Tokyo Electric Power Company admitted that they are still detecting plutonium contamination in the dirt around their Fukushima Daiichi facility.
This is the second time they’ve announced such detection. It is an indicator that plutonium is being constantly spewed from the reactors. Plutonium is a byproduct of reactors that use uranium enriched fuel rods.
Besides being radioactive, plutonium is highly toxic (poisonous).
French nuclear analysts have used radiation numbers, publicly release by Japanese officials, to determine how bad the contamination is in the Pacific Ocean.
The Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety determined that with the current level of contamination (that is the contamination that has already happened) fish and seaweed will need constant monitoring. Also, they said the high levels of radioactive contamination, recently spilled by reactor 2, will spread through out the Pacific Ocean in three months.
They pointed out that some radiation will float with the ocean currents, while other isotopes will sink to the ocean floor. The ocean does not affect isotope half life, so cesium-137 still has a half life of 30 years in water. Cesium-137 is in the ocean.
This does not assume any further contamination, so expect it to get worse.
The Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency admitted that they had no plans to explain the dangers of contaminated fish to the fishing industry. Japanese fishermen have been turned away from fish markets with their entire catch in tow.
The Federation of Fisheries Cooperative said they asked for an explanation of the dangers, but got none. Many fishing companies continued to fish after reports of radioactive contamination in the ocean.
Iwaki city officials, in one of the biggest fishing areas of Japan, say they’ve been waiting for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency to explain the situation, but, arrogantly the government agency said that they were waiting for the local people to come to them first.
Sounds like the arrogant Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency needs to pull their head out!
Iitate village in Fukushima Prefecture, announced they will start evacuating pregnant women, thanks to increasing radiation levels.
Iitate is 40km (24.8 miles) from the damaged nuclear power plant, and outside the official danger zone, but local officials say they’ve picked up high radiation readings in their area.
Radiation levels exceed standards set by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. So the town, on its own decision with no help from the central government, is going to evacuate pregnant women, children younger than 3 and their guardians. Pregnant women will leave first, by the end of the week. Town officials are still trying to make arraignments, regarding where they will evacuate the people to.
NHK interviewed a nuclear analyst who said a cold shut down of the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi can’t be done.
He explained that the reactors are too unstable, and TEPCo is still having trouble getting electrical power to the control rooms. He also said the situation is so dangerous that officials must keep everyone constantly updated.
Toyota thinks they might have enough parts built up to open more of its Japanese factories.
Toyota hopes to open more plants, in Japan, by late April. However, they point out that they will not be able to run at full production, and, if parts supplies continue to be a problem then all bets are off.
On 22 March 2011, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency reported rain water contamination numbers for Idaho. Do you understand them?
The EPA reported 242 pCi/L of I-131. Understand? pCi means Picocuries. I-131 means iodine-131. L means liters. 242 Picocuries per liter of iodine-131. Should you be worried? Yes!
The Federal government set safe levels of iodine-131, in drinking water, at 0.111 Becquerels per liter. Using a Picocurie to Becquerel conversion program I discovered that the March 22 readings worked out to 8.954 Becquerels per liter, more than the government’s safe limits.
The EPA levels were in rain water, but rain water is used for livestock, and ends up in many municipality’s water systems.
Tokyo Electric Power Company saying Reactor 1 showing signs of damaged reactor core. They believe hydrogen gas is building up inside. An explosion is immanent unless the hydrogen gas can be counteracted.
They plan on injecting nitrogen gas into the reactor core tomorrow morning.
So far TEPCo does not have a good track record with any of their attempts to control the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant.
University of California Berkeley is reporting that their own testing on rain water revealed radiation contamination 181 times safe limits.
The Federal government’s max safe level of iodine-131 allowed in drinking water is 0.111 becquerels per liter. The UC Berkeley test showed iodine-131 at 20.1 becquerels per liter. Again, that was a test of rain water. Eventually the rain water will end up in municipal water supplies.
Who better to know when a nuclear situation is real bad, then those who dealt with Chernobyl. Russia, back then part of the now extinct Soviet Union when the Chernobyl disaster happened, says Japan is in trouble.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the situation at Fukushima Daiichi is showing no signs of improvement. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says the situation is still out of control.
From the very beginning of the nuclear disaster in Japan, Russian nuclear engineers have warned that the type of design used at Fukushima Daiichi (by the way, designed by General Electric) is dangerous if damaged in a natural disaster. Basically it can not be saved.