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.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_11_26/Fukushima-nuclear-disaster-causes-cancer-and-birth-defects-in-US-newborns-epidemiologist-1487/

Japan may yet need outside help to deal with Fukushima disaster

Nations take pride from emerging stronger from dire adversity. That need not include refusing expert outside help. In the case of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, it is debatable whether some aspects of the clean up are any less dangerous than the events on March 11, 2011, when an earthquake and tsunami caused a meltdown of three of the six reactor cores. But Japan is going it alone with the work.

The most difficult and risky task since the tsunami is under way - the removal of spent uranium and plutonium fuel rods from an unstable storage pool in a reactor building. What would normally be a routine operation will be dangerous because of conditions created by the disaster. Should the rods touch each other or be exposed to air, highly radioactive gases will be released or, worse, there could be a catastrophic explosion.  (FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Fukushima's Nuclear Plume Is Heading Toward My SoCal Beach

Fukushima's Nuclear Plume Is Heading Toward My SoCal Beach

Not a lot of good news has been coming out of Japan lately. This week at the United Nations COP 19 climate talks meeting in Warsaw it was announced thatJapan will renege on its carbon emissions pledge. This means that instead of lowering its emissions of greenhouse gases by 2020 its emissions will actually increase based on 1990 levels. The reason Japanese officials give is because of the shutdown of its fifty nuclear power plants, which will mean more reliance on fossil fuels to meet its energy needs.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/11/25/fukushimas-nuclear-plume-heading-toward-my-socal-beach

U.N. nuclear agency begins review of Japan's Fukushima plant

Mari SaitoReuters

4:00 a.m. CST, November 25, 2013

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.N. nuclear experts arrived in Japan on Monday to assess the decommissioning of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant and the operator's progress in removing fuel rods from a destroyed reactor building and minimizing leaks of contaminated water.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N.'s watchdog for nuclear power, is conducting its second review of plans for decommissioning that may take four decades after the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

(FULL ARTICLE--LINK)

Fish stocks threatened by Fukushima leaks

Fish stocks threatened by Fukushima leaks

For more than two years, tons of radioactive water has been seeping daily into the ocean from Japan's crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima. Experts examine the impact on fish stocks and how the leaks could be stopped. (FULL ARTICLE--LINK)

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

After repeated delays since the summer of 2011, the Tokyo Electric Power Company has launched a high-risk operation to empty the spent-fuel pool atop Reactor 4 at the Dai-ichi (No.1) Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

The urgency attached to this particular site, as compared with reactors damaged in meltdowns, arises from several factors:

-         over 400 tons of nuclear material in the pool could reignite

-         the fire-damaged tank is tilting badly and may topple over sooner than later

-         collapse of the structure could trigger a chain reaction and nuclear blast, and

-         consequent radioactive releases would heavily contaminate much of the world.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Poor TEPCO! Upset That News Media Reported Fuel Cask Transfer

Poor TEPCO! Upset That News Media Reported Fuel Cask Transfer

TEPCO sent out this press release today complaining about the press, for reporting news. (FULL ARTICLE--LINK)

Doctor Talks Dangers of Fukushima Fallout

                           Stephen Hosea Expounds on the Problems with Nuclear Power

Dr. Stephen Hosea believes he might have picked a bad time to switch his diet from meat and potatoes to fish and vegetables. The Santa Barbara physician discussed the dangers of nuclear power plants at a lunchtime conference packed with health-care professionals at Cottage Hospital last week.

Studies indicate cesium levels in bluefin tuna caught off the West Coast is a lingering result from the nuclear plant meltdown of Fukushima in March 2011, Hosea explained. Over two years after the Japanese nuke plant was struck by an earthquake-induced tsunami, the level of radioactive material discovered in these fish is greater than the level prior to the Fukushima disaster. American officials originally stated this waste would dilute in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, but that has not been the case, Hosea said. Though cesium levels found in these species are lower than government regulations, he went on, there is no safe dose of radiation. Further, information from the government about the dangers of radioactivity is largely unavailable.  (FULL ARTICLE--LINK)

About Dr. Hosea

Thousands protest in Japan against new state secrets bill

Don't rely on the Japanese government to tell you what is happening at Fukushima. This situation is so out of control they are "digging in" and preparing to imprison any journalists who leak information considered "secret". This seems to be a knee jerk reaction to the Fukushima 

disaster.

Thousands protest in Japan against new state secrets bill

...The adoption of the law, proposed by the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, would enable the authorities to put civil servants responsible for information leaks behind bars for up to 10 years.

This would seriously threaten the freedom of the press, as Japanese media would face serious problems gathering information on burning issues, because state employees would be reluctant to share information for fear of prosecution.

That’s why a group of Japanese journalists gathered at the Nagatacho District, close to the country’s parliament, to protest the proposed bill.

Currently, long prison terms for whistleblowers only apply to those Japanese citizens who leak classified data that came from the US military.

“The definition of what will be designated as secrets is not clear, and bureaucrats will make secrets extremely arbitrarily,” TV journalist Soichiro Tahara told Japan Daily Press. (FULL ARTICLE--LINK)

Fukushima’s Nuclear Casualties

Two Years Later, the Battle for Truth Continues

Fukushima’s Nuclear Casualties

by JOSEPH J. MANGANO

Exactly two years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, perhaps the most crucial issue to be addressed is how many people were harmed by radioactive emissions.

The full tally won’t be known for years, after many scientific studies. But some have rushed to judgment, proclaiming exposures were so small that there will be virtually no harm from Fukushima fallout.

This knee-jerk reaction after a meltdown is nothing new. Nearly 12 years after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, there were no journal articles examining changes in local cancer rates. But 31 articles in publications like the Journal of Trauma and Stress and Psychosomatic Medicine had already explored psychological consequences.

Eventually, the first articles on cancer cases showed that in the five years after the accident, there was a whopping 64% increase in the cancer cases within 10 miles of Three Mile Island.  (FULL ARTICLE--LINK)

Fukushima fallout: WHOI senior scientist studies irradiated water

Fukushima fallout: WHOI senior scientist studies irradiated water

By Cynthia McCormick

cmccormick@capecodonline.com

November 24, 2013

WOODS HOLE — Sloshing with Japanese sea water, the 5-gallon plastic jugs crowding Ken Buesseler's laboratory at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution contain evidence of an ongoing nuclear crisis.

Collecting samples off the coast where the Fukushima nuclear power plant was damaged in a March 2011 earthquake, the WHOI senior scientist measured higher than normal radiation levels long after the original disaster.

OFF THE CHARTS

The Fukushima disaster resulted in an unprecedented release of radioisotopes to the ocean, according to the spring edition of Oceanus, a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution publication. It says the amount of cesium-137 isotopes in surface ocean waters off Fukushima was 10,000 to 100,000 times greater than amounts entering the ocean after Chernobyl or from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the 1960s.

"It was very concerning," Buesseler said during a recent interview in his lab, dubbed "Cafe Thorium," after the naturally occurring radioactive metal.

"It dropped off, but it never went back to pre-Fukushima levels," he said. Buesseler, along with a team from WHOI, made the first of his three visits to the Fukushima area in June 2011, suspected groundwater flowing through the reactor site was carrying radiation into the sea.

After denying that scenario for months, the Tokyo Electric Power Co., the Japanese utility that operates the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, admitted in August that there have been spills at the site and that irradiated groundwater is coursing through the Fukushima property on a daily basis.

Leaks from hastily constructed storage tanks holding contaminated water used by cleanup workers to cool down the reactor site also are contributing to the ongoing radioactivity. (FULL ARTICLE----LINK)

Huge area around Fukushima to be waste disposal site

TOKYO, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- The Japanese government said it plans to buy 9.3 square miles of land surrounding the devastated Fukushima nuclear power plant for a waste storage facility.

The area the government plans to acquire spans three towns surrounding the nuclear power station that melted down after a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

The massive plot the government plans to buy includes a buffer zone surrounding plant officials have deemed uninhabitable because of sustained radiation levels, Kyodo News said Saturday.  (FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Jellyfish and Radiation

Jellyfish and Radiation

When all is said and done and man has completely raped the planet destroying as much life as he possibly can it is theorized only the cockroaches will be left. Just Google cockroaches and radiation and you will see what I mean. But cockroaches can only go as far as the beach so it is the spineless, boneless jellyfish that will essentially be the cockroach of the sea. Jellyfish for some reason are drawn in huge numbers to radioactive hot spots and some have even begun to grow in massive proportion and in huge numbers as a result, especially off the coast of Japan. I list below just a few of the best articles and videos about how jellyfish are thriving in our ever more irradiated oceans.

Jellyfish In Oceans Are Reaching Problematic Proportions

So long humans.

And thanks for all the jellyfish.

If the oceans are indeed in steep decline, it may just be a triumph of the brainless -- namely, the humble jellyfish.

"The number of case studies is increasing," Lucas Brotz of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre told the Huffington Post, "And it certainly seems we are having a severe impact on the oceans that is making them less favourable for fish and more favourable for jellyfish in some places."

So far, the most direct impact -- aside from swimming into a cloud of the critters -- is being felt at the world's nuclear reactor sites.

Remember that backed-up nuclear site in Sweden last week?

Oskarshamn, one of the world's biggest nuclear plants, had to shut down for days after the intake pipes were found to be completely clogged.

The culprit?

"We had a huge invasion of jellyfish," plant spokesman Torbjorn Larsson told the Wall Street Journal. "Our staff calculated over a tonnne."

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Attack of the jellyfish: Sea creatures shut down ANOTHER power station amid claims population surge is due to climate change

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Jellyfish force Torness nuclear power station closure

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Jellyfish can cause a nuclear power plant meltdown

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7/6/2011 (Video) Jellyfish invade Israeli power plant

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4/28/2012 Strange jellyfish-like creatures shut down Diablo Canyon nuclear reactor.

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Huge cluster of jellyfish forces one of the world's largest nuclear reactors to shut down

• Swedish nuclear plant Oskarshamn was forced to close a reactor

• Jellyfish had blocked the pipes cooling down the plant's turbines

• After three days of cleaning reactor O3 reopened on Tuesday

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Jellyfish Invasion Paralyzes Swedish Reactor

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Large outbreak of jellyfish swarm Japan’s only restarted nuclear plant — May delay full operation of reactor

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The giant jellyfish invasion mystery

As jellyfish ‘blooms’ become common, scientists are divided about what’s happening. How it’s resolved will affect anyone with a stake in the marine world.

World community needed at Fukushima

World community needed at Fukushima 

The announcement that nuclear experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit Japan in the coming week to help with planning in a critical stage of the decontamination operation at... (FULL ARTICLE--LINK)

© Post Publishing PCL. All rights reserved.

Removal of used nuclear fuel from Fukushima No. 1 plant’s reactor 4 said imminent

Work to remove spent nuclear fuel from the reactor 4 storage pool at the Fukushima No. 1 complex will begin Tuesday at the earliest, a source close to operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday.

Fuel extraction operations started last Monday, with workers first removing 22 unused fuel assemblies that are relatively easier to handle than spent fuel.

(FULL ARTICLE--LINK)

(NOTE: JAPAN IS ACROSS THE INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE AND TUESDAY IN TOKYO IS MONDAY ON THE WEST COAST OF THE USA

Yakuza gangsters 'forcing homeless people to work on the Fukushima nuclear plant clear-up… who are fired once they suffer high radiation doses'

• Authorities are facing a desperate shortage of workers for the clear-up
• Subcontractors are said to have reached out to crime bosses 
• Undercover reporter claims to have infiltrated the clear-up operation
• He says he has 'solid evidence' that people are being forced to work

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 12:30 EST, 21 November 2013 | UPDATED: 12:31 EST, 21 November 2013 

Japan's notorious Yakuza gangsters are forcing homeless people to join the desperate clear-up effort at the Fukushima nuclear plant before simply firing them when they suffer high doses of radiation, it has been claimed.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) which operates the plant have been struggling to recruit workers who are desperately needed to join the hazardous operation dismantling the plant.

As a result Tepco subcontractors reportedly reached out out to the Yakuza for help. The gangsters are said to often provide workers at short notice for large scale construction projects.

(FULL ARTICLE--LINK)

An Unprecedented Release of Radioisotopes to the Ocean--Graphic

CLICK TO ENLARGE

From Woods Hole--Oceanus Article

Work to remove used fuel at Fukushima No. 4 spent fuel pool eyed Tues. (11/25/13 Pacific)

TOKYO, Nov. 23, Kyodo

Work to remove spent fuel from a storage pool inside a damaged reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex will begin on Tuesday at the earliest, a source close to the operator of the Fukushima plant said Saturday.

Fuel removal work started last Monday, with workers first extracting 22 unused fuel assemblies that are relatively easier to handle than spent fuel.

The second batch of work involves removing 22 spent fuel rod assemblies as part of a yearlong mission to eventually remove over 1,000 assemblies from the spent fuel pool of the No. 4 unit of Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima plant to deal with one of the major hazards in the cleanup activities.  (FULL ARTICLE--LINK)

Dump It in the Ocean: TEPCO's Plan for Radioactive Fukushima Water

Dump It in the Ocean: TEPCO's Plan for Radioactive Fukushima Water

'There's no risk to public health and safety,' pronounces consultant working for the nuclear plant's owner

A nuclear expert helping with the clean-up at the crisis-stricken Fukushima plant has joined a chorus of voices saying that all the accumulating radioactive waste water must eventually be dumped into the ocean.

Speaking with Australia's ABC, Dale Klein, former head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and current head of the Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee hired by plant operator TEPCO, described the situation at the plant as "challenging."  (FULL ARTICLE--LINK)

Radiation dunce Dr. Shunichi Yamashita finally admits giving bad info about Fukushima fallout

(NaturalNews) How can an expert on radiation give such fallacious advice and counsel? Well, that's a question more than a few Japanese must be asking themselves.

If you've been following the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster, which occurred as a result of a strike by a massive tsunami-generated wave in March 2011, you know about Dr. Shunichi Yamashita (a.k.a. Dr. 100 mSv). He was the head of the Fukushima Health Survey for a time following the accident and provided advice immediately following the disaster that was consistently incorrect.

According to a recently published interview in theAsahi Shimbun, one of five national daily Japanese newspapers, Yamashita demonstrated that he did not even understand the basics of the lingering disaster and that he "did nothing to seek out information so he could give informed opinions about what people should do," says an analysis of the report on the website SimplyInfo. (LINK--FULL ARTICLE)