stores operated as cooperatives) are equal, but some are decidedly more customer-friendly (as opposed to producer-friendly) and take care in sourcing the food that are not contaminated with radioactive materials AND disclosing the detailed information of their testing.

One of the readers of this blog, William Marcus, has sent me his observations on sourcing the safe food in Japan. William currently lives in Osaka with his family with the toddler son. He says co-ops in Japan are not centralized (which I didn’t know), and that more east and north you go co-ops tend not to disclose the details of the testing they do (if they do the testing) on the foodstuff they sell.

The particular COOP that he recommends is “Shizenha” co-op headquartered in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture and has operations in Tokushima Prefecture in Shikoku region. The co-op, he says, has just started to accept membership from Kanto and Tohoku regions.

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I live in Osaka and sourcing clean food for our toddler son has become the biggest concern of ours, after monitoring the fallout plumes and contamination in our vicinity (which thankfully, seems to be quite limited compared to California, my home state). We have always been interested in buying healthy food and have belonged to COOP for many years.

Read moreHow To Find Radioactive-Free Food In Japan

Former Japan PM Kan: TEPCO Wanted To Abandon Fukushima! … ‘NOBODY MIGHT LIVE IN TOKYO NOW’

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– Former Japan PM: I thought nuke mishap could destroy Tokyo (Dong-a Ilbo, September 6, 2011):

Former Japanese Prime Minister Kan Naoto says he felt a sense of crisis that the nuclear plant mishap in Fukushima could obliterate Tokyo and its vicinity, said the Japanese daily Tokyo Shimbun Tuesday.

Kan, who stepped down as prime minister Friday, said, “The week shortly after the accident is the period when I felt the highest sense of crisis,” adding, “The thought of an uninhabited Tokyo made me shudder.”

“At around 3 a.m. March 15, three days after the accident, I got a report from then Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda that Tokyo Power Corp. was about to withdraw from the nuclear facility. So instantly I summoned the company`s president Masataka Shimizu and asked him to set up a joint countermeasures headquarters of the government and the company at the company’s headquarters,” Kan said.

“Had Tokyo Power Corp. withdrawn from the nuclear power plant, nobody might live in Tokyo now.”

Kan said, “If the power company had pulled out of the facility and left nuclear fuel unattended, the cooling water would have dried out within dozens of hours and the meltdown of reactors would have occurred,” adding, “If this had been the case, radioactive materials several or even dozens of times as much as those leaked in Chernobyl would had leaked. The country was brought to the brink of collapse.”

Read moreFormer Japan PM Kan: TEPCO Wanted To Abandon Fukushima! … ‘NOBODY MIGHT LIVE IN TOKYO NOW’

Dr. Helen Caldicott Interviews Nuclear Engineer Arnie Gundersen & Japanese Nuclear Activist Aileen Mioko Smith: Japan Hasn’t Got The Message – Second Fukushima Occuring – Rising Radiation Levels In Japan And Government Denial (MP3)

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– Arnold Gundersen with a Fukushima update / Aileen Mioko Smith on rising radiation levels in Japan and government denial (Dr. Helen Caldicott, Sep. 2, 2011):

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link.

This week, Dr. Caldicott gets an update on the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan from Arnold Gundersen, a consultant with Fairewinds Associates. Two recent items from the Fairewinds website: Too Close For Comfort – Floods, Earthquakes & Tsunamis and Newly Released TEPCO Data Proves Fairewinds Assertions of Significant Fuel Pool Failures at Fukushima Daiichi. Listen to our earlier programs featuring Gundersen here and here. As background for today’s program, read the recent news articles Greenpeace: Fukushima Schools Unsafe After Clean-Up, Cesium in Incinerator Dust Across East Japan and Japan’s Cesium Leak Equal to 168 ‘45 A-Bombs.

Later in the program, we hear from Japanese nuclear activist, Aileen Mioko Smith of Green Action Japan, based in Kyoto, on the alarming increase in radiation levels in Japan and government inaction. First, Smith discusses her research into health effects from the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear disaster. The conversation moves to rising radiation levels in Japan citizens are reporting, the lack of government testing, Japanese protests about the high levels of contamination in Fukushima prefecture, and Smith’s concerns about high radiation exposures in children.