All The Best, Scientifically Verified, Information on Fukushima Impacts

I have been trying to figure out the effects of Fukushima since it happened. Being in Northern California there have been a lot of stories of just how badly we are getting nuked. So many in fact I thought about moving to Costa Rica!

However I firmly believe in doing the research before reacting from my gut. Sites like ENENEWS are IMO poor sources of such news as the site is full of loonies, shills, and rabid iodine pill takers. So I have spent a fair bit of time searching for some reliable scientific stuff from actual scientists.

There have been some very strange marine mammal behaviors, large starfish die offs etc etc. I initially thought they MUST be tied to Fukushima. I was wrong. While searching for information related to the starfish I found this site Deep Sea News.

Before just taking the articles there at face value I did some research into each of the writers. Guess what? They are all they very type of people that would usually be freaking out. Environmentalists, Marine Biologists, Professors, Chemical Ecologists and Oceanographers. Most importantly, they are real scientists doing actual work to see if Fukushima is killing the oceans.

I am going to post up just bits and pieces of the storeis on the page I am linking to in the hopes that many of you on ATS that are scared to death of Fukushima right now can browse the site and hopefully relax a bit. It sucks living in fear so hopefully my little thread here gets the attention I feel that the folks at Deep Sea News deserve.

Just how nuked is Japan right now?

Andrew Karam - In the areas of Japan I visited, radiation dose rates were elevated to about three to four times typical natural radiation dose rates (which are about .1 mrem per hour), but nowhere near as high as natural radiation levels I’ve measured in parts of Iran.”

We have all seen this headline - 28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Absolutely Fried With Nuclear Radiation From Fukushima.

Dr. Andrew Thaler - No and the Snyder article distorts the truth and outright lies to advocate for his position. Favorite Quote: “The article is a paranoid, poorly reasoned attempt to link the tragedy of the Fukushima disaster to just about every environmental issue facing the US west coast in the last few months.”

We have all seen this video as well - The man in San Francisco, California using a Geiger Counter showing high radiation readings on the beach that got higher as he approached the ocean.

Dan Sythe, the CEO of International Medcom Inc. that develops and produces radiation detection instruments and systems - Favorite Quote: “The radionuclides are in the NORM class of radioactive substances, not from Fukushima. NORM stands for Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material…If the sand were contaminated by radiation from Fukushima it would show Cesium 137 [it does not].” Super Favorite Bonus Quote: “The radiation level [in the sand] is elevated, but roughly equivalent to some granite counter top material from Brazil.”

Are babies in the U.S. dying as a direct result of Fukushima radiation?

Michael Moyer writer and editor at Scientific American - Babies in the U.S. are not dying from Fukushima radiation. “A check [of the data] reveals that the authors’ statistical claims are critically flawed—if not deliberate mistruths…picking only the data that suits your analysis isn’t science—it’s politics.” The analysis assumes that the plume arrived on U.S. shores, spread everywhere, instantly, and started killing people immediately. It assumes that the “excess” deaths after March 20 are a real signal, not just a statistical aberration, and that every one of them is due to Fukushima radiation.”

Remember the map showing the radiation spreading through the ocean towards the West Coast?

Dr. Kim Martini, a physical oceanographer - This is a map of the estimated maximum wave heights of the Japanese Tohuku Tsunami by modelers at NOAA.”

How about the reports of Tuna on the West Coast being radioactive?

Dr. Miriam Goldstein, a biological oceanographer - tuna caught off California contains ten times LESS radiation than even the strictest food limit. What’s the theme? DETECTABLE but not HAZARDOUS”

How about the Starfish die offs being the result of Fukushima?

Dr. Chris Mah is a researcher at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and one of the world’s leading experts on starfish and echinoderms - “If there were waves of Fukushima radiation pouring onto the coast-and “melting” all the starfish as some folks would suggest, EVERYTHING would be dead. Not just the sea stars. Note also that all the divers involved in these surveys have reported NO ill effects.”

There are a ton of articles on what is happening as a result of Fukushima on Deep Sea News. Honestly I have relaxed quite a bit and a fair bit of irrational fear has been wiped away from my brow after carefully researching not just Deep Sea News, but where these scientists paychecks come from.

Needless to say I feel a whole lot better knowing that some very smart people that love the oceans as much as I do are on the job, for now...... Fukushima is not a static situation and it can get real nasty real fast, for now I am gonna go have a nice big fat tuna steak for dinner, something I have not done in far to long.

Full Article - All The Best, Scientifically Verified, Information on Fukushima Impacts

Please take a minute to be real ATS'ers and find a provable reason (with links and stuff) before discrediting any of these people or the intentions of Deep Sea News. Remember it is all about Denying Ignorance. Proof is in the pudding and all that.....

You mean were not all gunna die? Knew I shouldn't have cashed my 401k.

reply to post by Hoosierdaddy71

Oh we are all gonna die, no getting around that. Will Fukushima be the reason? Not likely at this time. Although that could change. Which IMO changes Fukushima from something to fear, to something to watch.

If Tepco were giving the world honest readings we wouldn't be here speculating.The fact we are pretty much says no one believes them(tepco)anymore.

reply to post by Mamatus


That's my take on the situation. I can't believe that if fukashima was going to destroy all life on earth that more world leaders wouldn't be a little more involved. No point in worrying about getting reelected if everybody is dead.

So, 6 nuclear reactors get somewhat devastated by a Tsunami, between 1 and 3 are in or close to meltdown, nuclear fuel rods are in danger of something nasty as well, and heaven knows how much contaminated water is hitting the Pacific daily along with whatever has gone up into the atmosphere, forgive me for being concerned.
I do not believe nuclear power to be worth the cost, financially or for the world as a whole.
It simply is not worth the risk.

reply to post by Shuftystick


My post is not pro nuke, I am far from it. It is simply there because I did the research and while it will be a problem sooner or later it is very clear that we are not currently being Nuked by Fukushima. Also that I am going to go have a Tuna steak, something I love that I have denied myself for three years now......

btw I helped write a ballot argument that shut down a well know California plant. I am not a fan of nuclear technology, especially as we already have the most powerful and safe nuclear reactor in the universe, The Sun.

Everyone is entitled to believe what they want, the fact of the matter as far as I've been able to figure is nobody knows the true danger/damage because Tepco/Japan Gov is giving false readings and covering everything up as much as possible...
I do have a bit of info recently straight from the Doctors mouth at Sutter Hospital here in the SF BAY AREA. We recently had to take our kids in for H1N1 virus (which I was sick with too....Nasty Nasty Bug) anyways the doctor said there is many cases of radiation sickness here in th Bay Area but they are under orders to not disclose that info in order to prevent panic. He definitely 100% with out a doubt confirmed it directly to my girlfriend and I that people are getting radiation sickness here. His exact words were "yeah it's happening, no it's not lethal yet, there's nothing to be done about it at this time so just go about your day to day business"
So while I've been convinced pacific seafood is safe to eat for the time being, I'm thoroughly convinced we are in long term danger. That's why I keep an eye on Fukushima because I live right in the radiations path which has been confirmed by several Maps of the plume from Fukushima.

reply to post by NewsWorthy


Here is a thought, post the maps to which you refer. More importantly link the author so we can follow the money and see what "side" those that made said maps are actually on.

I agree that the long term effects may well be catastrophic, especially if the MOX in #4 goes. How long it will take is anyone guess. Meanwhile the folks at Deep Sea News are doing real testing. Of course, few people on ATS ever go to such lengths as doing the research before posting up replies any longer. It's gone from a site that Denies Ignorance to one of regurgitated news and opinions.

Losing my faith in this place.

My biggest problem with the "debate" is now people care about the ocean but still deny global warming....Add some doom porn and everyone gets excited. S&F

Is there a thread on here about a conspiracy to purposely cause this disaster? Something more grown up and deeper than ala Hitler we want to poison the planet?

Ok, more rational thinking..

All the radiation leaking into the ocean has some sort of impact right?

When I was a kid (and the government was happily nuking New Mexico and seemed unconcerned about either the immediate fallout plumes from hundreds of nuclear tests, or the cumulative dangers down the road) the hyperbole or warning stats, whichever you prefer, were that a gram of plutonium could kill everyone on the planet if it were distributed evenly.

Funny how the goalposts got so moved that hundreds of pounds of spectacularly radioactive spent fuel rods sitting in a pool atop a nuclear reactor that blows to kingdom come is no big deal whatsoever.

Anyhoo, enjoy your tuna steak. If it does manage to make you sick, I'm sure the lag time between ingestion and outcome will make the connection hard to trace back, which seems to be the rule now for new ways of lack of knowledge to take its toll. I could very well be dying from those nuclear tests 50 years ago, but hey, everybody's got to die of something. Why should I blame the U.S. government when they were just checking their nuke yields, and how good the triggers worked and if Einstein was really right after all, over and over again, and stuff like that? They were scientists, after all.

As with everything else the last 50 years or so, we're being lied to about this also. Just once I'd like the government, any government, to actually tell the Effin' truth. About anything. And to publicly admit "I dunno" if that's the case.

And to stop stamping 'TOP SECRET' on top of millions of documents a year, and putting the really good ones into a 75 year or more deep freeze, or like the Pentagon was reported to have done, used their abundant kinda old 'TOP SECRET' documents as furnace fodder.

The problem lies in the fact that we can't know what information is overwrought or bought-and-paid for, what is being disseminated by inveterate debunkers and what by shrill worrywarts.

I just know that the ones crying 'look out!' tend to look rather prescient years later.

NewsWorthy
Everyone is entitled to believe what they want, the fact of the matter as far as I've been able to figure is nobody knows the true danger/damage because Tepco/Japan Gov is giving false readings and covering everything up as much as possible...
I do have a bit of info recently straight from the Doctors mouth at Sutter Hospital here in the SF BAY AREA. We recently had to take our kids in for H1N1 virus (which I was sick with too....Nasty Nasty Bug) anyways the doctor said there is many cases of radiation sickness here in th Bay Area but they are under orders to not disclose that info in order to prevent panic. He definitely 100% with out a doubt confirmed it directly to my girlfriend and I that people are getting radiation sickness here. His exact words were "yeah it's happening, no it's not lethal yet, there's nothing to be done about it at this time so just go about your day to day business"
So while I've been convinced pacific seafood is safe to eat for the time being, I'm thoroughly convinced we are in long term danger. That's why I keep an eye on Fukushima because I live right in the radiations path which has been confirmed by several Maps of the plume from Fukushima.

Wow - that's astonishing ! These are the kinds of anecdotal accounting we need to get because real information is never forthcoming! Did the doctor say what kinds of radiation sickness is showing up? Is amazing he disclosed they're under orders to not disclose the info...

I recently heard that some of the radiation being reported along the US coast could be from the Hanford facility leaking into the Columbia river ... "They've" done a fine mess of poisoning us...

reply to post by signalfire


Good way to highlight the real problems here, trust.

Informaton has been distorted fractally and from all sources. Its really hard to identify trustworthy information these days. In fact it gets to the point of where i have to throw my hands in the air say, IT IS WHAT IT IS. At which point i can only do my best locally to live the way everyone should be living.

reply to post by signalfire


New Mexico was nuked in the early sixties I believe, were you living there at that time? And if I may ask, have you or your family had any negative Heath effects as a result?

reply to post by Mamatus


There is a documentary on "Top Documentaries" calle Nuclear Exodus. It's very long, tedious at points and ultimately a sales pitch for Tesla Motor Cars.

However, with all that said, it does have some very good information. It includes a speech by the Prime Minister of Japan at the time of the accident which I found subtle and profround - he speaks of how easily this accident could have destroyed Japan as a nation - and the conclusions that his intimate knowledge of the event led him to.

They do show the pro-nuclear crowds arguments as well and speak to the economic consequences of nuclear power (the fall of the USSR is attributed (according to Gorbachev) to Chernobyl and that these accidents are ongoing and will be.

There are some distrubing pictures and video (think the worse of the anti-abortion propaganda) but overall it is well made (music is excellent) and thought provoking.

The final hour does present 'solutions' but I skipped most of that.

It's worth the time.

Good OP.
Essentially, thousands of people and groups are searching for signs of contamination from Fukushima--and so far, besides in Fukushima Bay and the immediate vicinity, they're finding little, if any, evidence of problems. Certainly wouldn't eat fish from the bay within 20 miles of Fukushima, but the ocean is a huge place, and dilutes the contamination so quickly that after 30 miles from Fuku, the radiation measurement of the seawater is the same as pre-Fuku.

reply to post by Tusks


The problem with being rational on this site is well, this site. Doom porn and Duck Dynasty threads sell, So does fear. That's why I encouraged people to do more than toss out a counterpoint. Sadly not one of the posters here probably even looked into the backgrounds of the scientists at Deep Sea, past the front page biographies, if that.

I took the time to Google each of the scientists that is a contributor to Deep Sea News. Did any of you here bother? Somehow I doubt it.

Feel free to soak in all the doom porn you want. Ignorance is unattractive but if you would prefer to bask in it, feel free. Meanwhile I am gonna go eat some tuna steaks. Why? I trust the science that is being done far more than the bull# fear mongering coming out of here lately.

Well of course, no problem here....move along....3 lost cores, millions of tons of contaminated cooling water dumped into the pacific,and still going, SFPs with containment failures and removal limitations...everyone at tepco is in complete disclosure with all of the facts plain for everyone to see, yep, Im sold, we are just fine....whats on TV???

reply to post by onequestion


IMO, the real problem is unless we're lucky enough that the radiation finds other places to lodge, and lives out its half life in some rock crevasse in the ocean, were not in trouble. At least, until a lot of us start dropping dead. Otherwise, it will just fade away.