Modern industrial society is a fanatical religion. We are demolishing, poisoning, destroying all life-systems on the planet. We are signing IOUs our children will not be able to pay...We are acting as if we were the last generation on the planet. Without a radical change in heart, in mind, in vision, the earth will end up like Venus, charred and dead. – Jose Antonio Lutzenberger, Brazilian Minister for the Environment
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Fukushima nuclear disaster causes cancer and birth defects in US newborns – epidemiologist
Fukushima nuclear disaster causes cancer and birth defects in US newborns – epidemiologist
After the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, little attention was paid to how the radiation leaks can affect the health of children who live in the US. Joseph Mangano, epidemiologist and Executive Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project research group, speaks with the Voice of Russia about the study that showed that kids born after 2010 have some 26% percent higher risks to have cancer and birth defects. But the US keep silent on the problem.
After the study by the Radiation and Public Health Project research was made public there was little response or reaction in the US. Although, Joseph Mangano expects to hear from people more as there are great concerns about the safety of food in water, even in the US from Fukushima.
"We just published a study in the Open Journal of Pediatrics. We looked at official two types of data: one was the EPA statistics on how much radiation was in the air in the weeks and months after Fukushima (it was much higher in the West Coast than in the rest of the country) and number two – we looked at the state California’s official statistics on newborns who are born with a condition called hypothyroidism which is where the thyroid is underactive. It is something that is known to be affected by exposure to radioactive Iodine which is only created in atomic bombs which haven’t been exploded for years and nuclear reactor emissions," explains Joseph Mangano.
The Fukushima nuclear disaster is quite harmful for human health, although it happened in Japan, all the way across the ocean, the contaminated waters and polluted air can easily reach the continent on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
OP-ED: Is NRC afraid of what would be revealed about nuclear plant safety?
OP-ED: Is NRC afraid of what would be revealed about nuclear plant safety?
Forest Remick’s support for nuclear energy (The Mercury Nov. 16) is contradicted by former NRC Chairman Jaczko who has called for the phase-out of U.S. nuclear plants due to their irreparable design flaws (reported March 2013). Jaczko acknowledged that NRC cannot guarantee that U.S. plants will not result in Fukushima-like meltdowns. Serious problems have led to U.S. nuclear plant closings this year. Unlike Remick, Jaczko has the integrity and moral compass to tell the truth.
Remick does not serve public interests. His assertion that global warming is an acceptable excuse to promote dangerous, polluting, and costly nuclear power is irresponsible. Independent research shows that the entire nuclear energy cycle has the largest carbon footprint of any energy source other than fossil fuels.
Fukushima-type nuclear plants like Limerick are in violation of their operating permits due to fatal design flaws. Limerick’s GE Mark II boiling water reactors present unacceptable risks to public health, safety, and the environment during a radiation accident/meltdown. They are guaranteed to become radioactive fire hoses into the sky, destroying the health and lives of millions of people living in our densely populated Greater Philadelphia Region. Over 8 million people live within 50 miles of Limerick. We can’t evacuate safely.
Doubts grow about plan to dispose of Hanford's radioactive waste
Doubts grow about plan to dispose of Hanford's radioactive waste
Experts raise concerns about the complex technology intended to turn 56 million gallons of radioactive sludge at the former Hanford nuclear facility into glass and prepare it for safe burial.
RICHLAND, Wash. — On a wind-swept plateau, underground steel tanks that hold the nation's most deadly radioactive waste are slowly rotting. The soil deep under the desert brush is being fouled with plutonium, cesium and other material so toxic that it could deliver a lethal dose of radiation to a nearby person in minutes.
The aging tanks at the former Hanford nuclear weapons complex contain 56 million gallons of sludge, the byproduct of several decades of nuclear weapons production, and they represent one of the nation's most treacherous environmental threats.
Energy Department officials have repeatedly assured the public that they have the advanced technology needed to safely dispose of the waste. An industrial city has been under development here for 24 years, designed to transform the sludge into solid glass and prepare it for permanent burial.
But with $13 billion already spent, there are serious doubts that the highly complex technology will even work or that the current plan can clean up all the waste. Alarmed at warnings raised by outside experts and some of the project's own engineers, Department of Energy officials last year ordered a halt to construction on the most important parts of the waste treatment plant.
(NOTE: This article does not address Fukushima directly but I include it because all nuclear facilities exist under the premise that someday the technology will exist to "clean up" all the deadly waste left behind. So far an effective means has not been developed. The waste from a nuclear facility must be segregated from humanity for literally millions of years. I am downwind from this facility and in the event of a cataclysmic event at Hanford you likely are too.)
EPA RELAXES PUBLIC HEALTH GUIDELINES FOR RADIOLOGICAL ATTACKS, ACCIDENTS
EPA RELAXES PUBLIC HEALTH gUIDELINES FOR RADIOLOGICAL ATTACKS, ACCIDENTS
April 9, 2013
After years of internal deliberation and controversy, the Obama administration has issued a document suggesting that when dealing with the aftermath of an accident or attack involving radioactive materials, public health guidelines can be made thousands of times less stringent than what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would normally allow.
The EPA document, called a protective action guide for radiological incidents, was quietly posted on a page on the agency’s website Friday evening. The low-profile release followed an uproar of concern from watchdog groups in recent weeks over news that the White House had privately agreed to back relaxed radiological cleanup standards in certain circumstances and had cleared the path for the new EPA guide.
Agency officials had tried to issue the protective action guide during the final days of the Bush administration in January 2009, but the incoming Obama camp ultimatelyblocked its publication in part due to concerns that it included guidelines suggesting people could drink water contaminated at levels thousands of times above what the agency would typically permit.
The new version of the guide released Friday does not include such dramatically relaxed guidelines its text, but directs the reader to similar recommendations made by other federal agencies and international organizations in various documents. It suggests that they might be worth considering in circumstances where complying with its own enforceable drinking water regulations is deemed impractical.
Such circumstances could include the months – and possibly years – following a “dirty bomb” attack, a nuclear weapons explosion or an accident at a nuclear power plant, according to the guide, a nonbinding document intended to prepare federal, state and local officials for responding to such events.
For example, the new EPA guide refers to International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines that suggest intervention is not necessary until drinking water is contaminated with radioactive iodine 131 at a concentration of 81,000 picocuries per liter. This is 27,000 times less stringent than the EPA rule of 3 picocuries per liter.
Why TEPCO is Risking the Removal of Fukushima Fuel Rods: The Dangers of Uncontrolled Global Nuclear Radiation
Why TEPCO is Risking the Removal of Fukushima Fuel Rods: The Dangers of Uncontrolled Global Nuclear Radiation
...Lifting the 1,533 fuel bundles out of the pool is fraught with danger. If an assembly breaks away and falls, the impact could shatter other rods below, triggering an uncontrolled nuclear reaction. Compounding the threat, many rods are not intact but were fragmented into loose shards by a collapsing crane. In addition, many of the rods likely lost their protective cladding during the two fires that engulfed the spent-fuel pool on March 14 and 15, 2011.
The urgency of this transfer operation is prompted by the warping of the supporting steel frame by the twin fires that followed the March 11 quake. The pool is also tilting. If the unbalanced structure topples, the collapse would trigger nuclear reactions. A cascade of neutrons could then ignite the nearby common fuel pool for Reactors 1 through 6. The common pool contains 6,735 used assemblies.(2)
The Reactor 4 spent fuel pool contains an estimated 400 tons of uranium and plutonium oxide, compared with just 6.2 kilograms of plutonium inside Fat Man, the hydrogen bomb that obliterated Nagasaki in 1945. (While predictions are bandied about by experts and bloggers, there exists no reliable method for calculating the potential sum or flow rate of radiation releases, measured in becquerel or sievert units, after an accident. The tonnage involved, however, indicates only that a large-scale event is likely and a cataclysm cannot be ruled out.)
Friday, November 29, 2013
What happens when Tepco's coffers run dry?
Operator of Japan's Fukushima plant cuts profit forecast; no risk to loans
The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is forecasting profits that fall short of minimum levels set by its banks, but the lenders are likely to ease their lending conditions to allow fresh financing for the embattled utility, people involved in the process said yesterday.
As part of a financial revival plan to be completed next month, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) will forecast recurring profit of 167.7 billion yen (HK$12.7 billion) for the business year starting next April, the sources said on condition of anonymity.
This falls far below the original forecast for the period, made under the current business plan, of a 261.9 billion yen profit and below the minimum 200 billion yen requirement under the lending covenants set by Tepco's creditors, the sources said.
When a borrower breaches a covenant, the lender can request repayment of the loan. But the sources said Tepco's main banks are likely to go along in December with the company's request for 500 billion yen in financing - 300 billion yen in new loans and 200 billion in loan rollovers.
That is because the banks largely agree with Tepco that the big cut in its profit forecast is mainly the result of a delay in the restart of Tepco's undamaged Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear plant on the Japan Sea coast.
Nov 29 (Reuters) - The operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant plans to rechannel 740 billion yen ($7.24 billion) from its 10-year capital investment budget to address problems at the crippled facility such as a buildup of contaminated water, people involved in the matter said on Friday.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) will also divert another 790 billion yen from the 6.6 trillion yen capital spending plan to invest in promising businesses and secure overseas resource supplies, the sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
A Tepco representative declined comment on the company's plans.
Long Term Dispersion Model
NOTE: This dispersion model was completed early in the disaster and assumed a finite dispersion of contaminated water from the reactors.
"Assuming a total release of 9 PBq of 137 Cs from the Fukushima Daiichi NPP into the marine environment (only including liquid releases on the Pacific Ocean), the simulation is carried out up to 2041."
As was learned in just the last day or two the cyclones and other storms are washing huge amounts of radioisotopes into the rivers and streams and washing this into the ocean as well. This runoff is not accounted for in this model.
(LINK---CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE MODEL AND EXPLANATION)
"Assuming a total release of 9 PBq of 137 Cs from the Fukushima Daiichi NPP into the marine environment (only including liquid releases on the Pacific Ocean), the simulation is carried out up to 2041."
As was learned in just the last day or two the cyclones and other storms are washing huge amounts of radioisotopes into the rivers and streams and washing this into the ocean as well. This runoff is not accounted for in this model.
(LINK---CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE MODEL AND EXPLANATION)
Japan tries to plug leaks about leaks, donning Russia’s mantle of nuclear and Olympic explosions
Japan tries to plug leaks about leaks, donning Russia’s mantle of nuclear and Olympic explosions
The Japanese government’s powerful lower house of Parliament passed a stiff new secrecy bill that would visit harsh penalties on bureaucrats who leak information, and reporters who seek it – a move environmentalists fear would allow official collusion and corruption of the kind unearthed during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster to flourish.
Fukushima residents furious at lower house passage of contentious secrecy bill
Fukushima residents furious at lower house passage of contentious secrecy bill
FUKUSHIMA -- Residents here are angry over the ruling bloc's railroading of a highly controversial state secrets protection bill through the House of Representatives on the evening of Nov. 26 -- just one day after voicing strong opposition to the legislation at a public hearing.
Japan’s new Secrets Bill Threatens To Muzzle The Press and Whistleblowers
Japan’s new Secrets Bill Threatens To Muzzle The Press and Whistleblowers
An ominous new bill in Japan, on its way to becoming law, would give the government expanded powers to classify nearly anything as a secret and intimidate the press into silence.
The best way to deal with foul smelling things is to put a lid over them (臭いものに蓋をする)--Japanese proverb
The Japanese government, which already has a long history of cover-ups and opaqueness, is on its way to becoming even less open and transparent after the lower house the Diet, Japan’s parliament, passed the Designated Secrets Bill on Tuesday. With new powers to classify nearly anything as a state secret and harsh punishments for leakers that can easily be used to intimidate whistleblowers and stifle press freedom, many in Japan worry that the if the bill becomes law it will be only the first step towards even more severe erosions of freedom in the country.
...And most tellingly, Masako Mori, the Minister of Justice, has declared that nuclear related information will most likely be a designated secret. For the Abe administration this would be fantastic way to deal with the issue of tons of radiated water leaking from the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant since the triple meltdown in March of 2011. There seems to be no end to stopping the toxic waste leaks there but the new legislation would allow the administration to plug the information leaks permanently.
...And most tellingly, Masako Mori, the Minister of Justice, has declared that nuclear related information will most likely be a designated secret. For the Abe administration this would be fantastic way to deal with the issue of tons of radiated water leaking from the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant since the triple meltdown in March of 2011. There seems to be no end to stopping the toxic waste leaks there but the new legislation would allow the administration to plug the information leaks permanently.
As the radioactive water from Japan’s nuclear disaster continues to pour into the ocean and our food supply, it is an ominous sign that the Japanese government refuses to disclose information about the levels of pollution or timely information about the next nuclear accident. And security issues at Japan’s nuclear power plants being, which hold enough plutonium to make hundreds of atomic weapons, including reports that they’re manned by the yakuza, could also be hidden by under the guise of state secrets.
Before Japan was selected to host the 2020 Olympics, Prime Minister Abe spoke at the General Meeting of the International Olympic Committee, where he assured them, “The Fukushima nuclear accident is under control.” This was followed by revelations of large amounts of radioactive water leaking from the power plant, and the remaining water tanks emitting radiation levels so high that anyone working around them would be exposed to a lethal dose within hours. It made Abe look perfidious or clueless or both. He seems anxious not to lose face again. Editorial: More discussion needed to prevent state secrets bill from destroying democracy
Editorial: More discussion needed to prevent state secrets bill from destroying democracy
The ruling coalition's ramming of a controversial special state secrets bill, which would impose harsh penalties on those who leak classified government information, through the House of Representatives on Nov. 26 has stunned the public.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was absent from the chamber's special committee on national security when it approved the bill. Since the voting session was aired live, the ruling coalition comprised of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the New Komeito party reportedly decided not to show the public that it rammed the bill through in the presence of the prime minister.
This has suggested that even the ruling bloc cannot take pride in the passage of the bill through the powerful chamber. During a public hearing in Fukushima the previous day, all the attendees demanded that the bill be either scrapped or deliberated cautiously. However, such desperate calls from the area affected by the nuclear crisis did not reach the legislative branch of the government.
Fukushima Nuclear Accident Forces School Closure
Fukushima Nuclear Accident Forces School Closure
11/29/2013 4:57 AM ET
A reputed high school in Japan's Fukushima prefecture will formally close down by March for want of students, an aftermath of the 2011 nuclear accident which displaced tens of thousands of residents in the country's northeast.
Private-run Shoei High School in Minamisoma city will be the first of the prefecture's schools to close since the nuclear accident, the worst since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.
ANOTHER $100 MLN ALLOCATED FOR TOXIC WATER HANDLING AT FUKUSHIMA
Japan is planning to allocate more than $100 million in extra government spending to administrate the problem of the radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. The budget allocation will be increased by at least a fifth, government officials said.
The sum of Y10-15 billion will be used to accelerate work on containing leaks and decontaminating the water, said the officials, who preferred to remain anonymous. Another Y47 billion were allocated by the government for the same project less than three months ago.
Fukushima: Tepco Sends In The Raccoon
A robot vacuum cleaner dubbed the Raccoon is to tackle contamination within Fukushima Daiichi 2 in preparation for workers re-entering the building.
From 28 November Tepco will begin a trial of the powerful remote-controlled washer unit. This will move around the floor of the reactor building’s first level, scrubbing and jet washing the concrete surface in an attempt to bring down radiation levels. If successful, this method could be used throughout the building.
Unit 2 is the only one of the four stricken reactors at the site that did not experience a hydrogen explosion and so remains basically airtight without the need for a secondary cover. Most of the radioactive material given off by the damaged core was retained within the building and is now distributed around its internal surfaces, putting it off-limits for workers.
Masked artist makes sticky issue out of radiation in Japan
Masked artist makes sticky issue out of radiation in Japan
(Reuters) - With his face hidden behind sunglasses and a white surgical mask, the artist is almost as invisible as the radioactive contamination he is protesting against - yet his stickers are graphic reminders of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Known as 281 Antinuke, Japan's answer to Banksy has covered Tokyo streets in images depicting politicians as vampires and children being shielded from radioactive rain to highlight the consequences of a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant after an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.
The disaster and the response by plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T) (Tepco) stoked anti-nuclear sentiment and the biggest public protests in Japan since the 1960s, but the movement has since lost momentum.
"Perhaps because everyone believes people telling them on television that everything is fine, they don't seem so worried," 281 Antinuke told Reuters.
"I hope by leaving my art I can remind people that we're not safe at all ... and that they will do something to protect themselves."
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Fukushima fallout: Should the West Coast be concerned?
Fukushima fallout: Should the West Coast be concerned?
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit, the strongest ever recorded in Japan. And then from our televisions, we watched a monstrous tsunami annihilate the most prepared country in the world.
I saw, firsthand, the enormous devastation: Entire towns wiped out, and piles of rubble 30 feet high.
But the third part of this disaster has the potential to be the worst of all, yet the damage is almost invisible. The Fukushima nuclear power plant continues to spew radiation. It's 5,300 miles from Los Angeles -- and still not far enough.
Emperor Akihito receives delivery of Fukushima rice upon his request
(Note: Emperor Akhito is 80 years old, a prostate cancer victim already, so it is unlikely that 80 year old Emperor Akhito will be affected by this. A younger individual may be tempting fate however since the dangers inherent in radioactive food is cancer a decade or two or three down the road.)
To probably show the world that there is no danger from products that come out of the Fukushima Prefecture, Emperor Akihito requested that a portion of the rice harvested from Fukushima be delivered to the Imperial Palace. The rice was initially given to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last October, as a gift from the farmers of Hirano.
Typhoons spreading Fukushima fallout
Typhoons spreading Fukushima fallout
Typhoons that hit Japan each year are contributing to the spread of radioactive material from the Fukushima nuclear disaster into the country's waterways, researchers say.
A joint study by France's Climate and Environmental Science laboratory (LSCE) and Tsukuba University in Japan shows contaminated soil gets washed away by the high winds and rain and deposited in streams and rivers.
"There is a definite dispersal towards the ocean," LSCE researcher Olivier Evrard said Wednesday.
New on the Voice of Russia: Research Findings Indicate a Higher Risk of Cancer Among Children Born After the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
New on the Voice of Russia: Research Findings Indicate a Higher Risk of Cancer Among Children Born After the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
Executive Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project Spoke with the Voice of Russia about the Startling Post-Fukushima Statistics
NEW YORK — After the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, little attention was paid to how the radiation leaks can affect the health of children living in the U.S. Joseph Mangano, epidemiologist and Executive Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project research group, spoke to the Voice of Russia about the study that showed that kids born after 2010 have some 26% percent higher risks of rare cancers and birth defects.
After the study by the Radiation and Public Health Project research was made public there was little response or reaction in the U.S. Although, Joseph Mangano expects to hear from people more as there are great concerns about the safety of food in water, even in the U.S., from Fukushima.
What is the future of Fukushima??
Fukushima, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl...the big three when one thinks of meltdowns. Chernobyl happened in 1986. That was twenty-seven years ago and like Fukushima Chernobyl cast it's deadly poisons all across the Northern Hemisphere. To stop it's flow of radiation a temporary sarcophagus was constructed that was intended to last until 2006. It is now crumbling and is in the process of being replaced. The work is slow and it is not clear whether the reactor can be torn down and if it is where does one put the waste. All reactors create huge piles of waste that cannot be disposed of. They are extremely messy and the waste left behind remains deadly for centuries...eons really. Here are links to a few articles about Chernobyl. This was one reactor not three and Chernobyl had very little spent fuel lying around as it was practically new when it exploded. The tragedy that is Fukushima will likely last until the last man on earth has drawn his last breath.
Chernobyl's arch: Sealing off a radioactive sarcophagus
Chernobyl is surrounding by a forest of radioactive trees. A fire in this forest will send deadly radiation spreading across the continent once again. "If ignited, one expert likens the potential effect to setting off a nuclear bomb in Eastern Europe. Wind could carry radioactive smoke particles large distances, not just in Ukraine, but right across the continent."
Chernobyl's radioactive trees and the forest fire risk
Great Britain is a relatively small country compared to say Russia or the United States. Reactors create waste and no suitable way has yet been found in any country to safely store or get rid of this waste. Experiments have been done in the past to "burn up" or repurpose fuel. These experiments have gone badly and this is why each reactor has a graveyard of spent fuel sitting in pools by their plant. Fuel that must be kept cool and unexposed to air for thousands of years. Here is an article explaining the UK's idea to "burn up" this fuel. Left over after this would be a stew of Strontium and other substances that must still be stored for a long long time.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Japan mulls more than $100 mln new spending on Fukushima water-crisis - sources
Japan mulls more than $100 mln new spending on Fukushima water-crisis - sources
(Reuters) - Japan is considering more than $100 million in extra government spending to handle contaminated water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, boosting the budget allocation by at least a fifth, government officials familiar with the matter said.
The additional budget allocation of between 10 billion and 15 billion yen aims to accelerate work on containing leaks and decontaminating the water, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Japan Reacts to Fukushima Crisis By Banning Journalism
Japan Reacts to Fukushima Crisis By Banning Journalism
Japan – Like the U.S. – Turns to Censorship
2 weeks after the Fukushima accident, we reported that the government responded to the nuclear accident by trying to raise acceptable radiation levels and pretending that radiation is good for us.
We noted earlier this month:
(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)Japan will likely pass a new anti-whistleblowing law in an attempt to silence criticism of Tepco and the government:Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government is planning a state secrets act that critics say could curtail public access to information on a wide range of issues, including tensions with China and theFukushima nuclear crisis.
Unprecedented die offs and odd life form behavior on the U.S. west coast
Unprecedented die offs and odd life form behavior on the U.S. west coast
A rise in terrible sounding diseases like bluetongue and epizootic
hemorrhagic disease has wildlife biologists upset. According to a Nov.
18 article in the Missoulian,
the rise in mass die-offs has affected birds, bats, mammals and
reptiles from Wyoming and Montana to the rest of the western U.S....The culprits could be climate change, Fukushima radiation exposure,
hazardous man-made toxins or alien species infestation. These
unprecedented events will continue to receive attention, if not frantic
measures to save many lifeforms from decimation or extinction.
‘We Are Suffering A Slow-Motion Nuclear War’ – Interview
‘We Are Suffering A Slow-Motion Nuclear War’ – Interview
...As staff member of the Hiroshima Peace Institute you are first-rank witness of the severest nuclear catastrophe of modern times. Fukushima typifies several dangers of all things nuclear: The difficulties to control the technology, the recklessness of administrations, both private and public, and the fact that radioactivity does not respect national borders. How do you see the catastrophe?
RJ: I see the catastrophe as absolutely horrifying and ongoing. There is no discernible end in sight to this tragedy, radiation will continue to seep into the Pacific Ocean for decades. I think that there were many instances of negligence that facilitated the disaster. The design of the reactors and site was bad. The maintenance of the plant was neglected for decades. Adequate emergency procedures were never designed or enacted. In many ways, this highlights the problems not just of nuclear power but especially of privately run, for profit, nuclear power plants. In this case profits are raised by lowering costs, a process which both facilitated and accelerated the disaster. TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) notoriously has neglected its nuclear plants in honour of increasing profitability.
Fukushima Is Out Of Control – Again
Fukushima Is Out Of Control – Again
The surest evidence of a censured and compromised media is the absence of honest coverage on what is happening in Fukushima Japan. Did you know that the core in at least one reactor has breached all manmade containments and is burning its way slowly into the earth? When it hits a water table, the likelihood of an explosion underground many times more powerful than the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in the second world war is all but assured.
Can we risk another Fukushima?
Can we risk another Fukushima?
Tom Burke expresses his disgust at those who downplay the enormity of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, and asks: is the world willing to tolerate repeat nuclear disasters? If not the answer is simple - an end to nuclear power.
An accident anywhere is an accident everywhere. It is not hard to imagine the public reaction globally to another nuclear accident on the Fukushima scale. There would be calls everywhere for reactor shut downs.
One of the more opportunistic responses to the meltdown at Fukushima was that of nuclear advocates claiming that since there were no shots of anyone dying on TV public anxiety about nuclear power was misplaced and environmentalists opposition to nuclear power unjustified.
Reducing a multidimensional energy policy issue to a body count - nuclear kills less people than coal so it’s OK - is not an argument of profound analytic integrity. On this logic no-one should make a journey by road if there is an option to fly since traffic accidents kill more people every year than aviation.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Crippled Fukushima: dangerous operation to remove fuel rods from reactor begins
Crippled Fukushima: dangerous operation to remove fuel rods from reactor begins
Workers at Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have started removing fuel rods from the storage pool near the roof of the plant’s fourth reactor that suffered a series of hydrogen explosions in the wake of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The unprecedented and extremely risky operation is supposed to last almost a year during which TEPCO, the plant’s operator, plans to remove more than 1,500 spent fuel rods assemblies from a damaged cooling pool situated 18 meters above ground with packing radiation thousands of times higher than normal. Each assembly is 4.5 m long and weighs about 300 kg.
State secrecy bill could have a chilling effect on reporting
State secrecy bill could have a chilling effect on reporting
SPECIAL TO THE JAPAN TIMES – The state secrecy bill before the Diet could have a powerful chilling effect on news reporting in Japan. Prior LDP governments have repeatedly proposed laws creating broad secrecy powers, but dropped them in the face of popular opposition. The current bill has been condemned by news organizations, ad hoc groups of university professors, the national federation of bar associations, labor unions and other citizen groups, and even by United Nations special rapporteurs and some international organizations like the PEN Club....
Effects of the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns on environment and health March 9th, 2012
Effects of the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns on environment and healthMarch 9th, 2012
...Conclusions:
• The damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant leading to the emission of
radioactivity was caused primarily by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake. Further damage was
incurred by the ensuing tsunami. Overheating of the core due to total power failure then
caused separate nuclear meltdowns in reactors 3 and the spent fuel pond of reactor 4
• Atmospheric emissions of more than 30 radioactive isotopes occurred through the explosions
in reactors 1-3 and the spent fuel pond of reactor 4, smoke from the ensuing fires, deliberate
venting of the reactors to relieve pressure as well as the evaporation of massive amounts of
water used for cooling the reactors
• Total emission of iodine-131 in the first three to four days of the Fukushima nuclear disaster
amounted to about 20% of the total iodine-131 emissions of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Total emission of caesium-137 in the first three to four days of the Fukushima nuclear disaster
amounted to about 40-60% of the total caesium-137 emissions of the Chernobyl nuclear
disaster
• While iodine-131 and caesium-137 are the most prominent radioactive isotopes emitted by
Fukushima, strontium-90, xenon-133, plutonium-239 and more than two dozen more
radioactive substances were spread throughout the region as radioactive fallout.
• Marine and groundwater contamination was caused by backflow and deliberate discharge of
radioactive waste water from the plant. With approximately 15-27 PBq of radioactive marine
discharge, the Fukushima nuclear disaster constitutes the single worst radioactive
contamination of the oceans ever recorded. Dilution and dispersion effects may reduce the
amount of contamination in the vicinity of the plant, but only causes the long-lived radioactive
isotopes to spread out over a larger area, exposing an even greater population to the effects
of radioactive contamination.
• Radioactive fallout occurred mainly above the Northern Pacific (79%), with about 19% of the
fallout contaminating Eastern Honshu island, including the Tokyo Metropolitan area and
leaving an area of more than 1000 km2 highly contaminated with radioactive isotopes
• 200,000 people were forced to leave their homes as a 20 km2 zone around the plant was
evacuated indefinitely
• 70,000 people remained in more than 870 km2 of highly contaminated land outside of the
evacuation zone, where they were exposed to an external radioactivity 100 times higher than
the normal background radiation in the first year after the catastrophe.
• The risk of developing cancer and other radiation-induced diseases increased proportionally to
the amount of radioactive exposure. There is no lower threshold, as even the slightest amount
of radioactivity can cause harmful tissue damage and genetic mutations.
• Radioactive contamination has been detected in all kinds of fruits and vegetables grown in the
affected regions as well as in meat of animals grazing on contaminated land. Radioactivity has
also been detected in milk, tea and tap water, even in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Eating just
500g of contaminated vegetables can cause internal exposure to more than 100 times the
normal annual amount of radioactive food content for adults and more than 200 times for
children.
• Fish and seafood caught in the North Pacific are highly contaminated, with a clear
accumulation of radioactivity in animals higher up the food-chain in the months after the
disaster. Washout and bioaccumulation will continue to cause radioactive contamination of
marine animals for many years.
• Children are most severely affected by radioactivity, as their bodies have a higher sensibility
and as their natural habits expose them to greater dosage. Raising the permissible radioactive
dose level to 20 mSv per year and withholding iodine tablets has led to a high exposure of
children in Fukushima prefecture.
• It is too early and too little data exists in order to estimate the extent of health effects caused
by the nuclear disaster. Large-scale epidemiological studies are required in order to determine
the effect and the extent of health consequences for the population. It is important that this
research is performed by independent groups not associated with the nuclear industry, such
as TEPCO, JAEA, the IAEA or affiliated organizations.
• Claims by scientists affiliated with the nuclear industry that no health effects are to be
expected are unscientific and immoral.
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