Tag Archives: nuclear

International, U.S.

World War 3: How many U.S. aircraft carrier groups does it take to go to war with Iran? Not sure, but there’s already 3 U.S. aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, and another one is on its way! Iranians warned they will attack the latest carrier threat!

“…we are not in the habit of repeating a warning and we warn only once.”-Ataollah Salehi, Major General Iranian Army, 03 January 2012

There will soon be four U.S. aircraft carrier groups in the Persian Gulf.  The USS Enterprise, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Abraham Lincoln will soon be joined by the USS John C Stennis.

The announcement was made on 16 July 2012, by the U.S. Department of Defense. The Pentagon also said the deployment of the USS Stennis, in August, will be four months ahead of schedule, and it will be for longer than originally planned.

The United States has also increased the number of other combat ships in the area. But here’s the thing, back in January 2012, Iranian officials singled out the USS Stennis, threatening military action against that specific aircraft carrier if it ever returned to the Persian Gulf.

Back in April 2012, USN Commander Amy Derrick-Frost, of the 5th Fleet,  said it was unusual to have two U.S. aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf at the same time, now there’s going to be four!

Is the U.S. move a deliberate provocation in order to start a full blown World War 3?

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: Russia about to pay off debts to Iran, announces financing deal to help Iran avoid U.S. & EU sanctions!

“The problem of the Iranian LCs [Letters of Credit] created by the U.S. and western states’ sanctions against the banking system (of Iran) can be solved by using the banks operating in the Russian regions.”-Alexander Vitalivic, Russian Head of the Iran-Russia Regional Cooperation Workgroup

17 July 2012, Russian officials announced, at the Iran-Russia Regional Cooperation Workgroup meeting, that Russia is willing and able to help Iran avoid any bad economic effects from U.S. and European Union sanctions!

“The presence of small and medium size banks and financial institutions of the (Russian) regions (on the scene of transactions with Iran) will be useful for motivating an increase in exchanges and preventing decrease in exports.”-Alexander Vitalivic

Also, Russian Head of Iran-Russia Joint Trade Council, Yuri Papoyev, announced that Central Bank of Russia (CBR) is ready to make due payments to Iranian parties: “After meetings with the Russian Central Bank officials, they agreed to make due payments and open LCs [Letters of Credit] for Iran in the least time possible.”

Fukushima

One Year Later: Radioactive village fenced off! Rice fields left to contamination!

Midnight 16 July 2012, a ceremony was held as Iitate Village, in Fukushima Prefecture, was officially fenced off.

Iitate is now divided into three zones, based on radiation levels.

In the most radioactive area only people with homes in the area are allowed in, but only for a few hours and never overnight!

This is the beginning of government efforts to manage decontamination efforts, more than one year after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident began.

However, 85% of Iitate is woodland and rice fields, and the government has not announced any plans to decontaminate those areas.

Idaho, U.S.

East Idaho Wildfires 2012: More new fires on 11 July, fire near nuke reactor, Craters of the Moon

11 July 2012, yesterday’s Cox’s Well Fire, near Springfield (east of Craters of the Moon National Monument), is supposedly 100% contained, although the EIIFC website is still showing 70% containment. Lightning is blamed.

But now several other fires have sprung up, because of lightning. Reports said there was a fire southwest of Atomic City, and a fire near the EBR-1 nuclear reactor.

EBR-1, ancient nuclear reactor in the middle of nowhere eastern Idaho. Near Midway Fire, which started on 10 July.

New fires reported on 11 July, by the Eastern Idaho Interagency Fire Center (EIIFC), are;

Old Grade Fire: Near Arco, they expect to have it controlled by 20:00 hours.

Butte City #2 Fire: 186 acres, no estimate on containment.

Cedar Butte WSA Fire: 1,200 acres, no estimate on containment.

Knox Canyon Fire: 600 acres, no further info.

Smoke from Knox Canyon Fire. Pic taken about 8 miles south of Arimo, on the north side of the Malad Pass, facing west.

Rooster Rock Fire: Southwest of Pocatello, 2,500 acres, extra fire fighting help has been called in.

Power County Assist #2 Fire: Power County Fire Department on scene.

Massacre Fire: Southwest of American Falls, 475 acres, 3 buildings destroyed, now contained.

Air Tractor fire fighter takes off from Pocatello Airport, as Skycrane undergoes maintenance after a busy day, 11 July 2012.

There are still fires burning from days ago;

Midway Fire: Southeast of Experimental Breeder Reactor-1 (EBR-1). 5,000 acres, no estimation on containment.  Began 10 July.

Box Canyon Fire: 380 acres, 50% containment, northwest of EBR-1. Started 09 July.

 

 

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Surprise! Mystery damage to another Nuke Reactor in Japan. No, it’s not Fukushima Daiichi!

10 July 2012, operators of the Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture announced that their Reactor 3 fuel rod storage pool is damaged.

Tohoku Electric Power Company (not to be confused with Tokyo Electric Power Company, which runs Fukushima Daiichi) reported they discovered chips, cracks, and more than 12 missing pieces to the metal containers holding fuel rods in the pool.

They are now checking reactors 1 & 2 at the Onagawa nuclear power factory.  Government officials are concerned that the damage was caused by the March 2011 earthquake.

Tohoku-EPCo claims the fuel rods are not damaged.

Fukushima

Government Incompetence One Year Later: 600 page report blames ongoing nuclear disaster on idiots in government! Faulty construction of disaster reactors blamed!

“The accident was not a natural disaster but was obviously a man made disaster.”-Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission

On 05 July 2012, the results of a months long Diet (Japanese parliament) investigation into the ongoing nuclear disaster at the General Electric designed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power factory, places blame squarely on Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo), and the government.

The report also stated that failings in management began years before the  March 2011 disaster.

The report criticizes government response to the nuclear disaster.  The former prime minister who was in charge last year, Kan Naoto, gave a typical Japanese political response, agreeing with parts of the report and refuting other parts.

The report said that construction of Fukushima Daiichi was not up to earthquake standards, as claimed by TEPCo. The report says the nuclear disaster might have actually started with the earthquake, not the tsunami.

Government and corporate leadership only made things worse: Self serving attitudes of leaders resulted in willful negligence, both in the construction of the nuke plant, and the disaster response.

There were plenty of opportunities for TEPCo to upgrade Fukushima Daiichi with stronger construction and better safeguards.

In the first hours of the disaster the government interfered at different levels, causing confusion within corporate chains of command.

The government also confused the general public, by giving reports that conflicted with media reports. In some cases government reports outright contrasted with events watched live on Japanese TV  (I remember watching live on the internet as the tsunami swept over three story buildings, then heard a government official saying the waves were only 3 meters tall!!!)!

The government issued confusing evacuation advise, in some cases people actually evacuated into areas being contaminated with radiation. The report suggests that government leaders were trying to avoid taking full responsibility for the disaster by making evacuations voluntary, and using terms like “just in case”.

Another issue was the announcement of radiation danger zones long after the nuclear disaster began. The report says the government had radiation data for a whole month before hand, and could have declared the danger zones much sooner.

The Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) began in December 2011, interviewing 1,167 people, including former government and TEPCo officials.   The NAIIC is planning “…to make an English version of the final report to show it to the world.”-Kurokawa Kiyoshi, lead investigator

Japanese version of report here.

 

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Fresh water fish more radioactive than salt water fish! More proof that you need lots of salt in your diet!

03 July 2012, the Ministry of Environment in Japan discovered that fresh water fish are more susceptible to radiation contamination than salt water fish.

From December 2011 to February 2012, they sampled fish from rivers, lakes and eight locations in the Pacific Ocean.  Fresh water fish were much more contaminated than salt water fish.

In a river north of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, goby fish were found with 2,600 becquerels per kilogram of cesium!  The highest readings of cesium in salt water flounder and bass were 260 becquerels per kilogram.

The researchers speculate that the salt in the ocean water absorbs much of the radiation, and then the fish excrete it (the concept is similar to the idea of taking iodide pills after a nuclear accident).

Radiation ends up being concentrated in the bodies of fresh water fish.

ONE YEAR LATER: LEFT BEHIND; FUKUSHIMA PETS STILL WITHOUT HOMES, NEW KITTENS FOUND NEAR NUCLEAR PLANT

Fukushima

One Year Later: Record level radiation at Reactor 1, Fukushima Daiichi! Proof of near full blown melt down!

27 June 2012, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) reporting highest radiation levels yet inside Reactor 1 of the GE (General Electric) designed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power factory.

Using endoscopes and dosimeters on 26 June 2012,  TEPCo employees detected 10,300 millisieverts per hour inside the reactor!  That level will kill you in less than an hour!

That level of radiation was picked up 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) from a pool of water.   At 4 meters (13 feet) above the water 1,000 millisieverts per hour was detected (which is ten times more than Reactor 2 or 3).

TEPCo officials say the high radiation levels from Reactor 1 are because the reactor was closer to a full blown runaway melt down, than any of the other reactors.

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: You can now call Reactor 4 the Leaning Tower of Fukushima!

25 June 2012, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCo) announcing today that they discovered, last month, that the outer walls of the building housing Reactor 4 are tilting!

TEPCo officials claim the building is still structurally safe! The third floor has the most extreme tilt, at 4.6 centimeters (1.8 inches).

Reactor 4, of all the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, has the largest number of spent fuel rods located in a giant pool at the top of the building, housing more than 1,500 fuel rods. TEPCo says there is no worry about the spent fuel pool  as it is supported by central pillars, and not the outer walls.  (how many times has TEPCo made such statements that became famous last words?)

Fukushima

One Year Later: Left behind; Fukushima pets still without homes, new kittens found near nuclear plant

Volunteer animal rescuers in Japan are reporting that pets are still being found in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster area.

Recently six kittens were found and taken to a animal hospital in Tokyo.  They were taken to Tokyo because local animal shelters are still full of abandoned pets from the March 2011 disasters. More than one year later volunteers say there are still hundreds of abandoned cats and dogs living near the nuclear power plant!

The animal hospital in Tokyo reported that the kittens were healthy, and homes were found for them.  Volunteer animal rescue groups say they will increase the use of the internet to send out international SOSs for the pets that were left behind.

ONE YEAR LATER: TUNA CAUGHT NEAR UNITED STATES CONTAMINATED WITH RADIATION! U.S. MEDIA TRYING TO DOWNPLAY