Japan Kept Secret on Fukushima Radiation Measurements

64 This photograph released 30 April 2011 shows Katsuaki Kozuka showing a radiation measuring instrument in Kawauchimura located in the radius of 20-30 km from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on 28 April 2011.

The Japanese government admitted it kept in secret at least 5000 radiation radiation measurements and assessments after the nuclear event which struck the Fukushima Daiichi NPP in March.

This was done in order not to induce panic in the population, a representative of the staff dealing with the nuclear emergency told ITAR-TASS.

"It was a wrong decision," he admitted, pointing out that all upcoming information abouth Fukushima Daiichi will be spread immediately.

The system which collects data about radiation leaks from the Japanese nuclear power plants does not work effectively, Japanese media have reported, according to the Russian agency.


Source: novinite.com

Full meltdown in full swing? Japan maximum nuclear alert

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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

Radiation Specialist Quits Job Protesting Inexcusable Radiation Limits for Schools

TOKYO—A prominent Japanese radiation safety specialist has resigned his governmental advisory post in protest over what he calls "inexcusable" standards for school children in Fukushima Prefecture. The Yomiuri Online news web site reported in Japanese this evening that Toshiso Kosako, a radiation safety expert at the University of Tokyo, feels the standards are too lenient and that his advice has been ignored.

On 19 April, the ministry of education announced a "provisional idea" for schoolyards contaminated by radiation emanating from the ravaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The ministry cited a recommendation by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), based in Ottawa, Canada, that sets an acceptable level of between 1 and 20 millisieverts (mSv) per year for individuals. In its Application of the Commission's Recommendations to the Protection of People Living in Long-term Contaminated Areas

Sourece: Sciencemag.org

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