Oceans

Radioactive Water Leaks From Fukushima: What We Know (Scientific American)

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The real situation at the Fukushima nuclear plant is of course much more dire than we are told.

Closer to the truth:

– Fallout Researcher: Fukushima Worst Case Scenario Could Result In BILLIONS Of DEATHS

– Radioactive Water Leaks from Fukushima: What We Know (Scientific American, Aug 13, 2013):

The lingering questions include how the radioactivity might contaminate ocean life that humans eat

Here is what you need to know about the radioactive water leaking from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Scientists on both sides of the Pacific have measured changing levels of radioactivity in fish and other ocean life since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. On Aug. 2, 2013, when Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) gave its first estimate of how much radioactive water from the nuclear plant has flowed into the ocean since the disaster, the company was finally facing up to what scientists have recognized for years.

“As an oceanographer looking at the reactor, we’ve known this since 2011,” said Ken Buesseler, a marine chemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Woods Hole, Mass. “The news is TEPCO is finally admitting this.”

TEPCO estimated that between 20 trillion and 40 trillion becquerels (units of radioactivity representing decay per second) of radioactive tritium have leaked into the ocean since the disaster, according to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. The Fukushima plant is still leaking about 300 tons of radioactive water into the ocean every day, according to Japanese government officials. [Infographic: Inside Japan’s Nuclear Reactors]

Read moreRadioactive Water Leaks From Fukushima: What We Know (Scientific American)

Prof. Chris Busby: Tepco Might Have To Pour Water On Fukushima Wreckage Forever

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FYI.

– Pump and pray: Tepco might have to pour water on Fukushima wreckage forever (RT, Aug 7, 2013):

Professor Christopher Busby from the European Committee on Radiation Risks for RT

Fukushima is a nightmare disaster area, and no one has the slightest idea what to do. The game is to prevent the crippled nuclear plant from turning into an “open-air super reactor spectacular” which would result in a hazardous, melted catastrophe.

On April 25, 2011 – one month after the explosions at the Fukushima nuclear plant and the anniversary of Chernobyl – I was interviewed by RT and asked to compare Chernobyl and Fukushima. The clip, which you can find on YouTube, was entitled, “Can’t seal Fukushima like Chernobyl – it all goes into the sea.” Since then, huge amounts of radioactivity have flowed from the wrecked reactors directly into the Pacific Ocean. Attempts to stop the flow of contaminated water from Fukushima into the sea were always unlikely to succeed. It is like trying to push water uphill. Now they all seem to have woken up to the issue and have begun to panic.

Read moreProf. Chris Busby: Tepco Might Have To Pour Water On Fukushima Wreckage Forever

Japan Government: Fukushima Plant Leaking 300 Tons Of Toxic Water Into Sea Daily

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Related info:

– AND NOW: Shinzo Abe Sanctions Government Funding To ‘Freeze’ Fukushima With Giant Ice Wall

– BBC News Video On Massive Fukushima Radioactive Water Leak ‘Emergency’ (A MUST-SEE!)

– You Won’t BELIEVE What’s Going On At Fukushima Right Now

– RT, July 2013: Fukushima Radiation Levels As High As 2011

– Gov’t says Fukushima plant leaking 300 tons of toxic water into sea daily (Japan Times, Aug 7, 2013):

TOKYO — A Japanese government official on Wednesday said an estimated 300 tons of contaminated water is leaking into the ocean per day from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged on Wednesday to step up government efforts to stem radioactive water leakage.

The ministry official also said the utility would begin pumping out groundwater to reduce leakage and had aimed to be removing 300 tons per day by December, but would end up 60 tons short of that goal. Removing 300 tons of groundwater, however, would not necessarily halt leakage into the sea, he said.

“Stabilizing the Fukushima plant is our challenge,” Abe said at a meeting of the government’s disaster task force. “In particular, the contaminated water is an urgent issue which has generated a great deal of public attention.”

Read moreJapan Government: Fukushima Plant Leaking 300 Tons Of Toxic Water Into Sea Daily

AND NOW: Shinzo Abe Sanctions Government Funding To ‘Freeze’ Fukushima With Giant Ice Wall

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You can’t make this stuff up!

– Abe Sanctions Government Funding To “Freeze” Fukushima With Giant Ice Wall (ZeroHedge, Aug 7, 2013):

Ripped from the pages of Marvel Comics, Japanese Anime, or Game of Thrones; the latest cunning solution to what the Japanese admit is an ongoing emergency in Fukushima is, well, creative… Now that TEPCO has been shown to be inept, Abe and his government have sanctioned the funding of a 1.4km wall of ice to surround the building that holds Reactors 1 to 4. No this is not Pacific Rim; as Kyodo reports, chemical refrigerants will keep the underground wall frozen to stop the 400 tons of ground water being pumped into the reactors to cool them from leaking further into the sea water surrounding the catastrophe. This must be a positive for GDP, if ‘broken windows’ can help the Keynesians (and digging and refilling holes) then why not build a giant ice wall that will require unending energy to refrigerate what is a constantly melting-down core of nuclear awfulness. We wish them luck.

Via Spiegel (via Google Translate),

…leaked an estimated 300 tons of water per day from the damaged nuclear plant into the ocean, said a representative of the Ministry of Industry on Wednesday

…

The countermeasures of the operating company Tepco are obviously insufficient . The energy company has “dry walls” claims to be injected into the soil, which should be there to harden a lock. However, as the company announced on Tuesday , the water flows around the wall into the sea.

…

To further penetration of water into the damaged nuclear plant to prevent, is now an underground wall to be built from the ground is frozen to the reactor building, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported on. To this end pipes with chemical refrigerants to promote the building of reactors 1 to 4 are laid in the ground. The thus created barrier was expected to have a length of 1.4 kilometers.

Read moreAND NOW: Shinzo Abe Sanctions Government Funding To ‘Freeze’ Fukushima With Giant Ice Wall

BBC News Video On Massive Fukushima Radioactive Water Leak ‘Emergency’ (A MUST-SEE!)

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– Fukushima radioactive water leak an ’emergency’ (BBC News, Aug 6, 2013):

From the video:

“Fukushima plant sits smack in the middle of an underground aquifer.”

“At least 400 tons of new water pours into the site every day. It’s going to continue for years and years.”

“Fukushima’s water crisis has only just begun.”

Japan Finally Admits The Truth: ‘Right Now, We Have An Emergency At Fukushima’

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– Japan Finally Admits The Truth: “Right Now, We Have An Emergency At Fukushima” (ZeroHedge, Aug 5, 2013):

Tepco is struggling to contain the highly radioactive water that is seeping into the ocean near Fukushima. The head of Japan’s NRA, Shinji Kinjo exclaimed, “right now, we have an emergency,” as he noted the contaminated groundwater has breached an underground barrier and is rising toward the surface – exceeding the limits of radioactive discharge. In a rather outspoken comment for the typically stoic Japanese, Kinjo said Tepco’s “sense of crisis was weak,” adding that “this is why you can’t just leave it up to Tepco alone” to grapple with the ongoing disaster. As Reuters notes, Tepco has been accused of covering up shortcomings and has been lambasted for its ineptness in the response and while the company says it is taking actions to contain the leaks, Kinjo fears if the water reaches the surface “it would flow extremely fast,” with some suggesting as little as three weeks until this critical point.

Via Reuters,

Highly radioactive water seeping into the ocean from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is creating an “emergency” that the operator is struggling to contain, an official from the country’s nuclear watchdog said on Monday.

This contaminated groundwater has breached an underground barrier, is rising toward the surface and is exceeding legal limits of radioactive discharge, Shinji Kinjo, head of a Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) task force, told Reuters.

Read moreJapan Finally Admits The Truth: ‘Right Now, We Have An Emergency At Fukushima’

Fukushima: Deadly Radioactive Water Has Been Leaking Into Ocean For Two Years

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– Contaminated Water has been Leaking into Ocean for Two Years at Fukushima (Oil Price, July 14, 2013):

Shunichi Tanaka, the head of the Nuclear Regulation Authority in Japan, and the country’s chief nuclear regulator announced on Wednesday, that the nuclear power plant at Fukushima, has been leaking contaminated water into the ocean for the two years since the accident that saw three of the plants six reactors suffer a meltdown.

The problem stems from the fact that ground water is leaking into the basement of the damaged reactors, and becoming contaminated, and whilst that water is being pumped out and stored in huge tanks on site, the inflow has not yet been stopped, meaning that ever more ground water enters the basement and becomes contaminated.

Tanaka explains that neither his staff, nor those working for the plant’s operator have discovered where the leaks are coming from, and therefore have not been able to stop them.

Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), the power plants operator, has constantly denied that any of that water heas been leaking into the Ocean, but in the last few days it has switched its position and finally admitted that it can’t actually say for sure that the water is not leaking into the sea.

Read moreFukushima: Deadly Radioactive Water Has Been Leaking Into Ocean For Two Years

Millions Of Krill Wash Up On Oregon, California Beaches And ‘Scientists Are Not Sure Why’

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From the article:

“Scientists are not sure why.”

…

“For some reason, people did not see gulls and other sea birds eating them, he added.”

Maybe that ‘helps’:


Fukushima radiation

See also:

– Red Alert: Shocking Plane Radiation On Flight From Chile To The U.S.

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming …

– Millions of krill wash up on Oregon, Calif. beaches (AP, June 29, 2013):

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Millions of krill — a tiny shrimp-like animal that is a cornerstone of the ocean food web — have been washing up on beaches in Southern Oregon and Northern California for the past few weeks.

Scientists are not sure why.

Read moreMillions Of Krill Wash Up On Oregon, California Beaches And ‘Scientists Are Not Sure Why’

Highest Levels Of Radioactive Cesium In Plankton From Fukushima Found East Of Hawaii

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– Kyodo: Highest levels of Fukushima contamination in plankton already east of Hawaii? (MAPS) (ENENews, May 21, 2013):

Title: Researchers find high cesium in some Pacific plankton
Source: Kyodo News
Date: May 22, 2013

Researchers find high cesium in some Pacific plankton

Scientists said Tuesday they have detected radioactive cesium from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in plankton collected from all 10 points in the Pacific they checked, with the highest levels at around 25 degrees north latitude and 150 degrees west longitude. […]

The researchers collected plankton at 10 points in the Pacific from off Hokkaido to Guam between January and February 2012.

They detected cesium-134 in plankton at all 10 points. The density of radioactive cesium was the highest at 8.2 to 10.5 becquerels per kilogram in samples collected from waters around 25 degrees north latitude and 150 degrees west longitude. […]

The density of cesium in seawater was highest in waters at around latitude 36 to 40 degrees north, the team said. […]

“25 degrees north latitude and 150 degrees west longitude”

28,500 Containers Of Radioactive Waste, Containing 58 TRILLION Becquerels, Dumped Into English Channel

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An intact barrel of radioactive waste found just kilometers off the French coastline by SWR.

– Radiating Remnants: Nuclear Waste Barrels Litter English Channel (Der Spiegel, April 12, 2013):

German journalists have discovered barrels of radioactive waste on the floor of the English Channel, just a handful of thousands dumped there decades ago. It was previously thought the material had dissipated. Now politicians are calling for the removal of the potentially harmful containers.

Some 28,500 containers of radioactive waste were dropped into the English Channel between 1950 and 1963. Experts have assumed that the containers had long since rusted open, spreading the radioactivity throughout the ocean and thus rendering it innocuous. But a new investigative report from the joint French-German public broadcaster ARTE has concluded that the waste is still intact at the bottom of the sea.

As part of an investigative report set to air on April 23, affiliated German public broadcaster SWR sent an unmanned, remote-controlled submarine into the canal’s depths, where they discovered two nuclear waste barrels at a depth of 124 meters (406 feet) just kilometers from the French coast.

Jettisoned by both the British and the Belgians, the containers hold some of the estimated 17,224 metric tons of low-level radioactive waste dumped in the English Channel’s underwater valley known as Hurd’s Deep, just north of the isle of Alderney, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The British barrels are estimated to have contained 58 trillion becquerels (units of radioactivity), while the Belgian barrels held some 2.4 trillion bequerels. By way of comparison, the European Union’s limit for drinking water is 10 becquerels per liter.

“We think that there are still many more undamaged barrels below,” SWR journalist Thomas Reutter told SPIEGEL ONLINE, adding that it was very unlikely that the broadcaster’s expedition uncovered the only intact containers in existence.

‘High Potential for Danger’

Read more28,500 Containers Of Radioactive Waste, Containing 58 TRILLION Becquerels, Dumped Into English Channel

Hundreds Of Starving, Dying Sea Lions Washing Up On Beaches From San Diego To Santa Barbara

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Fukushima, anyone?

– Starving, Dying Sea Lions Washing Up On Southland Beaches (CBS News):

– Starving sea lion pups fill Calif. rescue centers (AP, March 29, 2013):

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hundreds of starving sea lion pups are washing up on beaches from San Diego to Santa Barbara, overwhelming rescue centers and leaving scientists scrambling to figure out why.

At island rookeries off the Southern California coast, 45 percent of the pups born in June have died, said Sharon Melin, a wildlife biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service based in Seattle. Normally, less than one-third of the pups would die.

It’s gotten so bad in the past two weeks that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared an “unusual mortality event.” That will allow more scientists to join the search for the cause, Melin said.

Pups are normally weaned from their mothers in April.

Even the pups that are making it are markedly underweight, Melin said.

The most recent pups weighed at the breeding area on San Miguel Island were around 37 pounds, Melin said. They should weigh between 55 and 59 pounds by now, she said.

Read moreHundreds Of Starving, Dying Sea Lions Washing Up On Beaches From San Diego To Santa Barbara

Study: Up To 47 Quadrillion Becquerels Of Cesium-137 Released Into The Pacific Ocean From Fukushima

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– Study: Up to 47 quadrillion becquerels of cesium-137 released into Pacific from Fukushima — Nearly 50 times original Tepco estimate (ENENews, March 12, 2013):

Title: Does the Fukushima NPP disaster affect the caesium activity of North Atlantic Ocean fish?
Source: Biogeosciences Discussions
Authors: G. Kanisch and M.-O. Aust; Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology, Hamburg, Germany
Date Published: March 5, 2013
Emphasis Added

[…] On 11 March 2011, a Tsunami hit the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant (FDNPP), which caused the loss of cooling capacity in four of its six nuclear reactors and 25 led to the release a radionuclides into the environment. It is expected that between 6 and 47 PBq (1 PBq= 1015 Bq) of 137Cs (half-live 30.17 yr) was directly discharged into the Pacific Ocean (e.g. Bailly du Bois et al., 2012) in the aftermath of the tragedy. Due to the determined 134Cs : 137Cs ratio of around one, about the same amount of 134Cs (half-live 2.07 yr) was discharged into the Pacific. Initially, discharge was assumed to represent the larger fraction of total Cs-releases. Therefore, many researchers and TEPCO focussed [sic] on the determination and estimation of the behaviour of Cs in Pacific waters and its behaviour in the environment, especially the uptake by biota (e.g. Buesseler et al., 2011, 2012; Honda et al., 2012; Madigan et al., 2012; Behrens et al., 2012).

Read moreStudy: Up To 47 Quadrillion Becquerels Of Cesium-137 Released Into The Pacific Ocean From Fukushima

Top Scientist Suspects Radioactive Water Being ‘Actively’ Pumped Into Pacific Ocean (Reuters Video)

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– Top scientist suggests contaminated water is “actively being pumped out” into ocean from Fukushima plant – Reuters (VIDEO) (ENENews, Nov 19, 2012):

Title: Scientist fears radiation still leaking at Fukushima nuclear plant
Source:Reuters
Date: November 19, 2012

Ken Buesseler, Sr. Scientist in Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute: “There has to be a source. And they’re cooling those reactors quite extensively, some of that water’s getting back into the ocean, either actively being pumped out after some decontamination or through leaks in the buildings, they’re not able to contain all of the water that they use to cool.”

But plant operator Tepco denies the claim and the Japanese ministry responsible for radiation sampling across Japan said they are excluding that possibility from their inquiries at the moment.

Watch the report here

Japan Experts: Contamination From Fukushima ‘Is Almost Irreversible’ In Coastal Sediments

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– Japan Experts: Contamination from Fukushima “is almost irreversible” in coastal sediments (ENENews, Nov 17, 2012):

Title: Sedimentation and remobilization of radiocesium in the coastal area of Ibaraki, 70 km south of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant
Authors: Shigeyoshi Otosaka and Takuya Kobayashi, Research Group for Environmental Science, Japan Atomic Energy Agency
Date: 13 November 2012

[…] it can be inferred that dissolved radiocesium advected southward from the region adjacent to the 1FNPP and was deposited to the sediment of the study area in the early stage after the accident. The incorporation of radiocesium into sediments was almost irreversible, and higher concentrations of 137Cs were obtained from the finer-grained fraction of sediments. […]

Read moreJapan Experts: Contamination From Fukushima ‘Is Almost Irreversible’ In Coastal Sediments

Fukushima Must Be Still Leaking About 300 Billion Becquerels Every Month Into The Pacific Ocean

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– Researchers: Continuing radioactive leaks from Fukushima Daiichi — “There must be a source” — 300,000,000,000 becquerels a month thought entering Pacific (ENENews, Nov 14, 2012):

Title: Ocean still suffering from Fukushima fallout
Source: Nature
Author: Geoff Brumfiel
Date: 14 November 2012
h/t Enformable

Continuing leaks and contaminated sediment keep radiation levels high.

[…] New data presented at a conference held on 12–13 November at the University of Tokyo show that levels of radioactivity in the sea around the plant remain stable, rather than falling as expected. […]

Read moreFukushima Must Be Still Leaking About 300 Billion Becquerels Every Month Into The Pacific Ocean

NYT: Radiation Levels In Fish Off Japan’s Coast Not Declining – Fukushima Reactor Site Leaking Into Ocean

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– NYTimes: Contamination levels not declining off Japan — Chemist: Fukushima reactor site leaking into ocean? (ENENews, Oct 25, 2012):

Title: Fishing for Answers off Fukushima
Source: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Originally published: October 25, 2012
Emphasis Added

[… WHOI marine chemist Ken Buesseler] points out that levels of contamination in almost all classifications of fish are not declining […]

As a result, Buesseler concludes that there may be a continuing source of radionuclides into the ocean, either in the form of low-level leaks from the reactor site itself or contaminated sediment on the seafloor.  […]

“What we really need is a better understanding of the sources and sinks of cesium and other radionuclides that continue to drive what we’re seeing in the ocean off Fukushima.” […]

New York Times, Oct. 25, 2012:

“The fact that many fish are just as contaminated today with cesium 134 and cesium 137 as they were more than one year ago implies that cesium is still being released into the food chain,” Mr. Buesseler wrote.

View Buesseler’s report here

Russian Nuke Waste May Have Murdered Us All (Veterans Today)

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– Russian Nuke Waste May Have Murdered Us All (Veterans Today, Sep 17, 2012):

Enormous quantities of decommissioned Russian nuclear reactors and radioactive waste were dumped into the Kara Sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia over a course of decades, according to documents given to Norwegian officials by Russian authorities and published in Norwegian media.

Bellona had received in 2011 a draft of a similar report prepared for Russia’s Gossoviet, the State Council, for presentation at a meeting presided over by then-president Dmitry Medvedev on Russian environmental security.

The Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom confirmed the figures in February of this year during a seminar it jointly held with Bellona in Moscow.

Bellona is alarmed by the extent of the dumped Soviet waste, which is far greater than was previously known – not only to Bellona, but also to the Russian authorities themselves.

The Kara Sea
Wikimedia Commons

The catalogue of waste dumped at sea by the Soviets, according to documents seen by Bellona, and which were today released by the Norwegian daily Aftenposten, includes some 17,000 containers of radioactive waste, 19 ships containing radioactive waste, 14 nuclear reactors, including five that still contain spent nuclear fuel; 735 other pieces of radiactively contaminated heavy machinery, and the K-27 nuclear submarine with its two reactors loaded with nuclear fuel.

Read moreRussian Nuke Waste May Have Murdered Us All (Veterans Today)

Fukushima Nuclear Plant Will Contaminate ‘The Pacific Ocean For The Rest Of Time’ … If Fuel Can’t Be Removed

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– Fukushima plant “to keep contaminating the Pacific Ocean for the rest of time” if fuel can’t be removed — No good solution, must constantly pump out water from under buildings (VIDEO) (ENENews, Sep 3, 2012):

Title: Arnold Gundersen with another update on the unfolding effects of the Fukushima disaster
Source: KPFT Houston, If You Love This Planet Radio
Date: Aug 31, 2012
Description: This week, Dr. Caldicott brings on nuclear engineer Arnold Gundersen  […]

At 19:00 in

Caldicott: If you put concrete on it, you know it’s going to keep going down into the water table.

Gundersen: Right.

Caldicott: And you know it’s going to keep contaminating the Pacific Ocean for the rest of time.

Gundersen: Right. So the solution — there is no good solution — but the solution would be to bore holes underneath and constantly pull water out from under the buildings.

[…]

At 23:00 in

Caldicott: You are sacrificing the Pacific by leaving this stuff there for the rest of time, which will leak and drain consistently into the Pacific.

Gundersen: You’re right. It needs to be constantly pumped out

[…]


YouTube

Listen to the report here

Russia Dumped Radioactive Waste And Nuclear Reactors In Arctic Seas

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– Russia announces enormous finds of radioactive waste and nuclear reactors in Arctic seas (Bellona, Aug 28, 2012):

Enormous quantities of decommissioned Russian nuclear reactors and radioactive waste were dumped into the Kara Sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia over a course of decades, according to documents given to Norwegian officials by Russian authorities and published in Norwegian media. Charles Digges, 28/08-2012Bellona had received in 2011 a draft of a similar report prepared for Russia’s Gossoviet, the State Council, for presentation at a meeting presided over by then-president Dmitry Medvedev on Russian environmental security.

The Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom confirmed the figures in February of this year during a seminar it jointly held with Bellona in Moscow.

Bellona is alarmed by the extent of the dumped Soviet waste, which is far greater than was previously known – not only to Bellona, but also to the Russian authorities themselves.

Read moreRussia Dumped Radioactive Waste And Nuclear Reactors In Arctic Seas

Japan Government: Water With 1 SIEVERT Per Hour Dose Rate Was Leaking Directly Into Ocean After 3/11

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– Water with 1 sievert per hour dose rate was leaking directly into ocean after 3/11 -Japan Gov’t (ENENews, Aug 4, 2012):

Title: April 4th, 2011 – Water with dose rate of more than 1000 mSv/hr confirmed leaking directly into the sea
Source: Enformable
Date: July 31, 2012

NISA press release from April 2, mentioned that water with dose rate of more than 1000 mSv/hr (100 rem/hr) was confirmed by TEPCO at around 3:20 UTC on April 2 inside the cable storage pit located next to Unit 2 discharge point. There exists a crack of approximately 20 cm on the sidewall of the pit closest to the sea and water inside the pit is confirmed and shown to be leaking directly to the sea. News reports indicate the flow of this water is approximately 2 L/sec.

Read moreJapan Government: Water With 1 SIEVERT Per Hour Dose Rate Was Leaking Directly Into Ocean After 3/11