Tag Archives: food

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.

Fukushima

One Year Later: Nuclear waste estimates from Fukushima Daiichi revised…upward!

21 August 2012, the Environment Ministry of Japan has revised upward the estimated amount of radioactive waste in nine prefectures around Fukushima Daiichi.

As of now, there is 42,575 tons of waste, containing radioactive cesium levels of more than 8,000 becquerels per kilogram, in storage.  Officials originally estimated that only 50,000 tons of debris would be contaminated with that much radiation, but it’s now obvious there is much more.

A newly passed law makes the national government of Japan responsible for disposal of all nuclear waste.  Recently it was decided that four or five prefectures will be designated as permanent nuclear waste disposal sites.  However, there is great concern over the fact that Japan is crisscrossed by seismic faults.  Officials stated that any new waste site must not be built near a fault line.

Not surprisingly at least 75% of the contaminated waste is being collected in Fukushima Prefecture.

Fukushima

One Year Later: Fish contaminated with 380 times safe limit of radiation! More proof the GE designed disaster reactors are still spewing!

21 August 2012, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) announced it has caught fish near the failed Fukushima Daiichi reactors that have as much as 38,000 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium!

TEPCo says they’ve caught 20 kinds of fish and shellfish from 5 locations along the Pacific coast, just 1 kilometer (0.62 mile) off Minamisoma City, from mid July to the beginning of August.

A type of trout was contaminated with the most cesium, 38,000 becquerels.  That’s 380 times the safe limit set by the Japanese government!  To top that, the last time TEPCo tested local fish the amount of contamination was 18.8 times the safe limit!

Fishing was allowed to resume about 50 kilometers northeast of Fukushima Daiichi, on a trial bases, but not for rock trout or other fish that are showing up highly contaminated in TEPCo’s surveys.

ONE YEAR LATER: DOGS & CATS STILL ABANDONED IN RADIATION ZONES, GOVERNMENT NOW SEARCHING FOR OWNERS. OTHER PETS FORCED INTO SHELTERS BECAUSE OWNERS CAN’T KEEP THEM.

Fukushima

One Year Later: Japan to create Temp Towns to house victims of Fukushima Daiichi

17 August 2012, people forced to flee their homes, because of the General Electric designed nuclear disaster reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, have been living in temporary prefab homes.  Now the Japanese government wants to know if they will accept living in ‘temporary’ towns as well.

A year ago the ignorant Japanese government told nuclear evacuees that they’d be returning home in a few weeks or months.  It’s finally become clear to the exalted leaders that radiation contamination could last years. Some areas will exceed 20 millisieverts per year for at least a decade!

The Japanese government admits they are now considering the wishes of the evacuees for the first time!  At least 15,000 people can never go back to their homes, and the government says it is willing to build new villages for the victims.

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Dogs & cats still abandoned in radiation zones, government now searching for owners. Other pets forced into shelters because owners can’t keep them.

14 August 2012, the Japanese government is now trying to find owners of hundreds of abandoned pets in the 11 March 2011 disaster areas.  Last year the Environment Ministry was able to pick up 750 dogs and cats and place in shelters, 300 are still unclaimed.

Government officials believe there are still hundreds of abandoned pets still living in the radiation zones.

The prefectural government of Fukushima is asking people who are known to have lost their pets if they want them back, or not.  Fukushima officials say they have contacted at least 1,000 people so far.  Officials say they will try to find homes for pets that are no longer wanted, and they will continue to try and capture those pets still loose.

Some owners fear their pets are radioactive, others say they can not afford to take in their pets as they are living in temporary housing, and many owners are still unemployed.

NHK (nippon housou kyoukai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation) recently ran a sad documentary about pets who are being kept in private shelters, until the owners can take them back. The owners are paying for the shelters.  However, in one sad example, the owners of one old dog were finally able to take their dog back only to learn that their dog died just days before they arrived at the shelter.

Visit American Humane Association  Visit globalanimal.org

ONE YEAR LATER: FRESH WATER FISH MORE RADIOACTIVE THAN SALT WATER FISH! MORE PROOF THAT YOU NEED LOTS OF SALT IN YOUR DIET!

GOVERNMENT INCOMPETENCE: MORE RADIOACTIVE BEEF SOLD TO PEOPLE, JAPANESE CATTLE FARMERS ARE NOW BEING TOLD NOT TO USE LOCAL FEED, FARMERS SAY ADVISE IS TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

Fukushima

One Year Later: Fire & new radiation leak at Fukushima Daiichi!

14 August 2012, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) said a new radioactive water leak has been found, coming from Reactor 4.

This morning a worker found a 350 square meter (1,148 square feet) room on the first floor of the reactor building flooded, about one centimeter (0.39 inch) deep.

The water is contaminated with 77,000 becquerels per milliliter of cesium.

TEPCo officials think the water might be coming from a pipe that is transferring contaminated water from Reactor 3 to a storage tank.  The pipe runs next to Reactor 4 building.

Also this morning, workers discovered a fire in a water pump.  The pump is used in a building that is used for filtering contaminated water.  They used fire extinguishers to put out the fire.

Influenza

H3N2 Swine Flu spreading through the United States, children main targets, despite 2011-2012 flu season being officially ended

“So as of today, there are 145 confirmed cases of influenza infection with H3N2v virus, since the current outbreaks began in July of this year.  This includes one case in Hawaii, one case in Illinois, 113 cases being reported from Indiana, and 30 cases being reported from Ohio.  This is clearly a significant increase since last week’s total….”-Joseph Bresee, CDC

09 August 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting that cases of H3N2v are now at 145 in the U.S.

Most of the current U.S. cases are in the mid west (some cases in Hawaii), with 90% of the infected people being children.  The CDC also believes there is a direct connection with pigs, and are asking people to avoid pigs if possible.

The H3N2v strain is a new version that showed up last year, and has been spreading around the World.

At the end of May 2012, the CDC warned that H3N2v was already the dominant flu, making up 60% of World cases.  But, the end of May is also when the CDC  announced the winding down of an unusually weak 2011-2012 flu season (weak for the U.S. that is): “This is the first time since CDC started this kind of influenza like surveillance (ILI) that the percentage of patient visits for ILI was elevated for only one week of the season.”-Joseph Bresee, CDC, May 2012

 

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Scientists cooking the books on radiation contamination. Now say radiation exposure was not at dangerous levels!

Reported on 13 July 2012, a group of Japanese and Russian scientists, working through the Hirosaki University’s Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine and the Institute of Radiation Hygiene in St. Petersburg, greatly lowered the official radiation exposure records for victims of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

Now they say no adult was exposed to dangerous levels, claiming the highest dose was 33 millisieverts.  Previously they said people had been exposed to as much as 87 millisieverts!

The international standard is 50 millisieverts, before you have to start taking iodide pills.

The scientists based their new claims on data for radioactive iodine concentration in thyroids taken between 12-16 April last year, then tried to extrapolate using recent radiation plume tracking and various dosimeter data.  So they’re making their claims based on one week of human thyroid gland data, then cooking their scientific books with more recent numbers from other measurements that do not look specifically at the health of a person!

Oh, the scientists did warn that children were still exposed to levels of contamination above the international 50 millisieverts range.  So why not the adults?

Fukushima

One Year Later: Japanese tsunami hit town so contaminated with radiation, officials can’t dump radioactive debris, instead they want to burn it!!!

31 July 2012, the Japanese government is considering plans to incinerate highly radioactive debris from the tsunami hit towns of Hirono and Namie.

The destroyed houses and buildings have been contaminated by fallout from the ongoing nuclear disaster at the GE designed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power factory.

The contamination is so high that local officials have been hamstrung because the debris can not be handled through usual removal methods.  A plan to build two new incinerators within the area was scrapped because of concerns about the radiation.

But wait, there’s more! In their wisdom officials have now rationalized that it’s OK to incinerate the radioactive debris as long as it’s outside of the contaminated area!

They are asking six municipalities to consider build incinerators for burning radioactive ruble from Hirono and Namie towns!

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Britain in worst double dip recession ever, blame the Queen!

“It is clear that Britain is in the midst of the most prolonged period of stagnation it has faced in decades.”-John Longworth, British Chambers of Commerce

25 July 2012, Office for National Statistics announced another drop in GDP, for the third month in a row, officially putting the United Kingdom back into a recession.

U.K. economic performance data started being recorded in 1955, and the current situation is worse than anything on official record!

Officials with the Office for National Statistics are still adding up the costs of celebrating the queen’s Diamond Jubilee, but are already calling it a “significant hit” to the British economy.  Any public event involving the Royals is paid for by the government/taxpayers.

Some analysts say the Diamond Jubilee celebration actually stopped any economic recovery in Britain.

“They [government leaders] need to change course as their policies are causing permanent damage to our economy.”-Brendan Barber, Trades Union Congress