This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Tokyo Soil – Blanketed With Fukushima Radiation – Would Be Considered “Radioactive Waste” In the United States
Tokyo Soil – Blanketed With Fukushima Radiation – Would Be Considered “Radioactive Waste” In the United States
We noted in August that some parts of Tokyo have more radiation than existed in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zones. And see this and this.
There are indications that radiation levels are increasing in Tokyo.
Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen took 5 random soil samples in Tokyo recently, and found that all 5 were so radioactive that they would be considered radioactive waste in the United States, which would have to be specially disposed of at a facility in Texas:
Tokyo Soil Samples Would Be Considered Nuclear Waste In The US from Fairewinds Energy Education on Vimeo.
Indeed, shortly after the earthquake, U.S. government officials notes widespread contamination throughout northern Japan, including Tokyo, and said:
Entire region would be required to be posted as radiological area.
No wonder the potential evacuation of Tokyo has been quietly discussed by Japanese officials ever since the earthquake hit.
@
Tepco: Less Than 2 Feet of Water Left in Fukushima Reactor
NHK reports today that only 60 centimeters – or 23.62 inches – of water still cover the number 2 reactor:
Tokyo Electric Power Company says it has found that the cooling water in one of the damaged reactors at Fukushima is only 60 centimeters deep, far lower than previously thought.
The utility confirmed the water level by inserting an endoscope into the No.2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Monday.
TEPCO had thought that the water level was about 3 meters [i.e. almost 10 feet - 5 times as high as actually exists]. It has been injecting nearly 9 tons of water per hour into the reactor to cool the melted fuel that has fallen to the bottom of the containment vessel.
But the shallow level indicates that the water continues to leak into the reactor building through the suppression chambers under the vessel.
***
The low level suggests that decommissioning the reactor could be much more difficult. The operator may need to repair more parts of the containment vessel so it can be filled with water to block the strong radiation.
The No. 2 reactor’s containment vessel is believed to have been damaged on March 15th with the sudden loss of pressure inside the reactor.
There are other troubling data coming from unit 4. For example, hydrogen levels within the reactor have increased 500% in the last two weeks.
Temperatures have also fluctuated fairly dramatically within reactor 2 in recent weeks.
DID FUKUSHIMA MELTDOWN 30 YEARS AGO?
We assume the following is just a bad translation or ambiguious statement. German speakers: Please let us know...
We've previously noted that governments have been covering up nuclear meltdowns for 50 years to protect the nuclear power industry.
This month, German state television broadcaster ZDF (which has previously interviewed workers at Fukushima) ran a special on Fukushima which - according to a Youtube translation - claims:
A new investigation discovered that the electricity company TEPCO has been falsifying documents for decades, has hushed up serious incidents, including a nuclear meltdown in Fukushima that was concealed for 30 years.
Here is a screenshot from the English subtitles (viewable by clicking "CC" at the bottom of the Youtube video):
We assume that this is a mistranslation of German into English or - if it is not a mistranslation - that the concealment for 30 years is referring to a "serious incident" other than a meltdown.
We would appreciate it if a fluent German speaker could verify the translation of the phrase "a nuclear meltdown in Fukushima that was concealed for 30 years", and - if accurate - any information about what is actually being referenced.
»
- advertisements -
moonshadow said:
Even if all nuclear power plants were completely safe, we still have the 50-year-old unsolved problem of nuclear waste disposal. Until that problem is solved, safe nuclear power generation will not exist.
given that nuclear plants specifically designed to generate plutonium for nuclear War-Heads produce "energy" as a by-product, the word "safe" is never really going to be fully descriptive - for some peoples, some where, it will always be deadly.
+1 for taking the long view.
Counterbalance?
http://www.highnorth.no/Library/Movements/Greenpeace/ge-ar-gr.htm
Balance that.
George Bush himself held these viewpoints and expressed as much to Chirac. Just think about how many people on the left have a hysterical hatred of the people on the right. And most people on the right have a hysterical fear and disdain of people on the left. Neither side realizes that their passions are just being played against them and that both sides serve the identical purposes of furthering the wealth and power of a few. Just listen to talk radio for two minutes if you think that news sources are objective and not hysteric-laden.
If you think any form of nuclear energy will be our saving grace, then I must say that you, sir, are a compete idiot.
And let's also note the recently released data on high level radioactive contamination at the 1950s meltdown site near Los Angeles, Santa Susana. Almost no domestic coverage, although it was covered in....the Japanese press.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_20108641/rocketdyne-radiation-is-still-...
Some levels of radioactive chemicals found on a portion of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory site were as much as 1,000 times higher than standards, according to federal data released on Monday.
Acting as an independent monitor, officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted radiological surveys on a portion of the land known as Area IV, where a partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor occurred in 1959.
That portion is currently overseen by the Department of Energy.
The results of the radiological survey show that of the 437 samples collected, 75 exceeded standards agreed upon by the DOE and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control in a cleanup agreement signed in December 2010.
Seven radioactive isotopes, including one known as cesium-137, measured at levels between 100 to 1,000 times higher than the standards. Other radionuclides that suggest nuclear presence include strontium-90, tritium, plutonium, and carbon-14.
The recent data is significant to residents, activists and public officials who have fought for years for the removal of radiation and chemical contaminants at the former Rocketdyne site, which is nestled in the hills between Chatsworth and Simi Valley and was purchased by the Boeing Co. in 1996.
The numbers provides hard evidence that not only do the radioactive materials exist, but that the levels are higher than expected.
This short film comes to mind: "Mt. Fuji in Red" by Akira Kurosawa (1990)
http://vimeo.com/22013550
Amazingly prescient.
For all the homage paid to "Japanese honor," the Fukushima disaster has proven beyond a shawdow of a doubt that the concept of "Honor" among the Japanese leadership is but a myth.
'For all the homage paid to "Japanese honor," the Fukushima disaster has proven beyond a shawdow of a doubt that the concept of "Honor" among the Japanese leadership is but a myth.'
And so is Japanese technology. Radios and motorcycles, OK. Nuclear power plants, not so much.
I thought those nuke plants were American designs? Westinghouse submarine power plant based US designs if I am correct?
They didn't work that well, either. There are a lot of dead submarine sailors at the bottom of the sea.
I don't care how good your engineering is........you build nuclear plants on an island made by volcanos in the middle of the ring of fire on the shore to boot and everyone wants to cry about they weren't built well enough?
I'm sure they weren't built well enough.....however mishaps with mothernature will always happen and there's really nothing you can do about it. Glacial shifts have the power to rip continents apart. What are you going to do? Wrap steel straps around your house? LOL.
THEY KNEW THERE WAS A FAULTLINE STRAIGHT UNDER FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI.
A vertical one. Then they built the plant on a sloping ground, and proceded to lower it to sea level, to save on not having to put extra water pumps in.
This is also the reason why they can't entomb it with a concrete cask (like in Chernobyl); it'd simply be too heavy and the whole plateau would slide into the ocean.
Then they built the damn things too close to each other. If one goes, so go all the other 5.
WHY are they not putting EVERY AVAILABLE RESOURCE into getting the fuel rods out of SFP#4?
Highly unstable. Global consequences.
intentional.
+1
There should be an engineering course taught to every young engineer that goes along the line of:
"The Hubris of Man and Engineering Design" aka "common sense 101"
And every economist and political science major should read "The Creature From Jekyll Island".
Either might have made a difference. Now it's only counterfactual history.
A common theme in the minds of man and animals btw. Cover your crap fast, and proudly display all that is good no matter how rotten underneath and pass it as 'good'. Then hope what is buried goes away or is never dug up. Unfortunately other pesky critters have a habit of unearthing things others want to stay buried.
Hey everybody look what I found - a glowing pig!
Did the guy actually give info on the radiation levels and types (i.e. spectra) since just saying it would be classified as radioactive waste doesn't tell me a lot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mKUcdwoVfQ
Jesus. If their sewage is that radioactive, their cancer rates are going to be off the charts in a few years' time. Assuming the world makes it that long.
Well duh - Sewage is full of viruses. Of course it's going to cause cancer.
I'll believe it when there is scientific consensus.
Yes, he did. The lab report is scrolled by the camera in the middle of this video. The samples were checked for a couple isotopes of Cesium, Cobalt, and Uranium.They showed small amounts of Cesium, presumably based on gamma ray spectra.
That they tested positive for these elements says it all. They would be classed as low-level nuke waste.
In 1990 Akira Kurosawa made a movie containing short stories. One of them was a failure of several nuclear plants in Japan and people jumping to the sea to escape radiation. Prescient?
Yes, loved that movie, he called it "Dreams." Too bad it is no longer a dream.
Great film. I wonder if the zombie-soldiers in the tunnel can be construed as the cleanup workers, led by TEPCO management.
The problem isn't the technology, it is the industry. If the industry was careful, responsible and transparent, they could have a chance of running these old plants safely. The nuclear industry can't be run as a private industry and must be nationalized. The incentives are all wrong. Saftey must trump profits.
We need to use thorium reactors too. That would be the belt and suspenders approach.
Wasn't Chernobyl a "nationalized" reactor?
What makes you think a government run nuclear plant would be any safer than a privately run plant under government regulation? All experience proves the opposite. If you have a government body regulating a privately owned entity there is a chance things will be run on the up and up. At least for a while. If you have a private entity that is self regulating, or a government entity that is self regulating, you can depend on things going sideways real soon.
In other words, independent oversight or regulation is better than nothing.
This does not get around the fact that human beings are not capable of regulating nuclear energy. Certainly not for the length of time necessary to make it safe. Thorium plants have the best chance of operating safely and using up dangerous radioactive materials and rendering them harmless. But the authorities have known that for 60 years.
The cost of being careful, responsible and transparent results in "nuclear energy" not being a cost effective source of energy. You have to do the EROI "all in" from beginning to end... plus you need to consider little "mistakes" like Japan..... Long term these plants have the potential of becoming the stuff of nightmares for our children.
But like most things in our society who gives a fuck what happens to the next generation, so long as I have mine fuck them.
And the waste of burning millions of gallons of hydrocarbon fuels? Is that calculated into the EROI of petroleum products and all alternative energies that rely on petroleum at any stage? No, it isn't. There is no free lunch.
Perhaps you are unaware of liquid thorium salt reactor technology, perhaps you choose to ignore it. Perhaps you think safe nuclear waste disposal is an unsurmountable obstacle, and are unaware of deep geological repositories such as Onkalo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olkiluoto_Nuclear_Power_Plant#Onkalo_waste_... , perhaps you choose to ignore it.
Sorry but the "not in anyone's backyard" stance is exclusively reserved for people who think cars and light bulbs run on pure concentrated Magic.
>>>You have to do the EROI "all in" from beginning to end... <<<
The end is more of a problem than most realize.
Nuclear plant ecommissioning funds are coming up short of funds...and in some cases, estimates are that it will take 60 years to decommission some plants.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/science/earth/as-nuclear-reactors-age-...
We clearly haven't ever factored in the actual disposal of nuclear waste. We've had nuclear power for over half a century and still don't know what the fuck to do with the waste. I know sustainable sources of energy aren't as efficient, but a wind farm doesn't give an entire country cancer when things go wrong. We need to think about a time frame longer than our own lives just once in the history of humanity, and maybe we'll actually have a shot at making it out of this century as a viable species.
In elementary school, when we were taught about the "joys" of nuclear power, we were told that there was no way to dispose of nuclear waste, but that (cheerfully) our scientists would have a solution for it soon. My reaction at the time was that if they couldn't dispose of it the scientists had no business building nuclear plants, or nuclear anything. It has always bothered me, that if as a child, I could figure this one out, but why couldn't the (supposedly smarter) adults?
If I, as a senior in high school, knew that the Dubya administration was full of shit about the evidence of WMD in Iraq, what does that say about almost all of Congress, who allowed themselves to be sold a lie that will probably be looked back as the straw that broke our country's back?
I've always found these (5 & 6) definitions of congress entertaining:
Nouncongress (plural congresses)
after a while, one fully understands that the collection of baboons (see: 6 above)are privy to information that guides their hand(s) when creating multiple layers of laws for those who are not members (see: 5 above) of their exclusive ASSociations (see: 4 above).
Read "The Creature From Jekyll Island". The country's back was broken a long, long time ago.
Beware the Red Pill, though. There's no going back.
Would like your opinion of this:
www.gen4energy.com
GW, are your sources hearing of any unusual weight gains amongst people in that region from the toxins? If so, do you think this is a presage of The Obesity Epidemic perhaps burgeoning into a full-blown global pandemic?
Your thoughts, as always are appreicated.
When folks make up stuff around here, they get called on it. Your it.
translation is absolutely correct
English translation is pretty correct. Only minor discrepancy:
"An investigation discovered that.." -> "An inquiery panel is discovering that..."
A cover up 30 or 10 or 2 years ago is no surprise - nuclear and chemical and industrial plants have been covering up 'incidents' for a lot longer than 30 years.
But "Nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen took 5 random soil samples in Tokyo recently, and found that all 5 were so radioactive that they would be considered radioactive waste in the United States, which would have to be specially disposed of at a facility in Texas:"
That is NOW.
So why the hell ain't it in the MSM news?
Ha ha ha aha ahahahahah
retorical question...
The MSM news yesterday and today is that nuclear is coming back after the 'speed bump' of Fucishama.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-25/nuclear-industry-says-back-on-track-after-fukushima-speed-bump
You can't make this shit up. There are some cocksuckers masquarding as business people that are so fundamentally corrupt they should just be hung from the nearest tree.
@nobody for president
Hey Nobody,
Nice post-----right on target with THE question.
I made one up on March 15, 2011
I made the statement that Fukushima is THE most important event of the 21st century.
I still believe that this will be the case om
Is corruption going parabolic, or are people just waking up to the fact.
When there is something serious to cover up, even somewhat moral individuals will begin to act amoral. This tends to be the case when they are protecting their "position". Japan as a country has been running like this since the '90s. Should we be surprised?
You mean the 1890s? It goes back farther than that.
I am afraid I must seriously disagree with you. You can make this shit up.
PS. Luv your handle
translation is correct, a meltdown has been covered up for 30 years
Yet it is impossible to find any solid evidence of deaths directly caused by radiation poisoning or exposure. Not from Greenpeace ... not from mainstream sources ... not from alternative sources.
All I have been able to find is cliches about "radiation" and "contamination" and "radioactive waste" ... but no deaths or critcal illnesses reported by anyone, either pro- or anti-nuclear.
Something smells fishy......
Kraftwerk; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaScyfSHc-Y
Impossible? You didnt look very far then asshat.
Here:
http://enenews.com/report-indicated-five-fukushima-workers-received-fata...
And from now on your comments are decared garbage bullshit until backed up by notarized affadavits