Release of radioactive water made at request of U.S.: Cabinet adviser

SEOUL — Japanese playwright Oriza Hirata, who serves as a special adviser to the Cabinet, claimed in a recent lecture given in Seoul that the dumping of low-level radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean followed a "strong request" from the United States, a person who attended the lecture said Wednesday.

The release of the water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant last month generated anxiety about the possible spread of radioactive contamination from the seaside power station.

The Japanese government had apparently given its permission for the release of the water after receiving a report from plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.

Hirata's remarks, made Tuesday, that the release was not carried out based on Tokyo's independent judgment but rather on a request from Washington is likely to ignite a debate.

South Korea and other neighboring countries have protested the lack of prior notification of the discharge.

Hirata's lecture in Seoul was titled "Earthquakes and the Revitalization of Japan." In response to a question at the venue, he called Japan's failure to give advance notification a communication error.

While acknowledging that the release of the water caused concern in South Korea, he said the thousands of tons of water were not highly radioactive.

Source: japantimes.co.jp

U.S Blasted by Radiation, Stronger then Chernobyl!

Source: zardoz.nilu.no

The Great Fukushima Smoke-Out: 11 May 2011

Fukushima No. 4 Reactor Now Boiling

Tuesday, the water meant to cool spent fuel rods in the No. 4 reactor was boiling. If the water evaporates and the rods run dry, they could overheat and catch fire, potentially spreading radioactive materials in dangerous clouds.

Temperatures appeared to be rising in the spent fuel pools at two other reactors at the plant, No. 5 and No. 6, said Yukio Edano, the chief cabinet secretary. Meanwhile, workers continued to pump seawater into the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors, where cooling systems remained unusable.

If any of the spent fuel rods in the pools do indeed catch fire, nuclear experts say, the high heat would loft the radiation in clouds that would spread the radioactivity.

A spokesman for the Japanese company that runs the stricken reactors said in an interview on Monday that the spent fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini plants had been left uncooled since shortly after the quake.

The company, Tokyo Electric, has not been able to cool the spent fuel pools because power has been knocked out, said Johei Shiomi, the spokesman. “There may be some heating up,” he said.

Depending on the freshness of the spent fuel, Mr. Lochbaum said, the water in an uncooled pool would start to boil in anywhere from days to a week. The water would boil off to a dangerous level in another week or two.

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/asia/16fuel.html

Vivian Norris: Deadly Silence on Fukushima

TEPCO, a giant media sponsor, has an annual 20 billion yen advertising budget.

Freelance journalists and foreign media are pursuing the facts, even going into the radiation exclusion zone. However, surprisingly, the Japan government continues to prevent freelance journalists and overseas media from gaining access to official press conferences at the prime minister's house and government.

Macrobiotic Diet Prevents Radiation Sickness Among A-Bomb Survivors in Japan - In August, 1945, at the time of the atomic bombing of Japan, Tatsuichiro Akizuki, M.D., was director of the Department of Internal Medicine at St. Francis's Hospital in Nagasaki. Most patients in the hospital, located one mile from the center of the blast, survived the initial effects of the bomb, but soon after came down with symptoms of radiation sickness from the fallout that had been released. Dr. Akizuki fed his staff and patients a strict macrobiotic diet of brown rice, miso soup, wakame and other sea vegetables, Hokkaido pumpkin, and sea salt and prohibited the consumption of sugar and sweets. As a result, he saved everyone in his hospital, while many other survivors in the city perished from radiation sickness.

I gave the cooks and staff strict orders that they should make unpolished whole-grain rice balls, adding some salt to them, prepare strong miso soup for each meal, and never use sugar. When they didn't follow my orders, I scolded them without mercy, 'Never take sugar. Sugar will destroy your blood!'...

This dietary method made it possible for me to remain alive and go on working vigorously as a doctor. The radioactivity may not have been a fatal dose, but thanks to this method, Brother Iwanaga, Reverend Noguchi, Chief Nurse Miss Murai, other staff members and in-patients, as well as myself, all kept on living on the lethal ashes of the bombed ruins. It was thanks to this food that all of us could work for people day after day, overcoming fatigue or symptoms of atomic disease and survive the disaster" free from severe symptoms of radioactivity.

Why is this not on the front page of every single newspaper in the world? Why are official agencies not measuring from many places around the world and reporting on what is going on in terms of contamination every single day since this disaster happened? Radioactivity has been being released now for almost two full months! Even small amounts when released continuously, and in fact especially continuous exposure to small amounts of radioactivity, can cause all kinds of increases in cancers.

Uesugi stated that since March 11th, the government has excluded all internet media and all foreign media from official press conferences on the "Emergency Situation." While foreign media have scrambled to gather information about the Fukushima Reactor, they have been denied access to the direct information provided by the government and one consequence of this is that "rumor-rife news has been broadcast overseas."

Source: HuffingtonPost

Fukushima Groundwater Contamination Worst in Nuclear History

from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.

Death's door

Before jumping into today's essay here is the latest news: Radioactive levels at Fukushima were about250 times higher than a month before. TEPCO said the levels ofcaesium-134 and -137 increased about 250-foldand iodine-131 increased about 12 times compared with one month ago, after the accident had already happened.

The water level in the No. 4 reactor's turbine building rose by 20 centimeters in 10 days. TEPCO hasdetected 8,100 becquerels of caesium-137and 7,800 becquerels of caesium-134 per cubic centimeter in thewaterin the turbine building's basement. The utility company said on Tuesday the 26th of April that the water level in the tunnel of the No. 3 reactor rose by 10 centimeters over three days.

Beyond that door isdeath. It's death's door and it has brought us a new hell onearth. What's behind this door and several others like it is so hot, in terms of death, that its effects can be seen 10,000 miles away. Though thanks to the media we almost forgot about this and other similar doors and the nuclear meltdowns that are occurring right here right now on planet earth.



Today you have to be a hound dog to sniff up any credible news about what is actually going on at that destroyed nuclear plant. It's very scary how the media has clamped down on most of the news so it seems like multiple nuclear meltdowns are not a big deal.

On April 21 radiation levels stood atup to 110 microsieverts per hourin the air in the town of Okuma inTokyo, some 3 kilometers southwest of that door you see above.

If a person is exposed to this quantity of radiation for about nine hours, the cumulative dose is estimated to reach one millisieverts, the annual safety limit set by thegovernment. Do the math. In just30 daysa person living there would have a lethal dose!



On Sunday, April 24,2011Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) disclosed a map of radiation levels at the damagedFukushimaDaiichi nuclear plant. Radiation levels around the No. 3 reactor building, which was damaged by a powerful hydrogenexplosion, are higher than in other locations, and 300 millisieverts per hour of radiation was detected in debris on a nearby mountainside. Stand near that and30 hourslater kisslifegoodbye.

Work started on April 6th to remove contaminated rubble that had been obstructing the restoration process. TEPCO says much of the debris around the former office building has been removed, and it has started clearing the rubble around the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors. Enough debris has been removed to fill 50 containers, and it is being kept in a field on the mountainside.

The radiation levels one meter away are 1 to 2 millisieverts per hour. Gee, that would be a walk in the park, meaning we could hang around endlessly until 20 days go by and then we too areradioactivetoast.

Okay so let's translate that into a bit of practical reality for people 10,000 miles away on the east coast of the United States. We're getting pretty far away from that damn door and yet its nuclear wretchedness is reaching around the world just like Chernobyl did.

Radiation a Personal Account

"I am a retired biologist who used to work in radiation biology. Just wanted to share with you what we've been doing lately. We live in the mid-Atlantic area of the U.S. We have a Geiger counter and have been testing daily for radiation (am and pm) since the Fukushima incident. Since March 11, our numbers normally are 25-30 cpm inside and 31-35 cpm outside (Geiger counter sits at an open window). This is within background radiation numbers. When it rains, the numbers rise to about 35 cpm for inside and 40 cpm for outside. Our grass reads around 50 cpm. I noticed today after I did some weeding (sunny day) and washing my hands that they read around 50 cpm. I had to wash them 3-4 times before the reading went down.

"Also noticed a couple of dandelions looking abnormal (their stems were twice as thick as others and heads were joined). Never saw that before.

"We had orderedkelpgranules from the company Maine Coast three weeks ago. We typically use kelp in our foods, and this was a bigger order than usual because of the nuclear incident. Just got the shipment today! We tested the bags of kelp for radiation and they tested 182 cpm! We called the company but they had their answering machine on, stating that they won't be open until April 25th because they're doing inventory. We plan to return the kelp! Noticed the expiration date is April 16, 2013, which makes us wonder if they filled the order after the Fukushima incident (maybe April 16, 2011?).
Patty"

Video with Radiation test in Waterville.

Life with Geiger counters will become much more common in our futures as well as nuclear weather reports. They might as well have ripped a hole into another universe with so much hell to be released each month for as long as we can see into thefuture. Best-case scenario at this point would be several years of relentless radiation buildup around the world but most particularly in the northern hemisphere where it will be increasingly difficult to get uncontaminatedfood. Let's not even think of worst-case scenarios for not many of us will be around for long if such were to occur.

Authorities will keep everything under their hat for as long as humanly possible to avoid panic and migrations. Withfinancialcollapse on the horizon, private citizens will not be able to afford any movement anyway and will have to dig in and weather the radiation. With the help of the media, the entire populations of the north are caught like deer in the headlights and are totally unaware of and unprepared for this increasing nuclear radiation. In case no one has informed you, radioactivity makes it harder for our bodies to live.

Today's Nuclear News

The Number 4 spent fuel pool stores1,535 fuel rods, the most at the nuclear complex. TEPCO says it will inject 210 tons of water into the pool on Monday, after finding on Sunday evening that the temperature in the pool had risen to 81 degrees Celsius. The utility firm had earlier limited the amount of water being injected into the pool to 70 tons a day, saying the weight of the water could weaken the reactor building, which was already damaged in last month'shydrogenexplosion.

On Friday, TEPCO found that the pool's temperature had reached 91 degrees, so it began injecting 2 to 3 times the amount of water. TEPCO says the pool's water temperature dropped to 66 degrees on Saturday after water was injected, but started to rise again, to 81 degrees. The operator says the water level in the pool was 2.5 meters lower than normal after 165 tons of water was injected on Sunday.

Conclusion

But there is absolutely nothing to worry about! Doctors are not worried thatiodinedeficiency will make you much more vulnerable to death rays in the form of radioactive iodine, which your thyroid will mop up like a sponge. But what dodoctorsor our friendly governments care?

"I have been trying to get a prescription for iodine from a medicaldoctor, but I can't find one that will do it. They tell me BS like you don't need it; it's dangerous to take supplemental iodine without a battery of thyroid tests, and a bunch of other BS ad nauseum. I used to be able to get it over the counter at a drugstore, but no longer. I need to find an MD with common sense that will actually help me. David Ostrander"


Photograph: Robert Brook/Alamy/Alamy

Radiation Hell at the disused plutonium reactors at
Sellafield, England are a"slow motion Chernobyl"according
to Greenpeace campaigners against nuclear energy.

The BBCsays, "There are about 440 operational reactors in 32 countries, generating 16 percent of the world's electricity. Only 27 new reactors are under construction, mainly in EasternEuropeand Asia. Not one of the remaining 22 countries withnuclear poweris currently building any new reactors, including the USA, Canada and all of Western Europe. The western world has put its nuclearpowerprogram on hold. This is arguably due at least in part to the Chernobyl accident and the ensuing perception that no matter how small the risk, it is just not worth it."

For all the references, sources and more articles onradiationandchemical toxicityplease visitDr. Mark Sircus blog.

Sourece: NaturalNews.com

Radiation Test -- Waterville, Tennessee -- 51.2 CPM

YouTube - 4/26/2011 -- Radiation Test -- Waterville, Tennessee -- 51.2 CPM

TEPCO discovery of Fukushima sediment contamination in areas identified by Greenpeace

TEPCO, the owners of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, just announced that they found contamination levels 100 to 1,000 times higher than normal in sediment from the Fukushima coast.

TEPCO did the sediment testing late last week—in areas Greenpeace identified for testing in our research plan—after we were denied permission to research inside Japan's 12 mile territorial waters.

The buzz around Japanese Twitter has been saying that Greenpeace is the reason why the authorities have actually done this research.

Following this announcement, Greenpeace Japan Executive Director Junichi Sato said:

"Our flag ship the Rainbow Warrior is already doing what it can to monitor marine contamination based on the very limited permission granted by the Government for areas outside the 12 mile territorial limit. We had previously identified the newly declared contaminated areas as areas at risk, and stand ready to assist within the 12 mile limit to provide independent monitoring and advice to the Japanese public."


"It has been noted by many that the authorities only surveyed the area as a result of our request and the pressure that accompanied it. This is no way to go about protecting public health. The prime ministers office should now immediately grant the Rainbow Warrior access to Japan's territorial waters to conduct its proposed radiation survey. It has nothing to lose and everything to gain from independent assessment and public information."

Here in the United States, even the Nuclear Regulatory Commission agrees that the public deserves to receive more information to keep them safe.

In testimony on Capitol Hill and other public statements, chairman of the regulatory commission, Mr. Jaczko has avoided criticizing his Japanese counterparts. But on Monday he said that “if we had a similar type of event in the U.S., we certainly would like to be providing a lot more information to the public.’’

It’s important that the Japanese government reverses its decision to block our research and allow us to provide clear, independent information to the people for whom help is needed.

Source: greenpeace.org

Fukushima Fallout Update

Latest addition to the series of continuing updates of the Fukushima disaster graciously provided by Arnie & Maggie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates. Maggie has a guest, Marco Kaltofen, expert in radiation chemistry & monitoring. He is a professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, as well as an environmental scientist & professional engineer.

They discuss the spreading nuclear fallout. This closer look examines the effects & hazards of the nano-scale particles of fallout when tracking at greater distances, as opposed to the methodology of using a Geiger counter to measure the more localized background levels.

Source: reenmountaindaily.com

Official: Japanese gov’t withheld radiation forecasts to prevent causing panic

Japan’s NHK TV is reporting the “Japanese government is about to begin releasing data projecting the spread of radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that it initially withheld for fear of causing panic.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1v1-IUH_HE&feature=player_embedded

FDA Acceptable Strontium Levels are 220 Times Greater then EPA's

Radioactive Strontium Found in Hilo, Hawaii Milk

"The FDA’s Derived Intervention Level—the standard observed for food—for a related isotope, Strontium-90, is 4,400 pCi/L. The EPA’s Maximum Contamination Level for Sr-89 in drinking water is 20 pCi/L. (For more on the difference between EPA and FDA standards, as well as more on the health implications of ingesting radionuclides, see “Why Does FDA Tolerate More Radiation Than EPA?“)"

EPA has found no strontium-90 in its testing, according to the statement, and it has found neither of the strontium fission products in drinking water.

The Strontium-89 was found in April 4 Hilo samples previously found to contain cesium-134 and cesium-137, and the test results were released only yesterday because they take longer to analyze, according to EPA’s statement:

In response to the Japanese nuclear power plant release, if we identify radioactive cesium… those samples will be analyzed for strontium. Testing for strontium is a complex process that takes time.

More cesium was found in a Hilo milk sample on April 13. All of EPA’s initial milk testing is available here.


Source: forbes

Huge Fallout to Hit West Coast U.S May 3rd

Department of Atmospheric and Climate Research, The Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU)

Reactor Flooding Effort Proceeds at Japan Reactor
Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The operator of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was set on Wednesday to more than double insertion of water into the facility's No. 1 reactor as a step toward determining whether to fully flood the ailing system, the Mainichi Daily News reported (see GSN, April 26; Mainichi Daily News I, April 26).

Tokyo Electric Power has already started pumping additional water into the reactor's outer containment vessel, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The company was expected on Monday to investigate whether water was escaping through a suspected rupture in the containment vessel, according to an earlier report.

By Ryan Nakashima, The Associated Press
Apr 9, 2011


In an unusual — and controversial — plan, engineers decided earlier this month to deliberately pump less contaminated water into the ocean from a storage facility they thought might make a good receptacle for the more highly radioactive water.

That dump is expected to finish Sunday, and technicians already are beginning to ensure that the building is watertight, according to nuclear safety agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama.


Source: http://transport.nilu.no/

Fukushima Radiation Blows Past Chernobyl

As the twenty-fifth anniversary of Chernobyl passes, Fukushima looks set to overtake it as the world’s worst nuclear disaster. Two weeks ago Fukushima was raised from a level 5 disaster to a level 7 like Chernobyl. But nearly two months after the crisis began, Fukushima is still emitting radioactivity, while Chernobyl’s emissions had been contained at this stage.

Robots sent into the Number 1 reactor building have recorded the highest reading of radioactivity so far found at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant since the emergency began almost two months ago. Two robots found 1,120 millisieverts of radiation an hour was being emitted from the stricken reactor. This level of radiation is more than enough to cause immediate radiation sickness if a human being were exposed to it. The Tokyo Electrical Power Company (Tepco) which runs the Fukushima facility has begun to use robots because it has become impossible to send workers into the plant for long enough to take accurate readings.

Source: WSWS.org

The cesium deception: Why the mainstream media is mostly reporting iodine levels, not radioactive cesium

Virtually all the numbers you're seeing about the radioactivity coming out of Fukushima are based oniodine-131which only has a half-life of 8 days, not the far more dangerouscesium-137which has a half-life of30 years. So while the mainstream media reports that "radiation levels are falling rapidly" from the 7.5 million times reading taken a few days ago, what they're not telling you is that the cesium-137 radioactivity will take30 yearsjust to fall by 50 percent.

It's the great global cover-up in all this: What happens to all the radioactive cesium being dumped into the ocean right now? It doesn't just burn itself out in a few months like iodine-131. This stuff sticks around forcenturies.

As part of the cover story,the FDAnow says it will test "all importedfoodproducts coming fromJapan" (http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/20...). This claim is, of course, ridiculous on its face. Even without thisFukushimaemergency in the works, theFDAonly tests a tiny fraction of all the food imported into theUSA. This agency has no existing infrastructure under which it could test ALL the food being imported from Japan. The very idea is ludicrous.

As this ABC News story reveals, the FDA says it's "really stretched" just to inspect a meretwo percentof imported food:http://abcnews.go.com/Health/radiat...

Read More: naturalnews.com

Marine radiation monitoring blocked by Japanese government

Since the start of the Fukushima disaster I have been following the worrying developments from a safe distance in Amsterdam, but suddenly, I am on rocking ship getting closer to the disaster area every day.

I joined the Rainbow Warrior a week ago in Keelung, Taiwan. Normally I work for Greenpeace Netherlands as a nuclear campaigner, but my radiation expertise was needed on board to guarantee the safety of the crew.

Now we are getting closer to Fukushima, the Japanese government has begun obstructing our efforts to do independent research. The sparse data published by the government and TEPCO is not enough to understand the real risks of the continuous leakage of radioactive water in the sea.

The Japanese people are in great need of independent information on the radioactive contamination of their seafood supply. Therefore, we are planning to do research on the radioactive contamination of seaweed, fish and shellfish.

Despite this great need for information, the Japanese government today refused a permit to do research within the territorial waters of Japan. We are allowed to conduct research outside this 12 mile zone, but this is not the area where the Japanese catch their fish and collect their seaweed.

This is a critical situation, so we are not giving up. We will continue heading for Fukushima to begin our research at a distance while we pursue further permission to carry out the sampling within the 12 mile limit.

The Japanese government should welcome such independent monitoring, the fact is they can never have enough information about the extent of the contamination, and the public are entitled to the benefit from the scrutiny and pressure that independent monitoring brings.

Approaching Fukushima is not without risks. The reactors are still not fully under control, and there is a continuous risk of further escalation. Another explosion could happen, releasing huge amounts of radiation, or an aftershock could lead to the collapse of the reactor building.

Therefore we have decided to implement various safety measures on the Warrior. We spent most of last week at sea making her ‘radiation proof’ by installing radiation detection equipment on the bridge, ordering special air filters, and building a designated decontamination area.

We devoted much time to briefing the brave crew. It is important that they have some basic understanding of radiation, and can assess the risks before working in a potentially radioactive contamination environment. We practiced decontamination procedures, and gave instructions on special clothing requirements: white Tyvek suits taped to rubber boots and gloves. I’m personally very happy that the crew puts their trust in me and Jacob, the other radiation safety advisor, to be responsible for their safety.

After the first days of inevitable seasickness, I’m now pretty sea-proof and ready to challenge the radiation risks, and any obstruction of our scientific mission by the Japanese government.

Exactly 25 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the Rainbow Warrior is on her way to another disaster that will keep reminding people of the dangers of nuclear power for at least the next 25 years.

Ike Teuling- Nuclear Campaigner and radiation expert for our field radiation team onboard the Rainbow Warrior.

Source: greenpeace.org

RADIATION EXPOSURE DEBATE RAGES INSIDE EPA

RADIATION EXPOSURE DEBATE RAGES INSIDE EPA — Plan to Radically Hike Post-Accident Radiation in Food & Water Sparks Hot Dissent


Washington, DC — A plan awaiting approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that would dramatically increase permissible radioactive releases in drinking water, food and soil after “radiological incidents” is drawing vigorous objections from agency experts, according to agency documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). At issue is the acceptable level of public health risk following a radiation release, whether an accidental spill or a “dirty bomb” attack.
The radiation arm of EPA, called the Office of Radiation and Indoor Air (ORIA), has prepared an update of the 1992 “Protective Action Guides” (PAG) governing radiation protection decisions for both short-term and long-term cleanup standards. Other divisions within EPA contend the ORIA plan geometrically raises allowable exposure to the public. For example, as Charles Openchowski of EPA’s Office of General Counsel wrote in a January 23, 2009 e-mail to ORIA:

“[T]his guidance would allow cleanup levels that exceed MCLs [Maximum Contamination Limits under the Safe Drinking Water Act] by a factor of 100, 1000, and in two instances 7 million and there is nothing to prevent those levels from being the final cleanup achieved (i.e., it’s not confined to immediate response of emergency phase).”

Another EPA official, Stuart Walker of the Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation, explains what the proposed new radiation limits in drinking water would mean:

“It also appears that drinking water at the PAG concentrations…may lead to subchronic (acute) effects following exposures of a day or a week. In a population, one should see some express acute effects…that is vomiting, fever, etc.”

“This critical debate is taking place entirely behind closed doors because this plan is ‘guidance’ and does not require public notice as a regulation would,” stated PEER Counsel Christine Erickson. Today, PEER sent EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson a letter calling for a more open and broader examination of the proposed radiation guidance. “We all deserve to know why some in the agency want to legitimize exposing the public to radiation at levels vastly higher than what EPA officially considers dangerous.”
The internal documents show that under the updated PAG a single glass of water could give a lifetime’s permissible exposure. In addition, it would allow long-term cleanup limits thousands of times more lax than anything EPA has ever before accepted. These new limits would cause a cancer in as much as every fourth person exposed.
PEER obtained the internal e-mails after filing a lawsuit this past fall under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) but the EPA has yet to turn over thousands more communications. “EPA touts its new transparency but when it comes to matters of controversy the agency still puts up a wall,” added Erickson, who filed the FOIA suit. “Besides the months of stonewalling, we are seeing them pull stunts such as ORIA giving us rebuttals to other EPA documents they have yet to release.”


Source: PEER

Radiation in Japan's Fish Raise Concerns all Over World

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it will require seafood imported from Japan to be checked for radiation before it enters the food supply. But even with the new screenings, no one in the U.S. government is saying "stop eating tuna."

More specifically, an FDA spokesperson told ABC News that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement "is screening everything from Japan." However, screening does not entail testing all the seafood. all the testing of the seafood. In fact, the FDA inspects less than 2 percent of seafood, according to Winona Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch.

"FDA couldn't possibly with existing staff test all of the food that's being imported," Hauter said. "They inspect less than 2 percent of seafood. Their resources are really stretched."

So far, the FDA said that every piece of seafood that has been imported to the United States is safe.

Offshore from the Fukushima plant, the seawater is now testing at levels off the charts -- 7.5 million times more radioactive than the legal limit.

A fisherman said it was a "bad rumor" that the fish was unsafe to eat.

"The fish are totally fine, I believe," he said.

Even though radiation levels become diluted in large bodies of water, officials tested a sample of sand lance fish, often used for bait, and found that the species contained nearly double the levels of iodine 131 and cesium 137. The new regulation caps fish radiation levels at the same amount as vegetables—up to 2,000 bequerels of iodine 131 per kilogram.

Source: ABCNews

Japan’s radiation contamination spread across Northern Hemisphere

Japan’s crippled Daiichi nuclear facility near Fukushima, hit hard by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, has released radioactive materials that have traveled across the entire Northern Hemisphere, a nuclear monitoring watchdog has reported.

The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Treaty Organization (CTBTO) reported on Thursday that within nine days after the accident, the radioactive cloud had crossed North America, and

Three days later when a station in Iceland picked up radioactive materials, it was clear that the cloud had reached Europe.


The report notes that dangers from some radioactive particles decrease with distance, due to atmospheric dispersion rates and precipitation, and a limited half-life of days or weeks, which reduces radioactivity over time. However, other radioactive substances such as Plutonium can linger for thousands of years.
The cumulative effects of the hundreds of atmospheric nuclear tests released such vast amounts of radioactivity that the overall level of radioactivity in the Earth’s atmosphere increased to levels that even dwarfed the Chernobyl disaster. Radioactive isotopes could be traced in baby teeth of children born even at great distances from the test sites in these decades.



A wide range of emission sources can be detected by the CTBTO’s radionuclide stations, among them Iodine-131 and Caesium-137, and by determining ratios between the various radioactive isotopes, can pinpoint the source of radioactive emissions.

So sensitive are these monitoring stations that a rooftop detector at CTBTO’s Vienna headquarters still records trace emissions from Russia’s 1986 disaster at Chernobyl.

Read More: Digitaljournal

Hanford News : 2011

High radiation levels found at Ohio nuclear plant


This story was published Thursday April 28th 2011

By Meghan Barr, Associated Press

CLEVELAND (AP) -- High radiation levels recorded at a nuclear reactor in northeast Ohio have prompted a special inspection by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The NRC says workers at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant immediately evacuated it April 22 when radiation levels rose while it was shutting down for a refueling outage. The commission says the plant is safe and officials don't believe workers were exposed to radiation levels "in excess of NRC limits."

The commission says radiation levels rose when workers were removing a monitor that measures nuclear reactions during start-up and shutdown.

The nuclear reactor is owned by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. It's located about 35 miles northeast of Cleveland.

A FirstEnergy spokesman says the highest radiation exposure to any of the four workers involved was about the equivalent to two or three chest X-rays


Source: Hanfordnews