Slashdot Mirror

Let's hope they release that stuff publicly ASAP. I want to know what Tepco has been lying about lately.

That the ground around unit four spent fuel pool has subsided 30 inches since the accident with 400 or so spent fuel rods still in there.

Allegations are that unit 4 was being upgraded when the quake struck and that fuel was being stored illegally in the spent fuel pool at the time of the quake. Money that should have been spent on seawall and generator upgrades.

Japanese civil engineers have said they're at a loss to explain the damage to the concrete supports for the spent fuel pool in unit four as the quake did not have enough ground acceleration to damage them.

Accounts are emerging that when part of the crane fell in the pool, some of the illegal fuel rods struck one another causing a neutron pulse and it is that which damaged the concrete supports.

Meanwhile The fall guy president admits there is a cover up of a meltdown to cover-up the illegal activity that was happening in unit four in the first place. Look at that silly monkey!

We have this brain dead blanket on all news and information about Fukushima there is little chance we are going to get much real information while they continue to let that pig of a plant belch radioisotopes into the pacific ocean. I wish they would at least close in the sea walls around the plant to at least *try* to stop or filter the ground water that reaches the ocean. Plutonium Chloride is very soluble.

Here is my ---> theory about what is going on in Japan: The shutdown of their reactor fleet has nothing to do with protestors or anything other that what is happening in Unit 4 spent fuel pool. I suspect that the government now knows just how badly Tepco fucked up, but they're in a bind. If they let Tepco hang, everyone will know why and they won't be able to control the situation.

The situation at Unit 4 is so dire they have been toiling day and night since the accident to remove all the fuel rods from the damaged pool. It has stopped because they need to do maintenance on the crane. The count is down from 1100 spent rods, to 400 rods so far, which is awesome work, but remains a threat. I reason it is because of the following potential scenarios:

Best Case: All the fuel rods are removed and Fukushima is no worse than it already is, an INES level 7 accident whose radioactive steam effluents will continue to blow via the jet stream over the US.

Worse Case: There is some failure which initiates a plutonium file in the remaining rods with hundreds of millions of curies blowing over the continental US mainland and into the pacific ocean.

Worst Case: *IF* the Japanese continued to operate their reactors, the worse case above initiates a much larger neutron pulse that initiates meltdowns in all of the nuclear plants on the japanese eastern seaboard, leaving most of the Japanese population unable to respond to the multiple meltdowns. I know, it seems far fetched, but it seems more reasonable that the Japanese government would respond to pressure from that scenario to shut down the economic benefit they get from nuclear power, as opposed to pressure from any hippy hick NIMBY anty-nukker protestor.

Excuse me dp, I have to address the fanboi reading, yes you fanboi, re-read the worst case scenario again, notice the big *IF*, no read it again. Now before you respond, you don't know enough fact to make up a fictional scenario that elaborate, so it's either possible or you don't know what you are talking about enough to respond with anything other than an emotive diatribe. *IF*.

Apologies dp, it's just a theory though. We will know if the Japanese reactors are started up again *after* the last of the fuel rods are removed from unit 4.

Yes, we in the USA are in fallout zone and got hit fairly hard.
Expect many more years of declining lifespan, unless you took steps to prevent inhaling and ingestion of various radio-isotopes from those meltdowns.
That's all for now, I don't want to start a flame war.

Yes, we in the USA are in fallout zone and got hit fairly hard.
Expect many more years of declining lifespan, unless you took steps to prevent inhaling and ingestion of various radio-isotopes from those meltdowns.
That's all for now, I don't want to start a flame war.

LOL fucking noob.

After Fukushima Japan passed a new law to forbid journalist from reporting anything about it.

While sites like Enenews have been reporting how all the underground water has been polluted near Fukushima.

There are even radioactive hot spots in Tokyo.

And many Japanese are faking the origin of the food so that they could export radioactive food.

The Japanese are fucked.

No more fucked than us Australians. We chose Homebush for the site of the "Green" Olympics because it was so heavily contaminated. Then we got caught lying about the mercury clean up - several times. All so a few companies could make a few fast bucks and the government save money, and face. Mercury - one of the main problems at Homebush, is actually not difficult to clean up, and one company (FineMetals) came up with a process to make it profitable - but instead it was decided to pay (buddy deal for Thiess) to have some of it dug up and dumped elsewhere.

The dioxin problem was kept fairly hidden until after the Olympics.

sites like Enenews have been reporting how all the underground water has been polluted near Fukushima.

Web sites like Enenews are full of shit.

That's saying a lot. Even shit is not really full of shit, it is mostly comprised of (wholesome, drinkable) water. With Science and Special Equipment we can separate the shit particles from the water, but only a fool would attempt this with a inappropriately configured or blunt instrument like the human tongue.

Reading Enenews for information on Fukushima or nuclear topics in general is like trying to separate out shit with your tongue. It may be possible to do it on small scale, since there are bits of fact scattered around there, but when all is said and done you wind up with a mouth full of shit.

It doesn't take a lot of shit to create a world of shit, since we have a low tolerance for knowingly eating shit. People who believe that the whole world is turning to shit enjoy reading Enenews because it gives them a delicious sense of hopelessness, and even the most secular will find there a yummy stew of End Times Crap, Brought To You By Science! (tm) that they can savor without buying into the whole god-thing.

If you ever tire of the shit, visit Hiroshima Syndrome where Leslie Corrice has gathered an amazing amount of Fukushima information from the early days of the disaster. He also calls out the shit that has appeared in news sources through the world, and does it with an amazing amount of diligence and patience. I read the whole damned site and sent him a couple of contributions because his willingness to sift through shit is a noble endeavor worthy of recognition and reward.

LOL fucking noob.

After Fukushima Japan passed a new law to forbid journalist from reporting anything about it.

While sites like Enenews have been reporting how all the underground water has been polluted near Fukushima.

There are even radioactive hot spots in Tokyo.

And many Japanese are faking the origin of the food so that they could export radioactive food.

The Japanese are fucked.

While it is true that people are not dropping dead in the thousands due to Fukushima, I'll leave this to consider:

Estimate of Consequences from the Fukushima Disaster, Jirina Vitazkova and Errico Cazzoli, Nordic PSA Conference (nuclear utilities in Finland and Sweden), September 2011 (emphasis added): The results with respect to health effects show that within 80 years the number of victims of the Fukushima disaster can be expected to be AT LEAST in the range of 10,000 to 300,000 people in terms of deaths due to infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetic diseases, and cancers; and about the same number of sicknesses/syndromes needing prolonged hospitalization and health care are expected to occur. This estimates accounts only for the population already living at the time of the accident. A comparable number of excess deaths and sicknesses may be expected in the population that will be born in the period. In addition to these, more than 100,000 excess still-births and a comparable or larger number of excess children born with genetic deformations (e.g. Down syndrome) are expected [...]

Whether the estimate is correct or not, it will take decades before it's safe to say "a nuclear reactor that didn't kill anyone". The actual outcome will also largely depend on how well the Japanese authorities will handle the cleanup. Judge for yourself whether they've done a good job so far.

Joke F Lübbecke of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and 3 scientists from the GEOMAR Research Center for Marine Geosciences poured tracer dye into coastal waters off of Fukushima, and monitored its progress as it traveled to the West Coast of North America, to find out what might really happen.

They have revealed their results in a new paper published by journal Environmental Research Letters.

The paper shows that the West Coast of North American could end up with 10 times more radioactive cesium 137 than the coastal waters off of Japan itself.

That could decimate sea life in the area, in fact one group suggest the sea life die offs seen on the West Coast could be because of Fukushima, if true how much rain water could be contaminated?
http://www.washingtonsblog.com...

http://enenews.com/scientists-...

I read another news story lately that was strange. I thought it was Fukishima but this neatly explains it.

http://enenews.com/japan-times...

Note that Tepco itself has admitted that 300 tons of highly radioactive water is leaking.

"so to provide 2-week long backup"
I don't see any need to do that, I never suggested that. Just make up some crazy math why don't you.

The point is 0.007km3 is absolutely miniscule compared with hundred of massively larger reservoirs around the world which rand from hundres to thousands of km3 which givens them huge pumped hydro potential.

"spend it on buying Westinghouse AP1000 reactors (which cost ~£4.25 billion a pop if you look at the Vogtle 3&4 project), build about 30 of them"

That would cost a lot more than £450 billion, at the rate our stupid gov't wants to pay for nuclear power the subsidies for the electricity would cost us over a trillion, no thanks.

be cost effective to extract uranium from seawater,

Two things about that. #1 It is horribly expensive at over 15 to 30x the cost of current uranium. #2 The extraction process requires absurd amounts of oil based 'net' to extract the atoms of uranium.

Nuclear is already an expensive method of electricity production. Saying that this method of extraction is 'cost effective' is highly misleading. in 2010 Uranium prices spiked, the ocean extraction process would still have been over 7 times more expensive, not to mention there are only prototypes and estimates of cost at this point. Some of the estimates have put the cost of extraction at well over 100x current uranium cost.

The most advanced materials, which can be reused several times, can draw between three and four milligrams of uranium per gram of plastic each time theyâ(TM)re used, says Costas Tsouris, a researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory who is working on that system.

http://www.technologyreview.co...

Uranium obtained using the traditional process today would cost between $1,000 and $2,000 per kilogramâ"about 10 to 20 times the current market price, says Schneider. (The price of uranium did rise to around $300 per kilogram as recently as 2007, however.) The new process could cut that cost significantly.

Current price is around $31 per pound ($68 a kilo).
http://www.mining.com/chart-ur...

A sharp spike in uranium prices in 2007 had many people scared in terms of the sustainability of the nuclear industry, [at $100 per lb]

So if the nuclear industry is unsustainable with mined uranium then it is completely unsustainable with ocean extracted uranium, which realistically costs around 20 times as much.

How's that nuclear waste problem coming along? Perhaps the mafia can help.

Just make sure that nuclear waste doesn't leak. Oops.
Radiation leaks force transfer of nuclear waste from New ...
Nuclear waste leaking at Hanford site in Washington, again ...
After $40 Billion , America's Biggest Nuclear Dump Is Still ...
Radiation leak at nuclear waste dump raises questions ...
Ocean disposal of radioactive waste - Wikipedia, the free ...
Thousands of radioactive waste barrels rusting ...
Japan Times: Now 400 tons a day of toxic water is estimated ...

Because nuclear accidents stopped happening after Chernobyl right? Nope. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N...

But hey, todays new breed of super-human won't make the same mistakes as those past

WHO like to pretend the death toll from Chernobyl etc are very low, they fiddle the figures by ignoring cancer deaths that can't be proven on an individual basis to be due to Chernobyl. Obviously, ignoring most of the increase in cancer deaths looks good for nuclear. Ukraine estimate up to 500,000 deaths due to Chernobyl, naturally some Ukrainians are biased due to Russia-Ukraine issues. WHO estimate 4,000 deaths.

Crap like:

the panel said it was difficult to determine that a causal link existed between the childrenâ(TM)s cancers and the [Fukushima] triple meltdown

after a 50% increase in Thyroid cancers. How can anyone trust cancer figures from these people?
http://enenews.com/50-increase...

Re Solar roof deaths, HSE need to strike down companies with poor safety standards, that is an issue that can be dealt with. But there is a big difference between someone choosing to go up on a roof and someone dying of cancer because of an accident a thousand miles away.

In the UK HSE is strict, a roofer who didn't properly supervise went to prison, company was fined £250,000.

You incorrectly assume that water in the global oceans quickly mixes with all of the other water, I expect that process takes centuries considering the size of the oceans.

Radioactive materials do not "disperse nicely"
http://www.theguardian.com/env....

http://enenews.com/vancouver-s...

http://naturalsociety.com/thir...

http://enenews.com/npr-affilia...

You incorrectly assume that water in the global oceans quickly mixes with all of the other water, I expect that process takes centuries considering the size of the oceans.

Radioactive materials do not "disperse nicely"
http://www.theguardian.com/env....

http://enenews.com/vancouver-s...

http://naturalsociety.com/thir...

http://enenews.com/npr-affilia...

Well said, one of the moderate surprises was Europium.

http://enenews.com/japan-exper...

Some are saying the exclusion zone should be a bit bigger based on this info.

>>a modern nuclear power plant (zero dead, liberal estimates of 1,000 potential cancer cases

No. it was 573 official deaths, 10 months after.
http://enenews.com/yomiuri-hea...

Any design requirements considering local environmental extreme parameters for only the last 100 years for a nuclear reactor planned to be operated for 50 years is an evidence of incompetence.

It is either an evidence of incompetence or willful neglect.

Another example:
http://enenews.com/multiple-assemblies-deformed-in-fukushima-unit-4-pool-one-bent-at-a-90-degree-angle-tepco-mistake-occurred-when-handling-the-fuel-25-years-ago

"According to TEPCO, one of the damaged fuel assemblies is bent at a 90-degree angle [literal meaning: bent in the shape of a Japanese character "ã"; actual angle could be less]. It was bent 25 years ago when a mistake occurred in handling the fuel. The other two were found to be damaged 10 years ago; there are small holes on the outside from foreign objects."

Again, either an evidence of incompetence or willful neglect, or both.

http://enenews.com/fukushima-daiichi-worker-dies-from-heart-attack-tepco-questioned-over-fatality-rate-at-plant-not-caused-by-radiation-because-he-died-of-a-heart-attack

"Date: Aug 23, 2012
The worker, in his 50s, suffered cardiac arrest when he was installing an additional tank to store contaminated water, TEPCO said. He was confirmed dead after being taken to hospital.

He was the fifth who has died after falling sick during work at the plant"

http://enenews.com/tepco-admits-link-between-death-and-fukushima-disaster-for-1st-time

"This is the first time that TEPCO has admitted a causal link between the death of an evacuee and the accident at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant."

http://enenews.com/legal-expert-3-police-died-acute-leukemia-after-being-sent-area-50-kilometers-fukushima-daiichi

[...] After 311, in order to prevent theft, a lot of police officers were sent to [Soma, less than 50 km away from Fukushima Daiichi] and 3 of them died of acute leukemia. [...]

http://enenews.com/fukushima-daiichi-worker-dies-had-been-preparing-cover-for-unit-no-3

And so on and so forth...the death count is rising.
And that is just the dead that have been attributed to Fukushima radiation. You know, it is very difficult to pinpoint smoking as a 100% cause for any single death of an individual, so it isn't being counted at an individual level. And almost all the population-wide stats are being kept secret. What is known is that relative death counts neighbouring the Fukushima area have been rising, also more cases of leukemia, thyroid cycts, etc.

http://enenews.com/fukushima-daiichi-worker-dies-from-heart-attack-tepco-questioned-over-fatality-rate-at-plant-not-caused-by-radiation-because-he-died-of-a-heart-attack

"Date: Aug 23, 2012
The worker, in his 50s, suffered cardiac arrest when he was installing an additional tank to store contaminated water, TEPCO said. He was confirmed dead after being taken to hospital.

He was the fifth who has died after falling sick during work at the plant"

http://enenews.com/tepco-admits-link-between-death-and-fukushima-disaster-for-1st-time

"This is the first time that TEPCO has admitted a causal link between the death of an evacuee and the accident at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant."

http://enenews.com/legal-expert-3-police-died-acute-leukemia-after-being-sent-area-50-kilometers-fukushima-daiichi

[...] After 311, in order to prevent theft, a lot of police officers were sent to [Soma, less than 50 km away from Fukushima Daiichi] and 3 of them died of acute leukemia. [...]

http://enenews.com/fukushima-daiichi-worker-dies-had-been-preparing-cover-for-unit-no-3

And so on and so forth...the death count is rising.
And that is just the dead that have been attributed to Fukushima radiation. You know, it is very difficult to pinpoint smoking as a 100% cause for any single death of an individual, so it isn't being counted at an individual level. And almost all the population-wide stats are being kept secret. What is known is that relative death counts neighbouring the Fukushima area have been rising, also more cases of leukemia, thyroid cycts, etc.

http://enenews.com/fukushima-daiichi-worker-dies-from-heart-attack-tepco-questioned-over-fatality-rate-at-plant-not-caused-by-radiation-because-he-died-of-a-heart-attack

"Date: Aug 23, 2012
The worker, in his 50s, suffered cardiac arrest when he was installing an additional tank to store contaminated water, TEPCO said. He was confirmed dead after being taken to hospital.

He was the fifth who has died after falling sick during work at the plant"

http://enenews.com/tepco-admits-link-between-death-and-fukushima-disaster-for-1st-time

"This is the first time that TEPCO has admitted a causal link between the death of an evacuee and the accident at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant."

http://enenews.com/legal-expert-3-police-died-acute-leukemia-after-being-sent-area-50-kilometers-fukushima-daiichi

[...] After 311, in order to prevent theft, a lot of police officers were sent to [Soma, less than 50 km away from Fukushima Daiichi] and 3 of them died of acute leukemia. [...]

http://enenews.com/fukushima-daiichi-worker-dies-had-been-preparing-cover-for-unit-no-3

And so on and so forth...the death count is rising.
And that is just the dead that have been attributed to Fukushima radiation. You know, it is very difficult to pinpoint smoking as a 100% cause for any single death of an individual, so it isn't being counted at an individual level. And almost all the population-wide stats are being kept secret. What is known is that relative death counts neighbouring the Fukushima area have been rising, also more cases of leukemia, thyroid cycts, etc.

http://enenews.com/fukushima-daiichi-worker-dies-from-heart-attack-tepco-questioned-over-fatality-rate-at-plant-not-caused-by-radiation-because-he-died-of-a-heart-attack

"Date: Aug 23, 2012
The worker, in his 50s, suffered cardiac arrest when he was installing an additional tank to store contaminated water, TEPCO said. He was confirmed dead after being taken to hospital.

He was the fifth who has died after falling sick during work at the plant"

http://enenews.com/tepco-admits-link-between-death-and-fukushima-disaster-for-1st-time

"This is the first time that TEPCO has admitted a causal link between the death of an evacuee and the accident at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant."

http://enenews.com/legal-expert-3-police-died-acute-leukemia-after-being-sent-area-50-kilometers-fukushima-daiichi

[...] After 311, in order to prevent theft, a lot of police officers were sent to [Soma, less than 50 km away from Fukushima Daiichi] and 3 of them died of acute leukemia. [...]

http://enenews.com/fukushima-daiichi-worker-dies-had-been-preparing-cover-for-unit-no-3

And so on and so forth...the death count is rising.
And that is just the dead that have been attributed to Fukushima radiation. You know, it is very difficult to pinpoint smoking as a 100% cause for any single death of an individual, so it isn't being counted at an individual level. And almost all the population-wide stats are being kept secret. What is known is that relative death counts neighbouring the Fukushima area have been rising, also more cases of leukemia, thyroid cycts, etc.

Don't be naive.

Fukushima leak is much more radioactive than Tepco claimed — Almost 20,000 times the legal limit flowed into ocean — Nuclear Official: “They seem to lack even the most basic knowledge about radiation”

captcha:pothole

Someone already posted that comment and it was an easy retort.
If steel is going to explode, spread steel in a 20KM death radius where no one can live anymore, spread steel all around the globe and have untold effects, while people have lives shortened by steal sickness and increased cancer (We have lots of things that do that already, why add more?), then yes, we should stop using it.
Cities are made of this stuff and would destroy the world many times over.

Especially if steel is going to become invisible and impossible to detect by humans without special equipment, so that you don't even see the hazard, get
sick from it, and start to die.

Like biological warfare. Using engineered viruses to kill your enemy. I'm against that too.
Just say no to resident evil.

http://rt.com/usa/sailors-japan-fukushima-radiation-878/
http://enenews.com/japan-and-iaea-grossly-downplaying-fukushima-cesium-releases-audio

The amount of radiation released by the way, was CHERNOBYL level. Japan keeps trying to hide it, came out years later, guess what, yeah, level 7 reactor meltdown in several reactors.

Good thing they had ocean to dump on it, which another news article says, guess what, leaked into the ocean.
I think one of my biggest problems with radiation, is that you don't even know. You see a fire? You know you get close to it, it will burn you.
You see sharp metal? Or a gun pointed at you? You can see and know the danger.

Radiation? You only know when it's too late.
If you're close to something extremely radioactive, so that your skin starts blistering like a burn. Even if it just starts and you get away, it's too late.
You're dead, not even the best medical equipment currently in use can save you.
You'll die from radiation sickness at much lower dosages that cause instant blistering etc.

...when your country completely discounts nuclear as the best option for an environmentally friendly energy source.

Welcome to the 21st centruy from your Coma.

Solar and wind can never be primary energy sources

And yet - Are Traditional Utilities Becoming Obsolete? The next time youâ(TM)re driving around town, observe the community and see how many homes and businesses have installed solar panels

So some in the "business" of making and selling power don't agree, and that would be something you'd have missed while in the Coma.

(A fun fact they didn't teach the oldsters: That oil and coal - that is the result of Solar power!)

Frankly I'd rather live next to a modern, safe nuclear power plant.

Until your book deal pays off about your time in a Coma you might want to look into land next to Chernyobyl or Fukushima. Modern Nay-sayers would claim its a bad idea, but why not allow the pro-nukers to show how wrong the Nay-sayers are by getting the land at a low price?

You fix it, you evolve the design, you move on.

Yes fixing. An inside source gave Team 10 a picture snapped inside the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) showing plastic bags, masking tape and broom sticks used to stem a massive leaky pipe. [...] Modern "fixing" doesn't do that kind of thing, a fact you would not understand having just rejoined humanity from your Coma.

Before you entered the Coma the Brittish were replacing the bones of the dead with broomsticks as part of a radiation coverup plan but the rest of us learned of it while you were still in that Coma. So there has been no upgrade in Broomsticks-as-radioactive-repair technology, and yet you'd think Engineering might do a better job with say an Inanimate Carbon Rod?

Best of health to you and recovering from your traumatic brain injury.

If these measurements of what HAS leaked are a concern, what of potential future risks of a greater magnitude?! Around Reactor 4 there is "unequal ground sinking of 0.8 meters" let alone how that projects over decades. Unit 4 is the one with a full core, etc in its top floor fuel pool and the same one that was photoshooped in an official release.

*sigh* Not all radioactive isotopes are equal.
gamma decay for C137 @1.175 MeV vs K40 @ 1.461 keV

Debunking K-40 to Cs137
http://www.fukushima311watchdogs.org/biblio/36/Debunking%20the%20potassium%20(K40)%20vs%20Cesium%20137%20%E2%80%9Eargument%E2%80%9C.pdf

As for the plutonium...

1.2 trillion Becquerels of Plutonium is almost none? Hey, with a half life of 24 thousand years and being the worst as an Alpha emitter, no big deal. None of that for sure will get ingested or inhaled. Right?
http://enenews.com/leaked-tepco-report-120-billion-becquerels-of-plutonium-7-6-trillion-becquerels-of-neptunium-released-in-first-100-hours-media-concealed-risk-to-public/comment-page-1

And remember all this is in ADDITION to the K-40 ALREADY in our systems causing cancer along with the other isotopes *ACCUMULATING* in the food chain. Read the damn link for chrissakes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_effects_from_Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster#Agricultural_products

ENENews is an online service dedicated to covering the latest energy-related developments. Established shortly after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in March 2011, ENENews has grown rapidly to serve approximately 2,000,000 pageviews per month — and with over 200,000 comments and counting, our active community of registered users is one of the most engaged on the internet. These figures represent a vast audience that includes not only nuclear industry professionals, but also scientists, researchers, journalists, opinion and policy-makers, as well as the general public.

Sounds like some spin site cranked up to cash in on the fear to me. Lotta 2nd & 3rd hand reported stories, damned few going on the record as named sources, just anonymous 'Fukushima worker' etc. Time for a grain of salt, methinks...

If anything, Fukushima has shown the world that everyone should be in a panic all the time about every nuclear reactor, not to mention all the spent fuel. As the official report from the Japanese government said, a nuclear reactor disaster like Fukushima is capable of causing "infinite damage". There have been a number of predictive models that indicate there will be 5-10M+ cancers caused by Fukushima, mostly in Japan and the western US. This number could grow radically if there are more serious issues with Fukushima.

Maybe the WSJ should restrict themselves to writing about lifestyle porn for all the super rich banksters. If one wants to keep up with the ongoing disaster that is Fukushima, a better site is ENENews.

It's almost certain lifespans will be reduced significantly, though we won't necessarily be told how many and by how much.

When asked why these results haven't been widely reported, Calidcott noted that Japanese officials are not sharing ultrasound results with foremost experts of thyroid nodules in children and accused the media of "practicing psychic numbing," saying that she doesn't understand why media outlets are choosing to ignore the nuclear fallout.

http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-children-have-abnormal-thyroid-growths-2012-7
 

When the above four studies are tallied in one table, it becomes obvious that the result of the thyroid examinations of children in the “Fukushima Prefecture Health Management Survey” is astonishing. This is because one-third of the children had developed “ cysts.” A “cyst” is a fluid-filled sac. Cysts don’t mean there is an immediate chance of developing thyroid cancer. However, it is apparent that something extraordinary is happening inside the thyroid gland, such as inflammation or changes in cellular properties.

Summarizing the thyroid ultrasound examination results from Japan and overseas, prevalence of “cysts” detected in children around the age of 10 is approximately 0.5-1.0%.

The fact that 35% of Fukushima children (average age around 10) have thyroid cysts strongly suggests that these children’s thyroid glands are negatively affected by undesirable environmental factors.

http://enenews.com/head-of-internal-medicine-at-japan-hospital-astonished-by-fukushima-thyroid-exams-immediate-evacuation-is-imperative-a-violation-of-human-rights-for-those-exposed-to-radiation

In June [2012], 56 percent of Japanese fish catches tested by the Japanese government were contaminated with cesium-137 and -134. (Both are human-made radioactive isotopes—produced through nuclear fission—of the element cesium.)

And 9.3 percent of the catches exceeded Japan’s official ceiling for cesium, which is 100 becquerels per kilogram (Bq/kg). (A becquerel is a unit of radioactivity equal to one nuclear disintegration per second.)

The numbers show that far from dissipating with time, as government officials and scientists in Canada and elsewhere claimed they would, levels of radiation from Fukushima have stayed stubbornly high in fish. In June 2012, the average contaminated fish catch had 65 becquerels of cesium per kilo. That’s much higher than the average of five Bq/kg found in the days after the accident back in March 2011, before cesium from Fukushima had spread widely through the region’s food chain.

In some species, radiation levels are actually higher this year than last.

http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/forum/218/are-fish-pacific-ocean-and-japanese-coastal-and-inland-waters-safe-eat-16-months-after-fuk

Sevendsen et al, from the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of South Carolina, demonstrated in 2010 that children who had been living in areas heavily contaminated with radioactive cesium have decreased pulmonary function.

http://fukushimavoice-eng.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/position-statement-what-is-currently.html

Why not use the seawater to cool your cooling fluid instead of using saltwater directly? Pump the heated waste water far offshore.

I hear that salt water tends to corrode steel. Just a rumor though.

Also, due to using seawater as emergency coolant at Fukushima, we learned that the presence of salt in the water causes the fuel rods to oxidize much more rapidly, and dissolve.

Not the best idea in the world, unfortunately.

Yeah you're right, seawater cooling would never work.

Note that I didn't say to send the seawater through your reactor, use heat exchangers to cool your "clean" cooling fluid that's circulated through the reactor.

Why not use the seawater to cool your cooling fluid instead of using saltwater directly? Pump the heated waste water far offshore.

I hear that salt water tends to corrode steel. Just a rumor though.

Also, due to using seawater as emergency coolant at Fukushima, we learned that the presence of salt in the water causes the fuel rods to oxidize much more rapidly, and dissolve.

Not the best idea in the world, unfortunately.

http://enenews.com/former-fukushima-daiichi-worker-i-believe-the-country-will-be-evacuated-if-the-no-4-spent-fuel-pool-collapses-should-be-hundreds-or-thousands-of-people-working-furiously-every-day

It blows my mind how many "scientifically" minded people there are on Slashdot, and yet, so many people who are scared to think outside of the box. I guess that's the problem with overspecialization.

They've plenty of safety and failure rate data on them, they've got a high safety rating,

So somehow the Navy is immune to what the private sector does?

Things like this:
As a part of operational management of the nuclear power plant, we used to rewrite the daily operative reports. We used to access the computer to falsify the data when things werenâ(TM)t going our way.

And somehow the well trained Navy staff will translate to the private sector? If one is going to project the Navy experience onto the private sector one needs to translate the staffing level. Does any sane person think corporations will do that?

The failure problem of fission is so bad industry reps have replaced the bones of the dead with brromsticks to cover up the dangers. Or even fake reports. What assurence do you have that the public data on Navy experience actually reflects what happens? How about the data from the reactor that makes it to the Joint Chiefs is 100% what actually happened?

Japanese officials confronted with question wether people in Fukushima has the same rights as other people to protect themselves against radiation, and their surprising answer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rVuGwc9dlhQ [youtube.com]

VIDEO: Fukushima children forced to drink radioactive milk at school:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Aq4JG9ULVNE [youtube.com]

Fukushima secret news:

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/much-of-northern-japan-uninhabitable-due-to-nuclear-radiation [endoftheam...ndream.com]
http://www.independentaustralia.net/2011/media-2/fukushima-meltdown-caldicott-says-japan-may-become-uninhabitable-media-silent/ [independentaustralia.net]
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/06/10/japan-deal-radioactive-sewage-crisis-produce-cement-25231/ [alexanderhiggins.com]
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/remember-fukushima-its-back [zerohedge.com]

US to NOT check for radiation in imported goods and foods from Japan (made after Fukushima started melting down):
http://www.nuclear-news.net/2011/08/20/hillary-clintons-pact-with-japan-to-downplay-fukushima-radiation-risks/ [nuclear-news.net]
http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/radiating-americans-with-fukushima-rain-food-secret-clinton-pact [examiner.com]

Experts: Fukushima 'off-scale' lethal radiation level infers 100 millions dying:
http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/experts-fukushima-off-scale-lethal-radiation-level-100s-millions-deaths [examiner.com]

Independent measurements (uncalibrated, non-discriminatory - but shows no "need" for global mass-panic yet):
http://www.radiationnetwork.com/Message.htm [radiationnetwork.com]

Independent news (only ones still covering Fukushima):
http://www.fairewinds.com/ [fairewinds.com]
http://enenews.com/ [enenews.com]

Japanese government changing the "safe health standards" just moments after disaster struck. Now includes absurd amounts of radiation 20-30 times more than previously, which were already 2-10 times more than most Western countries'. The change document is of course provided, also with a "safe" limit of "plutonium and other ALPHA emitters". Plutonium! The most toxic substance known to life!

Raising the exposure limits were allegedly done to increase safety for citizens, something you'd expect in a Hitchcock movie..

"Becquerels" and Japan's changing "safety" standards for radiation in food and water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc6FPIK1VaY [youtube.com]

"Detoxify or Die: Natural Radiation Protection Therapies for Coping With the Fallout of the Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown":

http://www.he

A fission nuclear bomb consumes a large part of its fissile fuel for its explosion

Not really, Fat Man converted about 20% of it's Pu load into energy; also of lot of radioactive elements were probably produced by the encasing during the explosion.

And it contains a small amount of it, to begin with

That's most certainly the point. Fat Man contained 6kg of plutonium. Tepco estimates that about 68 tons of fuel melted in Fukushima reactor no 1 alone.

The official count is 4 deaths, but I remember seeing an unofficial count a few month ago and it was something like 500 because most workers are reported as missing. And based on Three Miles Island studies there'll be a 1 million cancer increase in the next 20 years. http://enenews.com/gundersen-in-japan-1000000-additional-cancers-from-fukushima-over-next-20-years-based-on-university-studies-after-three-mile-island-1-5-hour-video

Crisis in Fukushima and Japan is far from over. It's just begun. Expect to see "lost decades" due to all kinds of sicknesses due to radiation exposure. Please study the material below, also for your own knowledge and safety:

MUST SEE VIDEO: Japanese officials confronted with question wether people in Fukushima has the same rights as other people to protect themselves against radiation, and their surprising answer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rVuGwc9dlhQ

VIDEO: Fukushima children forced to drink radioactive milk at school:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Aq4JG9ULVNE

Fukushima-get up to date on repressed news:
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/much-of-northern-japan-uninhabitable-due-to-nuclear-radiation
http://www.independentaustralia.net/2011/media-2/fukushima-meltdown-caldicott-says-japan-may-become-uninhabitable-media-silent/
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/06/10/japan-deal-radioactive-sewage-crisis-produce-cement-25231/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/remember-fukushima-its-back

Secret pacts to NOT check for radiation in imported goods and foods from Japan (made after Fukushima started melting down):
http://www.nuclear-news.net/2011/08/20/hillary-clintons-pact-with-japan-to-downplay-fukushima-radiation-risks/
http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/radiating-americans-with-fukushima-rain-food-secret-clinton-pact

Experts: Fukushima 'off-scale' lethal radiation level infers 100 millions dying:
http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/experts-fukushima-off-scale-lethal-radiation-level-100s-millions-deaths

Closer to home:
http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/uriks/article4151087.ece

Independent measurements (uncalibrated, non-discriminatory - but shows no "need" for global mass-panic yet):
http://www.radiationnetwork.com/Message.htm

Independent news (only ones still covering Fukushima):
http://www.fairewinds.com/
http://enenews.com/

Japanese government changing the "safe health standards" just moments after disaster struck. Now includes absurd amounts of radiation 20-30 times more than previously, which were already 2-10 times more than most Western countries'. The change document is of course provided, also with a "safe" limit of "plutonium and other ALPHA emitters". Plutonium! The most toxic substance known to life!

Raising the exposure limits were allegedly done to increase safety for citizens, something you'd expect in a Hitchcock movie..

"Becquerels" and Japan's changing "safety" standards for radiation in food and water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc6FPIK1VaY

"Evacuate Children!" Rally & Demo in Koriyama City, Fukushima Pref. on Oct. 15, 2011"

MUST SEE VIDEO!!:
Japanese officials confronted with question wether people in Fukushima has the same rights as other people to protect themselves against radiation, and their surprising answer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rVuGwc9dlhQ

VIDEO: Fukushima children forced to drink radioactive milk at school:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Aq4JG9ULVNE

Fukushima-get up to date on repressed news:

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/much-of-northern-japan-uninhabitable-due-to-nuclear-radiation
http://www.independentaustralia.net/2011/media-2/fukushima-meltdown-caldicott-says-japan-may-become-uninhabitable-media-silent/
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/06/10/japan-deal-radioactive-sewage-crisis-produce-cement-25231/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/remember-fukushima-its-back

Secret pacts to NOT check for radiation in imported goods and foods from Japan (made after Fukushima started melting down):
http://www.nuclear-news.net/2011/08/20/hillary-clintons-pact-with-japan-to-downplay-fukushima-radiation-risks/
http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/radiating-americans-with-fukushima-rain-food-secret-clinton-pact

Experts: Fukushima 'off-scale' lethal radiation level infers 100 millions dying:
http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/experts-fukushima-off-scale-lethal-radiation-level-100s-millions-deaths

Closer to home:
http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/uriks/article4151087.ece

Independent measurements (uncalibrated, non-discriminatory - but shows no "need" for global mass-panic yet):
http://www.radiationnetwork.com/Message.htm

Independent news (only ones still covering Fukushima):
http://www.fairewinds.com/
http://enenews.com/

Japanese government changing the "safe health standards" just moments after disaster struck. Now includes absurd amounts of radiation 20-30 times more than previously, which were already 2-10 times more than most Western countries'. The change document is of course provided, also with a "safe" limit of "plutonium and other ALPHA emitters". Plutonium! The most toxic substance known to life!

Raising the exposure limits were allegedly done to increase safety for citizens, something you'd expect in a Hitchcock movie..

"Becquerels" and Japan's changing "safety" standards for radiation in food and water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc6FPIK1VaY

"Detoxify or Die: Natural Radiation Protection Therapies for Coping With the Fallout of the Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown":

http://www.health-matrix.net/2011/03/19/d

http://www.radiationnetwork.com/ (scroll down for details on Geiger counter model numbers)

You ought to participate here
http://enenews.com/
(wtf seems down at the moment??)

I used a CDV-700
(with the DU sample on the side)
http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/cdmuseum2/radkits/cdv700.html
Then I soldered together one of these.
Dollar Store Digital Geiger Counter Hack
http://www.pskl.us/wp/?p=289
Then pick a spot and do 10 minute tests.

The drawback is I wasn't measuring the "floor" before 3.11 so I have no low floor to compare against, but the best I can tell it's trending down currently, and if anything I am building my own floor.

I now have been measuring the floor long enough that I can tell which way the overall situation is trending. I started in the 850's June and it's currently down in the 550's October, we most assuredly got dusted by something.

Things I learned from all this?

I will never be able to detect hot particles with this equipment.

Stay away from the RAIN, as it brings the shit down out of the sky onto the ground, just like a water truck keeps a dusty road muddy and dust free.

If you have a whole house air filter which was installed before 3-11 I highly suggest you change it, when I tested mine it was literally a hot object, and let me just say that was an eye opener.

There's also some software that you could use if you can't find the dollar store pedometer parts. also, most pedometer's are similar so if you know electronics, it's a simple matter to modify from pedometer to pedometer.

There are a few others out there now helping people with analog meters.
http://www.imagesco.com/geiger/geiger-counter-accessories.html
http://www.instructables.com/id/Ustream-your-Geiger-Counter/step2/Free-Counter-Software/

Some other CDV-700 mods
http://home.comcast.net/~prutchi/index_files/cdv700pro.htm

Free Counter / Scaler Software
David Honigâ(TM)s free âoeCDV Counterâ program
http://www.anythingradioactive.com/CDVCounter/help.html (wtf 404 for the software, no problem use the guide there and download from our ham radio friends who wisely have us covered. http://www.qsl.net/k/k0ff/CDVCOUNTERZIP/CDVcounter-zip/

There are some charging money for counting software, I don't know about these, they look legit, I guess it comes down to your own abilities and what you want.
http://www.geigercounters.com/Software.htm
http://www.blackcatsystems.com/GM/page3.html

Opinion: If I lived in Japan, I would have sold everything and done anything to leave months ago.

Hopefully someone will mod this up so you (and others) don't miss the information.

Don't worry, we are finding ways to raise infant mortality...

> Right, primary containment is intact, which means that the core is still protected. Leaks from water lines are not loss of primary containment, and water leaks are not as hazardous as you have been led to believe.

Dude, try looking at the defination of the verb "contain". It means "not let out". That's not what's happening here. The basement of unit 1 is full of radioactive water that leaked from the containment. Unit 2 is even worse. This water is leaking into the ground water and now several sewage treatment plants have radioactive sludge.

> No, the WHO did in fact state that. You should visit their website, its a fact.
They may have stated that, but they are wrong. 630,000 terabecquerels is not an "insignificant release of radiation"

In some spots the soil contamination exceeds Chernobyl evacuation levels: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110511p2a00m0na018000c.html

> Nonsense, neither WHO nor IAEA support your claim here. As the party making the affirmative assertion has the burden of proof, if you have a reliable source for all these claims I would be happy to retract my statement. I can find no evidence to support your assertions.

New York times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/world/asia/09japan.html?_r=1
Most people consider it a reliable source of information.

Uranium found in air samples:
http://enenews.com/uranium-234-detected-hawaii-southern-california-seattle

You are aware that the activity of coal ash is in the same order of magnitude than the activity of soil, fertilizer and stuff like that, as by EPA numbers?

Just to be clear, are you talking about the EPA that hasn't been conducting even barely-adequate monitoring of the situation vis-a-vis Fukushima since May 3? The EPA that is in the process of raising the allowable limits and the levels at which they must take action? Surely you can't be talking about that EPA, because only a total toolbag thinks they have anything to say. My lady checks radnet every day, you can see where they are totally failing to monitor. They just showed a 0 for portland, hahaha.

You are making the wrong, stupid, bullshit complaints.

If the radiation detector is built with the proper non-removable shield then they will only be able to measure useful types of radiation. But more seriously, they need to clean the probe, they need to take into account standing radiation sources.

Masses of asses COULD collect this data with no training, but it would take a more advanced counter which gave directions similar to an AED, and which had a GPS and an accelerometer in it so you can tell if it's being used correctly. And it would require a supply of plastic baggies for covering the probe, which could be changed weekly.

On the other hand, we are talking about the Japanese, here. These are people who are capable of washing and separating their recyclables. Perhaps with some minimal training they could do a very good job of gathering this information.

What this made ME think was that we need to do this in the USA, since The EPA will no longer conduct Fukushima-related radiation monitoring. They have literally shut down updates on the radiation monitoring pages so that you cannot tell how much fallout you're sucking down here in the USA. Germany just reported a spike. France has already recommended that its people not eat certain foods due to fallout.

It's hard not to get that creepy feeling in your stomach at times like this...

" The risks associated with iodine-131 contamination in Europe are no longer âoenegligible,â according to CRIIRAD [Commission de Recherche et d'Information Indépendantes sur la Radioactivité], an independent French research body on radioactivity. ⦠The document, published on 7 April, advises against consuming rainwater and says vulnerable groups such as children and pregnant or breastfeeding women should avoid consuming vegetables with large leaves, fresh milk and creamy cheese. The risks related to prolonged contamination among vulnerable groups of the population can no longer be considered âoenegligibleâ and it is now necessary to avoid âoerisky behaviour,â CRIIRAD claimed. ⦠[This] is applicable to other European countries, as the level of air contamination is currently the same in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, for instance. Data for the west coast of the United States, which received the Fukushima radioactive fallout 6-10 days before France, reveals that levels of radioactive iodine-131 concentration are 8-10 times higher there, the institute says.".

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.criirad.org/&ei=P6yiTZ2JGMyjtge6sIiIAw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DCRIIRAD%26num%3D100%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DMKC%26rlz%3D1R1GGLL_en___US409%26prmd%3Divnsl

and you americans are the only ones downplaying this like idiots. because you are told to do so, because it is more convenient to do so.

how much fukushima will cause, is yet to be see. however i already remember eu commissioner saying it was already bigger than chernobyl back a week or two ago. as for what the reach of the incident could be - chernobyl reached as far as scandinavia. it was limited in south by north anatolian mountains. but, in japan, these reactors face open ocean, winds, and currents of pacific.

http://enenews.com/alert-epa-radioactive-iodine-131-levels-in-rainwater-exceed-maximum-contaminant-level-permitted-in-drinking-water