Tag Archives: nuclear

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: TEPCo announces reduction in contamination, then finds more contamination!

01 August 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company announced a drop in cesium and iodine flooding into the Pacific Ocean, from Fukushima Daiichi.

TEPCo claims cesium 134 and 137, in water leaking from reactor 3, have remained steady since Friday.  Iodine 131, in water leaking from reactor 2, has stopped.

At the height of contaminated water emission, cesium 134 hit 20,000 becquerels per cubic centimeter, while cesium 137 was 17 times the official safe limit.

Iodine 131, from reactor 2, had hit 7.5 million times the official safe limit.

But along with TEPCo’s announcment that radioactive water was dropping, they discovered a building flooded with highly radioactive water.

A storage building was found to be flooded with 700 tons of water.  That water contains 19,000 becquerels of cesium 134 per cubic centimeter, and 22,000 becquerels of cesium 137.  And, not surprisingly, TEPCo officials say they’re trying to figure out where it came from.

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: TEPCo still doesn’t trust their radiation contamination numbers, 1 Billion Becquerels per hour!!!

As more proof of massive contamination of Japan is revealed by contaminated animals and waste sludge, Tokyo Electric Power Company announced they will start using a new way of monitoring radiation in the air coming out of Fukushima Daiichi nuke plant.

Apparently TEPCo has never trusted their own measurements of airborne radiation coming out of the Fukushima reactors.  Maybe they just can’t believe the high readings they’re getting?  TEPCo’s own measurements show that up to one billion becquerels of radioactive substances are being released every hour!!!  That’s measured from outside reactors 1, 2 and 3.  Now TEPCo will take air samples from inside the reactor buildings.

They will set up an air circulation system that pipes air to monitors on the first floor of every reactor building.  Isn’t the spreading, and increasing cesium contamination throughout Japan enough proof for these guys?

 

Fukushima

Japanese Nuclear Holocaust: Cesium levels skyrocketing, one city alone has 89,000 Becquerels of contamination!

Back in May I posted how “mysterious” levels of radiation were showing up all over Japan, in sewage treatment centers, and trash burning centers.  The situation has gotten incredibly worse, and is clear evidence that Fukushima Daiichi is spewing massive amounts of cesium.

All over Japan water treatment centers, and trash burning centers, are reporting that their waste sludge continues to be contaminated with cesium.  Not only that, but the levels are so high that they can not legally dispose of it.

At least 50,000 tons of waste sludge is contaminated with cesium, and 1,500 tons are so contaminated that it can’t be touched.  Those 1,500 tons contain at least 8,000 becquerels per kilogram of cesium.

But that’s not all.  A water treatment center in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, has 89,697 becquerels per kilogram of cesium in its waste sludge.  Remember the national safe limit for food is 500.

This is proof the damaged nuclear plant is spewing far more radiation that what people are being told.

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: More cesium cattle bans, 12 Prefectures asked to step up testing of cattle!

The government of Japan has already banned beef shipments from Fukushima and Miyagi Prefectures.  Now Iwate Prefecture is being considered for such a ban after cows there have been found contaminated with cesium.

At least 12 prefectures are voluntarily checking their own cows.  The national government is says it will cover the cost of the testing.  It is now believed that at least 3,000 contaminated cows made it to consumer markets.

It is becoming very clear that the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has been, and still is, spreading massive amounts of cesium across Japan.

Fukushima

Second Japanese Prefecture ordered to stop shipments of cattle due to cesium contamination!

Last week the national government of Japan ordered all cattle shipments from Fukushima Prefecture halted, now they have done the same with cattle from Miyagi Prefecture.

It turns out that the majority of cesium contaminated beef came from Miyagi Prefecture. The cows were fed hay contaminated with thousands of becquerels of cesium.  The national safe limit is 500.

In another sign that radiation is spreading across Japan, officials say the contaminated cows did not come from specific areas within the prefectures, but from all over.

 

 

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: Fukushima Daiichi power outage due to incorrect wiring, TEPCo putting blame on Yakuza?

On 22 July 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant lost external electrical power to reactors 3 and 4.  This affected cooling operations, but they were able to get back up generators working.

Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that the power loss was due to an incorrectly wired circuit breaker.  They say the circuit breaker was set up to handle only one third the amount of electricity that was actually needed to run the reactor’s cooling systems.

This comes after TEPCo officials held a conference claiming that Yakuza (organized crime; aka gokudō, aka bōryokudan or aka ninkyō dantai) could be infiltrating the ranks of employees at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.  TEPCo also says they think Yakuza are taking over rebuilding efforts in the quake and tsunami damaged parts of Japan.  TEPCo offered no proof.  They implied that Yakuza were causing the delays in controlling the damaged nuke plant, and other problems.   Again, Tokyo Electric offered no proof of their claim, and it sounds more like they’re trying to use Yakuza as scape goats for their own incompetence.

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: Major grocery store chain admits to selling cesium contaminated beef

Grocery chain operator Ito-Yokado says it sold over 2,600 kilograms (5,732 pounds) of beef contaminated with cesium.  The beef was sold at 94 outlets in Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, as well as on the northern island of Hokkaido, between April and July.

Ito-Yokado is not the only store that has admitted to selling the contaminated beef.  Two other grocery/department store operators, Seiyu and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, have admitted to selling the meat.

Consumers are being asked to bring the meat back, but many analysts think that too much time has gone by and that most of the beef has been eaten.

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Cesium contaminated beef served to children at elementary schools

Japan’s Education Minister Yoshiaki Takaki is demanding action after it was discovered that three elementary schools served children beef contaminated with cesium.  The schools are located in Chiba, east of Tokyo.

Takaki has ordered local schools to check the source of the food they serve.

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Professor demands that Japanese government check for cesium even hundreds of miles from Fukushima Daiichi!

22 July 2011, the Japanese government is only conducting radiation checks in the Fukushima area, but one professor says they need to check the whole of Japan.  Especially after it’s become clear that cows and cattle feed are contaminated with extremely high levels of cesium.

Niigata University Professor Nonaka Masanori, says radiation levels were never checked in farmland, especially those areas that produce rice straw for cattle feed.

Nonaka says the cesium is spread by snow and rain, which is being absorbed into the soil and taken up by plants.  The government needs to check for contamination no matter how far away from Fukushima Daiichi.

 

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: Electric power to damaged Fukushima Daiichi has been cut!

22 July 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company says external power, needed to support efforts to control the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuke plant, has been cut.

There was a sudden surge of electricity which tripped a breaker controlling power to reactors 3 and 4.  They are now using back up generators, and they are trying to find out why external electric power failed.