Category Archives: Fukushima

Fukushima

One thousand companies refuse to pay their electric bills!

04 March 2013/21 Raby’ ath-Thani 1434/14 Esfand 1391

One thousand companies are refusing to pay their higher electric bills, in Japan.

Back in April 2012, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) raised their rates by an average of 14.9%.  This was to help cover the costs of dealing with the ongoing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

The thousand businesses formally stated they will not renew electricity contracts with TEPCo. TEPCo officials say they have no choice but to shut off power to those companies.

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Lies exposed about people being exposed to radiation, & more fish turning up with outrageously higher levels of contamination!

28 February 2013/17 Raby’ ath-Thani 1434/10 Esfand 1391

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo), operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi General Electric reactors, revealed that rock trout caught in the Pacific Ocean near the nuclear power plant, contain 510000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram!!!

Holy crap retiring Popeman, the official safe limit is only 100 becquerels per kilogram!!!

The fish was caught on 17 February 2013.  This is yet more proof that the GE designed disaster reactors are still pumping massive amounts of radiation into the ocean.  (and remember, the prevailing ocean current brings that radiation straight to the west coast of North America)

And here’s proof that contamination is increasing: Back in December 2012 they caught a fish that had 234000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram.  So in the past two months the levels went up by 256000 becquerels!

And for more insult to injury, TEPCo has refused to make mandatory yearly reports on the the amount of radiation contamination that employees encounter!  That’s according to the Japanese Radiation Effects Association (REA).

Officials with the REA say TEPCo stopped making the reports in 2011 (the year of the melt downs). 21000 employees have been involved in trying to contain the ongoing nuclear disaster. TEPCo publicly apologized and gave the excuse that they’ve been having problems “digitizing” the info, and they hope to submit the two years of missing data to the REA in March 2013.

 

Fukushima, Technology

Muslim scientist invents new nano water filter to cleanup radioactive cesium and even strontium!

22 February 2013/11 Raby’ ath-Thani 1434/04 Esfand 1391

12 years ago an Egyptian scientist moved to Japan, to work with the National Institute for Material Science to create new water filters with nanotechnology.  Sherif El-Safty’s motivation was to help North African countries filter well water, which has a high rate of arsenic contamination.

After the 11 March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster his Japanese colleges discovered that not only was his nanofilter working on natural contaminants, but it was cleaning up radioactive iodine as well.  Safty had been ordered back to Egypt by the Egyptian government, but returned to Japan, along with his family, after getting the news about the filter.

Safty focused on refining the filter, after three months he came up with nanofilters for radioactive iodine, cesium and even strontium.

The nanofilter (made up of HOM dust) traps the radiation in its itsy bitsy pores (one millionth of a millimeter).  In a lab demonstration Safty showed how a magnet can be used to pull the nanofilters out of the water.

This is not the first time that Safty’s, and his co-researchers’, experiments with HOM mesoporous carriers resulted in success.  Last year they created optical sensors that could detect and remove tiny bits of cobalt and gold from urban ore (discarded cell phones, computers, etc).

The Japanese government has just approved the experimental use of the nano water filters at Fukushima Daiichi, as the GE designed disaster reactors are still pouring out contaminated water.

Fukushima

Nearly two years later, Fish still contaminated with radiation!

18 February 2013, fish being caught off the Pacific coast of Chiba Prefecture, in Japan, are contaminated with 130 becquerels of cesium per kilogram! The new (higher) official safe limit is 100.

The area is 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of Fukushima Daiichi, where several GE designed reactors melted down in March 2011.

This is the first time that fish caught near Chiba Prefecture has exceeded the government safe limits.  However, back in December 2012, sea bass were already showing 60 becquerels of cesium per kilogram. Some fisheries voluntarily stopped accepting the fish back then.

This shows that radioactive contamination of the Pacific Ocean is ongoing, almost two years after the multiple melt downs.

Fukushima

Fukushima Daiichi still deadly! 40 years to go before it might be safe!!! More proof nuke disaster reactors are not worth the risk!

01 February 2013, almost two years since three GE designed reactors melted down at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi, and the latest tour given to Japanese reporters shows it’s still spewing radiation.  The entire clean up process is expected to continue until Gregorian year 2051!!!

Here’s more of what NHK (Nippon Housou Kyoukai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation) reporter, Akira Hombo, discovered at Fukushima Daiichi.

“The highest reading was on the ocean side of the building that houses the number 3 reactor. It was over 1,300 [micro sieverts per hour].”

“The most important task remains to cool down the melted fuel….could be as hot as a one million watt heater….heat emitted by one thousand electric stoves in a small space. If these units aren’t kept consistently cool another melt down could happen.”

“Work has already started at the number 4 unit….since this reactor didn’t melt down.”

“The entire [clean up/decommissioning] procedure will take until 2051, that is 40 years after the accident.”

Hombo Akira explained that Tokyo Electric Power Company is facing three major problems in getting the decommissioning work done.

1: Radiation is so high that even existing robots are failing after just a few hours inside the reactors.  New robots must be built that can withstand such high levels of radiation.

2: There are not enough trained workers, and there are ongoing problems with the way subcontractors hire and train their employees.

3: There is currently nowhere in Japan to store the massive amount of radioactive material that will be coming from Fukushima Daiichi.

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Radiation decontamination of cities a big fail in Japan!

04 December 2012, more than a year after the GE designed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor disaster began, decontamination of residential areas isn’t anywhere near completion.

Japan’s Environment Ministry released the results of their study of the progress of radiation cleanup.  More than 80% of homes have not been decontaminated!

Of nearly 100,000 homes picked for decontamination only 18% have been cleaned up.

69% of educational facilities were cleaned up, as well as 51% of roads.   Only 38% of parks and sports facilities have been decontaminated.

Fukushima, International

26 years later: Chernobyl expected to remain a threat for the next 100 years, at least! Warning for worse things to come from Fukushima Daiichi!

29 November 2012, two days ago workers in Ukraine raised steel arches over the entombed Chernobyl reactor: “This is a very significant milestone, which is a tribute to the ongoing commitment of the international donor community, and an important step towards overcoming the legacy of the accident.”-Suma Chakrabarti, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Those new steel arches weigh 5000 metric tons (5,511.5 tons), and are 22 meters (72 feet) tall!  The steel container won’t be finished until 2015.  It’ll weigh 20000 metric tons (22,046 tons) and is designed to allow ongoing decontamination work for the next 100 years!

26 years ago the Soviet designed reactor melted down, and it’s still spewing radiation.

The Soviets slammed Chernobyl with tons of concrete, sand and boric acid.  The impromptu concrete tomb was breaking down and a new one was built.  But even that one is breaking down, so a new massive steel tomb is being built, hopefully to contain the radiation for the next century.

Now realize that Chernobyl is only one reactor, with no spent fuel storage, and Japan’s General Electric designed Fukushima Daiichi melt down disaster involves at least four damaged reactors with four spent fuel pools that contained hundreds of fuel rods, each.

Initially Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) said they could have Fukushima Daiichi cleaned up by July 2011!!!  In December 2011 the Japanese government published their own report, saying cleanup will take at least 40 years, TEPCo downplayed the government report.  Then in March 2012, TEPCo admitted that reactors actually melted down.  Now, at the beginning of November 2012, TEPCo is admitting that clean up will take much longer, and they’ve even doubled their estimated cleanup and compensation costs from $62.5 billion USD to $125 billion!

Fukushima, International

Eating in Japan: Beware disease & radiation. International standards don’t exist! Are you worse off in the United States?

For the past few years Japan has been struggling with food problems, from diseases to radiation contamination.

The latest problem is an outbreak of E Coli in imported Chinese pickled cabbage. At least six people have died, 100 people are sick. The outbreak seams to be contained to northern Japan.

Since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster rice from northern Honshu has been found to be contaminated with radiation.  However, 28 August 2012, Fukushima Prefecture has cleared this year’s rice crop for sale.  The rice was harvested last week.  The Prefecture claims it will check all 360,000 tons of harvested rice for radiation contamination.

However, news is not good for fish.  Just in the past 24 hours the Japanese government banned the sale of Pacific cod.  The fish were caught 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the GE designed reactors in Fukushima.  When the fish were tested in port, they were found to be contaminated with twice the Japanese government’s current safe levels for cesium.

A week ago Tokyo Electric Power Company said they found fish near the nuclear plant that had a record 258 times the safe levels for cesium!

An even bigger concern is fresh water fish.  It’s been discovered that on average Japanese fresh water fish, caught in northern Honshu, are far more radioactive than salt water fish.

Recently, and sneakily, the central government of Japan changed the radiation safe limits for food, so that foods that were considered unsafe, are now safe.  Prior to the change the maximum safe limit was 370 becquerels per kilogram of cesium, now the maximum safe limit is 600 becquerels!  So even if you’re told the food is officially safe…..

Many other Asian countries, that rely on food from Japan, are crying foul.

Just two weeks ago Hong Kong’s Center for Food Safety (CFS) discovered that oatmeal from Japan was contaminated with cesium 137.  CFS officials stated the amount of cesium was less than that of a chest x-ray, but made the announcement as part of their daily Food Surveillance Program of food coming from Japan.

But get this, Japan’s new radiation safety standards are still more strict than the Codex Alimentarius.

Codex Alimentarius is the United Nations’ World Health Organization’s, and Food & Agricultural Organization’s, international food safety standards.  According to reports in the Hong Kong media, the Codex Alimentarius allows up to 1,000 becquerels per kilogram of cesium in your food!   (I’ve tried to read the PDF’s from Codex Alimentarius, it’s as if it was written for extraterrestrials, no average human could understand the info!)

By the way, Codex Alimentarius just changed their international food safety rules at the beginning of August 2012.  One suggestion, by participating countries, is that the Codex Alimentarius logo will be displayed on food considered safe.

Vietnam’s Department of Food Hygiene and Safety announced they will start testing baby formula from Japan.  This is because Hong Kong officials reported finding radioactive iodine in Japanese baby formulas.  Hong Kong officials said the amounts were below the Codex Alimentarius limits.

Another interesting development is that six months after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster began, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) approved a new International Basic Safety Standards (aka BSS).  Most of what I found on the internet is the old 1996 version.  It is a complicated publication that seems to say a lot without really saying much (see my comment about Codex Alimentarius above)!  Basically the IAEA tells governments to set their own standards!

Oh, and don’t try using a Geiger Counter on your food, it doesn’t work.

So when it comes to radiation contamination in the food we eat, it’s a crap shoot, whether we’re in the United States or Japan.

For cattle raised in southern Japan it seems everything is OK. Radiation hasn’t affected the cows that far south, and, last week U.S. and Japanese officials declared the two year foot & mouth disease of no more concern. Japan is set to resume exporting their beef to the U.S.

Interesting that Japan is resuming beef exports to the U.S., while Australia is now beating out the U.S. as the main supplier of beef to Japan.  In 2003 Japan banned U.S. beef because of Mad Cow (bovine spongiform encephalopathy/BSE).  Since 2006 only U.S. beef from cows younger than 20 months are allowed into Japan.

This year the Japanese government is considering further relaxing the restrictions on U.S. beef imports.

Australia has some of the strictest health standards for their meat industries, and is one reason they’ve escaped problems with Mad Cow.  It’s also why their beef exports are booming.  From July 2011 to July 2012, Australian beef exports to Japan increased 4%, Japanese are now the number one consumers of Australian beef.  But here’s really interesting news, Australian beef exports to the United States, for the same time period, went up 40.2%!

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. overall beef exports to the world have dropped by 15.4% from last year.  Mmm, wonder what’s wrong with the U.S. beef?

Foodborne illness, in Japan, is a more immediate threat (than radiation), according to a memo published on the U.S. Embassy (Tokyo) website.  The memo says the top two reasons for foodborne illness in Japan are improper handling, and improper storing of food.  The third reason is improper cooking of food.

A 2010 study that compared Korea (south) to Japan, showed that Japan had a high rate of foodborne disease (FBD).  The causes are basically the same as stated by the U.S. Embassy memo.

To put it in perspective, how high is the FBD rate in the United States?   According to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) numbers, about one in every six people (or 48 million!) get sick with FBD every year in the U.S.

Don’t rely on the central government of Japan for help in determining where to eat.  The discoveries of radiation contaminated food, last year, was made by prefectural and local governments, as well as by businesses, and individuals who paid for the tests out of their own pockets. Most Prefectures, local governments, and even local Japanese businesses, have taken matters into their own hands, providing information on radiation contamination and other health issues regarding food.  So check with the locals when seeking safe food in Japan. It’s a clear example of how a central government is useless.

For U.S. citizens traveling to Japan, who are concerned about being able to get safe food, and who think U.S. food products exported to Japan are safer, the USDA provides information about U.S. food suppliers doing business in other countries, so you might check that out.  But just because it’s from the United States doesn’t mean it’s safe.  Remember the drop in U.S. beef exports?

You can also check out the website Where Food Comes From.

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Evidence Fukushima Daiichi damaged by earthquake, BEFORE tsunami hit. Radioactive water never ending!

27 August 2012, Tokyo Electric power Company (TEPCo) officials announced they need more storage tanks for contaminated water coming from the nuclear reactors.

Since the 11 March 2011 disaster began almost 220,000 tons of contaminated water has been stored, and the GE designed disaster reactors are putting out 400 tons per day!  TEPCo says it’ll run out of storage tanks in three months.

A new order for more tanks will provide TEPCo with storage only until November 2013.  The problem now is no space for more storage tanks, unless nearby forests are felled.

So where is all the water coming from?  Ever since the 11 March 2011 disaster began it was noticed that more water is coming out compared to water being pumped in.

TEPCo officials now say it is groundwater flooding into the basements of the reactors through cracks in the basement walls.  Cracks probably caused by the 9.0 earthquake, not the tsunami.

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Workers at Fukushima Daiichi exceed 5 year radiation limit, in just one year!

24 August 2012, the Japanese Labor Ministry is sounding a warning; Japan is running out of qualified employees for the ongoing nuclear disaster at the GE designed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Since 11 March 2011, at least 3,000 people have been working (unsuccessfully) to bring Fukushima Daiichi under control.  As of March 2012, 167 workers were dismissed because they had exceeded radiation exposure limits equal to five years of contamination!!!

In Japan a nuclear industry worker can not exceed 50 millisieverts of radiation per year and 100 millisieverts in 5 years.  The 167 employees dismissed in March of this year, were exposed to more than 100 millisieverts in one year!

But wait, there’s more!  For the three months following April 2012, 79 workers were exposed to more than 20 millisieverts!

The numerous contractors working for Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) say they can not find enough new workers to replace the volume of workers leaving due to contamination.

But some contractors have set their own stricter radiation exposure standards, they are concerned with their employees health and maintaining their employability.