Tag Archives: cesium

Fukushima

Pale Green Horse & Corporate & Government Incompetence: New Japanese apartment building is radioactive, residents contaminated with Cesium!

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

In Fukushima Prefecture, a newly built apartment building has proven to be highly radioactive.  In fact, local Nihonmatsu City officials say the building emits more radiation on the inside, than on the outside!

Construction of the three story building was finished in July, 2011, almost four months after the beginning of the on going nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi.  People are already living in the apartments!

Officials found that the inside of the building, on the first floor, is emitting 1.24 microsieverts per hour of cesium.  It looks as if the foundation of the building is the source of radiation, because radiation levels decrease as you go to the upper levels.

Turns out the construction company got its foundation material from inside the 20km no go evacuation zone around the nuclear plant!  But why did Nihonmatsu City officials wait until the end of December to inspect the building for radiation, after people had moved in? Apparently no one thought about it, until children living in the building turned out to have more cesium contamination than other children in the city! Can you say incompetence?

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Japanese trees now highly radioactive, a new twist on pollen allergies!

Japan’s Forestry Agency tested male cedar tree flowers, in Fukushima Prefecture, and discovered extreme levels of contamination: More than 250,000 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium!

The forestry Ministry took samples from 87 locations between November and December.  The highest level, 253,000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram, were discovered at Omaru in the town of Namie, 11.3 kilometers (7 miles) from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Now realize that pollen is blown through the air, meaning highly radioactive pollen is blowing throughout Japan!

Japan’s Environment Ministry says as much as 2,207 grains per cubic meter, of radioactive pollen, is being blown around. However, the Forestry Ministry is trying to downplay the spread of radiation through pollen, by saying if people breath it for 4 months they would be exposed to 0.553 microsieverts of radiation.  Officials claim this is equivalent to ten times the normal background radiation found in Tokyo.  Mmm, they’re not concerned with that?

 

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Russia warning the world; Japanese products contaminated with radiation. Why isn’t the U.S. EPA or FDA protecting us?

On 01 December 2011, Russian port authorities in Vladivostok stopped a shipment of tires from Japan. They say the tires are emitting beta and gamma rays.

This is not the first time Russian inspectors found radioactive products from Japan.  In April, 49 second hand (used) cars shipped from Japan were found to be emitting radiation six times the safe limit.  A similar incident happened in June.  Eastern Russia is a big market for used Japanese cars.

What about radiation testing in the U.S.?  The latest statement from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) claims to have conducted “…28,190 field examinations for radionuclide contamination.”  However, they only talk about 1186 samples (out of the 28,190 tests) being safe.  The data for the rest of their test is in a format my computer couldn’t open.

The FDA website has some statements that are pure bogusnus.  Example: “Little or no harvesting of fish is taking place in the area around the reactor.”  This is false! Fisherman in the Fukushima area have been fishing, including around the Daiichi power plant, it’s their only source of income!  In fact the latest revelation, that strontium 90 is pouring into the ocean, has the local fishermens’ co-op threatening to sue Tokyo Electric.

Another example from the FDA: “The volume of water between particles and fish absorbs radiation, “shielding” the fish.”  Bull Shit!  Why have so many fish in Japanese markets turned up highly contaminated with radiation?  Why are Fukushima fishermen so pissed off!?

The FDA tries a Red Herring argument by saying: “The half life of I-131 is about eight days.”  They’re talking about cesium 131, they’re trying to make you feel safe.  Hello, what about the strontium 90, the plutonium, and other isotopes that last virtually freakin’ forever!

They do mention cesium 137 (half life of 30 years), but here’s another amazing statement the FDA makes: “…the radionuclides also undergo biological excretion and do not continue to build up in fish…”  Bull shit again!  When I was a Cold War soldier, the U.S. Army had us doing yearly training for NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) warfare.  One of the things we were taught is that radiation contamination freakin’ builds up over time!  The longer you’re exposed the more F–ked up you get, because it builds up!  You see when you work around radiative shit, you have to monitor not only the intensity of the radiation, but how long you’re exposed to it.

Finally the FDA passes the buck onto Customs and Border Protection saying they screen the cargo containers coming from Japan.  The FDA also says their own people walk around the docks using hand held radiometers, and if they detect high “background” radiation levels then they do more intensive inspections. The problem is that just because the contents of the shipping container are radioactive does not means the thick steel container will emit radiation!  The Russian inspectors at Vladivostok must be doing a better job at inspections than our people.

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is making things more confusing , because they’ve been revising their “methodologies” and policies (isn’t that convenient).   They don’t inspect products, but are supposed to be testing air and water.  I’ve written about how many of the RadNet sites were not even working during the first few months of the nuclear crisis in Japan.

The EPA has changed how they report their RadNet data.  In Idaho there’s only one RadNet site, in Idaho Falls.  Their gamma counts show a lot of spikes, but it’s not clear if it’s because of Fukushima or not.  On the old RadNet web page there was a detection of cesium 131 (short half life) in precipitation readings on 01 April 2011.  However, the new RadNet sites are even more confusing, there is no way the general public can make use of them, what a waste of taxpayer money!

Fend for yourself!

Fukushima

Global Food Crisis: Fukushima needs help inspecting more than 24,000 rice farms, too much radiation, logistical nightmare!

The Prefectural government of Fukushima (where the spewing Fukushima Daiichi GE designed disaster reactors are) is asking the Japanese government for logistical help.

Fukushima officials said they want to test one third of their rice farms/crops for radiation contamination, after several rice crops came up highly radioactive. Here’s the logistical problem: One third of Fukushima rice farms/harvests amount to 24,000 crops!

Fukushima Prefecture asked the national government to provide devices to measure radiation, dispatch personnel to expedite inspections, and shoulder the cost.

Fukushima

Government & Farmer Incompetence: More cesium contaminated rice, new farms affected!

Three farms in the city of Date, Japan, harvested rice that was found to be contaminated with cesium, up to 1,050 becquerels per kilogram.

Earlier in November as many as six farms in Oonami district were found with contaminated rice.  Those farms did not sell their rice, but the farms in Date did.

Now officials are trying to track down who bought the cesium contaminated rice.

Date, and Oonami are in Fukushima Prefecture, where the Fukushima Daiichi nuke plant continues to emit high levels of radiation.  Originally officials were testing rice just from the 154 farms in Oonami, but will now test more than 2,300 farms in the prefecture.

Fukushima

Government & Farmer Incompetence: Yet again, more rice contaminated with cesium, lots of cesium!

Once again, rice harvests in Fukushima Prefecture are coming up contaminated with cesium.  But this time the levels are even higher than before.

Five farms in Oonami district have rice that’s contaminated with as much as 1,270 becquerels per kilogram of cesium!  At the beginning of November rice containing 630 becquerels was found in the same district. The national government safe limit is 500.

The national government already banned rice from Oonami from being shipped to markets.

In several postings (back in March) I warned that Japanese farmers (specifically those in the Fukushima Prefecture) should not plant their crops because of the radiation contamination.  They did anyway, and many said it was because no ‘government official’ told them not to.  This is a clear case of too much reliance on ‘authority’!

The prefectural government of Fukushima is in the process of testing all 154 rice farms in the Oonami district.  This is going to create a huge rice (and other agricultural products) shortage in Japan, which will only add to the coming global food crisis.

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Mountains of Eastern Japan now Radioactive!

Japan’s science ministry conducted helicopter surveys of radiation, covering 22 prefectures in eastern and central Japan.  They found that long lasting cesium is contaminating a large area.

The highest level of cesium contamination is around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, with some areas hitting more than one million becquerels per square meter!

The scientists also found that the mountain ranges nearby have been blocking a lot of cesium from spreading further south.  As a result, geographic regions about 60 kilometers (37 miles) to the north, and about 200 kilometers (124 miles) southwest, are contaminated with more than 30,000 becquerels per square meter.

They say the cesium contamination will last decades.  And remember, the Fukushima Daiichi disaster reactors are still emitting lots of radiation!

 

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Pacific Cod & Tuna contaminated with Cesium!

Greenpeace Japan has been monitoring radiation levels in sea food for the past several months.  They say Pacific cod and tuna are proving to be very susceptible to cesium contamination.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is not only spewing radiation into the air, but pouring it into the Pacific Ocean.

Greenpeace Japan tested seafood in just five supermarkets in Japan, from October through the beginning of November.  Out of 75 samples, 27 were positive for radioactive cesium 134 and 137.

They found that Pacific cod was the most contaminated, along with Bigeye and Skipjack tuna.  The fish had been caught off the coasts of Hokkaido, Iwate and Miyagi.  These are areas directly affected by the radiation pouring into the Pacific Ocean.

The researchers discovered that canned fish could potentially be more contaminated, because in Japan regulations for canned fish are less strict than fresh fish.  Greenpeace Japan says they did find a small level of radiation in a can of mackerel.

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: More Rice contaminated with Cesium!

The Fukushima Prefectural government says rice from a field in the Oonami district, in Fukushima City, are contaminated with 630 becquerels per kilogram of cesium.

The rice came from one farm.  There are 154 farms in the Oonami district in Fukushima City, they will now test all the farms.

Officials claim the contaminated rice is still in the warehouse and none was shipped to market.

Until now most contaminated rice, in Japan, was just under the government limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram of cesium.  This is the first time rice was found over the limit, and national government officials are now considering banning the sale of rice which comes from Oonami district.

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Radiation levels increasing in Japanese Rivers!

Japan’s Environment Ministry reports that radiation levels in rivers, downstream of the radiation spewing Fukushima Daiichi, are only increasing.

The latest official readings come from samples taken back in September.

In northern Fukushima Prefecture, the cesium levels were 3,200 becquerels per kilogram in the upstream Niida River.  The cesium levels in the downstream side of the same river were 13,000 becquerels!  That’s triple the levels reported in May!

Cesium levels in the Mano River have doubled!

Kinki University Professor Yamazaki Hideo says the government should step up radiation monitoring in all rivers.