Tag Archives: fukushima

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: High Levels of Radiation all over Japan!

On 20 July 2011, Japan’s Science Ministry released a radiation map of Japan.  It showed that radiation levels 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, are just as high as areas just 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the damaged plant.

This means Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is putting out enough radiation to cover the northern half of the main island Honshu.  It explains the extensive contamination to cattle feed and cows, among other things.

The radiation map is based on airborne radiation samples taken from 22-23 June 2011.

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: 1200 Cesium contaminated cows made it to market, Professor blames government, contaminated hay all over Japan!

21 July 2011, Japan’s Health Ministry has discovered that at least 1,200 cesium contaminated cows actually made it to the consumer market.  The national government has ordered a stop to all cattle shipments, and says efforts to protect the people from contaminated food must now focus on cows.

On 20 July 2011, test results showed that rice straw in ten prefectures, used for cattle feed, was found to be contaminated with cesium.  This proves the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is spreading radiation all over Japan.

A Japanese university professor is blaming the Japanese government for the contaminated beef, because cattle farmers were never told how to protect their cows, and their feed, from radiation contamination.

 

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: The number of Cesium contaminated cows, that made it to market, hits 578, Cesium more widspread than first thought!

Add Niigata and Miyagi Prefectures to the growing list of cattle, and hay farms, hit with high levels of cesium.  Local officials now believe at least 578 contaminated cows made it to the consumer markets.

In Fukushima Prefecture, officials now say the level of cesium found on cattle feed is 520 times the national limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram of cesium. At least seven Fukushima farms are known to have contaminated cows.

Now cattle on farms in Niigata Prefecture have been found to be internally contaminated as well.  The feed for the cows came from Miyagi Prefecture.

The high amounts of cesium contamination proves that the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is worse than officially stated, and continuing.

The amazing thing is that cattle farmers have not been ordered to stop shipping their cows to market, at this point it is just a request to voluntarily stop shipping their cows.  Fukushima officials expect the number of contaminated cows, reaching consumer markets, to go up.

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: Kansai Electric shuts down nuclear reactor after water cooling system fails, only 18 reactors now working in Japan!

While attention has been focused on the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, there is another nuclear plant in trouble. The Ohi plant in Fukui Prefecture.

Kansai Electric Power Company runs the Ohi plant, and Reactor 1 has been on emergency cooling, and now it has failed.

KEPCo says they were able to shut down the reactor.  They are trying to find out why the emergency cooling system failed.  The local prefectural government says that even if KEPCo finds out the cause, they will not allow them to re-start the reactor.

Japan has 54 reactors, now they are down to only 18 operating reactors.  Japan is heavily dependent upon nuclear generated electricity.

 

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Second cattle farm shipped off radioactive cows, Cesium levels now at 97,000 becquerels!

14 July 2011, officials from Fukushima Prefecture discovered that a second farm, in Asakawa Town, shipped off as many as 42 internally contaminated cows.

The discovery was made as local officials expanded their testing of locally grown feed for cows.

On top of the discovery that more contaminated cows, from other farms, were shipped off to market, the latest hay samples revealed increasing cesium contamination.  The latest tests show 97,000 becquerels per kilogram of cesium!  Previously the highest reading was 75,000.  The national safe limit is 500.

The contaminated cows from Asakawa Town, were shipped to Yokohama, Tokyo, Sendai and Chiba.  They were shipped between 08 April and 06 July.

 

Fukushima, Idaho

Idaho EPA RadNet sites not working

14 July 2011, I tried to access the Idaho Department of Environmental EPA RadNet site.  All I got was a “Server Error” message.

I then tried accessing the Idaho Falls RadNet site, directly through the Environmental Protection Agency’s web site.  I got an EPA page that said “The requested item was not found on the EPA’s Web Server”.

Fukushima, U.S.

Government Coverup: Department of Energy using helicopters to test for airborne radiation above Seattle!

The U.S. Department of Energy is using helicopters to take airborne radiation samples over Seattle, Washington.  Officially this is to establish a “baseline” for any future nuclear “emergency”.

The operation is being paid for by the Department of Homeland Security.

The state of Washington is home to the controversial Hanford nuclear plant.  Do a search for information on the plant and you’ll be concerned as well.  Could officials know something about the plant’s current condition?

Do Homeland Security officials have some info about a possible terrorist attack involving nukes and the city of Seattle?  Or, is the “emergency” they’re talking about one that already happened, in a place called Fukushima, Japan?

Officials claim this airborne radiation “baseline” operation was planned back in 2009.  Mmmm

Fukushima, Idaho, U.S.

Government Coverup: Radiation from Japan hitting the United States!

“Iodine level in the rain in Idaho in the United States were 130 times that standard… we are very concerned that radioactive cesium was many times above the standard as well.”–Gerry Pollet, Heart of America Northwest

When the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors exploded in Japan, U.S. officials ensured the public that they would increase radiation monitoring.  I’ve reported in earlier postings that most EPA RadNet sites in the western U.S. are shut down, and that other sites can give only limited results.

Now a group based in Washington, Heart of America Northwest, has done their own investigations into contaminated drinking water in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

In a previous posting I suggested that the people of concerned communities need to get together and have their own testing done, on plants, water and soil, even their own urine.  This is what the Japanese have been forced to do, no thanks to the incompetence of their national government.  It’s been those grass roots citizen groups in Japan that have been revealing the truth about the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Heart of America Northwest also has some warnings about current nuclear waste programs in the Pacific Northwest, like the dumping of nuke waste in unlined pits.

Fukushima

Corporate Evil: Tokyo Electric continues to ignore safety of nuke contract workers!

Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency is ordering Tokyo Electric Power Company to improve working standards for its contracted workers.  There are about 3,000 workers struggling to control the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency recently inspected the working conditions at the damaged nuke plant, after continued concerns over protection for workers against radiation exposure.

They found eight main concerns, that TEPCo still hasn’t addressed.  The most pressing issue is that TEPCo is still treating contracted workers with a laissez-faire (hands off) attitude.  The result is that TEPCo lacks any information on the health and safety conditions of those workers.

The agency discovered that many contracted workers have never been shown how to use protective clothing, and there aren’t enough protective equipment for all workers, like full face masks.  The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency ordered TEPCo to provide more protective gear, and assign more of its own safety managers to oversee contracted workers.

This issue was reported months ago, and it’s clear that TEPCo has totally ignored the problem proving that it does not care about the safety of workers.

On top of that, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says TEPCo still hasn’t tested 1,500 workers for radiation exposure, something they were supposed to do months ago.

Fukushima

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

Many Fukushima cattle farmers are about to go out of business, thanks to highly contaminated plants.  After highly radioactive beef was found, and sold, in eight prefectures, it was discovered that all the plants in Fukushima Prefecture are contaminated with high levels of cesium.

Local and national government officials have found that at least eight  prefectures got the contaminated beef, and it was sold to consumers.  Officials are sure that most of the beef sold to consumers was eaten.

When tracing the source of cesium contamination, officials discovered that the contaminated cows were eating hay grown out in the open in Fukushima Prefecture.  Some hay samples had 75,000 becquerels per kilogram of cesium.  The national government’s safe limit is 500.

Now cattle farmers are being told to stop using locally grown feed.  Many Fukushima farmers say the warning is too little too late.  Most farmers will go out of business because they can’t sell anymore cows.  If fact this whole issue has caused Japanese cattle prices to crash, so cattle farmers all over Japan are being affected.

Farmers in Fukushima say local and national officials never gave any warnings to cattle farmers.  Not even any advice on how they should operate with the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor nearby.

Most officials were concerned mainly with the affects of the nuclear disaster on people, and crops grown for human consumption.  It’s now obvious that the safety of crops grown for farm animals were ignored.

Up ’till now cattle were tested only for external radiation, but the contaminated beef came from cows that were internally contaminated, by the locally grown feed, showing no signs of external radiation contamination.

Officials also tested local water sources, but so far have not released the results.