Tag Archives: GE

Fukushima

One Year Later: At least 900,000 TBq of Iodine and Cesium spewed into the environment by Fukushima Daiichi! Radiation samples were taken last year!

24 May 2012, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) is now estimating that 900,000 terabecquerels of radioactive iodine-131 and cesium-137 have spewed from Reactor 1 and Reactor 3, from March to September, 2011!

That’s an estimate that’s as much as 80% higher than official Japanese government (Nuclear Safety Commission, and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency) estimates!

TEPCo based its estimate on samples taken near the GE designed nuclear disaster reactors.  However, the results from air samples were only from March 12 to 31, 2011!  The water samples were from March 26 to September 30, 2011!  In other words it’s not up to date!

1 terabecquerel = 1.0 × 10+12 becquerels

Becquerel is an internationally accepted measurement for a unit of radioactivity, equal to one nuclear decay or other nuclear transformation per second.  Named after Antoine Henri Becquerel.

1 terabecquerel = 27 curies

Curie is a non-internationally accepted way to measure radiation, named after Marie and Pierre Curie.  1000 Curies of a radioisotope can produce serious health effects after only a few minutes of exposure.

 

Fukushima

One Year later: Confirmed; nuclear reactor containment vessels breached, radioactive material pouring out!

23 May 2012, the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization has confirmed that two reactor containment vessels at the GE designed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, are breached and leaking radioactive materials.

Back in March Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) assumed that one containment vessel was cracked, because they found that after months of injecting tons of cooling water there was only 60 centimeters (23 inches) of water in Reactor 2! They were hoping for 2 meters (6.5 feet) of water!

Now the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization says Reactor 2’s water level is actually 40 centimeters (15.7 inches)!  They also say that data shows that Reactor 1 containment vessel is breached as well!

TEPCo’s decommissioning plan requires the reactors to be filled with water, to help reduce radiation levels to the point that the partially melted fuel rods can be removed. This can not be done if the containment vessels are breached.  Like I, and many others have said, why don’t they pour sand, lead, boric acid and concrete on it?!?

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Government literally ignoring calls for help from tsunami & radiation refugees!

23 May 2012.  Back in March local level governments in Japan set up a help hotline for refugees from Iwate, Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures.  Supposedly this was to insure that refugees were able to be heard by local government officials.

So far only about 10% of those who call are getting through. Out of the 370,000 calls made to the hotline, only 40,000 were answered!

The hotline is called Yorisoi, which operate 38 call centers in Japan.  Their northeastern boss blames the lack of answered calls on lack of reconstruction in the disaster hit areas, and on refugees making calls at night (even thought it is a 24 hour call center).

Yorisoi officials claim they can not find enough employees to take calls at night!

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Radioactive Rats in Japan, contaminated air!

14 May 2012, Japan’s Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute analyzed rat samples.  Their conclusion is that the rats are contaminated with cesium.

3,100 becquerels of cesium per kilogram was detected in rats near Kawauchi village, 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the GE designed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. About 790 becquerels per kilo was found in rats from Kita-Ibaraki city, 70 kilometers (43.4 miles) away.

The Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute also discovered that the air is contaminated.

Airborne radiation levels were 3.11 microsieverts per hour in Kawauchi and 0.2 microsieverts in Kita-Ibaraki.

Officials say the contamination in the rats is proportional to the contamination in the air!

ONE YEAR LATER: RADIATION CONTAMINATED FISH FOUND IN JAPANESE RIVERS!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Econimic Recovery? Business profits down, tax collections down, government debt at historic high!

May 11, 2012, the Japanese government reporting that pre-tax profits of Japanese businesses dropped for the first time in the past three years.

For the Japanese fiscal year (which ends in March) 2011 there was a drop of in overall business profits by 13.3%.  This only concerns the 701 companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Japanese Finance Ministry also reports that the debt of the Japanese government is at a record high.  It is now at $12 trillion USD!

That’s an increase of $437 billion USD since last year.  It works out to about $90,000 USD for every Japanese citizen!

Officials blame everything on the rising value of the yen, which is being caused by the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, and the lack of economic recovery in the United States.

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Last Nuclear Reactor shut down in Japan

05 May 2012, on the northern big island of Hokkaido, Japan’s last operating nuclear reactor is being shut down.

By Saturday night (Japan time), and after 42 years, the country will be free of electricity produced by nuclear reactors.

The Hokkaido Electric Power Company is shutting down Reactor 3 of the Tomari Nuclear Power Plant.  The reactor will be completely shut down by 02:00 hours Sunday morning.

While the Tomari reactor is not scheduled for re-start, those that are have been blocked by local governments.  In Japan the local governments have the final word on reactor re-start, and because of the on going disaster reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, the majority of people in Japan are against re-starting any reactors.

For the summer of 2011 Japan’s domestic industries suffered greatly because of an electrical power shortage, even with 37 reactors operating.  Now Japan is heading into summer 2012, with not one nuclear reactor up and running.  National officials are scrambling to find ways to convince the local governments to re-start reactors.

There has been a push for wind power, but, just like here in the United States, there’s been a backlash of people who are against it because those windmills are “eyesores” and reduce property value.

Fukushima

One Year Later: Proof that being a refugee will kill you, more than 1600 people die in Japan. Money does not help!

More than a year after the March 11, 2011, earthquake/tsunami and nuclear disaster, 1,618 people have died.

Japan’s Reconstruction Agency announced on April 27, 2012, that living as refugees was the cause of their deaths.

Most had lost their homes and were living in makeshift housing. The Agency determined that extremely stressful and unhealthy conditions causes people to die. Some people died because they needed medical treatment, but were unable to get help.

Deaths occurred in nine prefectures. So far Fukushima leads the list with 764 deaths, followed by 636 in Miyagi and 179 in Iwate.

The Reconstruction Agency started tracking refugees only because of the money that was given out for disaster relief. Turns out the money did little to make life better for the refugees.

Note: Japan is part of the Trilateral Commission (Europe, North America, Japan/Asia)

Fukushima

One Year Later: Radiation contaminated fish found in Japanese rivers!

In a town 180 kilometers (111.8 miles) from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant, which continues to spew radiation, fish in a major river are contaminated with Cesium.

Silver crucian carp caught in the Tone River contain 110 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram.  The new official safe limit is 100 becquerels.

This is not the first time contaminated animals have been caught in the river.  Last month shellfish were also found to be contaminated.

Chiba prefectural officials are asking all commercial fisherman not to sell any fish caught in the river.  People are warned not to eat anything from the river.

ONE YEAR LATER: SOME FUKUSHIMA FARM ANIMALS WILL BE ALLOWED TO LIVE

FUKUSHIMA TO EUTHANIZE ABANDONED LIVESTOCK AND PETS!

ONE YEAR LATER: MORE RADIOACTIVE SHROOMS, SHOOTS & BEEF

Fukushima

One Year Later: Japanese government says some Nuclear Disaster areas not worth saving!

One year ago the Japanese government promised every refugee from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster that they would be returning home soon.

Not only did they recently admit that some areas are far to contaminated for anyone to live in, but now they say it’s not worth even trying to decontaminate those areas.

On April 22, 2012, government officials admitted that radiation levels are so high in some areas, that they will be uninhabitable for at least 10 years!  Only now is the Japanese media reporting the revelation.

Recently the government said they would clean up areas with 50 millisieverts per year of radiation contamination.  But now they’re backtracking, saying there are some areas that will still have 20 millisieverts of contamination, even after ten years have gone by.

Considering Japan’s economic situation many politicians say it’s not worth trying to decontaminate those areas.

Gee, anybody who studied the Chernobyl incident could have told them that.  In fact, the city of Prypiat is still too contaminated for people to live in, 26 years later!   You know what they say about societies that fail to learn the lessons of history; they’re doomed to repeat it.

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

One Year Later: Study discovers that homes are radiation traps

A study by Tohoku University says  homes are traps for radiation contamination.

Radiation expert, Hiroko Yoshida, led the study. Since September they’ve monitored radiation exposure levels of 125 people in 31 households in southern Miyagi Prefecture.

They concluded that decontaminating the inside of houses would be the most effective way to reduce radiation exposure, because the interiors of houses accumulate radiation contamination.

Yoshida is urging local governments to start radiation decontamination in homes rather than in public buildings, since most people, especially children (who’re most vulnerable to radiation), spend more time at home.