Environment

US RadNet Radiation Monitor System Unlikely To Detect Radiation As Close As 25 Feet Above Or Beside Them And There Are Only 125 Of Those Monitors For the Entire US!

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Doctors express “deep concern” about Fukushima impacts on Canada

How do we know how much radiation is reaching Canada from Fukushima? Physicians for Global Survival asked, in a press release today.  They added that physicians for Global Survival “would like more openness from safety regulators and government about all isotopes, honesty about methods of measurement and regular updates about risks to vulnerable populations.”

“Physicians for Global Survival  is deeply concerned about the long term health of populations exposed due to accidental or planned releases of radioactivity from Fukushima and from domestic power plants.”

How the US monitors radiation

“The US uses a system of RadNet monitors,” the release said, adding that:

Radiation monitors are “point source” monitors, meaning that the radioactive element or ray must actually strike the monitor to be measured.  They are unlikely to detect radiation as close as twenty five feet above or beside them.  Apparently there are only about 125 of these monitors for the entire continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska.

Feel secure yet?

“News reports mention Iodine-131 and Cesium-137, not because they are the only radioactive elements discharged from the stricken reactors in Fukushima, but because they are the easiest to detect and measure,” the report added.

Read moreUS RadNet Radiation Monitor System Unlikely To Detect Radiation As Close As 25 Feet Above Or Beside Them And There Are Only 125 Of Those Monitors For the Entire US!

US Government Responds to Fukushima by Trying to Raise Radiation Limits, EPA Pulls 8 Of 18 Radiation Monitors Out Of CA, OR And WA

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When the economy imploded in 2008, how did the government respond?

Did it crack down on fraud? Force bankrupt companies to admit that their speculative gambling with our money had failed? Rein in the funny business?

Of course not!

The government just helped cover up how bad things were, used claims of national security to keep everything in the dark, and changed basic rules and definitions to allow the game to continue. See this, this, this and this.

When BP – through criminal negligence – blew out the Deepwater Horizon oil well, the government helped cover it up (the cover up is ongoing).

The government also changed the testing standards for seafood to pretend that higher levels of toxic PAHs in our food was business-as-usual.

So now that Japan is suffering the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl – if not of all time – is the government riding to the rescue to help fix the problem, or at least to provide accurate information to its citizens so they can make informed decisions?

Of course not!

The EPA is closing ranks with the nuclear power industry:

EPA officials, however, refused to answer questions or make staff members available to explain the exact location and number of monitors, or the levels of radiation, if any, being recorded at existing monitors in California. Margot Perez-Sullivan, a spokeswoman at the EPA’s regional headquarters in San Francisco, said the agency’s written statement would stand on its own.

Critics said the public needs more information.

“It’s disappointing,” said Bill Magavern, director of Sierra Club California. “I have a strong suspicion that EPA is being silenced by those in the federal government who don’t want anything to stand in the way of a nuclear power expansion in this country, heavily subsidized by taxpayer money.”

The EPA has pulled 8 of its 18 radiation monitors in California, Oregon and Washington because (by implication) they are giving readings which seem too high.

Remember, for the sake of context, that the government has covered up nuclear meltdowns for fifty years to protect the nuclear power industry.

And now, the EPA is considering drastically raising the amount of allowable radiation in food, water and the environment.

Read moreUS Government Responds to Fukushima by Trying to Raise Radiation Limits, EPA Pulls 8 Of 18 Radiation Monitors Out Of CA, OR And WA

Japan: Blue Flashing Light Seen Over Fukushima Plant (FOX News)

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Added: 01.04.2011

Dominic Di-Natale has the latest from Japan where international nuclear experts believe melted fuel is causing a chain reaction at the Fukushima plant.

See also:

– Nuclear Expert: Suicide Crews ‘Facing 100-Year Battle’ At Fukushima

– Radioactive Iodine-131 In Rainwater Near San Francisco 18,100% Above Federal Drinking Water Standard

– Pennsylvania: Radioactive Iodine-131 In Rainwater 3300% Above Federal Drinking Water Standard

– TEPCO: Fukushima Groundwater ‘Highly’ Radiation-Contaminated, Contains Radioactive Iodine 10,000 Times Legal Limit

– FOIA Request Shows EPA Prepares To Dramatically Increase Permissible Radioactive Releases In Drinking Water, Food And Soil After ‘Radiological Incidents’

Read moreJapan: Blue Flashing Light Seen Over Fukushima Plant (FOX News)

Nuclear Expert: Suicide Crews ‘Facing 100-Year Battle’ At Fukushima

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High levels of radioactive iodine-131 have been recorded in the Pacific off the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. (AFP: Air Photo Service) (Click on image to enlarge.)

– Crews ‘facing 100-year battle’ at Fukushima (ABC NEWS):

A nuclear expert has warned that it might be 100 years before melting fuel rods can be safely removed from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant. …

“As the water leaks out, you keep on pouring water in, so this leak will go on for ever,” said Dr John Price, a former member of the Safety Policy Unit at the UK’s National Nuclear Corporation.

“There has to be some way of dealing with it. The water is connecting in tunnels and concrete-lined pits at the moment and the question is whether they can pump it back.

“The final thing is that the reactors will have to be closed and the fuel removed, and that is 50 to 100 years away.

– A 100-year battle awaits Fukushima while suicide workers are needed to keep up the rescue efforts (Natural News)

(NaturalNews) The unfolding of the Fukushima catastrophe continues to worsen. Here are today’s most important developments:

• A nuclear expert is now warning that it will take 50 to 100 years before the spent nuclear rods at Fukushima will cool enough to be removed from the site. In the mean time, Japan must keep pouring water on the fuel, and that creates highly radioactive water that’s being flushed directly into the ocean. So now we’re looking at the possibility of a century-long radiation leak (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/…).

• The groundwater underneath the Fukushima nuclear power facility is now showing 10,000 times the level of radiation normally allowed by government authorities. This is from iodine-131 measured at 15 meters below one of the reactors. (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011…)

• You’ve probably already heard that there have been efforts to use robots to help solve the Fukushima crisis, but those efforts have failed. Then again, who needs robots when you can just pay humans to do the same deadly work? Reuters is now reporting that a U.S. recruiting company is signing up U.S. workers to go to Fukushima and work on-site there as part of the crew that’s trying to save the reactors (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/exclusive-…). Why would anyone agree to do such a thing? Because they’re being promised extra pay, if you can believe that.

You gotta wonder, of course, how these people think they’re going to be able to spend all that extra money if they’re half-dead from radiation poisoning. But hey, if they get paid one dollar for every millirem of radiation they absorb, they could soon be Fukushima’s new millionaires!

Read moreNuclear Expert: Suicide Crews ‘Facing 100-Year Battle’ At Fukushima

Radioactive Iodine-131 In Rainwater Near San Francisco 18,100% Above Federal Drinking Water Standard

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See my commentary here.

– UCB Rain Water Sampling Results, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Nuclear Engineering:

Iodine-131 level in rainwater sample taken on the roof of Etcheverry Hall on UC Berkeley campus, March 23, 2011 from 9:06-18:00 PDT

20.1 Becquerel per liter (Bq/L) = 543 Picocuries per liter (pCi/L)

( Conversion calculator here.)

The federal drinking water standard for Iodine-131 is 3 pCi/L.

– Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for Iodine, CDC, April 2004:

EPA has set an average annual drinking water limit of 3 pCi/L for Iodine-131 so the public radiation dose will not exceed 4 millirem

Read moreRadioactive Iodine-131 In Rainwater Near San Francisco 18,100% Above Federal Drinking Water Standard

Pennsylvania: Radioactive Iodine-131 In Rainwater 3300% Above Federal Drinking Water Standard

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WTF!

All is well, just like it was in Japan before the truth came (still only partially) out.

– Dr. Michio Kaku: Three Raging Nuclear Meltdowns In Progress!

And when all those radionuclides show up in your food, especially cesium, then your concerned governments have already a backup plan for that inevitable case:

– FOIA Request Shows EPA Prepares To Dramatically Increase Permissible Radioactive Releases In Drinking Water, Food And Soil After ‘Radiological Incidents’:

… permitting doses to the public that EPA itself estimates would cause a cancer in as much as every fourth person exposed …

– EU Erhöht Grenzwerte Drastisch! EU Raises ‘Safe Level’ of Cesium in Japanese Food By 20 Times!

– EU Drastically Raises Radiation Limits For Food! – EU Erhöht Drastisch Die Strahlungs-Grenzwerte Für Lebensmittel!

And again:

– Updating Japan’s Nuclear Disaster

Jeff Patterson, former Physicians for Social Responsibility president said, “There is no safe level of radionuclide exposure, whether from food, water or other sources. Period.” In 1953, Nobel laureate George Wald agreed saying “no amount of radiation is safe. Every dose is an overdose.”

– What They’re Covering Up at Fukushima: ‘You Get 3,500,000 The Normal Dose. You Call That Safe? And What Media Have Reported This? None!’:

Radiation exposure is increased by a factor of a trillion.  Inhaling even the tiniest particle, that’s the danger.

Where is the outrage?

– Governor Corbett Says Public Water Supply Testing Finds No Risk to Public From Radioactivity Found in Rainwater, Pennsylvania Office of the Governor, March 28, 2011:

[Emphasis Added]

… The [Iodine-131] numbers reported in the rainwater samples in Pennsylvania range from 40-100 picocuries per liter (pCi/L). Although these are levels above the background levels historically reported in these areas, they are still about 25 times below the level that would be of concern. The federal drinking water standard for Iodine-131 is three pCi/L. …

On Friday, rainwater samples were taken in Harrisburg, where levels were 41 pCi/L and at nuclear power plants at TMI and Limerick, where levels were 90 to 100 pCi/L.

Corbett emphasized that the drinking water is safe and there is no cause for health concerns. …

“Rainwater is not typically directly consumed,” Corbett said. “However, people might get alarmed by making what would be an inappropriate connection from rainwater to drinking water. By testing the drinking water, we can assure people that the water is safe.” …

Read morePennsylvania: Radioactive Iodine-131 In Rainwater 3300% Above Federal Drinking Water Standard

What They’re Covering Up at Fukushima: ‘You Get 3,500,000 The Normal Dose. You Call That Safe? And What Media Have Reported This? None!’

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– What They’re Covering Up at Fukushima:

Hirose Takashi: The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident and the State of the Media

Broadcast by Asahi NewStar, 17 March, 20:00

Interviewers: Yoh Sen’ei and Maeda Mari

Yo: Every day the local government is measuring the radioactivity.  All the television stations are saying that while radiation is rising, it is still not high enough to be a danger to health. They compare it to a stomach x-ray, or if it goes up, to a CT scan.  What is the truth of the matter?

Hirose: For example, yesterday.  Around Fukushima Daiichi Station they measured 400 millisieverts – that’s per hour.  With this measurement (Chief Cabinet Secretary) Edano admitted for the first time that there was a danger to health, but he didn’t explain what this means.  All of the information media are at fault here I think.  They are saying stupid things like, why, we are exposed to radiation all the time in our daily life, we get radiation from outer space.  But that’s one millisievert per year.  A year has 365 days, a day has 24 hours; multiply 365 by 24, you get 8760.  Multiply the 400 millisieverts by that, you get 3,500,000 the normal dose.  You call that safe? And what media have reported this?  None. They compare it to a CT scan, which is over in an instant; that has nothing to do with it.  The reason radioactivity can be measured is that radioactive material is escaping.  What is dangerous is when that material enters your body and irradiates it from inside.  These industry-mouthpiece scholars come on TV and what to they say?  They say as you move away the radiation is reduced in inverse ratio to the square of the distance.  I want to say the reverse.  Internal irradiation happens when radioactive material is ingested into the body.  What happens?  Say there is a nuclear particle one meter away from you. You breathe it in, it sticks inside your body; the distance between you and it is now at the micron level. One meter is 1000 millimeters, one micron is one thousandth of a millimeter.  That’s a thousand times a thousand squared.  That’s the real meaning of “inverse ratio of the square of the distance.”  Radiation exposure is increased by a factor of a trillion.  Inhaling even the tiniest particle, that’s the danger.

Yo: So making comparisons with X-rays and CT scans has no meaning.  Because you can breathe in radioactive material.

Hirose:  That’s right.  When it enters your body, there’s no telling where it will go.  The biggest danger is women, especially pregnant women, and little children.  Now they’re talking about iodine and cesium, but that’s only part of it, they’re not using the proper detection instruments.  What they call monitoring means only measuring the amount of radiation in the air.  Their instruments don’t eat.  What they measure has no connection with the amount of radioactive material.

Hirose Takashi has written a whole shelf full of books, mostly on the nuclear power industry and the military-industrial complex. Probably his best known book is Nuclear Power Plants for Tokyo in which he took the logic of the nuke promoters to its logical conclusion: if you are so sure that they’re safe, why not build them in the center of the city, instead of hundreds of miles away where you lose half the electricity in the wires?

He did the TV interview that is partly translated below somewhat against his present impulses. I talked to him on the telephone today (March 22 , 2011) and he told me that while it made sense to oppose nuclear power back then, now that the disaster has begun he would just as soon remain silent, but the lies they are telling on the radio and TV are so gross that he cannot remain silent.

I have translated only about the first third of the interview (you can see the whole thing in Japanese on you-tube), the part that pertains particularly to what is happening at the Fukushima plants. In the latter part he talked about how dangerous radiation is in general, and also about the continuing danger of earthquakes.

After reading his account, you will wonder, why do they keep on sprinkling water on the reactors, rather than accept the sarcophagus solution [ie., entombing the reactors in concrete. Editors.] I think there are a couple of answers. One, those reactors were expensive, and they just can’t bear the idea of that huge a financial loss. But more importantly, accepting the sarcophagus solution means admitting that they were wrong, and that they couldn’t fix the things. On the one hand that’s too much guilt for a human being to bear. On the other, it means the defeat of the nuclear energy idea, an idea they hold to with almost religious devotion. And it means not just the loss of those six (or ten) reactors, it means shutting down all the others as well, a financial catastrophe. If they can only get them cooled down and running again they can say, See, nuclear power isn’t so dangerous after all. Fukushima is a drama with the whole world watching, that can end in the defeat or (in their frail, I think groundless, hope) victory for the nuclear industry. Hirose’s account can help us to understand what the drama is about.

– Douglas Lummis

See also:

– TEPCO: Fukushima Groundwater ‘Highly’ Radiation-Contaminated, Contains Radioactive Iodine 10,000 Times Legal Limit

– FOIA Request Shows EPA Prepares To Dramatically Increase Permissible Radioactive Releases In Drinking Water, Food And Soil After ‘Radiological Incidents’

– Dangerous Levels of Radioactive Cesuim 137 Found 25 Miles From Fukushima Plant

– TEPCO’s Totally Insane Disaster Plan At Fukushima Nuclear Plant

– TEPCO Chairman Admits Battle To Safe Fukushima Plant Lost, Reactors To Be Entombed

– US Government Admits Radiation Found In Milk from Washington State

– EU Erhöht Grenzwerte Drastisch! EU Raises ‘Safe Level’ of Cesium in Japanese Food By 20 Times!

– EU Drastically Raises Radiation Limits For Food! – EU Erhöht Drastisch Die Strahlungs-Grenzwerte Für Lebensmittel!

– Dr. Michio Kaku: Three Raging Nuclear Meltdowns In Progress!

– Greenpeace Radiology Experts Find High Levels Of Radiation Beyond No-Go Zone

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown Emergency: Fukushima Beyond Point Of No Return As Radioactive Core Melts Through Containment Vessel

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: ‘Fukushima Plutonium Leak Comparable To Chernobyl Disaster’ (RT)

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Fatal Radiation Detected Outside Damaged Reactor No. 2

– Unbelievable: TEPCO: Plutonium Found On 5 Locations Around Fukushima Plant A Week Ago (But The Deadliest Substance On The Planet ‘Poses No Human Health Risk’!)

– Japanese Government: High Radiation Due To Partial Meltdown – TEPCO Admits Crisis May Last For ‘Months Or Years’

– US, Europe: Radiation and Jetstream FORECAST UPDATE (March 27, 2011)

– Updating Japan’s Nuclear Disaster

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Tests Find Radiation Levels At 100,000 Times Normal In No. 2 Reactor, Reactor May Be Leaking Water

– Japan’s Government Asks Water Treatment Plants Not To Take In Radioactive Rainwater

– Japan Nuclear Crisis: Engineers Toil To Pump Radioactive Nuclear Plant Water Into The Ocean

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Workers Try To Pump Out Radioactive Water From Reactors – Radiation Levels Soar To 10,000 Times Above Safety Limit

– Japan Nuclear Crisis: The Four Destroyed Reactors at Fukushima Was About 70 Billion Lethal Doses, finely divided

– Japan Nuclear Crisis: This Is Like Admitting That MOX Reactor No. 3 Has Been Breached And Has Released Plutonium

–Japan Nuclear Crisis: Close-Up Aerial Video of Wrecked Reactors at Fukushima (25.03.2011)

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: High Levels of Radiation Leaking From Reactor No. 3

– Japan Nuclear Crisis: High-Radiation Leaks In Fukushima Reactors No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3

– Japan Nuclear Crisis: Fukushima Nuclear Plant Emitted A Neutron Beam 13 Separate Times

– Fukushima Engineer Says He Helped In Cover-Up: Fukushima Reactor No. 4 Built With Flawed Steel, Has A Faulty Reactor Inside

– Dr. Chris Busby: Fukushima Now 72,000 Times Hiroshima Radiation

– Japan Government on Fukushima: ‘We Are Not Able To Measure The Amount Of Radiation Coming From The Power Plant’

– The Dying ‘Fukushima Fifty’

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Reactor 3 ‘Nightmare’ – Reactor 1 ‘Worry’: Core Now At 380 Degrees Celsius, 80 More Than NORMAL Running Temperature

– Japan Officials Say HIGH SEAWATER RADIATION LEVELS Are NO Cause For Alarm

– Japan’s Science Ministry: Radiation Now Exceeds 400 Times Normal 40 km From Fukushima

– Japan Nuclear Crisis: Radioactive Iodine Content In Sea Water At 126.7 Times Limit, Caesium At 24.8 Times Limit

– Germany Keeps Radiation Measurements Secret Since Japan Nuclear Disaster

– WHO On Japan Food Radiation: ‘It’s A Lot More Serious Than Anybody Thought’

– Japan Nuclear Crisis: Emergency Evacuation Of Workers Ordered After Reactor No. 3 Emits Black Smoke

– Director General of Finland’s Nuclear Safety Authority Warns Japan About Using Seawater To Cool Fukushima Reactors

– Japan’s Health Ministry Tells Villagers Not To Drink Radioactive Tap Water

– Japan Nuclear Crisis: Fukushima Workers Cut Off From Their Families To Prevent The Truth From Leaking Out

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Mayor Urges Evacuation After Discovering Government Ignored, Misled Him And His People About True Dangers Of Nuclear Fallout

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Partially Accurate MSM Reporting Now Reduced To Lies And Propaganda

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Total Information Blackout On Fukushima Unit 4 Reactor

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: It’s Getting Worse in Tokyo – Why The Dangers Are Stratospherically Higher Than Even US Officials Are Admitting

– Japan Finds Radioactive Food Up To 90 Miles From Fukushima Nuclear Site

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Multiple Times Worse than Chernobyl

– TEPCO Director Weeps After Finally Admitting The Truth About Fukushima Disaster: Radiation Leak Is Serious Enough To Kill People

– Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant In Japan: A Dirty Bomb Waiting To Go Off

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: US Calls Radiation Levels ‘Extremely High’ – Fuel Pool Has Burned Dry At The No. 4 Reactor, Leaving Fuel Rods Stored There Exposed And Bleeding Radiation

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: French minister: ‘Let’s not beat about the bush, they’ve essentially lost control’ – Radiation Levels Stop Military Helicopters From Dumping Water

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Radiation Levels 6,600 Times Normal 20km Away from Fukushima Nuclear Plant

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: It’s Much, Much Worse Than It Looks (Thanks To The Stupidity of Nuclear Engineers!) (MUST-READ!)

– Israeli Nuclear Expert Accuses Japan Of Downplaying Danger Nuclear Calamity: ‘If there is fallout of plutonium oxide, a most toxic substance that they use in the reactor that exploded, no one will be able to set foot on the site for thousands of years’

TEPCO: Fukushima Groundwater ‘Highly’ Radiation-Contaminated, Contains Radioactive Iodine 10,000 Times Legal Limit

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TOKYO, April 1, Kyodo — More signs of serious radiation contamination in and near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were detected Thursday, with the latest data finding groundwater containing radioactive iodine 10,000 times the legal threshold and the concentration of radioactive iodine-131 in nearby seawater rising to the highest level yet.

Radioactive material was confirmed from groundwater for the first time since the March 11 quake and tsunami hit the nuclear power plant on the Pacific coast, knocking out the reactors’ key cooling functions. An official of the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said, ”We’re aware this is an extremely high figure.”

The contaminated groundwater was found from around the No. 1 reactor’s turbine building, although the radiation level of groundwater is usually so low that it cannot be measured.

Read moreTEPCO: Fukushima Groundwater ‘Highly’ Radiation-Contaminated, Contains Radioactive Iodine 10,000 Times Legal Limit

Dangerous Levels of Radioactive Cesuim 137 Found 25 Miles From Fukushima Plant

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WASHINGTON — A long-lasting radioactive element has been measured at levels that pose a long-term danger at one spot 25 miles from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, raising questions about whether Japan’s evacuation zone should be expanded and whether the land might need to be abandoned.

The isotope, cesium 137, was measured in one village by the International Atomic Energy Agency at a level exceeding the standard that the Soviet Union used as a gauge to recommend abandoning land surrounding the Chernobyl reactor, and at another location not precisely identified by the agency at more than double the Soviet standard.

The measurements, reported Wednesday, would not be high enough to cause acute radiation illness, but far exceed standards for the general public designed to cut the risks of cancer.

Read moreDangerous Levels of Radioactive Cesuim 137 Found 25 Miles From Fukushima Plant

TEPCO Chairman Admits Battle To Safe Fukushima Plant Lost, Reactors To Be Entombed

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But here is the problem with this ‘solution’:

– Dr. Michio Kaku: Three Raging Nuclear Meltdowns In Progress!

Bodies of 1,000 victims of Japan earthquake left uncollected because of fears of high levels of radiation


Apology: Tokyo Electric Power Co. chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, right, finally admitted that the battle to save the plant had been lost and apologised for the ‘trouble and anxiety’ caused by the radiation

* Police, rescue workers and family members could be exposed to radiation
* Radioactivity levels in the ocean 4,385 times above regulatory limit
* Fisherman warned not to operate within 12 miles of plant
* Compensation claims could top $12bn
* Power firm’s shares lose 80% of value – may need government bailout
* President still recovering in hospital recovering from ‘fatigue and stress’
* U.S. sends specialist Marine unit to assist in decontamination
* Traces of radioactive particles found in U.S. milk


Too dangerous: This aerial photograph of the Fukushima plant shows the damaged reactors three and four at the which will now be entombed in concrete after the battle to contain radiation was lost

Up to 1,000 bodies of victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami have not been collected because of fears of high levels of radiation.

Police sources said bodies within the 12-mile evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant had been ‘exposed to high levels of radiation after death’.

It follows the discovery of a body on Sunday in Okuma, just three miles from the power plant, which revealed elevated levels of radiation.

Read moreTEPCO Chairman Admits Battle To Safe Fukushima Plant Lost, Reactors To Be Entombed

US Government Admits Radiation Found In Milk from Washington State

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And there is a lot more to come:

“Nuclear radiation is forever,” she added. It doesn’t dissipate or disappear. Jeff Patterson, former Physicians for Social Responsibility president said, “There is no safe level of radionuclide exposure, whether from food, water or other sources. Period.” In 1953, Nobel laureate George Wald agreed saying “no amount of radiation is safe. Every dose is an overdose.”

“Radioactive iodine releases from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi reactors may exceed those of Three Mile Island by over 100,000 times….While Chernobyl had one source of radioactivity, its reactor, there are seven leaking radiation sources at the Japanese site. Together, the three damaged reactors and four spent fuel pools at Fukushima Daiicho contain (much) more long-lived radioactivity, notably cesium-137, than the Chernobyl reactor.”

“The radioactive (iodine-131) fallout is now as much as 73 percent of the daily radiation emitted from Chernobyl following its meltdown disaster.” For cesium-137, it’s 60%.

“I hate to say it, but I am pessimistic….We have to think of all six (reactors) going down, and the possibility of that happening is not low.”
– Updating Japan’s Nuclear Disaster

The US like now the EU has raised radiation limits for food:

– EU Erhöht Grenzwerte Drastisch! EU Raises ‘Safe Level’ of Cesium in Japanese Food By 20 Times!

– EU Drastically Raises Radiation Limits For Food! – EU Erhöht Drastisch Die Strahlungs-Grenzwerte Für Lebensmittel!

And those criminals will continue to play that game if necessary. All is well no need to prepare, which is exactly what the people in Japan were told before.

That recommendation says it all:

– International Commission Recommends Japan Temporarily Increase Radiation Limits For Public

Raw milk is poison, whereas irradiated milk is safe!

Radiation Traces Found in U.S. Milk

(Wall Street Journal) –The U.S. government said Wednesday that traces of radiation have been found in milk in Washington state, but said the amounts are far too low to trigger any public-health concern.

The Environmental Protection Agency said a March 25 sample of milk produced in the Spokane, Wash., area contained a 0.8 pico curies per literlevel of iodine-131, which it said was less than one five-thousandth of the safety safety guideline set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The EPA said it increased monitoring after radiation leaked from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. It expects more such findings in coming days, but in amounts “far below levels of public-health concern, including for infants and children.”

Iodine-131 has a half-life of about eight days, meaning levels should fade quickly. “These findings are a minuscule amount compared to what people experience every day,” the agency said.

Read moreUS Government Admits Radiation Found In Milk from Washington State

EU Drastically Raises Radiation Limits For Food! – EU Erhöht Drastisch Die Strahlungs-Grenzwerte Für Lebensmittel!

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And our politicians have been prepared for this disaster since 1987!

They had the ‘new’ regulation already stored in the drawer,  just in case another nuclear disaster would happen!

And I can tell you that food reaching the upper radiation limits after Chernobyl would have been considered totally contaminated before Chernobyl.

And now:

Here is a press statement from FOODWATCH and Umweltinstitut München e.V:

– Gemeinsame Presseerklärung von foodwatch und Umweltinstitut München e.V.: Grenzwerte für radioaktive Belastung von Lebensmitteln aus Japan erhöht – Bundesregierung informiert Öffentlichkeit nicht:

Berlin/München. Die Verbraucherorganisation foodwatch und das Umweltinstitut München e.V. haben die Informationspolitik der Bundesregierung über die Lebensmittelsicherheit nach der Reaktorkatastrophe in Japan kritisiert. Bundesverbraucherministerin Ilse Aigner verweist seit Tagen auf „verstärkte Kontrollmaßnahmen“ und „spezielle Schutzstandards“ – sie informiert die Öffentlichkeit jedoch nicht darüber, dass die EU-weit geltenden Grenzwerte für die radioaktive Belastung von Lebensmitteln aus den betroffenen Regionen Japans am vergangenen Wochenende deutlich erhöht wurden. War bisher eine kumulierte Radioaktivität von Cäsium-134 und Cäsium-137 von maximal 600 Becquerel/Kilogramm zulässig, traten am vergangenen Wochenende bis zu 20-fach höhere Obergrenzen von bis zu 12.500 Becquerel/Kilogramm für bestimmte Produkte aus Japan in Kraft.

Google translate:

Berlin / Munich. The consumer organization foodwatch and the Environment Institute Munich eV have criticized the information policy of the federal government on food safety after the nuclear disaster in Japan. Federal Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner as in days of “enhanced control measures” and “special protection standards ” – it informs the public but not the fact that the EU-wide limit values ??for the radioactive contamination of foodstuffs from the affected areas in Japan increased over the weekend clear. Was previously a cumulative radioactivity of cesium-134 were cesium-137 and allowed maximum of 600 becquerels per kilogram, this past weekend up to 20 times higher ceilings of up to 12,500 becquerels per kilogram for certain products in Japan in force.

So according to Foodwatch the upper limit is now 20 times higher for cesium-134 and cesium-137!!!

WTF!

Use Google translate for the following articles.

– Strahlengrenze: Alleingang Österreichs? (ORF):

Die neuen Strahlen-Grenzwerte der EU für Lebensmittelimporte aus Japan sind doppelt so hoch wie die bisher erlaubten Werte. Umweltschützer meinen, dass Österreich diese niedrigeren Werte im Alleingang beibehalten könnte. Gesundheitsminister Alois Stöger (SPÖ) will das zumindest bei den Direktimporten aus Japan tun.

– Katastrophe in Japan: EU zeigt sich großzügig bei strahlenden Lebensmitteln (Financial Times Deutschland):

In der Europäischen Union gelten laxere Grenzwerte für radioaktiv verstrahlte japanische Lebensmittel als in Japan selbst. Aus dem asiatischen Land sind stärker kontaminierte Lebensmittel erlaubt als nach der Reaktorkatastrophe von Tschernobyl 1986.

Der Grenzwert für Cäsium 134 und 137 ist mit 1250 Becquerel pro Kilogramm doppelt so hoch angesetzt wie die Schwelle, die weiterhin beispielsweise für Pilze gilt, die infolge von Tschernobyl belastet sind. Das sieht eine Notverordnung der EU-Kommission vor, die seit Ende vergangener Woche gilt. In Japan gilt derzeit bei Cäsium 134 ein Grenzwert von 500 Becquerel.

– EU erhöht Strahlungs-Grenzwerte (Sueddeutsche):

Brüssel – In der Europäischen Union gelten seit einigen Tagen höhere Strahlungs-Grenzwerte für Lebensmittel aus Japan. In einem Eilverfahren hat die EU-Kommission eine sogenannte Schubladen-Verordnung aus dem Jahr 1987 in Kraft gesetzt. Diese sieht vor, dass die Belastung von Lebensmitteln mit radioaktivem Cäsium mehr als doppelt so hoch sein darf wie in den vergangenen Jahren. Milchprodukte aus Japan dürften sogar mit 1000 Becquerel strahlen, statt mit 370 Becquerel. Damit liegen die Grenzwerte jetzt so hoch wie nach der Katastrophe von Tschernobyl. Verbraucherorganisationen wie Foodwatch kritisierten das Vorgehen der EU-Behörden scharf.

– Import aus Japan: Laschere Grenzwerte für strahlende Lebensmittel (STERN):

Die Nachrichten aus Fukushima werden immer erschreckender: Im Meerwasser nahe des Atomkraftwerks lag die Konzentration von radioaktivem Jod am Donnerstag über 4000 Mal höher als der zulässige Grenzwert. Auch hochgiftiges Plutonium ist mittlerweile in die Umwelt gelangt. Und die radioaktiven Partikel verteilen sich weiter – über das Wasser und die Luft. Sie lagern sich auf Feldern ab und reichern sich im Boden an.

Wenig erstaunlich ist es daher, dass Spuren davon mittlerweile auf Lebensmitteln aus Japan entdeckt worden sind. So haben südkoreanische Behörden in einigen Produkten geringe Mengen radioaktives Jod und Cäsium nachgewiesen. Zeitgleich wächst auch in Deutschland die Angst vor radioaktiv verseuchter Ware aus Japan. So rüstet sich der Hamburger Hafen für die Ankunft von verstrahlter Fracht.

Laschere Grenzwerte

Erst am vergangenen Freitag hatte Bundesverbraucherministerin Ilse Aigner (CSU) verkündet, dass die EU die Sicherheitsmaßnahmen verschärft habe: Lebensmittel aus den betroffenen japanischen Regionen dürften künftig nur noch in Deutschland eingeführt werden, wenn sie “in Japan streng kontrolliert und zertifiziert wurden”. An EU-Außenkontrollstellen würden zudem alle Waren geprüft, die aus den betroffenen Präfekturen stammen. “Vorsorgender Verbraucherschutz hat absolute Priorität”, sagte Aigner. Klingt gut, ist auch gut – und dennoch sind Verbraucherschützer erzürnt.

Denn parallel zu den neuen Regeln, die seit vergangenem Wochenende gelten, hat die EU per Eilverordnung auch neue Grenzwerte für die radioaktive Belastung von Lebensmitteln aus Japan verabschiedet. Und die seien lascher als die nach der Tschernobyl-Katastrophe gültigen, kritisiert die Verbraucherorganisation Foodwatch. Erfahren hat die Öffentlichkeit davon allerdings erst, nachdem Foodwatch und das Umweltinstitut München darauf aufmerksam gemacht haben. Damit ist der Eindruck entstanden, als habe die EU klammheimlich die Grenzwerte verändert, was nicht gerade das Vertrauen der Bürger in die Behörden stärken dürfte.

Japan Nuclear Crisis: TEPCO Workers Threatened by Heat Bursts And Sea Radiation Rises

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(Updates with Moody’s downgrade in 18th paragraph.)

March 31 (Bloomberg) — Japan’s damaged nuclear plant may be in danger of emitting sudden bursts of heat and radiation, undermining efforts to cool the reactors and contain fallout.

The potential for limited, uncontrolled chain reactions, voiced yesterday by the International Atomic Energy Agency, is among the phenomena that might occur, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters in Tokyo today. The IAEA “emphasized that the nuclear reactors won’t explode,” he said.

Three workers at a separate Japanese plant received high doses of radiation in 1999 from a similar nuclear reaction, known as ‘criticality.’ Two of them died within seven months.

Read moreJapan Nuclear Crisis: TEPCO Workers Threatened by Heat Bursts And Sea Radiation Rises

Greenpeace Radiology Experts Find High Levels Of Radiation Beyond No-Go Zone

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(Japan Times) — Radiology experts from Greenpeace urged the government Wednesday to expand the evacuation zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant after they found high levels of radiation outside the 20-km mandatory no-go zone.

Jan van de Putte, the radioactivity safety adviser of the NGO, said the survey, taken on a road between the villages of Iitate and Tsushima in Fukushima Prefecture, saw a radiation level of 100 microsieverts per hour, despite being outside of the evacuation area.

One would reach the annual legal limit of 1,000 microsieverts — or 1 millisievert — of radiation in about 10 hours in such an environment, van de Putte said, adding that it is likely the people living in Iitate, about 9 km outside the no-go zone, “have surpassed that level” of exposure already.

Read moreGreenpeace Radiology Experts Find High Levels Of Radiation Beyond No-Go Zone

Japan Nuclear Meltdown Emergency: Fukushima Beyond Point Of No Return As Radioactive Core Melts Through Containment Vessel

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(NaturalNews) The battle to save the Fukushima nuclear power plant now appears lost as the radioactive core from Reactor No. 2 has melted through the containment vessel and dropped into the concrete basement of the reactor structure. This is “raising fears of a major release of radiation at the site,” reports The Guardian, which broke the story (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/201…). A former General Electric nuclear expert told The Guardian that Japan appears to have “lost the race” to save the reactor.

The only feasible interpretation from this analysis is that radiation emissions from Fukushima could suddenly become much greater. It is also now obvious that the radioactive fallout from Fukushima will last for decades, if not centuries.

Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan last night admitted the situation at Fukushima remains “unpredictable.” Meanwhile, the presence of plutonium in soil samples is proof that the nuclear fuel rods have been compromised and are releasing material into the open atmosphere. (http://www.breitbart.com/article.ph…)

But don’t worry (and don’t prepare)

How many times were we told over the last two weeks that the Fukushima situation was solved? How many times were we assured there was “no danger” to the world? President Obama even went out of his way to tell Americans they should not prepare for anything, since there was nothing to worry about.

Don’t acquire any potassium iodide, people were told. The situation is completely under control and nuclear power is safe, clean and green!

Read moreJapan Nuclear Meltdown Emergency: Fukushima Beyond Point Of No Return As Radioactive Core Melts Through Containment Vessel

Japan Nuclear Meltdown: ‘Fukushima Plutonium Leak Comparable To Chernobyl Disaster’ (RT)

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Don’t miss:

–  Japan Nuclear Meltdown Emergency: Fukushima Beyond Point Of No Return As Radioactive Core Melts Through Containment Vessel

And TEPCO tells us that plutonium is SAFE:

– Unbelievable: TEPCO: Plutonium Found On 5 Locations Around Fukushima Plant A Week Ago (But The Deadliest Substance On The Planet ‘Poses No Human Health Risk’!)

BUT:

“Plutonium is the deadliest substance on the planet since 1 molecule of Plutonium in your body guarantees the development of cancer, according to radiation medicine experts.”
– Dr. Rima Laibow


Added: 30.03.2011

See also:

Read moreJapan Nuclear Meltdown: ‘Fukushima Plutonium Leak Comparable To Chernobyl Disaster’ (RT)

US: At Least 15 States Detect Radiation From Japan

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At least 15 states have found trace amounts of radiation from the crippled nuclear plant in Japan, but officials say the levels of radioactivity are much too low to prompt health concerns.

Very low concentrations of iodine-131 were found last week in a rainwater sample in Boston. “It is not a problem for public safety nor is it a threat to the drinking water supply,” said Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard Sullivan.

Sullivan ordered the collection of drinking water samples from 12 locations Sunday. Tests showed the water was “absolutely clean,” he said.

Read moreUS: At Least 15 States Detect Radiation From Japan

Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Fatal Radiation Detected Outside Damaged Reactor No. 2

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March 28 (Bloomberg) — Radiation levels that can prove fatal were detected outside reactor buildings at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant for the first time, complicating efforts to contain the worst disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

Water in an underground trench outside the No. 2 reactor had levels exceeding 1 sievert an hour, a spokesman for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. told reporters in the capital yesterday. Exposure to that dose for 30 minutes would trigger nausea and four hours might lead to death within two months, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Preventing the most-contaminated water from leaking into the ground or air is key to containing the spread of radiation beyond the plant. A partial meltdown of fuel rods in the No. 2 reactor probably caused a jump in the readings, Japan’s chief government spokesman said.

“There’s not much good news right now,” said Gennady Pshakin, a former IAEA official based in Obninsk, the site of Russia’s first nuclear power plant. “There’re questions arising on how much fuel will leak out, what isotopes will be carried and how quickly they will settle. It’s becoming less predictable.”

Read moreJapan Nuclear Meltdown: Fatal Radiation Detected Outside Damaged Reactor No. 2

Unbelievable: TEPCO: Plutonium Found On 5 Locations Around Fukushima Plant A Week Ago (But The Deadliest Substance On The Planet ‘Poses No Human Health Risk’!)

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Plutonium poses no human health risk??? Unbelievable!!!

“Plutonium is the deadliest substance on the planet since 1 molecule of Plutonium in your body guarantees the development of cancer, according to radiation medicine experts.”
– Dr. Rima Laibow

Take a close look at the half-lives of the plutonium isotopes below.

It is now safe to say that plutonium is much less dangerous to the health of the Japanese people than TEPCO and the government.

Now listen to total ignorance …

– TEPCO says plutonium found on quake-damaged plant grounds (CNN):

Tokyo (CNN) — Some plutonium found in soil on the grounds of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may have come from its earthquake-damaged reactors, but it poses no human health risk, the plant’s owners reported Monday.

The element was found in soil samples taken March 21-22 from five locations around the plant, the Tokyo Electric Power Company told CNN late Monday. The company said it was equivalent to the amounts that fell on Japan following aboveground nuclear weapons tests by other countries in past decades.

“It is not a health risk to humans,” the company said. But it added, “Just in case, TEPCO will increase the monitoring of the nuclear plant grounds and the surrounding environment.”

Plutonium is a byproduct of nuclear reactions that is also part of the fuel mix at the plant’s No. 3 reactor. It can be a serious health hazard if inhaled or ingested, but external exposure poses little health risk, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Three plutonium isotopes — Pu-238, -239 and -240 — were found in soil at five different points inside the plant grounds, Tokyo Electric reported. It said that plutonium found in two of the samples could have come out of the reactors that were damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northern Japan.

All three isotopes have long half-lives, with plutonium-239 taking 24,000 years to lose half its radioactivity. Plutonium-238 has an 87-year half-life, while plutonium-240’s is more than 6,500 years.

Read moreUnbelievable: TEPCO: Plutonium Found On 5 Locations Around Fukushima Plant A Week Ago (But The Deadliest Substance On The Planet ‘Poses No Human Health Risk’!)

Japanese Government: High Radiation Due To Partial Meltdown – TEPCO Admits Crisis May Last For ‘Months Or Years’

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* Battle to control Fukushima plant seen far from over

* Japan crisis helps tip Germany poll against Merkel

* More than 27,000 dead or missing from quake and tsunami

* Magnitude 6.5 quake in north Japan triggers small tsunami

* Low-level radiation found in Massachusetts rainwater (Updates with Edano’s comments on melted fuel rods)

TOKYO, March 28 (Reuters) – The high level of radiation in water flooding the basement of a reactor at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is likely due to a partial melting of fuel rods after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the government said on Monday.

“The radiation seems to have come from fuel rods that were partially melted down and came in contact with the water used to cool the reactor,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference. “Steam may have condensed … carrying water from within the containment vessel.”

The partial meltdown would have happened after the tsunami crashed through the reactor and knocked out its cooling system.

Read moreJapanese Government: High Radiation Due To Partial Meltdown – TEPCO Admits Crisis May Last For ‘Months Or Years’

How To Decrease Radiation Illness And Protect Yourself From Radiation

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Important:

Lugols solution is perfectly safe (this is also mentioned by another forum user in the following thread below) and a very good choice to protect yourself from radioactive iodine.

See also:

– Dr. Donald W. Miller, MD: Iodine for Radioactive Fallout

– Dr. Rima Laibow Recommends What to Do About Radiation

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How To Decrease Radiation Illness And Protect Yourself From Radiation

This is a further summary of radioprotective dietary supplements and other products that are available without a prescription. There are other products that are available by prescription, but I wanted to center on what people could fairly easily obtain.

The references following each entry on the list, for the most part are taken from peer reviewed scientific literature rather than from other sources, as I wanted to be as accurate as possible. Full articles are available from pubmed for a fee, but the abstracts are posted as they are free.

This list is supplied for those who wish to be proactive rather than counting on governmental institutions, so it is intended for those who are interested in what they personally can do to protect themselves and their family members from radioactive contamination.

The dosages listed are only suggestions, and many sources vary considerably as to dosage recommendations for a given product. In some instances the dosages given were those used to treat radiation victims.

Please be alert that doses for Adults and children may be radically different, and persons with health conditions such as kidney disease, liver disease, or other serious medical conditions should always consult with their personal health care provider before using any supplements. Also if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, discuss any supplements with your health care provider before using them.

(1) Probably most useful, (2) Potassium Iodide, Iodate and related products, (3) Vitamins, (4) Supplements, (5) Food items and (6) Miscellaneous products

(1) Probably most useful is here in the first post:

Pectin:

Pectin is found in large quantities in Apples and was used to detoxify radioactive Cesium from the children of Chernobyl. Dose for children was 5 grams twice daily during 18-25 day treatments.

“Twenty-two years after the Chernobyl releases, the annual individual dose limit in heavily contaminated territories of Belarus, Ukraine, and European Russia exceed 1 mSv/year just because of the unavoidable consumption of locally contaminated products.”

“For practical reasons the curative-like use of apple-pectin food additives might be especially helpful for effective decorporation of Cs-137. From 1996 to 2007 a total of more than 160,000 Belarussian children received pectin food additives during 18 to 25 days of treatment (5 g twice a day). As a result, levels of Cs-137 in children’s organs decreased after each course of pectin additives by an average of 30 to 40%.

[link to www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Calcium:

Blocks uptake of stronium-90. Adults may take 1500 mg daily.

[link to www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
[link to www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Alginate:

(either calcium alginate or sodium alginate) as an alternative treatment for radioactive strontium: “The data obtained show that the uptake of ingested strontium from milk was reduced by a factor of nine when alginate was added to milk. It is concluded that alginate preparations are a suitable antidote against radio-strontium.”

“A pilot production procedure has been established. Na alginate (sodium alginate) from S. siliquastrum (algae species)was proven to be a potent agent for reducing Sr (strontium) absorption, with high efficiency and virtually no toxicity. Strontium absorption in human subjects was reduced by 78% (+/- 8.9) or completely suppressed the increase of serum Sr at 2 h after ingestion. In cases of emergency, an alginate syrup preparation appears to be more suitable because of its rapid action.”
“It was found that administration of sodium alginate as a jelly overcomes the problem of constipation and effectively reduces Sr(89) uptake, up to 83%. This fact represents a significant finding with respect to the use of the compound in human subjects.”

[link to www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
[link to www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
[link to www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
[link to www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
[link to www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
[link to www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Read moreHow To Decrease Radiation Illness And Protect Yourself From Radiation

US, Europe: Radiation and Jetstream FORECAST UPDATE (March 27, 2011)

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Plumes of Cesium 137, Iodine 131, and Xenon 133, have reached the United States as of March 23, 2011.

Higher plumes, reaching 5000 meters (15,000 feet) are forecast to reach Portugal, Spain, and central Europe.

See also:

– Updating Japan’s Nuclear Disaster

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Tests Find Radiation Levels At 100,000 Times Normal In No. 2 Reactor, Reactor May Be Leaking Water

– Japan’s Government Asks Water Treatment Plants Not To Take In Radioactive Rainwater

– Japan Nuclear Crisis: Engineers Toil To Pump Radioactive Nuclear Plant Water Into The Ocean

– Japan Nuclear Meltdown: Workers Try To Pump Out Radioactive Water From Reactors – Radiation Levels Soar To 10,000 Times Above Safety Limit

– Japan Nuclear Crisis: The Four Destroyed Reactors at Fukushima Was About 70 Billion Lethal Doses, finely divided

– Japan Nuclear Crisis: This Is Like Admitting That MOX Reactor No. 3 Has Been Breached And Has Released Plutonium

Read moreUS, Europe: Radiation and Jetstream FORECAST UPDATE (March 27, 2011)

Updating Japan’s Nuclear Disaster

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Remember that, when they tell you that radiation levels are ‘safe’:

“Nuclear radiation is forever,” she added. It doesn’t dissipate or disappear. Jeff Patterson, former Physicians for Social Responsibility president said, “There is no safe level of radionuclide exposure, whether from food, water or other sources. Period.” In 1953, Nobel laureate George Wald agreed saying “no amount of radiation is safe. Every dose is an overdose.”

Also from the article:

“Radioactive iodine releases from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi reactors may exceed those of Three Mile Island by over 100,000 times….While Chernobyl had one source of radioactivity, its reactor, there are seven leaking radiation sources at the Japanese site. Together, the three damaged reactors and four spent fuel pools at Fukushima Daiicho contain (much) more long-lived radioactivity, notably cesium-137, than the Chernobyl reactor.”

“The radioactive (iodine-131) fallout is now as much as 73 percent of the daily radiation emitted from Chernobyl following its meltdown disaster.” For cesium-137, it’s 60%.

“I hate to say it, but I am pessimistic….We have to think of all six (reactors) going down, and the possibility of that happening is not low.”

Japan’s March 11 earthquake/tsunami-caused nuclear disaster affects millions of people regionally and throughout the Northern Hemisphere. But you’d never know it from most major media reports, downplaying an unfolding catastrophe.

In fact, distinguished experts like Helen Caldicott long ago warned of inevitable nuclear disasters, especially in seismically active areas. On May 23, 2004, The Japan Times contributor Leuren Moret headlined, “Japan’s deadly game of nuclear roulette,” saying:

“Of all the places in all the world no one in their right mind would build scores of nuclear power plants, Japan would be pretty near the top of the list.”

“Japan sits on top of four tectonic plates….and is one of the most tectonically active regions of the world. (There) is almost no geologic setting in the world more dangerous for nuclear power than Japan.”

In 2004, Kobe University Seismologist/Professor Katsuhiko Ishibashi called the situation then “very scary. It’s like a kamikaze terrorist wrapped in bombs just waiting to explode.”

American cities like New York have no credible evacuation plans in case of nuclear disasters. Neither does Japan, its Fukushima response a clear example. In fact, however, there’s no adequate plan possible in cases of catastrophic nuclear events. How and to where do you transfer millions of people. Abandoning the technology alone can work, a possibility not considered, at least not so far.

Read moreUpdating Japan’s Nuclear Disaster