Japan declares 'nuclear emergency' after quake - PART 2

Yes, that is truly concerning about our oceans. What really bothers me is that there is no mention in the media about this. You have to keep searching online to find news, as no mainstream outlets have continued updating us on the Fukushima crisis!

My friends think it's all over and everything is just honky-dory! (If they only knew...)

originally posted by: texasgirl
Yes, that is truly concerning about our oceans. What really bothers me is that there is no mention in the media about this. You have to keep searching online to find news, as no mainstream outlets have continued updating us on the Fukushima crisis!

My friends think it's all over and everything is just honky-dory! (If they only knew...)

Thats one of the main reasons I got reinvolved in the Fukushima debate. People who consider themselves knowledgeable thought the threat from Fukushima was over. This was made possible by the MSM who follow whatever industry tells them to follow, and industry isnt about to let the world know that nuclear accidents like Fukushima last forever.

But what really blows my mind is that even after Fukushima there are highly intelligent people like James Hansen and Stewart Brand that still insist nuclear power is absolutely necessary, or people like Monbiot who claim that Fukushima showed us that even after a meltdown (or 3) nuclear is safe. That is a real head scratcher.

6.9 EQ in the Japan Trench but a good 200 miles from Fukushima. Shoudln't even be felt at the plant.

On previous post, not sure how Japan switching to solar is off topic since there has been considerable discussion of what direction Japan will take, renewable or nuclear. Oh well, cant talk about it so thats that.

a reply to: texasgirl
Here are two projects which you might find interesting.
kelpwatch.berkeley.edu...
ourradioactiveocean.org...

originally posted by: Phage
ourradioactiveocean.org...

Thank you for that one Phage, that's an excellent project. Thank god for Woods Hole to come through for us and the importance of it is contained in the statement;

"Despite concerns, there is no U.S. government agency monitoring the spread of low levels of radiation from Fukushima along the West Coast and around the Hawaiian Islands—even though levels are expected to rise over coming years."

.

a reply to: Phage

Phage, many thanks, both of those are great!

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: texasgirl

Here are two projects which you might find interesting.

kelpwatch.berkeley.edu...

ourradioactiveocean.org...

Thank you for the links, Phage. It was a very interesting read!

So are they basically saying the Cesium-134 levels from Fukushima have been diluted enough by seawater that the readings are still a 1,000 times below the level of EPA standards testing on west coast shores?

On a side note: I didn't realize there was still Cesium-137 detected in the ocean from nuclear testing conducted in the 1960s. Wow.

a reply to: texasgirl

FYI Texasgirl.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute has a long affiliation with the US Navy.

You will not find any supporting evidence for the harmful effects of the ongoing nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima in any studies involving Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI, pronounced 'Hooey').

originally posted by: texasgirl
Yes, that is truly concerning about our oceans. What really bothers me is that there is no mention in the media about this. You have to keep searching online to find news, as no mainstream outlets have continued updating us on the Fukushima crisis!

My friends think it's all over and everything is just honky-dory! (If they only knew...)

The level of indoctrinated delusion in our world is terrifying. Fukushima will be the end of our species; & probably in less than 100 years.

Unit 1 Boric Acid Injection System Pics of Damage

Notice that the workers in the picture had extra protection on.

For some reason...some of the rubble looks "fresh"???

photo.tepco.co.jp...

- Purple Chive

TEPCO FutureThink. . . check the date: 26 February 2015

Another curious bit of information from Daiichi. This is from the Diary at fukushima-diary.com...

If I read this right, this is the highest readings ever for tritium from these wells. It may also be a clear sign that fission is still occurring somewhere underground, or a sign that tritium that may have been stored in the weapons manufacturing plant underground is now leaking out. Tritium is a major component of a thermonuclear weapon.

The reason I suspect that this isn't coming from the corium eating it's way through the earth is because the wells are upsteam from the reactors, a fair distance west of Units 3 and 4. And it's only in that area that these high readings are being found. None of the wells west of units 1 and 2, nor the wells close to the reactors or to the east (downstream) are showing these readings. Or if they are I havent seen that data yet.

But what I really dont understand is that at the same time as these high levels are being found, the levels for all beta are ND. Tritium is a beta emitter. Does that make sense to anyone?

I wish I understood nuclear processes better. There is something going on but it would take a nuclear physicist to figure it out I think.

Another curious thing. ScientificRailguns, could you check this. They are now putting out the english graphs in Japanese and Im not sure if this is right and may be another sign of ongoing fission. On their parameters page at www.tepco.co.jp... I think it shows that they are getting readings of Xenon 135, a fission product that has a half life in hours, not even days, in Unit 1.

We had this in the 'to be posted' file in mid-October and seemed to have missed the actual post.



Fukushima has spewed much more radioactive cesium and iodine than Chernobyl, which was only 10 days.

We are at Day 1,314.

The amount of radioactive cesium released by Fukushima was some 20-30 times higher than initially admitted. Japanese experts say that Fukushima is currently releasing up to 93 billion becquerels of radioactive cesium into the ocean each day.

And the cesium levels hitting the West Coast of North America will keep increasing for several years. Fukushima is still spewing radiation into the environment, and the amount of radioactive fuel at Fukushima dwarfs Chernobyl.



Science Insider noted:

"The Daiichi complex in Fukushima, Japan … had a total of 1760 metric tons of fresh and used nuclear fuel on site last year, according to a presentation by its owners, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco).

The most damaged Daiichi reactor, number 3, contains about 90 tons of fuel, and the storage pool above reactor 4, which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) Gregory Jaczko reported had lost its cooling water, contains 135 tons of spent fuel."

Reactor #3 vaporized that 90 tons of MOX fuel, if one might recall.

"The amount of fuel lost in the core melt at Three Mile Island in 1979 was about 30 tons; the Chernobyl reactors had about 180 tons when the accident occurred in 1986."

Specifically, Tepco recently transferred many more radioactive spent fuel rods into the storage pools. According to Associated Press, there were – at the time of the earthquake and tsunami – 3,400 tons of fuel in seven spent fuel pools plus 877 tons of active fuel in the cores of the reactors.

That totals 4,277 tons of nuclear fuel at Fukushima.

Which means that there is almost 24 times more nuclear fuel at Fukushima than Chernobyl.

Jiji Press, Oct. 14, 2014: Cesium Level Rises in TEPCO Plant Well —

TEPCO on Tuesday reported a sharp rise in cesium levels in water collected from an observation well near the sea [on] Monday [with] a record 251,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per liter, 3.7 times the cesium level… [last] Thursday… Monday’s reading was the highest level… from any of these wells… The samples in question also contained 7.8 million becquerels of beta particle-emitting radioactive substances, such as strontium-90, per liter, also a 3.7-fold increase.

ITAR-TASS (Russian News Agency), Oct. 14, 2014 (emphasis added):

Highest radiation in ground water at Japan’s NPP after nuclear disaster… The highest radiation level was registered in subsoil water taken from a technical well at 1st and 2nd power units at Fukushima-1.., [TEPCO] said on Tuesday. The underground water sample was taken on October 13…

Company’s experts said that a surge in radiation was linked with the impact of a typhoon raging in the locality, when heavy rain triggered spread of radiation-contaminated particles in underground water. Now nuclear plant’s specialists are pumping out ground water urgently to prevent it from leaking into the ocean.

Kyodo News, Oct 14, 2014 (Google translation):

… record high values of cesium, the influence of the typhoon in Fukushima first nuclear power plant… from the water of the well in the seawall of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant Units 1 and 2 [cesium is 251,000] becquerels per liter… manganese 54 is… 700… cobalt 60 [is 3,600]… [TEPCO] found under the influence of typhoon No. 18 earlier this month, contaminated water that has accumulated in the piping has been spreading. Both record high values in groundwater…




Note that the most recent stontium-90 test results for well No. 1-6 published by Tepco on Oct. 1 show that levels of Sr-90 are virtually equal to Gross Beta.

This means the Oct. 13 Sr-90 levels are near 7,800,000 Bq/L — 26,000,000 times the EPA limit for Sr-90 in water (0.3 Bq/L).

originally posted by: ScientificRailgun
Long, LONG time lurker. First time poster, actually I just created an account today. So, hurray for my inaugural post?

Greetings:
Welcome to ATS and hurray.

Just wanted to dispel some fears about the spike in activity in Fukushima due to the Typhoon.

Intrptr has it right in why these spikes occur, but it seems the original post contains some standard fear tactics, namely in the numbers. 150,000 becquerels of radiation really isn't much at all. For reference, the natural levels of Potassium-40 in the average human body emits (roughly) 250,000 Bq per minute. So, your own body is delivering more radiation to you than the levels listed here.

Really? Please read on.

So yes, this is a spike in activity, but not one people should be worried about. Honestly, if you're going to be wearing a hat next rain because you fear Fukushima radiation, I suggest you never fly in a commercial airliner again.

Good suggestion. We suggest you take a look at the following from our friend Christina Conosolo (Radchick).



Christina “RadChick” Consolo

Radiation Research and Mitigation

Founder & Host of Nuked Radio

Climate Viewer News

Fukushima triggers unprecedented increase in airline pilot & passenger heart attacks, cancers, radiation illness symptoms.

Airline Anomalies Post Fukushima: The Interview - Climate Viewer News


And now, this from ScientificRailgun:

For reference, the natural levels of Potassium-40 in the average human body emits (roughly) 250,000 Bq per minute.

What's with this obfuscation bringing the tired, old banana into the fray?

Since you tossed out unsubstantiated figures, we'll submit this verified information for a balanced discussion.

From Wiki:

A banana equivalent dose (abbreviated BED) is an informal expression of ionizing radiation exposure, intended as a general educational example to indicate the potential dose due to naturally occurring radioactive isotopes by eating one average sized banana.

One BED is often taken as 0.1 µSv, however, in practice this dose is not cumulative as the principal radioactive component is excreted to maintain metabolic equilibrium. The BED is only an indicative concept meant to show the existence of very low levels of natural radioactivity within a natural food, and is not a formally adopted dose quantity.

For example, the radiation exposure from consuming a banana is approximately 1% of the average daily exposure to radiation, which is 100 banana equivalent doses (BED). The maximum permitted radiation leakage for a nuclear power plant is equivalent to 2,500 BED (250 μSv), while a chest CT scan delivers 70,000 BED (7 mSv). A lethal dose of radiation treatment is approximately 80,000,000 BED (8 Sv).

A person living 10 miles from the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor received 700 BED of exposure to radiation.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), isotopically pure potassium-40 will give a committed dose equivalent of 5.02 nanosieverts over 50 years per Becquerel ingested by an average adult.

Using this factor, one banana equivalent dose comes out as about 5.02 nSv/Bq × 31 Bq/g × 0.5 g ≈ 78 nanosieverts = 0.078 μSv. In informal publications one often sees this estimate rounded up to 0.1 μSv.

However, the committed dose in the human body due to bananas is not cumulative because the amount of potassium (and therefore of Potassium-40) in the human body is fairly constant because of homeostasis, so that any excess absorbed from food is quickly compensated by the elimination of an equal amount.

The human body contains about 2.5 grams of potassium per kilogram of body mass, or 175 grams in a 70 kg adult. (Not all of this potassium is 40K, though.)

The amount of naturally-occurring potassium decay in humans is therefore less than 175 g × 31 Bq/g ≈ 5,400 Bq of radioactive decays, constantly through the person's adult lifetime.

As you well know, Potassium-40 in bananas and radionuclides spewed from three melted-through nuclear reactors have nothing in common, unless one believes Forbes Mag's Tom Worstall.



To be continued...

One more thing.

Have you familiarized yourself with the previous info contained in Part One of the mega-thread?

No offense, but are you confused or just pretending that you believe that people are exposed to more radiation from bananas than from Fukushima?



Who knows, you just might be right…who to believe with all this 'information?'

The Fukushima Radiation Leak Is Equal To 76 Million Bananas

This is interesting. lol



Of interest:
The Radioactive Chat

Good grief, Charlie Brown!
The only logical thing to do is ban bananas.



Japan Bans Bananas: From the Annals of Government Stupidity

"Under the new rules, the limit for general foodstuffs such as fruit, vegetables, rice, seafood and meat is 100 becquerels of radiation per kilogram, down from 500 prior to April 1. The limit for milk, baby food and infant formula is 50 becquerels per kilogram. For drinking water and tea leaves, it is 10 becquerels per kilogram.

The ministry said local municipalities will be responsible for carrying out testing and that any item measuring above the set standard will not be permitted to be sold…"



The EPA explains:

The human body is born with potassium-40 [the type of radiation found in bananas] in its tissues and it is the most common radionuclide in human tissues and in food. We evolved in the presence of potassium-40 and our bodies have well-developed repair mechanisms to respond to its effects. The concentration of potassium-40 in the human body is constant and not affected by concentrations in the environment.

Wikipedia notes:

The amount of potassium (and therefore of 40K) in the human body is fairly constant because of homeostatsis, so that any excess absorbed from food is quickly compensated by the elimination of an equal amount.

It follows that the additional radiation exposure due to eating a banana lasts only for a few hours after ingestion, namely the time it takes for the normal potassium contents of the body to be restored by the kidneys.

Geoff Meggitt—a retired health physicist, and former editor of the Journal of Radiological Protection, says,

"there’s an enormous variation in the risks associated with swallowing the same amount of different radioactive materials—and even some difference between the same dose, of the same material, but in different chemical forms.

It all depends on two factors:

1) The physical characteristics of the radioactivity—i.e, What’s its half-life? Is the radiation emitted alpha, beta or gamma?

2) The way the the radioactivity travels around and is taken up by the body—i.e., How much is absorbed by the blood stream? What tissues does this specific isotope tend to accumulate in?

The Potassium-40 in bananas is a particularly poor model isotope to use, Meggitt says, because the potassium content of our bodies seems to be under homeostatic control. When you eat a banana, your body’s level of Potassium-40 doesn’t increase. You just get rid of some excess Potassium-40. The net dose of a banana is zero.

And that’s the difference between a useful educational tool and propaganda. (And I say this as somebody who is emphatically not against nuclear energy.)

Bananas aren’t really going to give anyone “a more realistic assessment of actual risk”, they’re just going to further distort the picture."

High Rad Level Sets Off Alarm

They stated the alarm went off on Sunday, 2/22/15...it appears that it may have started showing up on the data on Thursday, 2/18/15 when they stopped reporting the numbers for "Leaked Water near South Discharge Cannel on Unit 1-4 side".

Fukushima radioactive contamination sets off alarm
Nuclear & Energy Feb. 22, 2015 - Updated 02:16 UTC-5

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it has detected high levels of radioactive substances in a drainage channel on the plant's premises on Sunday. The Tokyo Electric Power Company is investigating the cause.

TEPCO says the plant's alarm system went off around 10 AM. It showed a rise in radioactivity in the channel that leads to a nearby port.

Measurements showed that levels of beta-ray emitting substances, which are not detected under normal circumstances, had risen to up to 7,230 Becquerels per liter.

The figure is 10 times higher than when rain causes the level to rise temporarily.

The utility suspects that contaminated water in the channel may have leaked into the port.

It has suspended all operations to transfer contaminated water and closed a gate of the channel by the port.

The drainage channel used to be connected to a section of coast beyond the port. TEPCO rerouted it after a series of leaks in 2013.

The company says the water level in a tank that contains contaminated water remains unchanged, showing no signs of leakage, and drain valves that keep water from leaking near the tanks remain closed.

The utility is investigating the cause of the rise of radioactivity in the channel.

www3.nhk.or.jp...

P.S. TFW...you are amazing!! Thanks for all your posts!!

- Purple Chive

originally posted by: Psynic
a reply to: texasgirl

FYI Texasgirl.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute has a long affiliation with the US Navy.

You will not find any supporting evidence for the harmful effects of the ongoing nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima in any studies involving Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI, pronounced 'Hooey').

Psynic, the key to understanding government agencies is that they are made up of many different people, some good, some bad, some desperately wanting to do the right thing and some nothing but industry pawns. I have fought and sued our government over environmentally destructive projects since the 70s, and some of those cases were won because people inside the agency gave us the key to victory. A few years ago I got James Hansen involved in the Public Trust lawsuit he is now a part of.

Ken is an honest soul I believe and very much trying to do the right thing. Its the people at the top that are the ones that will usually stop real reform from happening, and Woods Hole is no exception. The important thing to do when dealing in these cases is to lend as much support as you can to those who are trying to do the right thing. By doing this you give them the power to hopefully bring things to fruition. It doesn't always work out, but without our support then those inside the agencies trying to do whats right usually don't have a prayer, and often find themselves looking for work as a result.

Write a letter to Woods Hole and tell them you support what Ken is doing and thank them for letting him do it. Thats how you make change within the system, not by throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

originally posted by: Purplechive

The utility is investigating the cause of the rise of radioactivity in the channel.

PC, everytime I read stuff like that I cant help but laugh. I picture someone in a boat out in the channel realizing there are massive amounts of radiation in the water, turning around and looking at the plant and saying......I wonder if it came from there. We must investigate.

TFW, thank you for the Meggitt quote. Best response to the banana scare Ive seen. Amazing that after all that has gone down, to this day I still hear people bring up the Fox News meme on bananas. Or that without solar radiation we'd all be dead so radiation must be good for you. Thanks for the real info.