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Radiation Expert: "Sr-90 and Uranium and Particulates Will Be Building Up in the USA and Europe ... For Now I Think It Prudent To Stop Drinking Milk"

George Washington's picture




 

Washington’s Blog

Preface: I take very seriously any
warning about consuming a product which is important for the local
economy. But when a respected radiation expert issues this type of
warning, I have to pass it on.

 

I
wrote to radiation expert Dr. Chris Busby to ask him if he thought
people living outside of Japan should take any actions to try to reduce
their radiation exposure:

Epidemiologist Dr. Wing thinks people outside of Japan shouldn't do anything to attempt to reduce radiation exposure: Leading Epidemiologist: Instead of Trying to Avoid Japanese Radiation, Put Your Energy Into Demanding a Saner Energy Policy

But the French anti-nuclear NGO CRIIAD says that pregnant women and infants should take steps to reduce exposure: French Nuclear Group Warns that Children and Pregnant Mothers Should Protect Themselves from Radiation

I've also researched the scientific literature, and found that antioxidants can help a little: Can Vitamins or Herbs Help Protect Us from Radiation?

What's your advice for people outside of Japan?

Professor Busby replied:

I
attach my "don't panic" paper. However, since then I have re-thought
this advice as the thing is still fissioning and releasing 10 to the
fourteen becquerels a day. This will mean that Sr-90 [strontium 90] and
Uranium and particulates will be building up in the USA and Europe. I
will assess this later but for now I think it prudent to stop drinking milk. I also attach the particulates note.

Busby - Fukuparticles2

Busby - Dont Panic


Disclaimer: I am not a health professional or radiation expert.

 

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Mon, 04/25/2011 - 07:00 | 1202872 pazmaker
pazmaker's picture

Milk is for cows. Humans past age of 6 have no need for milk anyway... what about cheese?

Switch to soymilk.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 08:23 | 1203034 UninterestedObserver
UninterestedObserver's picture

Soymilk is worse for you, do some research. Almond or rice milk is OK

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 08:58 | 1203114 s0lspot
s0lspot's picture

I concur. Almond & Rice milk are as healthy as it gets. Almond milk is so tasty!

Cow milk is for veals, not sheeeeeeplezzzz...

 

Remember that the sheeeeeeplezzzz's stomachs were never meant to digest another specie's breast juice!

This all "milk is healthy for you" meme was cooked up by Nestlé & consorts in the 1920's-30's in order to sell more.

Just like cigarette makers used the Sufragette's struggle during the 20's to sell more.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 09:30 | 1203194 Arttrader
Arttrader's picture

Except for the fact that milk proteins like whey and casein have some of the highest bioavailability of any proteins you can consume.  They provide an easily digestible (I'm talking about the proteins not the lactose sugar, before you even start with that intolerance stuff), easily assimilated, and inexpensive variety of essential amino acids.  You would have to load up a lot of carbs to get that from rice and beans.  And you should read up on how soy protein will mess with your hormones before you even BEGIN to speculate on what hormones for milk cows will do to you by way of their processed milk.  Geez.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 06:31 | 1202828 Moe Howard
Moe Howard's picture

I'm going to purchase a couple of cases of evaporated milk, and some powered milk as well. Just in case. I like milk in my coffee.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 06:25 | 1202825 ivars
ivars's picture

Contamination map of the Fukushima plant:

http://saposjoint.net/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=2657&p=31965#p31964

Interestingly, some of most  radioactive debris sits where the debris from reactor 3. vertical explosion would land. So it must come from inside reactor 3. What is it? They have not explained.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 07:32 | 1202958 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Important post.  Reactor 4 is in deep shit.  Well, they all are, but this is getting away from them.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 10:09 | 1203296 Plumplechook
Plumplechook's picture

Correct.  Just in on NHK - they can't keep the water levels up or the temperature down:

The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is carefully monitoring the situation at the Number 4 spent fuel pool, where the water temperature is rising despite increased injections of cooling water.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or 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's hydrogen explosion.

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 were injected on Sunday. It is carefully monitoring the water level and temperature to avoid further troubles.

The Number 4 spent fuel pool stores 1,535 fuel rods, the most at the nuclear complex.

 

 

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 10:08 | 1203295 Plumplechook
Plumplechook's picture

duplicate

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 05:32 | 1202760 anonnn
anonnn's picture

 

 

#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Trial in France May Have Affected the Japanese Government's Decision to Upgrade to INES Level 7

 

 

Or may not, as people involved in the trial seem to think the case will be dismissed anyway.

It is an almost a decade-long trial of the ex-director of the Central Service for Protection against Ionizing Radiation (SCPRI) who famously (allegedly) said "the cloud stopped at the border." He was referring to the radioactive fallout cloud from Chernobyl in May 1986." More...

http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/04/fukushima-i-nuke-plant-trial-in-france.html

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 05:05 | 1202724 lolmao500
lolmao500's picture

I'll continue drinking milk, thank you very much. I'm in eastern Canada.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 08:44 | 1203080 Bicycle Repairman
Bicycle Repairman's picture

The radioactive cloud spans the entire northern hemisphere.  Abnormally high readings in rain water for the northeast US.  Get some facts about eastern Canada.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 05:08 | 1202717 UncleFurker
UncleFurker's picture

GW.

Get a screenshot of this...

http://atmc.jp/plant/rad/?n=4

Reactor #4 - currently measuring 4250 Sv/h at the S/C

I think D/W is drywall? Not sure what S/C means.

How do you spell FUBAR?

Old readings:


?? D/W S/C 4/25 _ 4250 4/24 _ 4250 4/23 _ 4250 4/22 _ 4200 4/21 _ 4200 4/20 _ 4300 4/19 _ 4350 4/18 _ 4450 4/17 _ 4250 4/16 _ 4400 4/15 _ 4900 4/14 _ 4850 4/13 _ 4850 4/12 _ 4750 4/11 _ 4900 4/10 _ 5000 4/09 _ 4900 4/08 _ 4950 4/07 _ 4950 4/06 _ 4900 4/05 _ 4900 4/04 _

5000

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 10:42 | 1203425 primalplasma
primalplasma's picture

For the longest time they weren't taking readings of Reactor 4. I guess they just started, but everyone kind of guessed that Reactor 4 was in trouble for weeks now.

So we have Reactor 1 and Reactor 4 about to go into total meltdown if they haven't already. TEPCO and the Japanese Government are now censoring people in Japan from commenting negatively on the situation...and it's only April.

I would say that by mid-May to early June we shall see martial law there.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 06:22 | 1202819 mick_richfield
mick_richfield's picture

Um.  That really does say 4250 Sv / hour in the drywell.  There is definitely no dot or comma in that number.  And no "milli" or "m" in front of Sv.  I did not know that such levels were possible even standing next to bare fuel.

That is a kill-you-dead dose every 6 seconds.

Does this mean that a large fraction of the fuel is in the drywell? 

Sustained recriticality?

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 10:12 | 1203307 Nobody special
Nobody special's picture

Note that the navigation menu contains links to reactors 1-3, 5, and 6.  There is no active menu link to reactor 4.  Flip to view another reactor and note... still no menu link to reactor four.  You have to adjust the URL to see the information.  They know the severity of this information.  The cover up grants it credibility.  Scary.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 10:05 | 1203289 patb
patb's picture

that's probably coremelt. 

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 08:41 | 1203075 Sabibaby
Sabibaby's picture

The fancy "u" is all that really matters I suppose

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 04:30 | 1202651 ED
ED's picture

Herbivores consume large areas of vegetation, I wonder where materials would concentrate in their bodies, certainly milk is a concentrate. Also water catchment occurs over wide areas.

 

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 03:59 | 1202600 heaven
heaven's picture

Thanks for all your hard work. Always appreciated by me.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 04:29 | 1202650 nobita
nobita's picture

Me too. Thank you Washington!

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 03:44 | 1202568 10kby2k
10kby2k's picture

 

For those who can: leave Japan.  That simple.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 02:04 | 1202443 AnAnonymous
AnAnonymous's picture

Fukushima (an event that will never supercede Chernobyl in the US popular lore, that is going to remain the nuclear disaster you want to refer when speaking of unproficiency, check tv shows, soaps and all to see that in spite of Fukushima being worse than Chernobyl) is a good example of the free press in a US driven world.

Disaster started at 6 on scale, was turned to 7, might be still on at present times.

And what has happened? Extensive coverage when the disaster was marked at 6 and less and less coverage when the disaster turned to be a 7 class event.

 

This is an impressively meaningful reminder: the free press, in this US driven world, does not report according to the importance of the event but follows other paths.

To be remembered as while the situation of some people grow worser and worser, the free press might start to report extensively about it and slowly, despite the situation growing worser by the day, starts to report less and less.

Was not able to follow the news, when the disaster started but due to background noise, it was easy to hear of it.

Currently, I could not tell if it is over. The free press, in this US driven world, has dropped the ball.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 09:16 | 1203155 Commander Cody
Commander Cody's picture

Nothing about the press is "free".

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 06:22 | 1202815 Azannoth
Azannoth's picture

At Chernobyl you only had 1 reactor blow up(thre remaining 3) are still operational today,

at Fukushima you have 3+1 reactors blow up, how is this NOT bigger than Chernobyl ?

and the spent fuel pool containst 10x more radioactive waste, this should be 9 or 10 on this scale

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 09:17 | 1203159 Commander Cody
Commander Cody's picture

Chernobyl reactors 1-3 are shutdown, defueled and awaiting decommissioning.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 04:03 | 1202608 goldenbuddha454
goldenbuddha454's picture

That is excellent commentary!  Couldn't have said it better myself.  It seems I need to go to der spiegel or the london times to find or hear of anything on this story anymore, yet its still "fissioning" as the article says.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 03:23 | 1202546 Thunder_Downunder
Thunder_Downunder's picture

I think this is mainly just a response to consumer demand..

 

News = infotainment / tell me how I should feel about 'X' propaganda.

 

Most people lose interest in a movie once they've seen it... The world needs to redesign the way disasters occur. They need to be mopped up and finished, preferrably within 2 weeks, or up to 4 weeks if it can generate a continuous and dynamic stream of pictures...

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 08:42 | 1203072 Bicycle Repairman
Bicycle Repairman's picture

If it bleeds, it leads.  Not enough blood at Fukushima?

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 12:06 | 1203747 RockyRacoon
RockyRacoon's picture

The press did find the time to cover abandoned and missing pets, however.    The world has gone berserk.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 01:04 | 1202333 ClassicalLib17
ClassicalLib17's picture

I didn't take the time to read your add on their, George, but, I started thinking that if the cow's milk is tainted that must be because of their grazing habits. Don't the rest of us eat from the same field?  You seem to get junked alot on this forum and I didn't know why until now. 

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 05:33 | 1202758 Popo
Popo's picture

Sorry -- stupid question from an agriculturally-ignorant urbanite:

Do dairy cows eat from a food trough (ie: grain, corn, etc.) or do they graze pasture in the USA?  I thought they were fed all kinds of hormones and other nasty stuff via their "grain"...  

 

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 08:42 | 1203081 moneymutt
moneymutt's picture

in wisconsin dairy farms generally provide all or most of the food for their cows from onsite, either grazing or feeding the cows what they have grown/stored. If dairy farmers have to buy feed from outside sources, its a big cost, and they try to avoid it.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 10:40 | 1203431 Mad Max
Mad Max's picture

+10

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 09:45 | 1203237 prophet_banker
prophet_banker's picture

Right. All grass fed to wisconsin cows was cut in 2010. til mid june

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 07:57 | 1202994 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Dairy cows eat all of the above, plus silage, the chopped up, fermented entire corn plant, harvested while it's still green.  And yes, they are routinely fed anti-biotics and hormones to increase milk production.  Both milk and tobacco products concentrate radiation.  Bon Appetite

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 10:42 | 1203430 Mad Max
Mad Max's picture

One of the best and most accurate answers of this group.  Completely right for some dairy operations.  In the upper midwest it would be more common for the feed to be mostly silage (heavily fermented cut grass, alfalfa, clover, or whole-corn-plants) or haylage (partially fermented grass, alfalfa or clover) usually supplemented with some quantity of extra fat, most commonly soybean oil.  Hay and pasture may also be incorporated.  Yes, antibiotics and hormones are commonly used, other than at "organic" farms.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 11:01 | 1203511 Inspector Bird
Inspector Bird's picture

Dated the daughter of a major milk producer (farmer's daughter joke inserted here) for many years.  Spent time on the farm, saw the process, milked a few cows the old fashioned way.  There is little to no grazing done for most of the year.  There is some done this time of year, during the early grass growth period.  Grazing in July and August would likely bug the cows, and hurt the grass, as the heat causes the grass to go into hibernation.  Cows would be eating alot of dead stuff.  Not bad for them, but not particularly high on their list of edibles.

 

However, they don't really eat enough to make a difference for this discussion.  And the idea that they concentrate anything is, well, silly.  Even when they graze, they are still eating the other foods they eat year round, the grazing is "supplemental".

 

I love the doomsayers.  Why do they get so much press?

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 06:42 | 1202845 Dental Floss Tycoon
Dental Floss Tycoon's picture

Dairy cows eat grass for the better part of the day.  They are given grain based feed at milking time.  It takes about 30 pounds of grass to produce a gallon of milk.

The cheek by jowl feed lot operations are associated with beef cattle fattening.


Mon, 04/25/2011 - 06:05 | 1202801 vxpatel
vxpatel's picture

in the minds of most amerikans and in cartoons the cows graze in the pastures, while in reality, they stand crowded together like in a concentration camp where they are force fed corn infused with hormones/antibiotics/vitamins/steroids.

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 10:39 | 1203406 Mad Max
Mad Max's picture

Possibly close to reality in a few of the worst outlier dairy "farms" but basically a nasty PETA horror story to scare people.

Wed, 04/27/2011 - 03:07 | 1210368 vxpatel
vxpatel's picture

let me guess...you're a fan of KFC and McDonalds?

Mon, 04/25/2011 - 04:47 | 1202693 Sad Sufi
Sad Sufi's picture

Lib,

It might be that a cow eats 50 lbs of grass to create 1 lb of milk. That means the animal is concentrating it for us, versus us eating the field crops ourselves.

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