[Column] Unexpected achievement of Fukushima Diary

 

 

After guiding the Japanese family in Romania and before going to Svalbard (The only habitable visa-free region in the world. OK, thank you for your hosting offer but Japanese can’t stay in your country without visa over 90 days. Some of my followers have kids, so I don’t consider visa-run either.), I was meeting a university student in Bucharest.

 

He is planning to write about Fukushima issue for his thesis.

 

The purpose is to analyze the transition of media coverage over Fukushima issue by collecting as many articles as possible. Before 311, 99% of the information was FOR nuclear power. Most of the human beings were deceived to believe it’s the “clean energy”. After 311, shock, lies, ignorance, everything is mixed in media coverage and we still don’t have the solid trend.

The deadline of the report is June 2014. I told him it’s going to be a long way to go. lol

 

I told him what I got to know so far but I’m afraid I overwhelmed him with too much information. (This is also what happens at more than most of the press interviews with me.)

If I do that by myself, it wouldn’t take longer than one hour. The draft has already been written in my mind since I left Japan. but it’s his task.

 

When I left Japan, I dreamed of leading the international help, awareness and developing something like Svalbard for Japanese people. but I didn’t expect so much that I would inspire a uni student in such a far city from my hometown.

I wanted to help him as one of my “unexpected” achievements.

 

In order to write about Fukushima, even though it’s not about technical things, he must understand the basic nuclear physics, chemistry, history (international politics), and media industry at least.

I’m giving him much links (as long as I don’t cause him a panic), but if you are a Fukushima blogger or a reporter and read this, I would love you to contact me from the comment section below. I would need your help for him.

 

Maybe raising the small seeds is also the job of Fukushima Diary.

 

2 days ago, I came back to Bucharest because I was supposed to receive the new visa (exactly speaking it’s “a permission”) but I couldn’t. I don’t know if they are not ready or there is some problem about issuing it to me.

My current visa is going to expire this February. I’m in quite an unstable situation as it has been.

 

However, my desperate efforts seem to have been sowing the seeds somewhere I don’t know.

 

 

Thank you for reading Fukushima Diary. Your support is the energy of my restless work.

_____

Français :

[Édito] Un résultat inattendu du Fukushima Diary

 

Après avoir servi de guide à une famille japonaise en Roumanie et avant de me rendre à Svalbard (le seul endroit au monde qui soit habitable et accessible sans visa. Ok, merci pour vos offres d’hébergement mais sans visa les japonais ne peuvent pas rester plus de 90 jours dans votre pays. Certain de ceux qui me suivent ont des enfants, donc je ne veux pas de visa pour moi non plus), j’ai rencontré un étudiant universitaire à Bucarest.

Il a prévu sa thèse sur le problème de Fukushima.

Son but est d’analyser la transition de la couverture médiatique sur le problème de Fukushima en rassemblant autant d’articles que possible sur le sujet. Avant le 11-3, 99 % des informations étaient POUR l’énergie nucléaire. La plupart des gens ont été trompés d’avoir cru qu’il s’agissait d’une “énergie propre”. Après le 11-3 dans la couverture médiatique, le choc, les mensonges, l’ignorance, tout s’est mélangé et aucune tendance clairement marquée ne s’est encore imposée à ce jour.
La remise de son rapport est pour juin 2014. Je lui ai dit que c’était encore loin. lol

Je lui ai dit ce que j’ai réussi à savoir pour l’instant mais je crains l’avoir noyé sous trop d’informations. (C’est aussi ce qui se passe la plupart du temps quand je me fais interviewer par la presse.)
Si je fais ça moi-même, je n’en aurai pas pour plus d’une heure. Le brouillon en est déjà dans ma tête depuis que j’ai quitté le Japon. mais c’est son boulot.

Quand je suis parti du Japon, je rêvais de diriger une aide internationale, de la sensibilisation et le développement de quelque chose comme Svalbard pour les japonais mais je ne m’attendais pas à inspirer un universitaire d’une ville aussi éloignée de ma ville natale.
J’ai voulu l’aider en le considérant comme un de mes résultats “inattendus”.

Pour écrire sur Fukushima, même si ce n’est pas sur les trucs techniques, il faut avoir des bases en physique nucléaire, chimie,  histoire (politique internationale) et sur le monde médiatique, au minimum.
Je lui donne beaucoup de liens (du moins tant que je ne le panique pas) mais si vous êtes un blogueur sur Fukushima ou un journaliste et que vous lisez ceci, j’aimerai beaucoup que vous preniez contact avec moi via la section des commentaires ci-dessous. J’aurais besoin de votre aide pour lui.

Faire pousser des petites graines est peut être aussi un travail du Fukushima Diary.

Je suis revenu à Bucarest il y a 2 jours parce que j’étais supposé recevoir mon nouveau visa (plus précisément, c’est une “permission”) mais je n’ai pas pu. Je ne sais pas si c’est parce qu’ils ne sont pas prêts ou s’il y a un problème pour me le remettre.
Mon visa actuel expire en février prochain. Je suis dans une situation plutôt instable comme ça a déjà été le cas.

Néanmoins, mes efforts désespérés semblent faire pousser des graines à des endroits dont je n’ai pas idée.

 

Merci de lire le Fukushima Diary. Votre soutien est l’énergie de mon travail acharné.

  1. Archivists

    The author will require access to an independent archive service. As the press archives are, ‘for sale to the highest bidder’. Articles vanish, links are disabled. Stories, comments and blogs are retroactively altered, edited and censored. Dual standards are ROUTINELY imposed by so-called ‘open blogs’.

    Sleuthing, and cross-checking will be required, but (independent archives of) the blogs are probably the best place to mine the historical data.

    The Mendacity Media remains entirely pro-nuke. For example it has been widely complained that the Hearst Corporation business model is to ‘shake down’ misbehaving businesses for advertizing sales, with the THREAT of accurate reporting. Political pressure, favors, slanted-stories and ‘access’ are the coin of their (crumbling) realm.

    Sincerely,

    Bill Duff

  2. You, and others, have inspired another university student to concentrate efforts towards this epochal Mega-Disaster known as the Fukushima Disaster allowed by reckless attitudes towards safety and initiated by the Mega-Earthquake on March 11, 2011 (a day which will remain in infamy for every race, gender, age and creed).

    I choose to study the inclusions of radioactive materials in the scrap metal industry where it affects welders and other metal-workers and those working around N.O.R.M. (naturally occurring radioactive material) including those in the petrochemical industries.
    A quiet revolution in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is desperately needed for the average worker, in my humble opinion. Awareness of radiation of all types, including alpha, beta, black-body and other photonic radiation must be increased throughout industry, governance and citizenry.

    Thank you sincerely Mochizuki-san for raising awareness of our collective plight. My deep humble bow to you.

  3. Strange that only people from East Japan have Acute myeloid leukemia. Normally rare in young people.
    That’s blood Cancer by the way, typically caused by internation radiation poisoning.
    If I remember well, the number of people sick from Acute myeloid leukemia has been increasing in Japan since 3-11.

  4. It is a shame by the way that the guy is one of the victim and can’t even warn others of the dangers. It is hard to believe that he ignores that internal radiation poisoning causes blood cancer. How can be ignorant about the health risks of Fukushima explosions consequences is really strange.

  5. An interesting article, but as typical the links are no longer functional

    http economicsnewspaper com/ (economics/fukushima-3-nuclear-explosion-19550) html

    Fukushima 3: Nuclear Blast

    The discovery of concrete blocks in highly radioactive debris from the reactor 3 confirms the hypothesis that, contrary to what has been announced, the explosion of 14 March 2011 was not caused by hydrogen but by a chain reaction in nucléraire.

    NHK has published the news on April 24 but only experts understood what it meant

    http www3 nhk or jp/ daily/english

    Among the debris of the building of the No. 3 reactor in Fukushima, we found a piece of concrete highly radioactive.

    block of 30 cm in width from 5 to diffuse thickness of 900000 microsiverts doses per hour, which is the sign that he was in contact with radionuclide Extremely active.

    TEPCO workers, heavily protected, we removed from the site and put in a special container.

    The débrits highly radioactive.

    This discovery confirms the theory of some experts that the powerful explosion that occurred on the Building No. 3 has nothing to do with hydrogen but is the consequence of a chain reaction of fuel nuclear, ie an atomic explosion.

    British specialist Christopher Busby said on Russian TV channel RT (Russia Today) that this chain reaction could occur in the fuel storage pool at the top of the building that contained significant quantities of MOX (mixed plutonium and Uratinum) who found OUTDOORS after the arrest of the pool pumps supplying cooling water.

    The alternative, which would explain the high haltitude vertical projection of debris is that, as at Chernobyl, the chain reaction occurred within the confines of Contin whose cover is blown like a champagne cork.

    In both cases, this assumption involves the projection into the air and vaporization of nuclear fuel containing plutonium, the most toxic known.

    The irradiated severely affected.

    The hypothesis of a nuclear explosion is also advanced by the member Japanese Takeshi Tokuda after he visited the hospital Minami Soma and talked with Dr. Oikawa, responsible for treating the injured from the accident.

    Dr. Oikawa explained that “When the explosion occurred hydrogen March 12, the débrits and rubble fell back on Futaba-machi located 2 kilometers of the plant. When we checked the rates irradiation of evacuated personnel from around the central rates REC SELECT disaine one of them exceeded the maximum capacity of the Geiger counter of the hospital, well beyond the permissible doses. This does not correspond to the official statement from the Head Cabinet Secretary (Minister 1) Yukio Edano who asserted that containment was not endomagée, there had been no dispersal of radioactive materials.

    situation similar to Chernobyl

    The consequences of a nuclear explosion type dispersion occurs not only massive but also nuclear fuel debris from the environment immediately send fuel and therefore highly irradiated.

    This has implications not only for atmospheric pollution, land and sea but it will cause problems similar to those that the liquidators of Chernobyl have had to face to clean up the site before work could begin the sarcophagus.

    The roof of the plant was in fact littered with rubble irradiated, in the case of Chernobyl composed mainly of graphite used to slow the chain reaction, so that the radiating téléguiés robots broke down.

    USSR appealed to the army and soldiers are sent for every few minutes to do the job that robots could not do.

    losses were very important, most of these men being sick afterwards because the dose received significant protections in Depis lead.

    Fukushima

    scenario differs by the type of contaminated material (no graphite) but if there was a nuclear explosion, the rubble that lie on top of the reactor buildings at risk of rate radiation similar to those of the concrete block that has just been found.

    liquidation s’évèrera long and highly risky.

  6. Hi Iori:

    If you wish, you can forward the Romanian student this:

    http://shlonger.com/0615b6f639b4c54037c8d0567e797021

    When this August-2013 I realized what was going on in #Fukushima, I wrote the hereinabove document to put together the info & links for people to realiza & awake. I felt I needed to put the puzzle pieces together for people to understand.

    Please tell him he is free to use it. Furthermore, if he goes to https://twitter.com/FrediTeres/favorites he will find only Fukushima articles and graphism/pics I have made to divulgate the ongoing crisis, the Mass Media BlackOut, the organised disinformation campaign, etc.

    Should he be interested, I also authorise you to give him my email, in order to contact me.

    Thanks so much for all you are doing.

    Fredi.

  7. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/world/asia/03japan.html?_r=1&hpw=&pagewanted=all

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/world/asia/03japan.html?_r=1&hpw

    A Governor’s Power to Shape the Future of a Nuclear Japan

    By MARTIN FACKLER
    Published: July 2, 2011

    SAGA, Japan — In a nation plagued by weak political leadership, it has fallen to the local governor of an obscure southern prefecture to make a crucial decision that could help determine the future of nuclear power in Japan after the Fukushima Daiichi accident.

    The governor, Yasushi Furukawa of Saga Prefecture, must decide in coming days whether to support a request by Prime Minister Naoto Kan to restart two reactors at a local nuclear plant that have been shut down since last winter for regular maintenance. There are growing warnings here that if he decides no, and other governors follow his lead, every nuclear reactor in Japan could end up idled in less than a year.

    That is because Japan’s reactors are legally required to shut down every 13 months for routine maintenance. Thirty-five of the nation’s 54 reactors are now offline, some because of damage from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but most because of the maintenance requirement. Unless some of them are turned back on, the last reactor in Japan will be shut down by next April, depriving the nation of the source of almost a third of its electricity.

    Turning the idled reactors back on requires the central government’s approval, which has not been granted since the Fukushima accident. In the public backlash against nuclear power that has followed the disaster, the Kan government is asking local political leaders to sign off on the restarts as well.

    Mr. Furukawa is the first governor who is being called upon to make a decision. This has turned him into a bellwether of sorts on Japan’s nuclear future, as his decision will be closely watched by other local leaders who must weigh the same issues of public anxieties about safety versus the threat of electricity shortages.

    “I feel a great responsibility has been suddenly placed upon me,” Mr. Furukawa, 52, said in an interview. “Deciding not to restart the reactors could turn us into a non-nuclear country faster than Germany,” referring to that country’s decision to scrap nuclear power by 2022.

    All eyes are on Mr. Furukawa because most governors appear to be on the fence about restarting reactors. The newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reported last month that governors of 10 prefectures that are home to nuclear plants had said in interviews that they did not support restarting their reactors, with most saying they needed more information about safety measures. (The governors of two other such prefectures were not interviewed.) On Monday, the governor of Fukushima went a step further, calling for an end to his prefecture’s economic and energy dependence on nuclear plants.

    Mr. Furukawa has publicly agonized over the decision, which he said he wanted to make by mid-July. On Wednesday, he said that he was satisfied by the central government’s safety explanations, signaling that he might be leaning toward restarting the reactors in his prefecture.

    The situation in Saga offers a telling glimpse at some of the forces shaping the debate over the nation’s nuclear future. While Japan has seen few of the large street demonstrations that the Fukushima accident has inspired abroad, there has been a clear public backlash against nuclear power. Recent opinion polls show an overwhelming majority — 82 percent in a survey conducted last month for Tokyo Shimbun — support getting rid of the nation’s reactors.

    However, the same polls show that most respondents do not favor an immediate halt, but a gradual phasing out of nuclear power as alternatives are found. Conversations here on the streets of Saga as well as with decision-makers in Tokyo reveal a nation torn between the dangers exposed by the Fukushima accident and the need of a resource-poor nation to keep its only serious energy alternative to imported coal and oil.

    “There is deep unease about the safety of nuclear power, but there is also deep unease about getting rid of it,” said Izuru Makihara, a political scientist at Tohoku University in Sendai.

    The prospect of all the reactors going offline has alarmed the business community and the nation’s powerful nuclear lobby, which have issued warnings of the dire economic consequences if nuclear power is lost. They warn of higher electricity prices or even blackouts that could damage Japan’s earthquake-shocked economy.

    In a sign of looming energy shortages here even without further reactor shutdowns, the government on Friday ordered factories and other large electricity users in Tokyo to cut usage this summer by 15 percent from last year.

    “If all the nuclear reactors are stopped, the effect on the economy would be enormous,” Mr. Kan warned late last month.

    Japan’s still-tiny antinuclear movement has won credibility since the Fukushima accident, though it is still popularly regarded as part of the leftist fringe. Activists complain that a deep apathy as well as a fear of being ostracized prevents many Japanese from taking action.

    “Many people support us from the shadows, but they are afraid of being disliked as radicals,” said Hatsumi Ishimaru, 59, a homemaker who leads an antinuclear group in Saga.

    Many people here say they are perplexed why this weighty decision has fallen on Saga, a rural prefecture of about 850,000 residents on the southernmost main island of Kyushu and a place whose main claims to fame are its glazed pottery and gourmet beef. Partly, it is a question of timing: two of the four reactors at its plant, the Genkai Nuclear Power Station, have been waiting to restart since finishing their routine maintenance two months ago. The other two reactors remain in operation.

    Governor Furukawa complained that the decision had fallen to him because Prime Minister Kan had failed to chart a clear direction on Japan’s post-Fukushima energy future. This is a criticism heard across Japan, and Mr. Kan has agreed to step down once crucial recovery bills are passed.

    “Prime Minister Kan is running away from a decision that the national government should be making,” Mr. Furukawa said. On Friday, the governor requested a meeting with Mr. Kan “to hear his energy vision.”

    The governor fumes that he is being pressed to come to a quick decision by the national government and by local business groups. Instead, he has repeatedly asked nuclear regulators and the plant’s operator, Kyushu Electric Power, for more detailed explanations on how they would prevent a Fukushima-style meltdown from happening here.

    “It is easy to see the business groups who favor restarting the reactors,” Mr. Furukawa said, “but the public unease that opposes it is shapeless.”

    On Wednesday, Mr. Kan sent his minister of trade and industry, Banri Kaieda, to Saga to explain safety measures directly to Mr. Furukawa. Last weekend, nuclear regulators held a hearing here in Saga on the plant’s safety that was broadcast live on cable television and online.

    While there is no legal requirement to get local approval, officials at Kyushu Electric say the current backlash against nuclear power makes it politically difficult to turn the reactors on without hometown approval.

    The manager of the Genkai plant, Masayasu Murashima, said he has visited the prefectural and nearby municipal assemblies to explain Kyushu Electric’s main safety arguments. Unlike the Fukushima Daiichi plant, the Genkai station does not sit near a fault line and is in a part of Japan that has not seen a large tsunami in more than 1,000 years of recorded history.

    Mayor Hideo Kishimoto of Genkai, where the plant is located, has already signaled his acceptance of a restart. He admitted that a big factor was Genkai’s economic dependence on the plant, whose taxes and subsidies provide two-thirds of the annual budget of some $100 million in the town of 6,400 people.

    “I think the economic worries are bigger in people’s minds here,” Mr. Kishimoto said.

    Town residents said they were afraid that an accident here could force the sort of evacuations that were ordered near the Fukushima Daiichi plant. However, they said they had no choice but to follow the mayor’s lead.

    “We know our lives are closely bound to the plant,” said Hiroyoshi Hidaka, 56, who owns a health products store in Genkai. “This has turned us into a town of silence.”

    A version of this article appeared in print on July 3, 2011, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: A Governor’s Power To Shape the Future Of a Nuclear Japan.

    Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

    The Genkai Nuclear Power Station in Genkai, Saga Prefecture.

    Related

    Times Topic: Japan — Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis (2011)
    Enlarge This Image

    The New York Times
    Two of the Genkai plant’s reactors have been idled.
    Enlarge This Image

    Ko Sasaki for The New York Times
    Gov. Yasushi Furukawa said the prime minister was “running away” from the decision to restart the reactors in the town of Genkai.
    Enlarge This Image

    Ko Sasaki for The New York Times
    Hatsumi Ishimaru, right, who leads an antinuclear group in Saga Prefecture, said many Japanese were afraid to speak up.
    Enlarge This Image

    Ko Sasaki for The New York Times
    Masayasu Murashima of Kyushu Electric Power is trying to persuade Saga residents that the reactors are safe.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110701p2a00m0na005000c.html

    News

    Radioactive cesium detected in tea leaves grown in Tokyo

    Radioactive cesium was detected in processed tea that was made from leaves that elementary school children picked in Tokyo as part of their school curriculum, it has been learned.

    The Itabashi Ward Office announced on June 30 that 2,700 becquerels of radioactive cesium — in excess of the government’s provisional limit — was detected in processed tea that used leaves picked at a plantation in the ward by some 300 students of local elementary schools.

    The processed tea is set to be disposed of, while none of the children have suffered any health problems. The tea plantation is dedicated to providing visitors with opportunities to pick leaves and does not ship its harvest to the market.

    According to the ward office, the tea-picking class took place on May 9, and fourth- and fifth-grade students from three public elementary schools in the ward participated in the event. When the approximately 20 kilograms of processed tea — made of some 80 kilograms of first-harvest leaves that the students had picked — was screened, 1,300 becquerels of cesium 134 per kilogram and 1,400 becquerels of cesium 137 per kilogram were detected.

    Following the revelation, ward officials picked second-harvest tea leaves at the plantation on June 22 and detected 350 becquerels of cesium from raw tea leaves.

    The ward office will conduct screenings of locally-grown agricultural products but will not regulate the shipment of tea leaves as there is no other tea plantation in the ward.

    It is the first time that radioactive cesium has been detected in tea leaves grown in Tokyo. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s survey had previously detected no radioactive substances exceeding the government limit in agricultural products grown in the capital.

    Click here for the original Japanese story
    http://mainichi.jp/area/tokyo/news/20110701ddlk13040363000c.html

    (Mainichi Japan) July 1, 2011

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Tokyo Cesium Tea

    Radioactive cesium detected in tea leaves grown in Tokyo

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110701p2a00m0na005000c.html

    Radioactive cesium was detected in processed tea that was made from leaves that elementary school children picked in Tokyo as part of their school curriculum, it has been learned.

    The Itabashi Ward Office announced on June 30 that 2,700 becquerels of radioactive cesium — in excess of the government’s provisional limit — was detected in processed tea that used leaves picked at a plantation in the ward by some 300 students of local elementary schools.

    According to the ward office, the tea-picking class took place on May 9, and fourth- and fifth-grade students from three public elementary schools in the ward participated in the event. When the approximately 20 kilograms of processed tea — made of some 80 kilograms of first-harvest leaves that the students had picked — was screened, 1,300 becquerels of cesium 134 per kilogram and 1,400 becquerels of cesium 137 per kilogram were detected.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Tokyo KIDS harvest HOT Tea

    LINK

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110701p2a00m0na005000c.html

    The ‘HOT’ tea was picked by 300, 4th & 5th grade elementary school children, from three classes, as part of their school curriculum

    2700 is 5.4 times (5,400%) the legal limit.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Far exceeding the EVACUATION trigger

    http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/03_15.html

    Japan’s new nuclear crisis minister has inspected the monitoring of radiation levels in the evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Goshi Hosono on Sunday visited Iitate Village in Fukushima Prefecture, more than 30 kilometers northwest of the troubled plant.

    He saw the figure was 13.9 microsieverts per hour, far exceeding the legal limit forcing the evacuation of local residents. He asked officials to keep as accurate a record as possible for the safety of the people.

    Sunday, July 03, 2011 16:58 +0900 (JST)

  8. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/03_15.html

    New nuke minister inspects radiation monitoring

    Japan’s new nuclear crisis minister has inspected the monitoring of radiation levels in the evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

    Goshi Hosono on Sunday visited Iitate Village in Fukushima Prefecture, more than 30 kilometers northwest of the troubled plant.

    Hosono, who assumed the new position just last week, was guided to see how the Science Ministry carries out the survey.

    He saw the figure was 13.9 microsieverts per hour, far exceeding the legal limit forcing the evacuation of local residents.

    He was told that the data are collected at one meter above ground level. He asked officials to keep as accurate a record as possible for the safety of the people.

    Hosono said after the inspection that the collected data is also important to create a framework for finding ways to remove radioactive materials in the future.

    He said he hopes the close monitoring will continue, adding that he wants to consider the possibility of having people return home as soon as possible.

    Sunday, July 03, 2011 16:58 +0900 (JST)

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/01/huhne-fukushima-emails-criticism

    Call for Chris Huhne to resign over Fukushima emailsFormer party chief executive in Scotland says Huhne must go over ‘conspiracy’ to protect nuclear industry

    Share568 reddit this Rob Edwards guardian.co.uk, Friday 1 July 2011 22.03 BST Article history
    Chris Huhne faces mounting criticism over his department’s attempts to co-ordinate a PR strategy around the Fukushima disaster. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
    A prominent Liberal Democrat has called for Chris Huhne to resign immediately as energy and climate change secretary after emails were released detailing his officials’ efforts to co-ordinate a PR response to the Fukushima disaster with the nuclear industry. Civil servants in the energy and business departments were apparently trying to minimise the impact of the disaster on public support for nuclear power.

    Andy Myles, the party’s former chief executive in Scotland, said: “This deliberate and (sadly) very effective attempt to ‘calm’ the reporting of the true story of Fukushima is a terrible betrayal of liberal values. In my view it is not acceptable that a Liberal Democrat cabinet minister presides over a department deeply involved in a blatant conspiracy designed to manipulate the truth in order to protect corporate interests”.

    The leader of the Lib Dems in the European parliament, Fiona Hall, said nuclear plans should be put on hold.

    “These emails corroborate my own impression that there has been a strange silence in the UK following the Fukushima disaster … in the UK, new nuclear sites have been announced before the results of the Europe-wide review of nuclear safety has been completed. Today’s news strengthens the case for the government to halt new nuclear plans until an independent and transparent review has been conducted.”

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110702p2a00m0na026000c.html

    News

    Elementary students send Mainichi their opinions on responsibility for nuclear disaster

    Children from around the nation have sent letters to the Mainichi Shogakusei Newspaper, a paper for elementary students and their guardians, in response to a letter on nuclear power run in the paper in May.

    The original letter, run in the evening edition of May 19, was from a sixth grade boy whose father is an employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).

    (Main content of the letter)

    I know this is sudden, but my father is a TEPCO employee. I felt (the Mainichi Shogakusei Newspaper article saying that TEPCO was responsible for the nuclear disaster and the controlled blackouts) was irresponsible. It may be TEPCO that made the nuclear power plant, but it is the people of Japan, no the world, who caused plants to be built. The reason we had to make more nuclear plants is because Japanese people wasted energy, running supermarkets and playing video games until late at night. Another reason that nuclear plants had to be built was to stop global warming. It is people all around the world who have caused global warming to advance.

    Thinking that way, everyone, including TEPCO, made the plants, and everyone is ignoring their share of the responsibility.

    ***

    The following are some of the responses to the letter:

    I think that TEPCO is in the wrong. Saying that they had to make nuclear power plants because people use a lot of energy sounds only like an excuse.

    They tricked people by saying the plants were safe and kept running nuclear reactors that had gotten old, and this led to the accident.

    In the (May 19) letter, he wrote as if the reason the accident happened was because everyone has been dependent on nuclear energy, but I think that TEPCO induced the people of Fukushima to become dependent on the nuclear plants there by improving the roads and giving out subsidies. (From a sixth-grader in Kyoto Prefecture)

    ***

    I don’t agree that the country as a whole is responsible for the nuclear disaster. It’s true that we may have responsibility for wasting electricity. But how much were we really told about the dangers of nuclear energy? Did we learn about it in school?

    No, rather, on a bulletin board at school, there was a poster that called nuclear power clean, safe and indispensable. There was even a call for posters and compositions like that from students. The ones behind the promotion were TEPCO and the government.

    How could those of us who were educated in this way form anti-nuclear opinions?

    I think that from now, we students need to talk to one other and figure out what mistakes the adults have made. (From a fifth-grader in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture)

    ***

    I have a friend whose father works at TEPCO. Before, she was a cheerful student, good at both studying and sports, and liked by everyone. But lately she’s been staying home from school, and she only talks to me and a few others. Why is she, who has done nothing wrong, being bullied?

    Nuclear power plants help people, but they are double-edged swords that can also hurt people, as one has now. But the huge earthquake that happened this time was a once-in-one-thousand-years event. I hope that people will stop criticizing nuclear power, at least until a new way of generating power is found.

    (From an anonymous writer)

    ***

    I identified most with (the May 19 letter writer’s) opinion. The reason is that my mother works at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). With regards to the nuclear plant disaster, not only TEPCO but METI has also been criticized. My mother strongly feels like she was a perpetrator of the crisis and seems to be very sorry.

    It’s true that the government and TEPCO shoulder a lot of responsibility for the disaster, but I think it is also the responsibility of all the Japanese, no, all the people around the world who use lots of electricity in their lives every day.

    (From a sixth-grader at Tokyo Gakugei University-attached Koganei Elementary)

    ***

    My father is also an employee of TEPCO. Whenever he goes to the power plant, I get very worried. It’s true that TEPCO has a responsibility for the disaster, but I’m very bothered by people trying to push all of the blame on TEPCO.

    I think the ones who have to take the blame are those in the government. It’s because the government and Japanese people have sought convenience that nuclear power plants were needed.

    (From a sixth-grader at Gumisawa Elementary School, Yokohama)

    Click here for the original Japanese story
    http://mainichi.jp/photo/news/20110623k0000e040017000c.html

    (Mainichi Japan) July 3, 2011

    Letters that were sent in to the Mainichi Shogakusei Newspaper. (Mainichi)

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110701p2g00m0dm096000c.html

    News

    Radioactive materials in kids’ urine pose no health risks: minister

    TOKYO (Kyodo) — Education and science minister Yoshiaki Takagi on Friday downplayed concerns about trace amounts of radioactive substances found in urine samples of children from Fukushima Prefecture, saying the amounts pose no health problems.

    Total internal radiation exposure for children until they reach 70 years of age would be, in the highest cases, 7.8 microsieverts of radioactive cesium 134 and 8.9 microsieverts of cesium 137, against the annual permissible dose of 1,000 microsieverts for the public, the minister said.

    The figures were calculated for each nuclide by the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, without taking into account other radioactive materials, based on the urine test results released Thursday by a Fukushima citizens group and a French nongovernmental organization.

    “Health checks would be necessary for more detailed analysis, but it is not something that would immediately” affect the children’s health, said Takagi, minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology.

    The urine tests showed that the samples of all 10 children surveyed from Fukushima Prefecture, where a troubled nuclear plant has leaked radioactive materials, contained trace amounts of such substances.

    (Mainichi Japan) July 1, 2011

    Pylons and a blue tarp mark the parts of a nursery school playground pronounced off-limits after the discovery of a radioactive “hotspot” there, in Noda, Chiba Prefecture.
    (Mainichi)

    ——————————————————————————————————–

  9. http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/07/meltdown-what-really-happened-fukushima/39541/

    Meltdown: What Really Happened at Fukushima?

    Jake Adelstein and David McNeill 2:08 PM ET

    It’s been one of the mysteries of Japan’s ongoing nuclear disaster: How much of the damage did the March 11 earthquake inflict on Fukushima Daiichi’s reactors in the 40 minutes before the devastating tsunami arrived? The stakes are high: If the quake alone structurally compromised the plant and the safety of its nuclear fuel, then every other similar reactor in Japan is at risk.

    Throughout the months of lies and misinformation, one story has stuck: “The earthquake knocked out the plant’s electric power, halting cooling to its reactors,” as the government spokesman Yukio Edano said at a March 15 press conference in Tokyo. The story, which has been repeated again and again, boils down to this: “after the earthquake, the tsunami – a unique, unforeseeable [the Japanese word is soteigai] event – then washed out the plant’s back-up generators, shutting down all cooling and starting the chain of events that would cause the world’s first triple meltdown to occur.”

    But what if recirculation pipes and cooling pipes, burst, snapped, leaked, and broke completely after the earthquake — long before the tidal wave reached the facilities, long before the electricity went out? This would surprise few people familiar with the 40-year-old Unit 1, the grandfather of the nuclear reactors still operating in Japan.

    The authors have spoken to several workers at the plant who recite the same story: Serious damage to piping and at least one of the reactors before the tsunami hit. All have requested anonymity because they are still working at the plant or are connected with TEPCO. One worker, a 27-year-old maintenance engineer who was at the Fukushima complex on March 11, recalls hissing and leaking pipes. “I personally saw pipes that came apart and I assume that there were many more that had been broken throughout the plant. There’s no doubt that the earthquake did a lot of damage inside the plant,” he said. “There were definitely leaking pipes, but we don’t know which pipes – that has to be investigated. I also saw that part of the wall of the turbine building for Unit 1 had come away. That crack might have affected the reactor.”

    The reactor walls of the reactor are quite fragile, he notes. “If the walls are too rigid, they can crack under the slightest pressure from inside so they have to be breakable because if the pressure is kept inside and there is a buildup of pressure, it can damage the equipment inside the walls so it needs to be allowed to escape. It’s designed to give during a crisis, if not it could be worse – that might be shocking to others, but to us it’s common sense.”

    A second worker, a technician in his late 30s, who was also on site at the time of the earthquake, narrated what happened. “It felt like the earthquake hit in two waves, the first impact was so intense you could see the building shaking, the pipes buckling, and within minutes, I saw pipes bursting. Some fell off the wall. Others snapped. I was pretty sure that some of the oxygen tanks stored on site had exploded but I didn’t see for myself. Someone yelled that we all needed to evacuate and I was good with that. But I was severely alarmed because as I was leaving I was told and I could see that several pipes had cracked open, including what I believe were cold water supply pipes. That would mean that coolant couldn’t get to the reactor core. If you can’t sufficiently get the coolant to the core, it melts down. You don’t have to have to be a nuclear scientist to figure that out.”

    As he was heading to his car, he could see the walls of the reactor one building itself had already started to collapse. “There were holes in them. In the first few minutes, no one was thinking about a tsunami. We were thinking about survival.”

    A third worker was coming into work late when the earthquake hit. “I was in a building nearby when the earthquake shook. After the second shockwave hit, I heard a loud explosion that was almost deafening. I looked out the window and I could see white smoke coming from reactor one. I thought to myself, ‘this is the end.’”

    When the worker got to the office five to 15 minutes later the supervisor ordered them all to evacuate, explaining, “there’s been an explosion of some gas tanks in reactor one, probably the oxygen tanks. In addition to this there has been some structural damage, pipes have burst, meltdown is possible. Please take shelter immediately.” (It should be noted that there have been several explosions at Daiichi even after the March 11 earthquake, one of which TEPCO stated, “was probably due to a gas tank left behind in the debris”.)

    However, while the employees prepared to leave, the tsunami warning came. Many of them fled to the top floor of a building near the site and waited to be rescued.

    The reason for official reluctance to admit that the earthquake did direct structural damage to reactor one is obvious. Katsunobu Onda, author of TEPCO: The Dark Empire (東京電力・暗黒の帝国), who sounded the alarm about the firm in his 2007 book explains it this way: “If TEPCO and the government of Japan admit an earthquake can do direct damage to the reactor, this raises suspicions about the safety of every reactor they run. They are using a number of antiquated reactors that have the same systematic problems, the same wear and tear on the piping.”

    In a previous story, Kei Sugaoka, a Japanese engineer who worked at the Unit 1 site, says that he wasn’t surprised that a meltdown took place after the earthquake. He sent the Japanese government a letter, dated June 28, 2000, warning them of the problems there. It took the Japanese government more than two years to act on that warning. Mr. Sugaoka has also said he saw yakuza tattoos on many of the cleanup crew staff. When interviewed on May 23 he stated, “The plant had problems galore and the approach taken with them was piecemeal. Most of the critical work: construction work, inspection work, and welding were entrusted to sub-contracted employees with little technical background or knowledge of nuclear radiation. I can’t remember there ever being a disaster drill. The TEPCO employees never got their hands dirty.”

    Onda notes, “I’ve spent decades researching TEPCO and its nuclear power plants and what I’ve found, and what government reports confirm is that the nuclear reactors are only as strong as their weakest links, and those links are the pipes.”

    During his research, Onda spoke with several engineers who worked at the TEPCO plants. One told him that often piping would not match up the way it should according to the blueprints. In that case, the only solution was to use heavy machinery to pull the pipes close enough together to weld them shut. Inspection of piping was often cursory and the backs of the pipes, which were hard to reach, were often ignored. Since the inspections themselves were generally cursory and done by visual checks, it was easy to ignore them. Repair jobs were rushed; no one wanted to be exposed to nuclear radiation longer than necessary.

    Onda adds, “When I first visited the Fukushima power plant it was a web of pipes. Pipes on the wall, on the ceiling, on the ground. You’d have to walk over them, duck under them—sometimes you’d bump your head on them. It was like a maze of pipes inside.”

    Onda believes it’s not very difficult to explain what happened at Unit 1 and perhaps the other reactors as well. “The pipes, which regulate the heat of the reactor and carry coolant, are the veins and arteries of a nuclear power plant; the core is the heart. If the pipes burst, vital components don’t reach the heart and thus you have a heart attack, in nuclear terms: meltdown. In simpler terms, you can’t cool a reactor core if the pipes carrying the coolant and regulating the heat rupture—it doesn’t get to the core.”

    Tooru Hasuike, a TEPCO employee from 1977 until 2009 andformer general safety manager of the Fukushima plant, also notes: “The emergency plans for a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima plant had no mention of using sea-water to cool the core. To pump seawater into the core is to destroy the reactor. The only reason you’d do that is no other water or coolant was available.”

    Problems with the fractured, deteriorating, poorly repaired pipes and the cooling system had been pointed out for years. In 2002, whistle-blower allegations that TEPCO had deliberately falsified safety records came to light and the company was forced to shut down all of its reactors and inspect them, including the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant. Kei Sugaoka, a GE on-site inspector first notified Japan’s nuclear watch dog, Nuclear Industrial Safey Agency (NISA) in June of 2000. Not only did the government of Japan take more than two years to address the problem and collude on covering it up, they gave the name of the whistleblower to TEPCO.

    In September of 2002, TEPCO admitted to covering up data concerning cracks in critical circulation pipes in addition to previously revealed falsifications. In their analysis of the cover-up, The Citizen’s Nuclear Information Center writes: “The records that were covered up had to do with cracks in parts of the reactor known as recirculation pipes. These pipes are there to siphon off heat from the reactor. If these pipes were to fracture, it would result in a serious accident in which coolant leaks out. From the perspective of safety, these are highly important pieces of equipment. Cracks were found in the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, reactor one, reactor two, reactor three, reactor four, reactor five.” The cracks in the pipes were not due to earthquake damage; they came from the simple wear and tear of long-term usage.

    On March 2, nine days before the meltdown, the Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) gave TEPCO a warning on its failure to inspect critical pieces of equipment at the plant, which included the recirculation pumps. TEPCO was ordered to make the inspections, perform repairs if needed and give a report to the NISA on June 2. The report is not confirmed to have been filed as of this time.

    The problems were not only with the piping. Gas tanks at the site also exploded after the earthquake. The outside of the reactor building suffered structural damage. There was some chaos. There was no one really qualified to assess the radioactive leakage because, as the Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency admits, after the accident all the on-site inspectors fled the site. And the quake and tsunami broke most of the monitoring equipment so there was little information available on radiation afterwards.

    Before the dawn on March 12, the water levels at the reactor began to plummet and the radiation began rising. Meltdown was taking place. The TEPCO Press release issued on March 12 just past 4am stated, “the pressure within the containment vessel is high but stable.” There was a note buried in the release that many people missed. “The emergency water circulation system was cooling the steam within the core; it has ceased to function.”

    According to The Chunichi Shinbun and other sources, a few hours after the earthquake extremely high levels of radiation were being measured within the reactor one building. The levels were so high that if you spent a full day exposed to them it would be fatal. The water levels of the reactor were already sinking.After the Japanese government forced TEPCO to release hundreds of pages of documents relating to the accident in May, Bloomberg reported on May 19 that a radiation alarm went off 1.5 kilometers from the number one reactor on March 11 at 3:29 p.m., minutes before the tsunami reached the plant. TEPCO would not deny the possibility that there was significant radiation leakage before the power went out. They did assert that the alarm might have simply malfunctioned.

    On March 11, at 9:51 p.m., under the CEO’s orders, the inside of the reactor building was declared a no-entry zone. Around 11 p.m., radiation levels for the inside of the turbine building, which was next door to the reactor, reached hourly levels of 0.5 to 1.2 mSv. The meltdown was already underway.

    Oddly enough, while TEPCO later insisted that the cause of the meltdown was the tsunami knocking out emergency power systems, at the 7:47 p.m. TEPCO press conference the same day, the spokesman in response to questions from the press about the cooling systems stated that the emergency water circulation equipment and reactor core isolation time cooling systems would work even without electricity.

    Sometime between 4 and 6 a.m. on March 12, Masao Yoshida, the plant manager decided it was time to pump seawater into the reactor core and notified TEPCO. Seawater was not pumped in until hours after a hydrogen explosion occurred, roughly 8:00 p.m. that day. By then, it was probably already too late.

    On May 15, TEPCO went some way toward admitting at least some of these claims in a report called “Reactor Core Status of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit One.” The report said there might have been pre-tsunami damage to key facilities including pipes. “This means that assurances from the industry in Japan and overseas that the reactors were robust is now blown apart,” said Shaun Burnie, an independent nuclear waste consultant. “It raises fundamental questions on all reactors in high seismic risk areas.”

    As Burnie points out, TEPCO also admitted massive fuel melt –16 hours after loss of coolant, and 7-8 hours before the explosion in unit 1. “Since they must have known all this – their decision to flood with massive water volumes would guarantee massive additional contamination – including leaks to the ocean.”

    No one knows exactly how much damage was done to the plant by the quake, or if this damage alone would account for the meltdown. However, eyewitness testimony and TEPOC’S own data indicates that the damage was significant. All of this despite the fact that shaking experienced at the plant during the quake was within it’s approved design specifications. Says Hasuike: “What really happened at the Fukushima Daiicihi Nuclear Power Plant to cause a meltdown? TEPCO and the government of Japan have provided many explanations. They don’t make sense. The one thing they haven’t provided is the truth. It’s time that they did.”

    Jake Adelstein is an investigative journalist, consultant, and the author of Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter On The Police Beat In Japan. He is also a board member of the Washington, D.C.-based Polaris Project Japan, which combats human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children in the sex trade. David McNeill writes for The Irish Times, The Independent and other publications. He has taught courses on journalism at Sophia University and is a coordinator of Japan Focus.

  10. Deadly Serious Allegations

    Haraguchi Kazuhiro has alleged that radiation monitoring station data was actually three decimal places greater than the numbers released to the public.

    Kazuhiro served as the Japanese Government MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS AND COMMUNICATIONS in the DPJ Hatoyama Cabinet; which was formed September 16, 2009.

    English: http://japanfocus.org/events/view/100
    Japanese: http://www.toyokeizai.net/business/society/detail/AC/548a752507bc6c3aa0fd3db058e8098a/page/1/

    Former Interior Minister Kazuhiro

    Here follows the allegation, attribution and biographical background sketch for Haraguchi Kazuhiro:

    English: http://japanfocus.org/events/view/100
    Japanese: http://www.toyokeizai.net/business/society/detail/AC/548a752507bc6c3aa0fd3db058e8098a/page/1/

    Fukushima Residents:

    3. Former Minister for Internal Affairs Haraguchi Kazuhiro has alleged that radiation monitoring station data was actually three decimal places greater than the numbers released to the public.

    Bio-References for Former Minister for Internal Affairs Haraguchi Kazuhiro:
    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cabinet/cabinet.html?formed=20090916_01&date=20100107&member=2
    http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/hatoyama/meibo/daijin/haraguchi_e.html
    http://mashpedia.com/Kazuhiro_Haraguchi

    A National Crime

    “If this is true, it constitutes a national crime.”

    Hokkaido Cancer Center director Nishio Masamichi, a radiation treatment cancer specialist stated, “If this is true, it constitutes a national crime.”

    English: http://japanfocus.org/events/view/100
    Japanese: http://www.toyokeizai.net/business/society/detail/AC/548a752507bc6c3aa0fd3db058e8098a/page/1/

    The Asia-Pacific Journal: In-depth critical analysis of the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific…and the world.

    Japanese Cancer Expert on the Fukushima Situation

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    “If this is true, it constitutes a national crime”

    Here are the allegations, attributions and bio:

    English: http://japanfocus.org/events/view/100
    Japanese: http://www.toyokeizai.net/business/society/detail/AC/548a752507bc6c3aa0fd3db058e8098a/page/1/

    The Asia-Pacific Journal: In-depth critical analysis of the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific…and the world.

    Japanese Cancer Expert on the Fukushima Situation

    Fukushima Residents:

    3.Former Minister for Internal Affairs Haraguchi Kazuhiro has alleged that radiation monitoring station data was actually three decimal places greater than the numbers released to the public.

    If this is true, it constitutes a “national crime”, in Nishio’s words. He follows with, “Giving us the truth once is much more important than saying ‘hang in there Japan!’ a million times.”

    Bio-References for Former Minister for Internal Affairs Haraguchi Kazuhiro:
    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cabinet/cabinet.html?formed=20090916_01&date=20100107&member=2
    http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/hatoyama/meibo/daijin/haraguchi_e.html
    http://mashpedia.com/Kazuhiro_Haraguchi

    »
    reply

    Crimes against humanity:
    Submitted by Bill Duff (not verified) on Sat, 2011-07-02 18:42.
    Crimes against humanity:

    I presently have no factual basis upon which to accept or reject this serious allegation. Such deceptive and deadly actions, if committed, would in my humble opinion, support charges for ‘crimes against humanity’, rather than a merely local Japan national law charge.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Crimes against humanity:

    I presently have no factual basis upon which to accept or reject this serious allegation. Such deceptive and deadly actions, if committed, would in my humble opinion, support charges for ‘crimes against humanity’, rather than a merely local Japan national law charge.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    English: http://japanfocus.org/events/view/100
    Japanese: http://www.toyokeizai.net/business/society/detail/AC/548a752507bc6c3aa0fd3db058e8098a/page/1/

    The Asia-Pacific Journal: In-depth critical analysis of the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific…and the world.

    Japanese Cancer Expert on the Fukushima Situation

    Matthew Penney Jul. 01, 2011

    Hokkaido Cancer Center director Nishio Masamichi, a radiation treatment specialist, begins by asserting that the Fukushima crisis has caused Japan’s “myth of nuclear safety” to crumble. He has “grave concern” for the public health effects of the ongoing radiation leak. Nishio writes, “Japan, with its history of having suffered radiation exposure from the atomic bombs, should have the most [direct] knowledge of radiation, but in fact, in the approach to the nuclear accident, has simply fallen into confusion.” He places blame on a number of groups:

    1.TEPCO executives, who he accuses of having hidden the truth and prioritized the survival of the company over public health.

    2.Bureaucrats who were unable to put together an accurate body of information about radiation effects from which to formulate policy.

    3.A prime minister and cabinet lacking both leadership and an appropriate sense of urgency.

    4.Politicians who sought to use the crisis in intra- or inter-party struggles.

    5.Nuclear industry lobbyists and “academic flunkies” (goyo gakusha) of the government who built up the myth of nuclear safety in the first place.

    Looking at these groups, he writes, “I just cannot feel any hope for Japan’s future. These circumstances are simply tragic.”

    Asia-Pacific Journal articles on related issues:

    Norimatsu Satoko and the Say-Peace Project, Protecting Children Against Radiation: Citizens Take Radiation Protection into Their Own Hands
    http://japanfocus.org/-Say_Peace-Project/3549

    Matthew Penney, Okinawa’s Fukushima Connection: Nuclear Workers at Risk
    http://japanfocus.org/events/view/97

    Matthew Penney and Mark Selden, What Price the Fukushima Meltdown? Comparing Chernobyl and Fukushima
    http://japanfocus.org/-Mark-Selden/3535

    Paul Jobin, Dying for TEPCO? Fukushima’s Nuclear Contract Workers
    http://japanfocus.org/-Paul-Jobin/3523

    Serious Allegations

    “If this is true, it constitutes a national crime”

    Here are the allegations, attributions and bio:

    English: http://japanfocus.org/events/view/100
    Japanese: http://www.toyokeizai.net/business/society/detail/AC/548a752507bc6c3aa0fd3db058e8098a/page/1/

    The Asia-Pacific Journal: In-depth critical analysis of the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific…and the world.

    Japanese Cancer Expert on the Fukushima Situation

    Fukushima Residents:

    3.Former Minister for Internal Affairs Haraguchi Kazuhiro has alleged that radiation monitoring station data was actually three decimal places greater than the numbers released to the public.

    If this is true, it constitutes a “national crime”, in Nishio’s words. He follows with, “Giving us the truth once is much more important than saying ‘hang in there Japan!’ a million times.”

    Bio-References for Former Minister for Internal Affairs Haraguchi Kazuhiro:
    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cabinet/cabinet.html?formed=20090916_01&date=20100107&member=2
    http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/hatoyama/meibo/daijin/haraguchi_e.html
    http://mashpedia.com/Kazuhiro_Haraguchi

    Fukushima Residents:

    1.The threat to public health is not simply a matter of distance from Fukushima. Wind patterns and topography are even more important.

    2.The release of data from the expensive SPEEDI system, was delayed until March 23. This delay resulted in unnecessary radiation exposure. “It is only conceivable that the high rate of radiation released was not reported because of fears of a panic.”

    3.Former Minister for Internal Affairs Haraguchi Kazuhiro has alleged that radiation monitoring station data was actually three decimal places greater than the numbers released to the public. If this is true, it constitutes a “national crime”, in Nishio’s words. He follows with, “Giving us the truth once is much more important than saying ‘hang in there Japan!’ a million times.”

    4.According to Japanese law, the rate of radiation exposure permitted for ordinary citizens is 1 mSv / year. This has been raised to 20 mSv / year in a “time of crisis”. Such a dramatic increase in permitted exposure is akin to “taking the lives of the people lightly”. Nishio believes that 20 mSv is too high, especially for children who are far more susceptible to the effects of radiation.

    5.Even more important than a permitted 20 mSv exposure rate, however, is the lack of adequate provision for measuring internal radiation exposure among the Fukushima population.

    6.The American Academy of Sciences 2008 “Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation” report claims that there is no safe level of radiation exposure. Despite this and other examples of leading research, however, the Japanese government has moved on the assumption that there is no evidence for increased cancer risk at under 100 mSv of exposure. The European Committee on Radiation Risk argues that existing risk models do not take internal exposure into account. High rates of internal exposure will mean a dramatic increase in cancer risk for Fukushima residents, with as many as 400,000 cases predicted by 2061. Nishio argues, however, that these calculations rest on some shaky assumptions and that the number is too high. He believes strongly, however, that internal radiation exposure must be taken seriously by the Japanese government.

    7.Comparing the 6.9 mSv exposure from a CT scan to a similar amount of radiation exposure outside of a controlled environment is misleading. Long term exposure and internal exposure can have unpredictable effects on the human body. Comparisons with radiation used in cancer treatment are also scientifically shaky.

    8.The large amounts of radioactive waste water at the Fukushima Daiichi site will contaminate the soil and water supplies, significantly increasing the risk of internal radiation exposure.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–
    English: http://japanfocus.org/events/view/100
    Japanese: http://www.toyokeizai.net/business/society/detail/AC/548a752507bc6c3aa0fd3db058e8098a/page/1/

    The Asia-Pacific Journal: In-depth critical analysis of the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific…and the world.

    Japanese Cancer Expert on the Fukushima Situation

    Jul. 01, 2011
    Matthew Penney

    Japan’s leading business journal Toyo Keizai has published an article by Hokkaido Cancer Center director Nishio Masamichi, a radiation treatment specialist. The piece, entitled “The Problem of Radiation Exposure Countermeasures for the Fukushima Nuclear Accident: Concerns for the Present Situation”, was published on June 27 and is consistent with the critical coverage of the Fukushima crisis that has appeared in independent weekly magazines, notably Shukan Kinyobi, which have taken a strong anti-nuclear stance since the March 11 earthquake-tsunami-meltdown, and have repeatedly focused on the dangers of radiation exposure while calling for far-reaching measures to protect those at risk.

    Nishio begins by asserting that the Fukushima crisis has caused Japan’s “myth of nuclear safety” to crumble. He has “grave concern” for the public health effects of the ongoing radiation leak.

    Nishio originally called for “calm” in the days after the accident. Now, he argues, that as the gravity of the situation at the plant has become more clear, the specter of long-term radiation exposure must be reckoned with.

    Lamenting the poor state of public knowledge of radiation, Nishio writes, “Japan, with its history of having suffered radiation exposure from the atomic bombs, should have the most [direct] knowledge of radiation, but in fact, in the approach to the nuclear accident, has simply fallen into confusion.” He places blame on a number of groups:

    1.TEPCO executives, who he accuses of having hidden the truth and prioritized the survival of the company over public health.
    2.Bureaucrats who were unable to put together an accurate body of information about radiation effects from which to formulate policy.
    3.A prime minister and cabinet lacking both leadership and an appropriate sense of urgency.
    4.Politicians who sought to use the crisis in intra- or inter-party struggles.
    5.Nuclear industry lobbyists and “academic flunkies” (goyo gakusha) of the government who built up the myth of nuclear safety in the first place.
    Looking at these groups, he writes, “I just cannot feel any hope for Japan’s future. These circumstances are simply tragic.”

    He leaves the press out of his main list of culprits, but points to the poor state of scientific knowledge among journalists as a major factor behind what he views as their inability to bring essential information to the public in a timely manner. He also accuses the media establishment of prioritizing “avoiding a panic” over “communicating the truth”.

    Nishio provides a blunt and hard-hitting specialist perspective on major government decisions. Here is a summary of some of his major points:

    Workers:

    1.He accuses the authorities of prioritizing their own convenience over the lives of nuclear workers. Nishio argues that raising the exposure limit from 100 mSv to 250 mSv can have serious health effects. He also states that reports of poor food and sleeping conditions for workers show that “… they are not even being treated like human beings.”
    2.The JSDF helicopters that dropped water on the Fukushima Daiichi reactors and spent fuel pools in the days after March 11 were outfitted with the types of radiation shields used in hospital x-ray rooms. Nisho says that this was akin to “putting on a lead helmet in order to protect yourself from radiation from space”. The planners, he argues, did not even understand the difference between airborne radiation from a nuclear accident and radiation used in the controlled environment of hospital treatment.
    3.Referring to “protective” suits is a misnomer bordering on fraud in Nishio’s view since nothing can offer total protection from radiation exposure.
    4.A lack of nutrition and rest can make workers more susceptible to radiation symptoms. Nishio speculates that having the workers sleep together in gymnasium-like barracks with no privacy is simply designed to keep them from running away. Just 30 minutes from the site, he points out, there are empty hotels which could offer those on the front line a quiet, secure place to rest and recuperate.
    5.He accuses TEPCO of being up to the old tricks of the nuclear industry: giving dispatch and temporary workers broken radiation monitors, only giving them monitoring devices when they are working despite high levels of radiation throughout the site, and so on.
    6.Without accurate assessment of internal radiation exposure through “whole body monitoring”, there is no way to tell how much exposure workers are actually suffering.
    7.Measures must also be taken to gauge different types of exposure (i.e. alpha rays from plutonium and beta rays from strontium).
    8.Around 5000 workers have worked at the site since March. This number is high, but if radiation release continues, 100 or even 1000 times that number may be needed over time.
    9.The MOX fuel in reactor number 3 is particularly dangerous but Nishio doubts that special measures to protect workers are being taken.
    10.“Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Harvest” treatment has been put forward by doctors as a way to minimize the chances of bone marrow deterioration among workers, but this was turned down by the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan. Nishio asserts that this is evidence that they simply do not grasp the severity of the situation.
    11.Apart from the iodine that they are being given, workers should also be taking Radiogardase (Prussian blue insoluble capsules). Not working to bring together the best preventative medicine, Nishio asserts angrily, is an example of “graveyard governance”.

    Fukushima Residents:

    1.The threat to public health is not simply a matter of distance from Fukushima. Wind patterns and topography are even more important.
    2.The release of data from the expensive SPEEDI system, was delayed until March 23. This delay resulted in unnecessary radiation exposure. “It is only conceivable that the high rate of radiation released was not reported because of fears of a panic.”
    3.Former Minister for Internal Affairs Haraguchi Kazuhiro has alleged that radiation monitoring station data was actually three decimal places greater than the numbers released to the public. If this is true, it constitutes a “national crime”, in Nishio’s words. He follows with, “Giving us the truth once is much more important than saying ‘hang in there Japan!’ a million times.”
    4.According to Japanese law, the rate of radiation exposure permitted for ordinary citizens is 1 mSv / year. This has been raised to 20 mSv / year in a “time of crisis”. Such a dramatic increase in permitted exposure is akin to “taking the lives of the people lightly”. Nishio believes that 20 mSv is too high, especially for children who are far more susceptible to the effects of radiation.
    5.Even more important than a permitted 20 mSv exposure rate, however, is the lack of adequate provision for measuring internal radiation exposure among the Fukushima population.
    6.The American Academy of Sciences 2008 “Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation” report claims that there is no safe level of radiation exposure. Despite this and other examples of leading research, however, the Japanese government has moved on the assumption that there is no evidence for increased cancer risk at under 100 mSv of exposure. The European Committee on Radiation Risk argues that existing risk models do not take internal exposure into account. High rates of internal exposure will mean a dramatic increase in cancer risk for Fukushima residents, with as many as 400,000 cases predicted by 2061. Nishio argues, however, that these calculations rest on some shaky assumptions and that the number is too high. He believes strongly, however, that internal radiation exposure must be taken seriously by the Japanese government.
    7.Comparing the 6.9 mSv exposure from a CT scan to a similar amount of radiation exposure outside of a controlled environment is misleading. Long term exposure and internal exposure can have unpredictable effects on the human body. Comparisons with radiation used in cancer treatment are also scientifically shaky.
    8.The large amounts of radioactive waste water at the Fukushima Daiichi site will contaminate the soil and water supplies, significantly increasing the risk of internal radiation exposure.

    Necessary Countermeasures:

    1.Among people living in the same area, rates of exposure can vary greatly based on lifestyle and movement patterns. As a result, it is important that every resident in at risk areas be given a device to monitor personal radiation exposure. Apart from protecting individuals and allowing them to make informed decisions about their safety, the data gathered can be used in future medical research and in court cases that will no doubt originate from the Fukushima Daiichi accident.
    2.There is little conclusive scientific data on the risks of low level radiation exposure. The government, however, must not let this turn into a case of “we don’t know so we can assume it is safe”. On the contrary, Nishio argues that it is necessary to proceed under the assumption “we don’t know so we must assume that it is dangerous”.
    3.Residents must be given real time radiation data as well as the best possible advice about how to decrease their exposure.
    4.While there are limits to what this can achieve, dirt from schoolyards should be regularly removed and replaced.
    5.Strontium 90, which has a half-life of 28.7 years and can have a serious impact on child bone development, must be carefully measured.
    6.In planning of future solutions, radiation effects on the body should take priority over the potential stresses associated with relocation.
    7.The government should buy houses and land in irradiated areas at pre-crisis market value and provide additional aid for resettlement. Cleanup measures should be undertaken and when the areas become safe, the government should sell property back at reduced rates. A respect for both present necessity and the deep attachment that many have to land that has been in their families for many generations is necessary if the government wants to convince nuclear refugees that they are being treated fairly.
    8.The government should make every effort to provide accurate information, but should not forcibly remove elderly residents who wish to remain in their homes.

    Some Radical Thoughts:

    1.The current crisis has called the very foundation of Japanese society into question. An unprecedented crisis calls for new ideas.
    2.Dependence on nuclear energy, which was slated to fulfill 50% of Japan’s energy needs in the future, must be rethought.
    3.Nuclear energy and energy policy have never been adequately debated in Japan. Those with a vested interest in nuclear energy were able to build up the “myth of nuclear safety” virtually unchallenged and they continuously covered up “inconvenient facts”.
    4.Energy demands will continue to increase and simply trying to convince the public to reduce energy use will not be enough. Now is the time for new debate about how to meet Japan’s energy needs while moving away from nuclear power.

    Nishio’s article provides a realistic, nuanced portrait of the problems currently facing Fukushima and Japan. The Japanese government has addressed some of them on a limited scale, but serious deficiencies remain. Nishio’s powerful statement, however, appearing in a major establishment outlet, is indicative of a shift in public discussion of radiation issues as more critical Japanese scientists outside of the circle of “academic flunkies” (goyo gakusha) make their voices heard.

    Asia-Pacific Journal articles on related issues:

    Norimatsu Satoko and the Say-Peace Project, Protecting Children Against Radiation: Citizens Take Radiation Protection into Their Own Hands
    http://japanfocus.org/-Say_Peace-Project/3549

    Matthew Penney, Okinawa’s Fukushima Connection: Nuclear Workers at Risk
    http://japanfocus.org/events/view/97

    Matthew Penney and Mark Selden, What Price the Fukushima Meltdown? Comparing Chernobyl and Fukushima
    http://japanfocus.org/-Mark-Selden/3535

    Paul Jobin, Dying for TEPCO? Fukushima’s Nuclear Contract Workers
    http://japanfocus.org/-Paul-Jobin/3523

  11. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_18.html

    Radioactivity survey ship leaves for Fukushima

    A research ship has left Tokyo to survey the spread of radioactive substances into the ocean from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

    The ship belonging to Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology left Toyoumi Wharf in Tokyo Bay on Friday morning. About 30 specialists in ocean observation and marine biology are onboard the Umitaka-maru.

    In cooperation with a fisheries research organization and other groups, the ship will collect seafloor samples off Fukushima to study the impact of radioactive substances on fish and plankton.

    The research will focus on shellfish and sandworms on the seabed that are believed to be susceptible to radioactive materials.

    Professor Takashi Ishimaru, the team’s leader, says it’s important to provide accurate information because without data, people tend to become suspicious and they might create groundless rumors.

    Ishimaru says he hopes the results of the survey will help scientists learn how fish and shellfish absorb radioactive substances.

    The ship is to arrive off Fukushima on Saturday and will continue its activities until July 8th.

    Friday, July 01, 2011 12:19 +0900 (JST)

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Radioactivity survey ship leaves for Fukushima

    http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_18.html

    A research ship, belonging to Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, left Toyoumi Wharf in Tokyo Bay on Friday morning to survey the spread of radioactive substances into the ocean from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The ship is to arrive off Fukushima on Saturday and will continue its activities until July 8th. About 30 specialists in ocean observation and marine biology are onboard the ‘Umitaka-maru’.

    In cooperation with a fisheries research organization and other groups, the ship will collect seafloor samples off Fukushima to study the impact of radioactive substances on fish and plankton. The research will focus on shellfish and sandworms on the seabed that are believed to be susceptible to radioactive materials.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_34.html

    Panel mulls damages for internal exposure

    A government panel is discussing whether to compensate people suffering internal exposure to radiation from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

    At a meeting on Friday, panel leader Yoshihisa Noumi said discussions should be made on whether to recognize such people or those exposed to radiation but yet to develop health problems as suffering mental distress.

    Some panel members said people who have been exposed to radiation can be recognized as suffering mental distress.

    Others said that in cases of no health damage, compensation should not be paid.

    The panel decided to continue discussions, saying it is difficult to determine which radiation levels will be covered by compensation.

    The members also discussed whether to compensate for damage caused by import bans on Japanese goods by foreign governments and a decrease in tourism to Japan.

    The panel is expected to continue discussions to wrap up its interim guidelines in late July.

    The panel had already decided to compensate people who were forced to evacuate by government order after the nuclear plant accident for mental suffering.

    Friday, July 01, 2011 20:02 +0900 (JST)

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Japan – internal exposure damages

    http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_34.html

    A government panel is discussing whether to compensate people suffering internal exposure to radiation from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Panel leader Yoshihisa Noumi said discussions should be made on whether to recognize such people or those exposed to radiation but yet to develop health problems as suffering mental distress. The members also discussed whether to compensate for damage caused by import bans on Japanese goods by foreign governments and a decrease in tourism to Japan.

    The panel decided to compensate people for mental suffering who were forced to evacuate after the nuclear plant accident.

    Friday, July 01, 2011 20:02 +0900 (JST)

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Children Making Hot Water

    Radioactive substances were found in urine samples of all of 10 surveyed children from Fukushima Prefecture in May

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20110630p2g00m0dm106000c.html

    According to the urine test, 1.13 Becquerels of radioactive cesium-134 per 1 liter of urine, the largest amount for the isotope among the 10 surveyed children, was found from an 8-year-old girl, while the largest amount of cesium-137 at 1.30 Becquerels was found in a 7-year-old boy.

    David Boilley, president of the French nongovernmental organization (NGO) ACRO radioactivity measuring body, said at a press conference in Tokyo that the results of the survey on 10 boys and girls in Fukushima City aged between 6 and 16 suggest there is a high possibility that children in and near the city have been exposed to radiation internally. ACRO also investigated radiation exposure of children who resided near the site of 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20110630p2g00m0dm106000c.html

    National News

    Trace amounts of radioactive materials found in Fukushima kids’ urine

    TOKYO (Kyodo) — Trace amounts of radioactive substances were found in urine samples of all of 10 surveyed children from Fukushima Prefecture in May, where a crippled nuclear power plant is located, a local citizens group and a French nongovernmental organization said Thursday.

    David Boilley, president of the Acro radioactivity measuring body, said at a press conference in Tokyo that the results of the survey on 10 boys and girls in Fukushima City aged between 6 and 16 suggest there is a high possibility that children in and near the city have been exposed to radiation internally.

    The citizens group, the Fukushima Network for Saving Children from Radiation, comprising parents in the prefecture, said the finding is “certainly” due to the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

    The group added it will urge the central and local governments to have all citizens in the prefecture undergo detailed tests soon using whole body counters.

    Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said later in the day at a press conference, “The government is concerned” about the finding. He added the government wants to obtain detailed results of the survey so they can be thoroughly examined.

    Edano said the government also intends to accelerate work to analyze similar surveys conducted by itself and Fukushima prefectural authorities.

    According to the urine test, 1.13 becquerels of radioactive cesium-134 per 1 liter of urine, the largest amount for the isotope among the 10 surveyed children, was found from an 8-year-old girl, while the largest amount of cesium-137 at 1.30 becquerels was found in a 7-year-old boy.

    Acro also investigated radiation exposure of children who resided near the site of 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

    (Mainichi Japan) June 30, 2011

    Pylons and a blue tarp mark the parts of a nursery school playground pronounced off-limits after the discovery of a radioactive “hotspot” there, in Noda, Chiba Prefecture.
    (Mainichi)

    A worker from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency measures radiation levels in a sandbox at the Fukushima University-affiliated kindergarten in Fukushima on May 8, 2011.
    (Mainichi)

  12. http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/trace-amounts-of-radioactive-materials-found-in-fukushima-childrens-urine

    Trace amounts of radioactive materials found in Fukushima children’s urine

    National Jul. 01, 2011 – 06:33AM JST ( 57 )

    TOKYO —

    Trace amounts of radioactive substances were found in urine samples of all of 10 surveyed children from Fukushima Prefecture in May, where a crippled nuclear power plant is located, a local citizens group and a French nongovernmental organization said Thursday.

    David Boilley, president of the Acro radioactivity measuring body, said at a press conference in Tokyo that the results of the survey on 10 boys and girls in Fukushima City aged between 6 and 16 suggest there is a high possibility that children in and near the city have been exposed to radiation internally.

    © 2011 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ‘ists’ and ‘isms’

    Well, “My Rap” is not a dinosaur/discredited ‘ist’ or an ‘ism’.

    As in communist, fascist, captalist, marxist, anarchist, monarchist …

    or

    communism, fascism, captalism, marxism, anarchism, monarchism …

    The flaws in the ‘ists’ and the ‘isms’ are rather glaring and boring.

    I lean toward restoration of our disgarded, constitutional republic, with a mixed economy.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    The Japanese people were particularly vulnerable because of the earthquake and tsunami. They experienced great difficulty. They lost shelter, electricity and municipal water. Many were trapped outside or inside, with broken windows and collapsed homes. They had nowhere to hide.

    The better news is that simple precautions can make a world of difference. You can normally improve your health and lifespan, even in truly dangerous radioactive environments inside the mandatory evacuation areas, such as near Fukushima.

    Even in fallout conditions, plant ‘hats’ .Washing plant leaves off with clean water significantly reduces leaf uptake,

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Dose Equivalent Factors for Use in Approximating the Embryo/Fetus Dose from Radionuclides in Maternal Blood

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Fort Calhoun is a Fukushima in slow motion…

    http://www.youtube.com/user/waitworrywhocares

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Mark
    BRAWM Team Member
    bandstra@berkeley.edu

    Great webpage! The updates are timely and the discussions, stimulating. Your personal contributions are always well considered and effectively communicated.

    Thanks for looking into this spam filter issue. The error message accurately identifies the affected IP as: 75.148.229.153. The error message, which is posted, when submitting comments, from this IP address, follows.

    ——————-

    Your IP address has been blocked by our spam filter.

    You are currently not allowed to post content to The Nuclear Engineering Department At UC Berkeley, as previous content posted by your IP address (75.148.229.153) has been flagged as potential spam.

    If you have not posted spam to The Nuclear Engineering Department At UC Berkeley, please report this error along with your IP address to a site administrator. We apologize for any inconvenience.

    ——————-

    I have no difficulty posting from other IP addresses, using my Email address as identification. Your kind assistance in this matter is sincerely appreciated. I shall remain,

    Sincerely Yours,

    Bill Duff
    billyduff1@aol.com
    C: (432) 528-1880

    The affected IP Address Is: 75.148.229.153

    Is anyone else having a problem with the spam filter?

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    “Taking a page from the BP pubic relations handbook” …

    http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/06/29/radiation-in-our-food/

    Medicine Hunter

    Radiation in Our Food

    By Chris Kilham – Published June 29, 2011 – FoxNews.com

    Though the horrendous tsunami that hit Japan on March 12, 2011 seems like old news in the midst of today’s headlines, the crippled nuclear power plants at Fukishima Daichi continue to spew radiation into water, air and soil, with no end in sight.

    Even as thousands of Japanese workers struggle to contain the ongoing nuclear disaster, low levels of radiation from those power plants have been detected in foods in the United States. Milk, fruits and vegetables show trace amounts of radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima Daichi power plants, and the media appears to be paying scant attention, if any attention at all. It is as if the problem only involves Japan, not the vast Pacific Ocean, into which highly radioactive water has poured by the dozens of tons, and not into air currents and rainwater that carry radiation to U.S. soil and to the rest of the world. But it is happening here, on your dinner plate.

    Taking a page from the BP pubic relations handbook, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) and the Japanese government have downplayed the extent of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daichi, in which three of six nuclear reactors are in ongoing meltdown. According to Japanese nuclear engineer Naoto Sekimura, nuclear fuel rod meltdown at the damaged plants began only hours after the tsunami, and the situation has not been contained. There is still an ongoing threat of a total “China Syndrome” meltdown, and Japanese officials now say that the three damaged plants may possibly continue to emit uncontrolled radiation for another year.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/06/29/radiation-in-our-food/

    Medicine Hunter

    Radiation in Our Food

    By Chris Kilham
    Published June 29, 2011
    FoxNews.com

    Though the horrendous tsunami that hit Japan on March 12, 2011 seems like old news in the midst of today’s headlines, the crippled nuclear power plants at Fukishima Daichi continue to spew radiation into water, air and soil, with no end in sight.

    Even as thousands of Japanese workers struggle to contain the ongoing nuclear disaster, low levels of radiation from those power plants have been detected in foods in the United States. Milk, fruits and vegetables show trace amounts of radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima Daichi power plants, and the media appears to be paying scant attention, if any attention at all. It is as if the problem only involves Japan, not the vast Pacific Ocean, into which highly radioactive water has poured by the dozens of tons, and not into air currents and rainwater that carry radiation to U.S. soil and to the rest of the world. And while both Switzerland and Germany have come out against any further nuclear development, the U.S. the nuclear power industry continues as usual, with aging and crumbling power plants receiving extended operating licenses from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as though it can’t happen here. But it is happening here, on your dinner plate.

    Taking a page from the BP pubic relations handbook, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) and the Japanese government have downplayed the extent of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daichi, in which three of six nuclear reactors are in ongoing meltdown. According to Japanese nuclear engineer Naoto Sekimura, nuclear fuel rod meltdown at the damaged plants began only hours after the tsunami, and the situation has not been contained. There is still an ongoing threat of a total “China Syndrome” meltdown, and Japanese officials now say that the three damaged plants may possibly continue to emit uncontrolled radiation for another year.

    According to Greenpeace, the ocean around large areas of Japan has been contaminated by toxic radioactive agents including cesium, iodine, plutonium and strontium. These radioactive agents are accumulating in sea life. Fish, shellfish and sea vegetables are absorbing this radiation, while airborne radioactive particles have contaminated land-based crops in Japan, including spinach and tea grown 200 miles south of the damaged nuclear plants. Meanwhile, on U.S. soil, radiation began to show up in samples of milk tested in California, just one month after the plants were damaged.

    Radiation tests conducted since the nuclear disaster in Japan have detected radioactive iodine and cesium in milk and vegetables produced in California. According to tests conducted by scientists at the UC Berkeley Department of Nuclear Engineering, milk from grass fed cows in Sonoma County was contaminated with cesium 137 and cesium 134. Milk sold in Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Vermont and Washington has also tested positive for radiation since the accident.

    Additionally, drinking water tested in some U.S. municipalities also shows radioactive contamination. Is the fallout from Fukushima Daichi falling on us? Yes, it is.

    Thanks to the jet stream air currents that flow across the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. is receiving a steady flow of radiation from Fukushima Daichi. And while many scientists say that the levels of contamination in food pose no significant threat to health, scientists are unable to establish any actual safe limit for radiation in food. Detection of radioactive iodine 131, which degrades rapidly, in California milk samples shows that the fallout from Japan is reaching the U.S. quickly.

    Though California is somewhat on the ball regarding testing for radiation in foods, other states appear to be asleep at the switch with this issue. Yet broad-leaf vegetables including spinach and kale are accumulating radiation from rain and dust. Some spinach, arugula and wild-harvested mushrooms have tested positive for cesium 134 and 137 according to UCB, as have strawberries.

    According to the U.S.-based group of medical doctors Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), no amount of man-made radiation in water and food is safe. “There is no safe level of radionuclide exposure, whether from food, water or other sources, period,” said Jeff Patterson, DO, immediate past president of PSR, in late March. “Exposure to radionuclides, such as iodine 131 and cesium 137, increases the incidence of cancer. For this reason, every effort must be taken to minimize the radionuclide content in food and water.”

    Doctor Alan Lockwood MD echoes this. “Consuming food containing radionuclides is particularly dangerous. If an individual ingests or inhales a radioactive particle, it continues to irradiate the body as long as it remains radioactive and stays in the body.”

    “Children are much more susceptible to the effects of radiation and stand a much greater chance of developing cancer than adults,” states Andrew Kanter, MD, president of PSR’s board. “So it is particularly dangerous when they consume radioactive food or water.”

    Should you panic about this? No. That will do no good. But you can call, write and email your congressperson, your senator, and any other elected officials in your district, ask them to push for testing of foods and water in your area, and tell them to take the threat of global nuclear fallout seriously. For while none of the 104 nuclear power plants in the U.S. are melting down at present, we have had our own nuclear accidents. Remember Three Mile Island? Radiation has made its way to the American dinner table. This is a time to speak out, and to put pressure on policy makers. Clearly, it’s far better to be politically active now than radioactive tomorrow.

    Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide. His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at http://www.MedicineHunter.com

    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/06/29/radiation-in-our-food/#ixzz1QlZXQWno

  13. http://www.japantoday.com/category/commentary/view/fukushimas-cesium-spew-deadly-catch-22s

    Fukushima’s cesium spew – deadly catch-22s

    By W David Kubiak

    Commentary Jun. 29, 2011 – 09:38PM JST ( 28 )

    For those most focused on Fukushima’s human toll, there are several main sources of concern: the continuing radiation menace in the region’s fields, crops and seafood; and TEPCO’s recent admission that its reactors won’t be under control until 2012 at best. These offer critical reminders that radioactive cesium is now Japan’s public enemy No. 1.

    Behind the confusing fog of rad, rem, becquerel and milliseivert statistics lurks the basic fact that the spread of cesium 137 was the deadliest legacy of Chernobyl and is now the gravest health threat facing eastern Japan. Moving through strong radiation fields like chest X-rays, U.S. airport scanners or Fukushima reactor rubble is obviously hazardous, but time limited. Carrying the radiation source around inside you 24/7, however, poses an exponentially greater threat, especially when it’s an aggressive ionizing radionuclide like cesium 137 with a half-life of 30 years.

    Despite its meager eight-day half-life, iodine 121 somehow became the rock star of radiation reporting and always gets top billing when things slip out of control. People in affected areas routinely dose themselves with potassium iodide to protect against I-121 exposure, but they hear little and do nothing about the cesium 137 they absorb. Cesium levels are usually reported second, if at all, even though they pose far greater risks for children, farm communities and the public at large.

    Spawned profusely in fission reactions, cesium 137 decays slowly, bioaccumulates rapidly, spews intense gamma rays and hitchhikes easily in water, air and food. Imbibed, inhaled or eaten, even a few atoms can stir up mutagenic havoc in the organs where they land. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences apparently had cesium in mind when it announced in 2005 that the only safe radiation level for young people is absolutely none at all.

    As Kanto/Tohoku parents are becoming aware, their children are now surrounded by unnaturally high cesium levels in local neighborhoods and schoolyards, which translate into incessant exposure and countless youth at risk.

    There is a common proven purge for cesium 137 called Prussian Blue (PB), but Japan blocks access to it with a tangle of catch-22s. Doctors abroad are counseled to use PB as quickly as possible for any “known or suspected radiocesium contamination” and can use a relatively simple urine test to assess cesium levels. In Japan, however, doctors can’t prescribe PB without a 10 million yen “whole body radiation counter,” but according to NHK, there was only one such machine in all of Fukushima as of June 2 and it can only process ten patients a day.

    Finally and most curiously, the only company that Japan licenses to sell PB has no stock for sale in any case and says it probably won’t have any until the end of the year.

    Technically, the drug is called ferric hexacyanoferrate, which is chemist speak for insoluble drug grade Prussian Blue. It is purified from the ancient dyestuff and has emerged as the most powerful cesium remedy discovered to date.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) endorse PB as the safest fastest way to purge radioactive cesium from the body before it creates malignant cells. Both agencies urge doctors to use it as quickly as possible after exposure, and many people are already taking it to counter Fukushima cesium. Most of them live in California, however. You still can’t beg, borrow or steal the drug where it’s needed in Japan.

    According to the CDC, PB has been used to flush out cesium and thallium since the 1960s, and it became globally recognized after a 1987 mass cesium poisoning in Goiânia, Brazil. Hundreds were hospitalized, but a few grams of PB a day cut victims’ internal contamination by over 70% in just a few weeks.

    In 2003, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a press release pleading for “New Drug Application Submissions for Prussian Blue as a Treatment for Radioactive Cesium Contamination” to boost national stockpiles of the drug in case of a “dirty bomb” attack. Their appeal notes the drug is the first and only FDA-approved treatment for internalized radioactive cesium and virtually begs for generic production stating, “Because the FDA has already completed the safety and efficacy review work, applicants need only submit the chemistry information for the Prussian blue product they make.”

    Despite all this official encouragement only Heyl Chemisch-pharmazeutische Fabrik GmbH & Co, a small family-owned drug firm in Berlin, responded. Heyl’s tiny factory now produces all the world’s drug grade PB, which it markets under the Radiogardase name. The de facto monopoly allows them to sell the drug for $100 for 30 grams even though the raw material is only $3,000/ton.

    In October of last year, Heyl’s exclusive Japanese distributor Nihon Medi-Physics received Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare approval to sell Radiogardase, but it has yet to reach the market anywhere.

    Trying to source the drug for friends and family in Japan, I asked CEO Alexander Heyl about this dearth in early May, shortly after he visited Tokyo for “official talks.” He said supplies are in fact being made available, but he was not at liberty to divulge how much he is shipping or to whom. He directed me to Kiyoshi Tatsuo, Nihon Medi-Physics’ sales manager, but Tatsuo-san swore he had no stock at all for hospitals or the public and that anyone wishing to order it would have to wait at least five or six months.

    Since whatever quantities Heyl is shipping seem to be vanishing quietly into government stockpiles, this route was evidently not going to help my friends or answer Japan’s urgent needs.

    Given PB’s decades of medical history, its nonproprietary status and the FDA’s urgent efforts to develop new sources of supply, Japan’s leading generic firms seemed the next logical possibility. Unfortunately, the research and development executives at Sawai Pharmaceuticals and Towa Yakuhin respectively responded, “Sawai is just not interested in radiation period” and “MHLW has classified Prussian Blue as a ‘new drug’ so Towa can’t create a generic version for at least 8 years.”

    The MHLW Pharmaceutical and Medical Safety Bureau later clarified to me that they may consider other PB products during that time, but FDA assurances notwithstanding, all prospective makers would have to submit the same voluminous safety and efficacy studies required for any new prescription drug.

    In sum, thanks to bureaucratic dysfunction and/or corporate disregard, Japan is compounding a dire and widening public health emergency because it can’t or won’t release a harmless antidote that’s been around for 50 years. For the nation’s already affected citizens and the many yet to come, this artificial embargo is both injurious and insane.

    It may take a public outcry or an entrepreneurial epiphany, but with so many lives now in harm’s way, this criminal neglect of a spreading carcinogen must be addressed immediately.

    W David Kubiak is a Project Censored Award-winning journalist and a Kyoto Journal contributing editor currently working on a public service website called Radiation Self-Defense. He can be reached at wdk@cop10.org.

    Truthout

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://health.phys.iit.edu/extended_archive/0304/msg00061.html

    FDA: Prussian Blue for Internal Contamination with Thallium or Cesium

    To:
    Subject: FDA: Prussian Blue for Internal Contamination with Thallium or Cesium
    From: Jodi.Strzelczyk@UCHSC.edu
    Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2003 17:16:50 -0700
    Reply-To: Jodi.Strzelczyk@UCHSC.edu
    Sender: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
    Thread-Index: AcL6P30ItkqNTFUBQjywbDvBn9N73A==

    Thread-Topic: FDA: Prussian Blue for Internal Contamination with Thallium or Cesium

    Susan and all,

    In consideration of a possibility that this topic may become a tread, I would suggest a change in its title from “FDA: Prussian Blue as Tmt for Exposure to Radioactive Exposures”. FDA issued a guidance on the topic just a few days following the cited release (Federal Register, Vol.68, Number 23, February 4, 2003). It contains a curious statement “…Cesium-137 is a product of fusion…” – (pasted below) – interesting.

    Jodi Strzelczyk, Ph.D.
    University of Colorado HSC
    Asst. Professor, Radiological Sciences

    Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2003 15:52:15 -0500

    From: Susan L Gawarecki

    Subject: FDA: Prussian Blue as Tmt for Exposure to Radioactive Exposures

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    PO3-06

    January 31, 2003

    Media Inquiries: 301-827-6242

    Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

    FDA ENCOURAGES NEW DRUG APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS FOR PRUSSIAN BLUE AS A TREATMENT FOR THALLIUM OR RADIOACTIVE CESIUM CONTAMINATION…

    Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director

    Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee

    102 Robertsville Road, Suite B, Oak Ridge, TN 37830

    Toll free 888-770-3073 ~ http://www.local-oversight.org

    from: Federal Register 68 (23), Feb 4, 2003

    DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

    Food and Drug Administration

    [Docket No. 03D-0023]

    Guidance for Industry on Prussian Blue for Treatment of Internal Contamination With Thallium or Radioactive Cesium; Availability

    SUMMARY: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that we

    have concluded that prussian blue, when produced under conditions

    specified in approved new drug applications (NDAs), can be found to be

    safe and effective for the treatment of internal contamination with

    radioactive thallium, nonradioactive thallium, or radioactive cesium.

    We encourage the submission of NDAs for prussian blue drug products. We

    are also announcing the availability of a guidance for industry

    entitled “Prussian Blue Drug Products–Submitting a New Drug

    Application.” This guidance is intended to assist manufacturers who

    plan to submit NDAs for prussian blue.

    ADDRESSES: Submit NDAs to the Food and Drug Administration, Center for

    Drug Evaluation and Research, Central Document Room, 12229 Wilkins

    Ave., Rockville, MD 20852. Submit requests for copies of draft labeling

    to the Division of Medical Imaging and Radiopharmaceutical Drug

    Products, (HFD-160), Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and

    Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-827-

    7510. Copies of the reports referred to in this document will be on

    display at the Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305), Food and Drug

    Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

    Submit written requests for single copies of the guidance to the

    Division of Drug Information (HFD-240), Center for Drug Evaluation and

    Research, Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville,

    MD 20857. Send one self-addressed adhesive label to assist that office

    in processing your requests. Submit written comments on the guidance to

    the Dockets Management Branch (address provided in third sentence of

    this paragraph). Submit electronic comments to

    http://www.fda.gov/dockets/ecomments

    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kyong Kang, Center for Drug Evaluation

    and Research (HFD-160), Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers

    Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-827-7510.

    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    I. Background

    A. Cesium

    Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope of cesium, was discovered in 1941

    by Glenn T. Seaborg and Margaret Melhase. Cesium-137 is a product of

    fusion and is found in the fallout from the detonation of nuclear

    weapons and the waste from nuclear power plants. Cesium-137 is one of

    the most common radioisotopes used in industry. It is used in various

    measuring devices, such as moisture-density gauges. Cesium-137 is also

    widely used as a source of gamma radiation for treatment of various

    forms of cancer. Cesium-137 has a half-life of 30.07 years.

    Contamination with cesium-137 can cause serious illness or death,

    depending upon the dose, and has been associated with the development

    of cancer long after exposure. In addition to concerns about exposure

    to cesium-137 in industrial and medical environments, cesium-137

    contamination is of particular concern because it has been mentioned as

    a potential component of a radiological dispersal device (RDD),

    commonly called a “dirty bomb.” An RDD is a conventional explosive or

    bomb containing radioactive material. The conventional bomb is used as

    a means to spread radioactive material, such as cesium-137. An RDD is

    not a nuclear bomb and does not involve a nuclear explosion.

    B. Thallium

    Thallium occurs naturally in several minerals and ores. It was

    discovered independently by both William Crookes and Claude Auguste

    Lamy in the early 1860s. Thallium is very toxic, and thallium sulfate

    has been used as a rat and ant poison in the past. Other thallium

    compounds are used in the manufacture of semiconductors, photocells,

    optical glass, and other items. Thallium-201, a radioactive isotope of

    thallium, is widely used in very small doses as an approved

    radioimaging drug. Thallium-201 has a half-life of 72.912 hours.

    Acute exposure to high dose radioactive or nonradioactive thallium

    is generally characterized by severe gastrointestinal symptoms followed

    by neurological symptoms, which may lead to death. The toxicity

    resulting from chronic exposure to thallium is characterized by various

    neurological symptoms. Thallium-201 has also been mentioned as a

    potential component of a dirty bomb.

    There are no approved treatments for internal contamination with

    thallium or radioactive cesium.

    C. Prussian Blue

    Prussian blue was first synthesized in 1704 by a Berlin color maker

    named Diesbach. It has been used as an industrial and artists’ pigment

    ever since. The chemical name for prussian blue is ferric

    hexacyanoferrate(II).

    The rest can be found at

    ************************************************************************

    You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,

    send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text “unsubscribe

    radsafe” (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.

    You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/EmergencyPreparedness/BioterrorismandDrugPreparedness/ucm130338.htm

    FDA ENCOURAGES NEW DRUG APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS FOR PRUSSIAN BLUE AS A TREATMENT FOR THALLIUM OR RADIOACTIVE CESIUM CONTAMINATION

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    PO3-06
    January 31, 2003 Media Inquiries: 301-827-6242
    Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

    Today the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called for manufacturers to submit marketing applications for Prussian blue, a mineral compound known as ferric hexacyanoferrate(II), that has been shown to be safe and effective in treating people exposed to radioactive elements such as cesium-137.

    “Today’s action is part of our continuing effort to foster the development and availability of countermeasures to terrorist attacks,” said Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, “We must and will do more to prepare and protect Americans against the threat of bioterrorism.”

    After a review of cases in published literature, FDA determined that 500-mg. Prussian blue capsules would be safe and effective for the treatment of patients with known or suspected internal contamination with radioactive thallium, non-radioactive thallium, or radioactive cesium. At this time, there are no FDA-approved treatments for internal contamination with thallium or radioactive cesium.

    Prussian blue is the first therapy that would be available to immediately help reduce the body’s burden of exposure to radioactive particles (isotopes). By binding with the radioactive particles while they are in the gut, Prussian blue captures the isotopes and causes them to be eliminated from the body.

    “FDA is working to protect U.S. citizens who may be exposed to radioactive materials released from terrorist attacks using a dirty-bomb,” said Dr. Mark B. McClellan, FDA Commissioner. “FDA’s guidance to industry and approved labeling for Prussian blue products gives manufacturers critical information necessary for producing an FDA-approved product to counter terrorism.”

    Cesium-137 is a product found in the fallout from the detonation of nuclear weapons and in the waste from nuclear power plants. In appropriate doses, it is also used as a source of radiation for cancer treatments. Cesium-137 contamination can cause serious illness or death and has been associated with cancer occurring long after exposure.

    In addition to concerns about accidental industrial and medical exposure, cesium-137 is of particular concern because it is a potential component of a conventional explosive device (a “dirty bomb”) containing radioactive material. Although this radiological dispersal device is not a nuclear bomb, it is detonated as a means to spread radioactive material.

    In determining the safety and effectiveness of Prussian blue, FDA evaluated reports of a 1987 incident in Brazil, where 250 people were contaminated with cesium-137 that had been abandoned after use in a cancer clinic. The reports showed that Prussian blue reduced the time the body was contaminated with cesium-137. Additional data from the literature, including a study of 7 human volunteers contaminated with trace doses of cesium-137, and reports on 19 patients in other incidents show a similar reduction in the biological half-life of the cesium after Prussian blue administration New Drug Applications.

    Thallium, occurring naturally in several minerals and ores, is very toxic. In the form of thallium sulfate, it has previously been used as a rat and ant poison, while other thallium compounds are still used in manufacturing semiconductors, photocells, and optical glass.

    Thallium-201, a radioactive isotope of thallium, is used in small doses as a radio-imaging agent in clinical diagnostic procedures. Exposure to higher doses of radioactive or non-radioactive thallium causes severe gastrointestinal symptoms followed by neurological symptoms, which may cause death.

    The main side effects of Prussian blue are constipation and nonspecific gastrointestinal distress. Other rare adverse events are discussed in the published literature and in the draft labeling the agency prepared. Prussian blue was first synthesized in 1704 and has been used as an industrial and artist’s pigment since 1724. It has been used experimentally since the 1960s as an orally ingested drug to increase fecal excretion of cesium and thallium from the body without it being absorbed through the intestines in the process.

    FDA encourages the submission of New Drug Applications for Prussian blue drug products, which when produced under the conditions specified in the Federal Register notice assures that the product is safe and effective. Because the FDA has already completed the safety and efficacy review work, applicants need only to submit the chemistry information for the Prussian blue product they make. To facilitate the process, the agency has prepared draft labeling and has published a guidance document on how to submit these applications.

    ####

    – – Links on this page:

    Page Last Updated: 04/30/2009

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Guidance for Industry on Prussian Blue for Treatment of Internal Contamination With Thallium or Radioactive Cesium
    http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/03d-0023-nad00001.pdf

    DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
    Food and Drug Administration
    [Docket No. 03D-O023]

    Cesium and thallium ions are ordinarily excreted into the intestine,
    reabsorbed from there into the bile, and then excreted again into the
    gastrointestinal tract. Orally administered prussian blue traps thallium or
    cesium in the intestine, interrupts its reabsorption from the gastrointestinal
    tract, and thereby increases fecal excretion of thallium and cesium. Prussian
    blue itself is not absorbed across the intestinal wall in significant amounts.

    Forty-six patients with heavy internal contamination were treated with prussian blue. Data on the whole-body effective half-life of cesium-137 during treatment and after treatment with prussian blue was completed on 33 of the 46 patients. The untreated mean whole-body effective half-life of cesium-137 is 80 days in adults, 62 days in adolescents, and 42 days in children. Prussian blue reduced the mean whole-body effective half-life of cesium-137 by 69 per cent in adults, by 46 per cent in adolescents, and by 43 per cent in children (see International Atomic Energy Agency, 1998).

    Data from additional literature articles, including a study of 7 human volunteers contaminated with trace doses of cesium-137 and reports on 19 patients contaminated with cesium-137 in other incidents, show a similar reduction in whole-body effective half-life after administration of prussian blue (see Madhus, 1968 and National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement, 1979).

  14. http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110629p2g00m0dm009000c.html

    News

    Gov’t to enhance nationwide radiation monitoring system

    TOKYO (Kyodo) — The government is planning to set aside more than 20 billion yen in the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2011 to enhance its nationwide radiation monitoring system, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

    The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has made the decision as the existing system has failed to accurately follow the spread of radioactive substances, affected by wind direction and rainfall, in the aftermath of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture, the sources said.

    Specifically, the ministry plans to establish around 250 monitoring posts across Japan, as opposed to the current system under which multiple monitoring posts are located near nuclear power facilities but only one in each prefecture that does not host such a facility in principle.

    In Fukushima, the ministry will continue monitoring radiation levels around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and install more than 2,000 dosimeters and data-transmission devices at schools, child care centers, parks and other facilities, the sources said.

    It will also provide more than 400 mobile monitoring posts that can be transported by car to all municipalities in Fukushima and to neighboring prefectures, they said.

    (Mainichi Japan) June 29, 2011

    One-year-old Himari, center, held by her mother Tomomi Sato, left, undergoes a radiation screening test at the welfare office in Oyama, Fukushima Prefecture, on May 24, 2011.
    (Mainichi)

    A worker from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency measures radiation levels in a sandbox at the Fukushima University-affiliated kindergarten in Fukushima on May 8, 2011.
    (Mainichi)

    Hard to show data when it is in books. But here is a couple of web searches.

    Effective dose
    http://www.ieer.org/ensec/no-4/eff-dose.html

    cosmic dose
    http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/rp/factsheets/factsheets-htm/fs10bkvsman.htm

    I don’t have time to scan all the books I have on this topic. You are arguing against the prevailing norm on radiation dose. Pick up a book on health physics and see what it says.

    Enjoy the summary of papers on airline dose found here:
    http://www.hps.org/publicinformation/ate/faqs/commercialflights.html

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110628p2a00m0na011000c.html

    News

    3 months after disaster, kids in northeast Japan still not getting full school lunches

    Primary and junior high schools in 11 municipalities in the three prefectures hardest hit by the March 11 disaster — Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima — still cannot provide their students with full school lunches, the Mainichi has discovered.

    Many school boards in Japan use centralized lunch kitchens to supply their schools with meals. A number of these lunch kitchens were damaged or destroyed in the earthquake and tsunami and have yet to reopen, leaving the schools they served dependent on non-governmental organization (NGO) support or boxed lunch delivery companies to provide students their midday meal. These stopgaps, however, have raised health and nutrition concerns.

    Meanwhile, restarting the lunch kitchens will be no easy task for municipalities devastated by the March disaster, and the return of hot school lunches in these places appears a long way off.

    One of these municipalities is Higashimatsushima in Miyagi Prefecture, where the international NGO Save the Children began providing schools with side dishes in June. Lunch at local Akai Elementary School on June 10 consisted of rice balls, boiled eggs and vegetable juice. One second-grader seemed pleased with the meal, telling the Mainichi, “I like boiled eggs.” However, while the improvised lunch may have got smiles from the kids, no one could say it was balanced or plentiful. Restoring the city’s school lunch kitchen to full output by the end of the school term, meanwhile, appears a very difficult task.

    The town of Minamisanriku, also in Miyagi Prefecture, lost its lunch kitchen to the disaster as well, and has similarly been depending on an NGO to keep its students fed. The local government is set to start making hot meals at an old lunch kitchen — used by the town’s predecessor before amalgamation with surrounding municipalities — after the summer break. However, the facility’s capacity is just one-third that required to supply all Minamisanriku’s present school lunch needs.

    The lunch kitchen in nearby Ishinomaki, meanwhile, must be completely rebuilt, and the city has been giving its public school children vacuum-packed meals in a bag, among other stopgap options.

    In Fukushima Prefecture to the south, there are primary and junior high schools in seven municipalities that still cannot offer students a complete lunch. In the city of Iwaki, a number of schools take one-week shifts making complete or partial lunches for the other schools.

    One of two primary schools in the inland town of Kagamiishi, meanwhile, has been cordoned off due to earthquake damage, and the local government is now rushing to build a lunch kitchen in a prefabricated building to make up for the one in the damaged school.

    “There aren’t many companies that can make meals for some 700 people, while from a health perspective it’s hard to rely on boxed lunches,” according to the town, which has supplemented simple main dishes with fruit and dairy products.

    In Iwate Prefecture, the tsunami-devastated city of Rikuzentakata has been serving boxed lunches made by a lunch kitchen run by the prefectural disaster response headquarters, though the city says it has to be careful of food poisoning considering the meals are transported over long distances.

    The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has submitted a provision for both financial and material support for school lunches in the disaster area in the first supplementary budget. However, even with this support, providing balanced and nutritious meals to children depends on the school lunch kitchens reopening and returning to full capacity. This, according to a Minamisanriku official, may be some time away in municipalities facing major rebuilding.

    “We’ll get to the lunch kitchens when we can guarantee land for them as part of our overall reconstruction plan,” the official told the Mainichi. “And that will take three to five years.”

    Click here for the original Japanese story
    http://mainichi.jp/select/photo/news/20110628k0000m040020000c.html

    (Mainichi Japan) June 28, 2011

    Takata Prefectural High School, where Motoko Mori had worked, is pictured in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, on April 15.
    (Mainichi)

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110628p2a00m0na006000c.html

    News
    Researchers discover how human cells take in nuke-crisis contaminated plutonium
    A United States research has discovered how the toxic radioactive element plutonium — detected in and around the grounds of the crisis-stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant — is taken up by human cells.

    The research team led by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in Illinois has been working on ways to stop the uptake of the synthetic element — a byproduct of nuclear fission and also the fissile material in many nuclear warheads. However, the team has at the same time emphasized the extreme difficulty of expelling plutonium once taken up, and the necessity of preventing nuclear accidents that could introduce the element into the environment.

    The researchers used special x-rays among other techniques to analyze plutonium uptake in the body. They found that the element — which has a half-life of some 24,000 years — was being brought into cells by binding to a protein responsible for iron uptake. There are two binding sites for iron uptake and at least one of them must still bind to iron for the other to bring in plutonium. The process also has a preference for iron ions even in the presence of plutonium — a preference that could lead to new plutonium poisoning treatments.

    The team also said, however, that complete prevention of plutonium uptake was not realistic.

    Normally, plutonium produced during nuclear power generation is locked inside the reactor. However, the element was released from Fukushima plant when hydrogen explosions destroyed reactor buildings there in March. Plutonium contamination of 0.54 becquerels per kilogram of soil has been detected within the plant grounds — an amount that plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. insists has no influence on human health.

    The ANL team’s results were published in the June 26 issue of the U.S. scientific journal Nature Chemical Biology.

    Click here for the original Japanese story
    http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/news/20110628k0000m040136000c.html

    (Mainichi Japan) June 28, 2011

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.nature.com/nchembio/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nchembio.594.html
    http://www.nature.com/nchembio/index.html

    Latest Highlights

    Advance online publication

    Plutonium uptake

    Article by Jensen et al.

    Plutonium (Pu), a radiotoxic element, enters cells via an unknown mechanism. Solution structures and X-ray imaging studies reveal that Pu binds to transferrin and the complex can be taken up by cells via receptor-mediated endocytosis only if iron is contained in transferrin’s N lobe.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Nature Chemical Biology | Article

    An iron-dependent and transferrin-mediated cellular uptake pathway for plutonium

    Mark P Jensen,1 Drew Gorman-Lewis,1, 6 Baikuntha Aryal,1, 2 Tatjana Paunesku,3, 4 Stefan Vogt,5 Paul G Rickert,1 Soenke Seifert,5 Barry Lai,5 Gayle E Woloschak3, 4 & L Soderholm1

    Nature Chemical Biology (2011)
    DOI: doi:10.1038/nchembio.594

    Received 08 December 2010, Accepted19 April 2011, Published online26 June 2011

    Abstract

    Plutonium is a toxic synthetic element with no natural biological function, but it is strongly retained by humans when ingested. Using small-angle X-ray scattering, receptor binding assays and synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy, we find that rat adrenal gland (PC12) cells can acquire plutonium in vitro through the major iron acquisition pathway—receptor-mediated endocytosis of the iron transport protein serum transferrin; however, only one form of the plutonium–transferrin complex is active. Low-resolution solution models of plutonium-loaded transferrins derived from small-angle scattering show that only transferrin with plutonium bound in the protein’s C-terminal lobe (C-lobe) and iron bound in the N-terminal lobe (N-lobe) (PuCFeNTf) adopts the proper conformation for recognition by the transferrin receptor protein. Although the metal-binding site in each lobe contains the same donors in the same configuration and both lobes are similar, the differences between transferrin’s two lobes act to restrict, but not eliminate, cellular Pu uptake.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Build the Underground Dam

    “The prime minister needs to show leadership in initiating construction of an underground barrier.”

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110627p2a00m0na004000c.html

    Delaying the construction of an underground barrier is not just an event occurring during a break in the season for general shareholders’ meetings. It is a major issue that calls the essence of TEPCO’s assertion of its “social responsibility as a company” into question. The prime minister needs to show leadership in initiating construction of an underground barrier.

    (By Takao Yamada, Expert Senior Writer)

    Unprecedented marine pollution

    An unprecedented case of maritime pollution is unfolding.

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110627p2a00m0na004000c.html

    In April, TEPCO announced that 520 tons of water that contains substances emitting 4,700 terabecquerels of radiation had leaked into the sea through cracks in nuclear plant facilities over a six-day period. This is close to the amount that was leaked into the sea over the course of a year at the Sellafield nuclear processing site in Britain in the 1970s in the worst case of maritime radiation contamination to date.

    And the leaks that have surfaced are just the tip of the iceberg. Water that was used to cool the cores of the damaged reactors at the Fukushima plant has overflowed and contaminated underground water is moving toward the sea. An unprecedented case of maritime pollution is about to unfold. Experts are pointing to the possibility of this unprecedented pollution developing into a major disaster that would last several decades, just like the Minamata and asbestos catastrophes in Japan.

    The problem is too big

    “The problem is too big, and they can’t grasp how far it is spreading and how serious it is.”

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110627p2a00m0na004000c.html

    The fact is, the situation at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant isn’t returning to normal. And we still don’t know just how much damage environmental pollution from the crisis will inflict on people and their DNA.

    Some of the reactors at the nuclear power plant have melted down, and the melted nuclear fuel is sinking toward water under the ground. An underground barrier is needed to stop water that becomes contaminated from flowing into the sea. I think it is because the problem is too big, and they can’t grasp how far it is spreading and how serious it is.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110627p2a00m0na004000c.html

    Perspectives

    Dilution of radioactive materials at sea is no solution to nuke-plant crisis

    Whispers have emerged that Prime Minister Naoto Kan is prepared to dissolve the House of Representatives and face a general election over the issue of whether Japan should abolish nuclear power. To me, mere talk of such an issue is the ultimate example of the blurred vision at Japan’s political center.

    There is nothing wrong with asking the public whether nuclear power is right or not, but now is a time of national emergency — a time when officials should be putting full effort into bringing the nuclear crisis in Fukushima under control and preventing environmental contamination. There isn’t time now to leisurely debate mid- and long-term government policies, haggle over the dissolution of the chamber and become engrossed in election campaign strategies.

    The reason for the situation comes from politicians’ delusion, grounded in their idea that the nuclear crisis is somehow being brought under control, and that the effects from radioactive material are minimal. But the fact is, the situation at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant isn’t returning to normal. And we still don’t know just how much damage environmental pollution from the crisis will inflict on people and their DNA. There is no proof anywhere that this pollution will be harmless.

    Some of the reactors at the nuclear power plant have melted down, and the melted nuclear fuel is sinking toward water under the ground. An underground barrier is needed to stop water that becomes contaminated from flowing into the sea. Experts have pointed out the urgency of the situation and the government supports the idea, but Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the crisis-hit nuclear plant, is saying “wait.”

    I wrote about this problem in a column on June 20, and a question on the issue arose at a regular news conference scheduled by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the agency, responded by saying, “We are implementing fundamental measures, but we don’t believe there is a need to rush.”

    The response lay within the scope of a set of answers that TEPCO had prepared as it braces itself for a general shareholders’ meeting. But why such a reaction? Because the line of responsibility between TEPCO and the government is a fine one.

    There is a feeling in the government that it is shoving the handling of the unprecedented nuclear crisis into the hands of TEPCO, a private company. The government therefore has a weak spot that forces it to listen when TEPCO comes crying about measures to prop up its share prices.

    Why can the two sides only form a response marked by indecisiveness and reliance on each other as Japan faces this unprecedented crisis? I think it is because the problem is too big, and they can’t grasp how far it is spreading and how serious it is.

    In April, TEPCO announced that 520 tons of water that contains substances emitting 4,700 terabecquerels of radiation had leaked into the sea through cracks in nuclear plant facilities over a six-day period. This is close to the amount that was leaked into the sea over the course of a year at the Sellafield nuclear processing site in Britain in the 1970s in the worst case of maritime radiation contamination to date.

    And the leaks that have surfaced are just the tip of the iceberg. Water that was used to cool the cores of the damaged reactors at the Fukushima plant has overflowed and contaminated underground water is moving toward the sea. An unprecedented case of maritime pollution is about to unfold.

    All things considered, one could say this is only natural. Fukushima’s nuclear power plants were the heart of Japan as an economic power. The total output of the reactors that have been crippled by the disaster was close to 3 million kilowatts, three times the output at Chernobyl.

    Chernobyl was hit by a nuclear explosion while nuclear fission was taking place, and many people died from acute radiation disease. There was a tendency in Japan to look lightly on the Chernobyl disaster as occurring against a background of a decline at the end of the Soviet era. But the potential amount of the harmful “poison” that gradually eats away human life is greater in Fukushima.

    It is common for people to simply think that if this poison were washed into the sea, it would become diluted. If that was all there was to the situation, the crisis could be easily solved. But now, experts are pointing to the possibility of this unprecedented pollution developing into a major disaster that would last several decades, just like the Minamata and asbestos catastrophes in Japan.

    Delaying the construction of an underground barrier is not just an event occurring during a break in the season for general shareholders’ meetings. It is a major issue that calls the essence of TEPCO’s assertion of its “social responsibility as a company” into question. The prime minister needs to show leadership in initiating construction of an underground barrier.

    (By Takao Yamada, Expert Senior Writer)

    In this June 1, 2011 file photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), workers inspect equipment inside the cesium absorption tower, part of the radioactive water processing facilities at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.
    (AP Photo/TEPCO)

    In this May 10, 2011 file photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co., workers check the status of the water level indicator at the Unit 1 reactor building at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan.
    (AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co.)

    In this March 11, 2011 file photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co., waves of tsunami gush into a complex near the Unit 4 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan.
    (AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co.)

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    100% Test Positive for Cesium

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110627p2g00m0dm004000c.html

    The experts surveyed 15 people aged between 4 and 77 in Iitate and Kawamata in early and late May, and found radioactive cesium in both batches of their urine samples. Radioactive iodine was detected in the first batch of urine samples from six of the 15 people but was not found in the second batch, they said.

    No toma agua! (Don’t drink the water)

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110627p2g00m0dm004000c.html

    Translation:
    These people must immediately evacuate, quit eating and “no toma agua”.

    Euphamism: (Quote from the article)
    Nanao Kamada, a radiation biologist who led the survey, said, “There is no cause for concern unless the residents continuing eating contaminated food such as vegetables, but it may be hard to continue living in the areas.”

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110627p2g00m0dm004000c.html

    News

    Internal radiation exposure found in all 15 people surveyed in Fukushima

    HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) — Radiation experts said Sunday they had found internal radiation exposure in all of the 15 people they surveyed in May in areas 30-40 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

    The experts surveyed 15 people aged between 4 and 77 in Iitate and Kawamata in early and late May, and found radioactive cesium in both batches of their urine samples.

    Nanao Kamada, a radiation biologist who led the survey, said, “There is no cause for concern unless the residents continuing eating contaminated food such as vegetables, but it may be hard to continue living in the areas.”

    The survey also showed that radioactive iodine was detected in the first batch of urine samples from six of the 15 people but was not found in the second batch, they said.

    (Mainichi Japan) June 27, 2011

    A man is scanned for levels of radiation in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Sunday, March 13, 2011.
    (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

    Evacuees are screened for radiation contamination at a testing center Tuesday, March 15, 2011, in Koriyama city, Fukushima Prefecture, northern Japan, four days after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the country’s north east coast.
    (AP Photo/Wally Santana)

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Japan enhances radiation monitoring

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110629p2g00m0dm009000c.html

    TOKYO – The government is planning to set aside more than 20 billion yen in the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2011 to enhance its nationwide radiation monitoring system. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has made the decision as the existing system has failed to accurately follow the spread of radioactive substances, affected by wind direction and rainfall, in the aftermath of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture. Specifically, the ministry plans to establish around 250 monitoring posts across Japan,

    One-year-old Himari, center, held by her mother Tomomi Sato, left, undergoes a radiation screening test at the welfare office in Oyama, Fukushima Prefecture, on May 24, 2011.
    (Mainichi)

    A worker from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency measures radiation levels in a sandbox at the Fukushima University-affiliated kindergarten in Fukushima on May 8, 2011.
    (Mainichi)

    It will also provide more than 400 mobile monitoring posts that can be transported by car to all municipalities in Fukushima and to neighboring prefectures, they said.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110629p2g00m0dm009000c.html

    News

    Gov’t to enhance nationwide radiation monitoring system

    TOKYO (Kyodo) — The government is planning to set aside more than 20 billion yen in the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2011 to enhance its nationwide radiation monitoring system, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

    The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has made the decision as the existing system has failed to accurately follow the spread of radioactive substances, affected by wind direction and rainfall, in the aftermath of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture, the sources said.

    Specifically, the ministry plans to establish around 250 monitoring posts across Japan, as opposed to the current system under which multiple monitoring posts are located near nuclear power facilities but only one in each prefecture that does not host such a facility in principle.

    In Fukushima, the ministry will continue monitoring radiation levels around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and install more than 2,000 dosimeters and data-transmission devices at schools, child care centers, parks and other facilities, the sources said.

    It will also provide more than 400 mobile monitoring posts that can be transported by car to all municipalities in Fukushima and to neighboring prefectures, they said.

    One-year-old Himari, center, held by her mother Tomomi Sato, left, undergoes a radiation screening test at the welfare office in Oyama, Fukushima Prefecture, on May 24, 2011.
    (Mainichi)

    A worker from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency measures radiation levels in a sandbox at the Fukushima University-affiliated kindergarten in Fukushima on May 8, 2011. (Mainichi)It will also provide more than 400 mobile monitoring posts that can be transported by car to all municipalities in Fukushima and to neighboring prefectures, they said.

    (Mainichi Japan) June 29, 2011

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110627a2.html

    Monday, June 27, 2011

    Fukushima residents’ urine now radioactive

    More than 3 millisieverts of radiation has been measured in the urine of 15 Fukushima residents of the village of Iitate and the town of Kawamata, confirming internal radiation exposure, it was learned Sunday.

    Both are about 30 to 40 km from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, which has been releasing radioactive material into the environment since the week of March 11, when the quake and tsunami caused core meltdowns.

    “This won’t be a problem if they don’t eat vegetables or other products that are contaminated,” said Nanao Kamada, professor emeritus of radiation biology at Hiroshima University. “But it will be difficult for people to continue living in these areas.”

    Kamada teamed up with doctors including Osamu Saito of Watari Hospital in the city of Fukushima to conduct two rounds of tests on each resident in early and late May, taking urine samples from 15 people between 4 and 77.

    Radioactive cesium was found both times in each resident.

    Radioactive iodine was logged as high as 3.2 millisieverts in six people in the first survey, but none was found in the second survey.

    The data indicate accumulated external exposure was between 4.9 and 13.5 millisieverts, putting the grand total between 4.9 to 14.2 millisieverts over about two months, they said.

    “The figures did not exceed the maximum of 20 millisieverts a year, but we want residents to use these results to make decisions (to move),” said Kamada.

  15. http://www.businessinsider.com/residents-near-fukushima-are-pissing-radioactive-urine-2011-6

    OH LOVELY: Residents Near Fukushima Are Pissing Radioactive Urine

    Joe Weisenthal | Jun. 26, 2011, 6:52 PM

    Newsflash: The radioactive crisis near Fukushima isn’t getting any better.

    This has been something we discussed in the last few weeks, but now there are some new disturbing details.

    From Japan Times:

    More than 3 millisieverts of radiation has been measured in the urine of 15 Fukushima residents of the village of Iitate and the town of Kawamata, confirming internal radiation exposure, it was learned Sunday.

    Both are about 30 to 40 km from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, which has been releasing radioactive material into the environment since the week of March 11, when the quake and tsunami caused core meltdowns.

    Click here for images of total post-quake devastation >

    *(via Jake Adelstein)

    Please follow Business Insider on Twitter and Facebook.
    Follow Joe Weisenthal on Twitter.

    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/residents-near-fukushima-are-pissing-radioactive-urine-2011-6#ixzz1QlvTijKs

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110621p2a00m0na005000c.html

    Whereabouts of 30 nuclear power plant subcontractors unknown: Health Ministry

    Workers scrub down cars just back from the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, at the J-Village soccer complex in Naraha, Fukushima Prefecture, on April 14. (Mainichi)The whereabouts of about 30 subcontractors who helped deal with the crisis at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant is unknown, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said on June 20.

    The workers are among some 3,700 who worked to control the disaster in March, the month the plant was struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

    The workers’ names were listed in records showing that they had been loaned dosimeters, but when the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), contacted the companies they were associated with, the companies replied that there was no record of those workers.

    The ministry has branded TEPCO’s administration of workers “sloppy” and ordered the company to conduct an investigation to identify the workers.

    “We don’t know why there is no record of the workers. The records and dosimeters were managed by TEPCO and its administration can only be described as sloppy,” a representative of the ministry’s Labor Standards Bureau said.

    Ministry officials said that 3,639 emergency workers were enlisted to handle the nuclear crisis in March. As of June 20, TEPCO had reported provisional radiation exposure figures for 3,514 workers to the ministry. The other 125 had not undergone tests for internal radiation exposure as of June 20. TEPCO has asked cooperating companies to have 69 of these 125 workers tested. The remaining 56 were either about to undergo tests or could not undergo tests due to illness.

    Officials said that TEPCO managed records of workers who had been loaned dosimeters between the outset of the disaster and mid-April. When workers were loaned dosimeters at the base isolation structure of the power plant and another area, the serial numbers of the dosimeters, the names of the companies involved in the work and the workers’ names were recorded in handwriting. But when TEPCO contacted the cooperating companies there was no record of some 30 of the 69 workers.

    All of the workers who were not found on company records have returned their dosimeters. Records of their external radiation exposure remained, but none of the workers was exposed to radiation exceeding the limit of 250 millisieverts, officials said.

    Since mid-April, records have been managed with bar codes and other means of identification, but the only way to identify workers at the plant before then is through handwritten records.

    Click here for the original Japanese story
    http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/news/20110621k0000m040069000c.html

    (Mainichi Japan) June 21, 2011

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Special_report_-_Japans_throwaway_nuclear_workers.html?cid=30537866

    You are in:swissinfo.ch » home » reuters » Special report – Japan’s “throwaway” nuclear workers

    Jun 24, 2011 – 11:41

    Special report – Japan’s “throwaway” nuclear workers

    FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN (Reuters) – A decade and a half before it blew apart in a hydrogen blast that punctuated the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant was the scene of an earlier safety crisis.

    Then, as now, a small army of transient workers was put to work to try to stem the damage at the oldest nuclear reactor run by Japan’s largest utility.

    At the time, workers were racing to finish an unprecedented repair to address a dangerous defect: cracks in the drum-like steel assembly known as the “shroud” surrounding the radioactive core of the reactor.

    But in 1997, the effort to save the 21-year-old reactor from being scrapped at a large loss to its operator, Tokyo Electric, also included a quiet effort to skirt Japan’s safety rules: foreign workers were brought in for the most dangerous jobs, a manager of the project said.

    “It’s not well known, but I know what happened,” Kazunori Fujii, who managed part of the shroud replacement in 1997, told Reuters. “What we did would not have been allowed under Japanese safety standards.”

    The previously undisclosed hiring of welders from the United States and Southeast Asia underscores the way Tokyo Electric, a powerful monopoly with deep political connections in Japan, outsourced its riskiest work and developed a lax safety culture in the years leading to the Fukushima disaster, experts say.

    A 9.0 earthquake on March 11 triggered a 15-metre tsunami that smashed into the seaside Fukushima Daiichi plant and set off a series of events that caused its reactors to start melting down.

    Hydrogen explosions scattered debris across the complex and sent up a plume of radioactive steam that forced the evacuation of more than 80,000 residents near the plant, about 240 km (150 miles) northeast of Tokyo. Enough radioactive water to fill 40 Olympic swimming pools has also been collected at the plant and threatens to leak into the groundwater.

    The repeated failures that have dogged Tokyo Electric in the three months the Fukushima plant has been in crisis have undercut confidence in the response to the disaster and dismayed outside experts, given corporate Japan’s reputation for relentless organisation.

    Hastily hired workers were sent into the plant without radiation meters. Two splashed into radioactive water wearing street shoes because rubber boots were not available. Even now, few have been given training on radiation risks that meets international standards, according to their accounts and the evaluation of experts.

    The workers who stayed on to try to stabilise the plant in the darkest hours after March 11 were lauded as the “Fukushima 50” for their selflessness. But behind the heroism is a legacy of Japanese nuclear workers facing hazards with little oversight, according to interviews with more than two dozen current and former nuclear workers, doctors and others.

    Since the start of the nuclear boom in the 1970s, Japan’s utilities have relied on temporary workers for maintenance and plant repair jobs, the experts said. They were often paid in cash with little training and no follow-up health screening.

    This practice has eroded the ability of nuclear plant operators to manage the massive risks workers now face and prompted calls for the Japanese government to take over the Fukushima clean-up effort.

    Although almost 9,000 workers have been involved in work around the mangled reactors, Tokyo Electric did not have a Japan-made robot capable of monitoring radiation inside the reactors until this week. That job was left to workers, reflecting the industry’s reliance on cheap labour, critics say.

    “I can only think that to the power companies, contract workers are just disposable pieces of equipment,” said Kunio Horie, who worked at nuclear plants, including Fukushima Daiichi, in the late 1970s and wrote about his experience in a book “Nuclear Gypsey.”

    Tokyo Electric said this week it cannot find 69 of the more than 3,600 workers who were brought in to Fukushima just after the disaster because their names were never recorded. Others were identified by Tepco in accident reports only by initials: “A-san” or “B-san.”

    Makoto Akashi, executive director at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences near Tokyo, said he was shocked to learn Tokyo Electric had not screened some of the earliest workers for radiation inside their bodies until June while others had to share monitors to measure external radiation.

    That means health risks for workers – and future costs – will be difficult to estimate.

    “We have to admit that we didn’t have an adequate system for checking radiation exposure,” said Goshi Hosono, an official appointed by Prime Minister Naoto Kan to coordinate the response to the crisis.

    ‘BROAD IS THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO DESTRUCTION’

    Fujii, who devoted his career to building Japanese nuclear power plants as a manager with IHI Corporation, was troubled by what he saw at Fukushima in 1997.

    Now 72, he remembers falling for “the romance of nuclear power” as a student at Tokyo’s Rikkyo University in the 1960s. “The idea that you could take a substance small enough to fit into a tea cup and produce almost infinite power seemed almost like a dream” he said.

    He had asked to oversee part of the job at Fukushima as the last big assignment of his career. He threw himself into the work, heading into the reactor for inspections. “I had a sense of mission,” he said.

    As he watched a group of Americans at work in the reactor one day, Fujii jotted down a Bible verse in his diary that captured his angst: “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it.”

    The basis for nuclear safety regulation is the assumption that cancers, including leukaemia, can be caused years later by exposure to relatively small amounts of radiation, far below the level that would cause immediate sickness. In normal operations, international nuclear workers are limited to an average exposure of 20 millisieverts per year, about 10 times natural background radiation levels.

    At Fukushima in 1997, Japanese safety rules were applied in a way that set very low radiation exposure limits on a daily basis, Fujii said. That was a prudent step, safety experts say, but it severely limited what Japanese workers could do on a single shift and increased costs.

    The workaround was to bring in foreign workers who would absorb a full-year’s allowable dose of radiation of between 20 millisieverts and 25 millisieverts in just a few days.

    “We brought in workers from Southeast Asia and Saudi Arabia who had experience building oil tankers. They took a heavier dose of radiation than Japanese workers could have,” said Fujii, adding that American workers were also hired.

    Tokyo Electric would admit five years later it had hid evidence of the extent of the defect in the shroud from regulators. That may have added to the pressure to finish the job quickly. When new cracks were found, they were fixed without a report to regulators, according to disclosures made in 2002

    It is not clear if the radiation doses for the foreign workers were recorded on an individual basis or if they have faced any heath problems. Tepco said it had no access to the worker records kept by its subcontractors. IHI said it had no record of the hiring of the foreign workers. Toshiba, another major contractor, also said it could not confirm that foreign workers were hired.

    Hosono, the government official overseeing the response to the disaster, said he was not aware of foreign workers being brought in to do repair work in the past and they would not be sent in now.

    Now retired outside Tokyo, Fujii said he has come to see nuclear power as an “imperfect technology.”

    “This is an unfortunate thing to say, but the nuclear industry has long relied on people at the lowest level of Japanese society,” he said.

    PAY-BY-THE-DAY

    Since the late 1960s, the Kamagasaki neighbourhood of Osaka has been a dumping ground for men battling drug and alcohol addiction, ex-convicts, and men looking for a construction job with few questions. It has also been a hiring spot for Japan’s nuclear industry for decades.

    “Kamagasaki is a place that companies have always come for workers that they can use and then throw away,” said Hiroshi Inagaki, a labour activist.

    The nearby Lawson’s store has a sign on its bathroom door warning that anyone trying to flush a used syringe down the toilet will be prosecuted. Peddlers sell scavenged trash, including used shoes and rice cookers. A pair of yakuza enforcers in black shirts and jeans walks the street to collect loans.

    The centre of Kamagasaki is an office that connects day labourers with the small construction firms that roll up before dawn in vans and minibuses.

    Within a week after the Fukushima disaster, Tepco had engaged Japan’s biggest construction and engineering companies to run the job of trying to bring the plant under control. They in turned hired smaller firms, over 600 of them. That cascade brought the first job offers to Kamagasaki by mid-March.

    One hiring notice sought a truck driver for Miyagi, one of the prefectures hit hard by the tsunami. But when an Osaka day labourer in his 60s accepted the job, he was sent instead to Fukushima where he was put to work handling water to cool the No. 5 reactor.

    The man, who did not want to be identified, was paid the equivalent of about $300 a day, twice what he was first promised. But he was only issued a radiation metre on his fourth day. Inagaki said the man was seeking a financial settlement from Tokyo Electric. “We think what happened here is illegal,” he said.

    Nearby, several men waiting to be hired in Kamagasaki said they had experience working at nuclear plants.

    A 58-year-old former member of Japan’s Self Defence Forces from southern Japan who asked to be identified only by his nickname, Jumbo, said he had worked at Tokyo Electric’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant for a two-month job. He knows others who have gone to Fukushima from the hiring line at Kamagasaki, he said.

    “We’ve always had nuclear work here, and I would go again,” he said.

    THE ABANDONED SPA

    In Iwaki, a town south of the Fukushima plant once known for a splashy Hawaiian-themed resort, the souvenir stands and coffee shops are closed or losing money. The drinking spots known as “snacks” are starting to come back as workers far from home seek the company of bar girls.

    “It’s becoming like an army base,” said Shukuko Kuzumi, 63, who runs a cake shop across from the main rail station. “There are workers who come here knowing what the work is like, but I think there are many who don’t.”

    Each morning, hired workers pile into buses and beat-up vans and set out from the nearly abandoned resort. More men in the standard-issue white work pajamas pour out of the shipping containers turned into temporary housing at the Hirono highway exit where residents have fled and weeds have overgrown the sidewalks.

    They gather at a now abandoned soccer complex where Argentina’s soccer team trained during the 2002 World Cup to get briefed on the tasks for the shifts ahead. They then change into the gear many have come to dread: two or three pairs of gloves, full face masks, goggles and white protective suits. More than a dozen Fukushima workers have collapsed of heat stroke, and the rising heat weighs more heavily on the minds of workers than threat of radiation.

    “I don’t know how I’m going to make it if it gets much hotter than this,” a heavyset, 36-year-old Tokyo man said as he stretched out at Hirono after a day of spraying a green resin around the plant to keep radioactive dust from spreading.

    The risks from the radiation hotspots at Fukushima remain considerable. A vent of steam in the No. 1 reactor was found earlier this month to be radioactive enough to kill anyone standing near it for more than an hour.

    Tokyo Electric has been given a sanction-free reprimand for its handling of radiation exposure at Fukushima. Nine workers have exceeded the emergency exposure limit of 250 millisieverts. Another 115 have exceeded 100 millisieverts of exposure. The two workers with the highest radiation readings topped 600 millisieverts of exposure.

    For context, the largest study of nuclear workers to date by the International Agency for Research on Cancer found a risk of roughly two additional fatal cancers for every 100 people exposed to 100 millisieverts of radiation.

    But several Fukushima workers say they have been told not to worry about health risks unless they top 100 or near 200 millisieverts of exposure in training by contractors.

    Experts say that runs counter to international standards. The International Atomic Energy Agency requires workers in a nuclear emergency to give “informed consent” to the risks they face and that they understand danger exists at even low doses.

    Tokyo Electric spokesman Junichi Matsumoto said the utility could not confirm what kind of training smaller firms were providing. “The subcontractors have a responsibility as well,” he said. “I don’t know what kind of briefing they are getting.”

    Kim Kearfott, a nuclear engineer and radiation health expert from the University of Michigan who toured Japan in May, said authorities needed to ensure that safety training was handled independently by outside experts.

    “The potential for coercion and undue influence over a day labourer audience is high, especially when the training and consent are administered by those who control hiring and firing of workers,” she said.

    Tokyo Electric has been challenged before on its training. Mitsuaki Nagao, a plumber who had worked at three plants including Fukushima, said he was never briefed on radiation dangers, and would routinely use another worker’s dosimeter to finish jobs. Some doctors worry that the same under-reporting of radiation could happen at Fukushima as well.

    Nagao sued Tokyo Electric when he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of bone marrow cancer, in 2004. His lawsuit, one of two known worker cases against a Japanese utility, was rejected by a Tokyo court, which ruled no links had been proven between his radiation and his illness. He died in 2007.

    Some doctors are urging Japan’s government to set up a system of health monitoring for the thousands of workers streaming through Fukushima. Some also want to see a standard of care guaranteed.

    “This is also a problem of economics,” said Kristin Schrader-Frechette, a Notre Dame University professor and nuclear safety expert. “If Japan wants to know the true costs of nuclear power versus the alternatives, it needs to know what these health care costs are.”

    (Editing by Bill Tarrant)

    Reuters

    Image Caption:
    International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection team members look at the No.3 reactor at the crippled Tokyo Electric Power Co. Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
    (reuters_tickers)
    By Kevin Krolicki and Chisa Fujioka

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://theenergycollective.com/rodadams/59379/nrc-professional-staff-brief-very-good-news-unit-4-pool-never-dry

    “Very Good News” Fukushima Unit 4 Pool Never Dry

    Posted June 17, 2011 by Rod Adams with

    On June 15, 2011, the professional staff at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission provided a brief to the commission. It was the second of three planned status updates on the Task Force Review of NRC Processes and Regulations Following Events in Japan. The briefing started with a report by Bill Borchardt the NRC’s Executive Director for Operations (EDO). Mr. Borchardt described the NRC’s current understanding of the condition of the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, including the condition of the spent fuel pool for unit four. You can find the full 1 hour 45 minute video on the NRC’s public meeting archive. Here is the key segment regarding the condition of the facility.

    An Associated Press reporter who watched the brief heard the Executive Director of Operations state that recently released video and water samples indicate that the spent fuel pool at Unit 4 never went completely dry despite all previous words to the contrary. He stated that this contradicted previously released statements. The reporter, who has obviously been following the story or at least doing up to date research put the restrained language of the technical staff into perspective. He reminded readers of the context and the history that made the statement more interesting that it might appear to anyone who has not been paying much attention.

    U.S. officials, most notably Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko, had warned that all the water was gone from one of the spent fuel pools at Japan’s troubled nuclear plant, raising the possibility of widespread nuclear fallout. Loss of cooling water in the reactor core could have exposed highly radioactive spent fuel rods, increasing the threat of a complete fuel meltdown and a catastrophic release of radiation.

    Japanese officials denied the pool was dry and reported that the plant’s condition was stable.

    On Wednesday, U.S. officials said newly obtained video shows that the spent fuel pool at Unit 4 at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex probably did not go dry, as Jaczko had insisted in March.

    Bill Borchardt, the NRC’s executive director for operations, said U.S. officials welcomed the video evidence as “good news” and one indication that the meltdown at the Fukushima plant’s Unit 4 reactor “may not have been as serious as was believed.”

    Though I have no way of knowing exactly what the people who were manning the NRC’s emergency response center thought they had heard or seen to indicate that the Japanese report was wrong, I have been questioning the statements that the Chairman has made, claiming special information from that staff, since the day they were made. There were many indications available that the team in the response center, which had been personally approved by the Chairman to be in that center, were operating without any sources of information that were better than those available to the rest of the world.

    It is important to remember that the Chairman testified to a Congressional committee that he firmly discouraged his fellow commissioners from entering into the emergency response center. My grapevine tells me that he also stationed a guard at the door who prevented even very senior professionals from entering to provide assistance and advice to the selected emergency team.

    He did not entertain any questions about his decision, insisting that he and his selected staff knew enough to recommend an order to evacuate all Americans within 50 miles of the facility, including, tragically, the American soldiers and sailors who were helping the Japanese first responders to take care of as many earthquake and tsunami victims as possible in the all important first few days after such a major natural disaster.

    The NRC Public Affairs spokesmen continue to defend the 50 mile evacuation decision as being made with the best available information. I have been told more than once by the Public Affairs staff that they work for the Chairman. It would be a very surprising development if the official spokesman publicly questioned the decisions that his boss has made. That is especially true considering Jaczko’s self-admitted tendency to lose his temper and the man’s IG-documented tendency to take vindictive action against people who do not support his actions.

    The effort to demote Jaczko from his chairmanship or to encourage his resignation should not been seen as a partisan issue or be understood to be based solely on his actions with regard to the Yucca Mountain license evaluation. He has taken actions that will increase our dependence on fossil fuel (and further enrich fossil fuel suppliers) by harming nuclear energy production with relation to Fukushima, to license renewals for plants like Oyster Creek, Vermont Yankee and Pilgrim, to the AP1000 design certification, and to fire protection rules.

    Before working for Senator Harry Reid, Chairman Jaczko held just one other job after college – he was a science advisor for Representative Ed Markey, one of the most consistently antinuclear congressmen in the US House of Representatives. That may be circumstantial evidence, but taken in combination with his actions during the past 2 years, it seems pretty clear to me that Jaczko is acting as a carefully placed sleeper agent with a mission of destroying a vital part of the American energy infrastructure.

    Chairman Jaczko has proven himself to be technically incompetent, a poor personnel manager, and a poor emergency response leader. His primary proven skill is political manipulation of an already Byzantine process to get the results desired by his antinuclear political patrons. He is endangering the reputations and livelihoods of thousands of competent and dedicated nuclear professionals. He is also putting the energy security and economic prosperity of several generations of Americans at risk. He needs to go – soon.

  16. Reading Lesson

    Leo,

    There are many differences between industrial products, home-remedies, emergency (desperation) measures and evidence based pharmaceutical medications. The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, webpage for Healthcare Professionals, has a section for many ‘home-remedies’ including Zeolite.

    http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69424.cfm

    The section contains a standard list of relevant subtopics, including: How It Works, Purported Uses, Research Evidence, Warnings, Do Not Take If, Side Effects, Special Point, Scientific Name, Common Name, Brand Name, Clinical Summary, Purported uses, Constituents, Mechanism of Action, Pharmacokinetics, Warnings, Adverse Reactions, Herb-Drug Interactions, Lab Interactions, Literature Summary and Critique, References

    So, for example, if you click on ‘Warnings’, or use the following link, the following information will display.
    http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69424.cfm#Warnings

    Warnings

    Zeolites are carcinogenic when inhaled

    Vulkansandkuren, a zeolite product marketed in Europe, was found to contain high levels of heavy metals including arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, nickel, copper, and chromium.

    Do not apply liquid zeolite directly into the eyes or ears.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Whoa LEO

    Not so fast there, LEO (the perfect). Zeolites have their uses, but home air filtration, may not be a good application. For an analogy, consider the Kool cigarette filter with micronite (AKA asbestos).

    http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69424.cfm

    Zeolites are minerals that contain mainly aluminium and silicon compounds combined with water molecules. They are used as drying agents, detergents, and as water and air purifiers. Zeolites have been marketed as dietary supplements for hangover and for cancer treatment. Since they bind with other substances and may also neutralize stomach acid, they can interfere with many drugs when used together. When inhaled, Zeolite dust can cause certain type of lung cancer.

    Adverse Reactions

    Pulmonary Fibrosis (22)

    Pneumoconiosis

    Mesothelioma – a high incidence has been demonstrated in humans exposed to zeolite dust (23).

    Zeolite particles produced statistically significant increases in percentage of aberrant metaphase in human peripheral blood lymphocytes and in cells collected by peritoneal lavage from exposed mice (1).

    In animal studies, zeolites were shown to cause leukocytosis but also a decline of GM-CFU in the bone marrow and inhibition of myelopoiesis (16). Zeolites also provokes graft-versus-host (GvH) reaction in mice (14).

    Herb-Drug Interactions

    Since zeolites have chelating and ion-exchanging effects, they can potentially bind to tetracycline derivatives, quinolones, and iron resulting in decreased bioavailability.

    Zeolites have also been shown to adsorb aspirin, theophylline, propanolol, and phenobarbital in vitro (4).

    Zeolites may have antioxidant effects and can potentially interfere with the actions of some chemotherapy drugs.

    Zeolites may also provoke graft versus host reaction (14) therefore, they should not be used with other immunosuppressant drugs or in transplant patients.

    Because zeolites have buffering effect and can increase the pH of the stomach, premature disintegration of enteric coated medications may occur when used concomitantly.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/11790.cfm?Disclaimer_Redirect=%2Fmskcc%2Fhtml%2F69424.cfm

    This Web site — Information About Herbs, Botanicals and Other Products — is for general health information only. This Web site is not to be used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment of any health condition or problem. Users of this Web site should not rely on information provided on this Web site for their own health problems. Any questions regarding your own health should be addressed to your own physician or other healthcare provider.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69424.cfm

    Zeolite
    Healthcare Professional Consumer

    How It Works
    Purported Uses
    Research Evidence
    Warnings
    Do Not Take If
    Side Effects
    Special Point
    Scientific Name
    Common Name
    Brand Name
    Clinical Summary
    Purported uses
    Constituents
    Mechanism of Action
    Pharmacokinetics
    Warnings
    Adverse Reactions
    Herb-Drug Interactions
    Lab Interactions
    Literature Summary and Critique
    References

    How It Works
    Bottom Line: Zeolites have not been shown to treat cancer in humans.

    Zeolites are minerals that contain mainly aluminium and silicon compounds combined with water molecules. They are used as drying agents, detergents, and as water and air purifiers. Zeolites have been marketed as dietary supplements for hangover and for cancer treatment. Since they bind with other substances and may also neutralize stomach acid, they can interfere with many drugs when used together. When inhaled, Zeolite dust can cause certain type of lung cancer. There is no published human data to support the use of Zeolites for cancer treatment.
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Purported Uses
    Treatment of diarrhea
    A drug containing zeolite was developed for diarrhea in Cuba
    Anticancer therapy
    In vitro and animal studies suggest anticancer properties, but there is no clinical data to validate use of Zeolites for cancer.
    Antioxidant
    Animal studies showed that Zeolites may have antioxidant properties
    Immunoenhancer
    Data from animal studies demonstrated that zeolites can both stimulate and suppress the immune system
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Research Evidence
    Case Report
    This study was done between 1979-2003 and involved 891 men and women from three villages in Turkey, two of which had high levels of erionite, a type of Zeolite. Data showed that during this period, 372 individuals from the two villages died due to mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to zeolites and related substances. Only two cases of mesothelioma were reported from the third village.
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Warnings
    When inhaled, natural Zeolites can cause cancer. There is no evidence that other forms of zeolite cause cancer.
    Vulkansandkuren, a zeolite product marketed in Europe, was found to contain high levels of heavy metals including arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, nickel, copper, and chromium.
    Do not apply liquid zeolite directly into the eyes or ears.
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Do Not Take If
    You are taking tetracycline, quinolones, iron, aspirin, theophylline, propanolol, and phenobarbital because zeolites can bind to them and decrease their absorption, making them less effective.
    You are a transplant patient and/or taking immunesuppressant drugs, as zeolites may cause rejection.
    You are using chemotherapy drugs, because zeolites have antioxidant effects and may interfere with the actions of chemo drugs.
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Side Effects
    Fibrosis (increase in fibrous tissue)
    Pneumoconiosis (respiratory disease)
    Mesothelioma (Exposure to zeolite dust is associated with high incidence of mesothelioma, a tumor affecting the lining of the chest or abdomen).
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Special Point
    A company has filed a U.S. patent application on using a form of man-made zeolite as a cancer drug. Data submitted were based on lab, plant, and animal studies. The patent filing said the substance must be injected directly into the tumor. This means it has no benefits if taken by mouth. Since it will cost too much money to develop the product as a drug so the company decided to sell it as a dietary supplement. Zeolites have not been studied as a cancer drug in human clinical trials.

    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Scientific Name
    Hydrated alkali aluminum silicate
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Common Name
    Clinoptilolite, Erionite, Phillipsite, and Mordenite
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Brand Name
    As used in dietary supplements: Natural Cellular Defense (Waiora), ZETOX (Global Health Products), and Vulkansandkuren
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Clinical Summary
    Zeolites are a group of chemically related mineral substances that contain mainly hydrated aluminium and silicon compounds. They occur naturally in volcanic rock and ashes. Synthetic forms are available for industrial uses. They are also used as additives in animal feed. Zeolites have a fine porous cage-like structure and are often used as adsorbents, desiccants, detergents, and as water and air purifiers. They are applied in medicine as an external hemostatic dressing (2) (3), for diarrhea (4), diabetes (5) and as suspending agents (6). The effect of zeolites for autism is under investigation (7). Zeolites have been marketed as dietary supplements for hangover (8) and as adjuvant therapy for cancers (9). It is unclear if they are absorbed in the intestine or if they have any systemic effects. Since zeolites have chelating properties and may increase the pH in the gastrointestinal tract, they can potentially interact with many prescription drugs when consumed together. Exposure to airborne zeolite dust has been associated with high incidence of malignant mesothelioma (10) (11). Due to lack of data supporting its efficacy and safety, the use of zeolites as antitumor supplements is not recommended.

    Special Point: A company has filed a U.S. patent application on using a form of synthesized zeolite as a cancer drug (21). Data submitted were based on in vitro, plant, and animal studies. The patent specified that the substance must be injected directly into the tumor. This rules out any benefits by oral route.The company cited financial reasons and decided to market the product as a dietary supplement. Zeolites have never been studied as cancer drugs in humans.
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Purported uses
    Treatment of diarrhea
    Anticancer therapy
    Antioxidant
    Immunoenhancer
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Constituents
    Natural or synthetic microporous crystals of hydrated aluminium, silicon, and sodium compounds. Some zeolites also contain calcium and magnesium (1).

    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Mechanism of Action
    Zeolites have ion-exchanging and adsorption properties. Zeolite granules, when used externally on wounds, can stop bleeding and promote clotting through the absorption of water (2) (3). Zeolites are thought to adsorb pathogenic microbials, glucose, and alcohol in the stomach and intestine and have been proposed for use in diarrhea (4), diabetes (5), and hangover (8) . Due to their alkaline nature, zeolites have pH buffering effects. They can adsorb nitrosamines in acidic solution (12) leading to claims that they can also be used as anticancer treatment by removing carcinogenic substances in the stomach. However, such effects have not been substantiated in humans. A few in vitro studies indicate that micronized zeolite inhibited protein kinase B; and induced expression of tumor suppressor proteins (9). In animal studies, micronized zeolite product was shown to reduce metastasis and increase the effect of doxorubicin due to its antioxidant property (13). It also increased peritoneal macrophages after intraperitoneal application and stimulate graft-versus-host reaction (14). Precise mechanisms of action remain largely unknown. Micronized zeolite can affect brain serotonergic receptors activities of mammary carcinoma bearing mice (15). However, the clinical implication of this effect in humans is unclear. Zeolite supplementation did not prolong survival in tumor-bearing animals (16). Zeolites may have both immunosuppressing and immunostimulating effects. In animal studies, they caused decline of GM-CFU in the bone marrow (16) but increase graft-versus-host (GvH) reaction (14). Zeolite products have other benefits when used in animal feed: they increase mineral utilization (17), reduce heavy metals induced anemia (18) and reduce aflatoxin toxicity (19). None of these benefits are applicable to humans.

    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Pharmacokinetics
    Absorption
    Zeolites have stable structures and are not broken down in the gastrointestinal tract when taken orally. In animal studies using silicon and aluminium as markers, zeolites were shown to be poorly absorbed following oral administration. The amount of aluminum detected in the plasma was less than 0.1% of IV infusion(1). It is unclear if the dosage used in zeolite supplements would have any systemic effects.
    Distribution
    Unknown
    Metabolism/Excretion
    Unknown
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Warnings
    Zeolites are carcinogenic when inhaled
    Vulkansandkuren, a zeolite product marketed in Europe, was found to contain high levels of heavy metals including arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, nickel, copper, and chromium (20).
    Do not apply liquid zeolite directly into the eyes or ears.
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Adverse Reactions
    Pulmonary Fibrosis (22)
    Pneumoconiosis
    Mesothelioma – a high incidence has been demonstrated in humans exposed to zeolite dust (23).
    Zeolite particles produced statistically significant increases in percentage of aberrant metaphase in human peripheral blood lymphocytes and in cells collected by peritoneal lavage from exposed mice (1).
    In animal studies, zeolites were shown to cause leukocytosis but also a decline of GM-CFU in the bone marrow and inhibition of myelopoiesis (16). Zeolites also provokes graft-versus-host (GvH) reaction in mice (14).
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Herb-Drug Interactions
    Since zeolites have chelating and ion-exchanging effects, they can potentially bind to tetracycline derivatives, quinolones, and iron resulting in decreased bioavailability.
    Zeolites have also been shown to adsorb aspirin, theophylline, propanolol, and phenobarbital in vitro (4).
    Zeolites may have antioxidant effects and can potentially interfere with the actions of some chemotherapy drugs.
    Zeolites may also provoke graft versus host reaction (14) therefore, they should not be used with other immunosuppressant drugs or in transplant patients.
    Because zeolites have buffering effect and can increase the pH of the stomach, premature disintegration of enteric coated medications may occur when used concomitantly.
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Lab Interactions
    In animal studies, oral supplementation of zeolites increased serum potassium level by 20% (16).

    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    Literature Summary and Critique
    There are no published studies investigating the purported antitumor effect of zeolite in humans. Large prospective studies have demonstrated that inhalation exposure to zeolite is carcinogenic and responsible for a well-described epidemic of malignant mesothelioma in Turkey.

    Case Report
    The well-documented epidemic of mesothelioma (50% of deaths caused by malignant mesothelioma) in the Cappadocian (Turkey) villages of Tuzkoy, Karain, and Sarihidir, has been attributed to erionite exposure, a type of fibrous zeolite mineral commonly found in this area of Turkey. A prospective case-control study of residents of two exposed and one nearby control village conducted from 1979-2003 involving 891 men and women showed that 44.5% of all deaths (372) in the exposed villages were due to mesothelioma; only 2 cases of mesothelioma occurred in the control village (11).
    top
    ——————————————————————————–

    References
    [1] Elmore AR. Final report on the safety assessment of aluminum silicate, calcium silicate, magnesium aluminum silicate, magnesium silicate, magnesium trisilicate, sodium magnesium silicate, zirconium silicate, attapulgite, bentonite, Fuller’s earth, hectorite, kaolin, lithium magnesium silicate, lithium magnesium sodium silicate, montmorillonite, pyrophyllite, and zeolite. Int J Toxicol 2003; 22 Suppl 1:37-102.
    [2] Ahuja N, Ostomel TA, Rhee P, et al. Testing of modified zeolite hemostatic dressings in a large animal model of lethal groin injury. The Journal of trauma 2006; 61(6):1312-20.
    [3] Alam HB, Chen Z, Jaskille A, et al. Application of a zeolite hemostatic agent achieves 100% survival in a lethal model of complex groin injury in Swine. The Journal of trauma 2004; 56(5):974-83.
    [4] G. Rodriguez-Fuentes MM, A. Iraizoz, I, Perdomo, B. Cedre. Enterex: Anti-diarrheic drug based on purified natural clinoptilolite. Zeolites 1997;19:441-8.
    [5] Concepcion-Rosebal B, Rodriges-Fluentes, G., Simon-Carballo, R. Development and featuring of the zeolitic active principle FZ: a glucose adsorbent. Zeolites 1997;19(1):47.
    [6] Young SW, Qing F, Rubin D, et al. Gadolinium zeolite as an oral contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging. J Magn Reson Imaging 1995; 5(5):499-508.
    [7] Zeolite Austism Study 2007 http://www.zeoliteautismstudy.com. Accessed August 18, 2009.
    [8] Reuters. A New Cure for Hangover. CBS News 2002. (accessed July 24, 2008)
    [9] Pavelic K, Hadzija M, Bedrica L, et al. Natural zeolite clinoptilolite: new adjuvant in anticancer therapy. J Mol Med 2001; 78(12):708-20.
    [10] Sahin AA, Coplu L, Selcuk ZT, et al. Malignant pleural mesothelioma caused by environmental exposure to asbestos or erionite in rural Turkey: CT findings in 84 patients. Am J Roentgenol 1993; 161(3):533-7.
    [11] Baris YI, Grandjean P. Prospective study of mesothelioma mortality in Turkish villages with exposure to fibrous zeolite. J Natl Cancer Inst 2006; 98(6):414-7.
    [12] Zhou CF, Zhu JH. Adsorption of nitrosamines in acidic solution by zeolites. Chemosphere 2005 58(1):109-14.
    [13] Zarkovic N, Zarkovic K, Kralj M, et al. Anticancer and antioxidative effects of micronized zeolite clinoptilolite. Anticancer Res 2003 23(2B):1589-95.
    [14] Pavelic K, Katic M, Sverko V, et al. Immunostimulatory effect of natural clinoptilolite as a possible mechanism of its antimetastatic ability. Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology 2002;128(1):37-44.
    [15] Muck-Seler D, Pivac N. The effect of natural clinoptilolite on the serotonergic receptors in the brain of mice with mammary carcinoma. Life sciences 2003 Sep 5;73(16):2059-69.
    [16] Martin-Kleiner I, Flegar-Mestric Z, et al. The effect of the zeolite clinoptilolite on serum chemistry and hematopoiesis in mice. Food Chem Toxicol 2001; 39(7):717-27.
    [17] Watkins KL, Southern LL. Effect of dietary sodium zeolite A on zinc utilization by chicks. Poultry science 1993; 72(2):296-305.
    [18] Pond WG, Yen JT. Protection by clinoptilolite or zeolite NaA against cadmium-induced anemia in growing swine. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1983; 173(3):332-7.
    [19] Kubena LF, Harvey RB, Huff WE, et al. Efficacy of a hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate to reduce the toxicity of aflatoxin and diacetoxyscirpenol. Poultry science 1993; 72(1):51-9.
    [20] Eriksson I. Body Detox of Volcanic Ash Cause Cancer. Medical News Today 2004. (accessed July 24, 2008)
    [21] Kaufman H, inventor; Lifelink Pharmaceuticals Inc, assignee. Epithelial Cell Cancer Drug. US Patent 6,288,045. September 11, 2001. Accessed August 18, 2009.
    [22] Kliment CR, Clemens K, Oury TD. North american erionite-associated mesothelioma with pleural plaques and pulmonary fibrosis: a case report. Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2009;2(4):407-10.
    [23] Metintas M, Hillerdal G, Metintas S, Dumortier P. Endemic malignant mesothelioma: exposure to erionite is more important than genetic factors. Arch Environ Occup Health. 2010 Apr-Jun;65(2):86-93.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.5620171123/abstract?systemMessage=Wiley+Online+Library+will+be+disrupted+2+July+from+10-12+BST+for+monthly+maintenance

    Environmental Toxicology

    Effect of zeolite on toxicity of ammonia in freshwater sediments: Implications for toxicity identification evaluation procedures

    John M. Besser1,*, Christopher G. Ingersoll1, Edward N. Leonard2, David R. Mount2Article first published online: 26 OCT 2009

    DOI: 10.1002/etc.5620171123

    Copyright © 1998 SETAC

    Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
    Volume 17, Issue 11, pages 2310–2317, November 1998
    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.v17:11/issuetoc

    Abstract
    Techniques for reducing ammonia toxicity in freshwater sediments were investigated as part of a project to develop toxicity identification and evaluation (TIE) procedures for whole sediments. Although ammonia is a natural constituent of freshwater sediments, pollution can lead to ammonia concentrations that are toxic to benthic invertebrates, and ammonia can also contribute to the toxicity of sediments that contain more persistent contaminants. We investigated the use of amendments of a natural zeolite mineral, clinoptilolite, to reduce concentrations of ammonia in sediment pore water. Zeolites have been widely used for removal of ammonia in water treatment and in aqueous TIE procedures. The addition of granulated zeolite to ammonia-spiked sediments reduced pore-water ammonia concentrations and reduced ammonia toxicity to invertebrates. Amendments of 20% zeolite (v/v) reduced ammonia concentrations in pore water by ≥70% in spiked sediments with ammonia concentrations typical of contaminated freshwater sediments. Zeolite amendments reduced toxicity of ammonia-spiked sediments to three taxa of benthic invertebrates (Hyalella azteca, Lumbriculus variegatus, and Chironomus tentans), despite their widely differing sensitivity to ammonia toxicity. In contrast, zeolite amendments did not reduce acute toxicity of sediments containing high concentrations of cadmium or copper or reduce concentrations of these metals in pore waters. These studies suggest that zeolite amendments, used in conjunction with toxicity tests with sensitive taxa such as H. azteca, may be an effective technique for selective reduction of ammonia toxicity in freshwater sediments.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.environment-dioxin-research-treatment.com/Reproductive_toxicity.htm

    Overview Report on the Safety/Toxicity of Natural Zeolite

    Reproductive toxicity

    Pavelic et al (2001) reported on a number of toxicity studies on a natural clinoptilolite that had been micronised. The composition was reported with the main differences to the zeolite for the proposed product being lower SiO2 and higher Ca and water. Particle size ranged from 1 to about 8μm.One of the studies conducted was in 10 male and 10 female mice with exposure to the test substance in the feed at 25:75 micronised zeolite:food (see Table 1 for more detail) for 50 days in males and 14 days in females prior to mating. Treatment continued throughout pregnancy and on to the weaning of offspring. Treatment was then extended for four consecutive reproductive cycles (4-5 months) although it is unclear if this was for the entire 20 mice. Parameters monitored included fertility, delivery incidence, mortality and pathophysiology of the ovaries after the fourth cycle. The number of total and viable pups, weight gain and survival until weaning were scored.

    Results reported indicated that pre-pregnancy was shorter with zeolite treatment and the number of pups per litter was greater. Weight gain to weaning was decreased, which may have been related to the higher number of pups. There was a higher mortality of pups between days 8 and 21 of the neonatal period but the authors concluded that there were no differences between control and treated animals that could be attributed to toxicity from zeolite. No actual data were provided in the paper.

    In a separate study, pregnant mice were treated with the food mix from day 6 to 16 of gestation. The mice were processed one day before parturition and the foetuses analysed for microscopic pathology. The only outcome reported in the paper was that micronized zeolite “did not elicit toxicity during the period of organogenesis.”

    Papaioannou et al (2002) fed pigs a diet containing 2% clinoptilolite. There were 80 sows/gilts in each of the standard feed and clinoptilolite in standard diet groups. The pigs were fed the diets from the start of weaning, during service, gestation, lactation and up to the date of service of the next reproductive cycle. There was apparently no treatment of the boars used to impregnate the sows in this study.

    Health and fertility were assessed by:
    •Anoestrus 1,
    •Weaning-to-first oestrus interval shorter than 10 days 1,
    •Return to oestrus 1,
    •Farrowing rate,
    •Inappetence,
    •Pyrexia,
    •Mastitis,
    •Vaginal discharge,
    •Anoestrus 2,
    •Weaning-to-first oestrus interval shorter than 10 days 2,
    •Return to oestrus 2.
    Only Anoestrus 2 and Return to oestrus 2 showed a difference with clinoptilolite, with lower values in the exposed group.

    Reproductive performance was assessed by:

    •Number of piglets born alive,
    •Number of piglets weaned,
    •Piglet body weight at birth,
    •Piglet body weight at weaning,
    •Piglet body weight gain during lactation.
    The presence of clinoptilolite in the diet resulted in increased values for each of the above parameters.

    Piglets were also assessed for malformations with the only difference reported being a lower prevalence of swelling and reddening of the vulva for the clinoptilolite fed animals.

    Thus, overall, there were no adverse effects found from feeding with 2% clinoptilolite. In fact, reproductive performance was improved in the clinoptilolite treated pigs.

    Pond and Yen (1983a) fed female rats diet with and without 5% clinoptilolite from 6 weeks of age. At 13 weeks, mating was permitted and pregnant females continued on the same diet that they were receiving pre-mating. There was no indication that the males used to mate with the females had been subject to any treatment.

    The following parameters were recorded:

    •Number of pups born per litter,
    •Live birth weight,
    •Average total litter birth weight.
    At 1, 2 and 3 weeks, number of live pups and total litter weight were recorded.

    From the litters, two sets of one male and one female pup from each litter were randomly selected at weaning and assigned the basal diet or the diet that had been fed to their dam. Males were maintained to 4 weeks and females to 16 weeks of age. Five females from eah group were then mated to fertile males. Pregnant females were continued on their assigned diet through gestation. Numbers of total and live pups were recorded as was the total litter weight at birth and one day later.

    The only significant difference reported was a lower body weight for the dams at weeks 12 and 13 in the clinoptilolite fed rats versus the basal diet. Reproductive performance was unaffected. The authors of this study concluded that there was no evidence of toxicity or teratogenicity in rats fed the 5% clinoptilolite diet throughout postweaning and through one reproduction and lactation period.

    Nolen and Dierckman (1983) reported that synthetic Zeolite A did not produce any adverse effects in dams or progeny of rats treated by gavage with 74 or 1600mg/kg of days 6 to 15 of gestation. A similar finding was reported for rabbits dosed with 74, 345 or 1600mg/kg on days 6 to 18 of gestation. No further detail was provided. They also cited a US NTIS study that found no teratogenic effects for food grade sodium aluminosilicate in rats, mice, rabbits and hamsters.

    Mayura et al (1998) investigated the effects of feeding rats with a diet of 5% clinoptilolite on maternal and developmental toxicity as one part of a study that included estimation of the prevention of the effects of exposure to aflatoxin. As well as being fed the diet with clinoptilolite from days 0 to 20 of gestation, the pregnant animals were also gavaged with additional clinoptilolite in corn oil from days 6 to 13. A group with hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate added to the feed was included for comparative purposes. Treatment groups contained 10 or 11 rats.

    Parameters assessed included:

    •Maternal mortality , body weight and feed intake, liver and kidney histology,
    •Litter weight,
    •Resorptions,
    •Fetal body weight,
    •Fetal abnormalities.
    Treatment with clinoptilolite had no effects on any of the above parameters.

    The HERA Report (2002) included otherwise unpublished studies that investigated the potential for teratogenic effects from sodium aluminium silicate. A total of 6 studies 24covering rats, mice, rabbits and hamsters all showed no evidence of teratogenicity for the test substance.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.umad.de/infos/iuappa/pdf/B_18.pdf

    TOXICITY OF ZEOLITE CONTAINING DETERGENTS
    KOČÍ V. Department of environmental chemistry, ICT, Technická 5, 166 28 Praha 6, Czech Republic.

    The results demonstrate that zeolitic detergents are more toxic compared to their phosphate forms in the case of the test with Poecilia reticulata. However the more sensitive organisms, daphnids, do not prove this conclusion. The toxic effects of zeolitic and phosphate detergents to crustacean Daphnia magna are approximately the same, so the presumption that zeolitic detergents are more toxic to aquatic zooplancton was not proved. The toxicity of zeolitic and phosphate detergents is approximately the same in the test with seeds of Sinapis Alba. Contrary to expectation the phosphate forms did not support the growth of algae biomass, probably due a lack of essential macronutrient(s) in tested samples. There is no reason, on the basis of these results, to conclude that phosphate detergents do not support eutrophication. The attendance of biologically accessible nitrogen in surface waters will fully compensate for all the nutrients missing in the tests. The results demonstrate, that zeolite LTA can be used in detergents without toxic impact on water organisms.

  17. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/243766-overview
    http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/243766-overview#aw2aab6b2b2aa

    Radiation nephropathy is kidney injury and impairment of function caused by ionizing radiation. It may occur after irradiation of 1 or both kidneys, and it may result in kidney failure. The term nephritis was commonly used in the past; however, because radiation nephropathy is not an inflammatory condition, the term nephropathy is probably more appropriate. For older reports, the term nephritis will be used.

    Radiation nephropathy is due to cellular injury caused by ionizing radiation. All components of the kidney are affected. In the case of injury by radionuclide(s), a radioactive substance can injure the kidneys if it lodge(s) in the kidney during a time when it is still a radioemitter.

    Oxidative injury to the DNA initiates injury to healthy tissue by ionizing radiation. This is a genotoxic injury. A cell with sufficient DNA injury eventually dies after several divisions. The delay in cell death may partially explain why radiation injury to healthy tissue is a delayed reaction. In clinical experience, radiation nephritis does not occur until months after the kidneys are exposed to sufficient ionizing radiation.

    Not all patients exposed to sufficient renal irradiation develop renal injury. The reason for this clinical variability is unknown. No reliable clinical predictors are available for the development of radiation nephritis. Some individuals may develop radiation nephritis at a dose of radiation that has no clinical effect on others.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/243766-overview

    Background

    Radiation nephritis is kidney injury and impairment of function caused by ionizing radiation. It may occur after irradiation of 1 or both kidneys, and it may result in kidney failure.

    Classic radiation nephritis occurs after bilateral, local kidney irradiation. It is a syndrome of chronic renal failure, occurring months or years after renal irradiation.[1] Acute radiation nephritis develops 6-12 months after irradiation, whereas chronic radiation nephritis develops years later. Radiation nephritis has also been discovered to cause chronic renal failure after bone marrow transplantation (BMT).[2] In addition, the use of yttrium–90–tagged (90 Y-tagged) somatostatin and other radionuclides for radionuclide therapy cause radiation nephritis when they are filtered by the kidneys and reabsorbed by the renal tubule epithelium or when blood-borne exposure to the kidney cells occurs. (See Etiology, Prognosis.)[3]

    The term nephritis was commonly used in the past; however, because radiation nephropathy is not an inflammatory condition, the term nephropathy is probably more appropriate. For older reports, the term nephritis will be used.

    Patient education
    Any patient with chronic renal disease must comply with outpatient follow-up and blood pressure control. This compliance helps to slow the decline in renal function; the same is true for patients with radiation nephritis or BMT nephropathy. (See Treatment.)

    Patients must be aware of their maintenance medications and dosages. They must avoid nephrotoxins, such as over-the-counter nonsteroidal arthritis medicines, including ibuprofen. (See Treatment.)

    Next Section: Etiology
    http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/243766-overview#aw2aab6b2b2aa

    Etiology

    Radiation nephritis is due to cellular injury caused by ionizing radiation. All components of the kidney are affected, including the glomeruli, blood vessels, tubular epithelium, and interstitium.[4]

    In the case of local kidney irradiation or total-body irradiation, the injury is direct. In the case of injury by radionuclide therapy, a radioactive substance can injure the kidneys if its pharmacokinetics cause it to lodge in the kidney during a time when it is still a radioemitter. This is the case for the 90 Y-tagged somatostatin, which has been used for the treatment of neuroendocrine malignancies, and for holmium-166–tagged (166 Ho-tagged) phosphonate 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetramethylene phosphonic acid (DOTMP).[5, 6]

    Oxidative injury to the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) initiates injury to healthy tissue by ionizing radiation. This is a genotoxic injury. A cell with sufficient DNA injury eventually dies after several divisions. The delay in cell death may partially explain why radiation injury to healthy tissue is a delayed reaction.

    The detailed mechanism whereby the kidney cells and tissues malfunction after this injury remains poorly understood. In experimental models, ultrastructural damage to the glomerular endothelium is observed 3 weeks after a 10-Gy (1000-rad) dose of local kidney irradiation, and neutrophil adherence to the endothelium occurs.[4] By 6-10 weeks after the same dose, a wave of tubular epithelial cell deaths occur. This is followed by interstitial scarring. The scarring tends to be most severe in the outer cortex, and it proceeds inward. The progression of these events is accelerated with higher doses of radiation.

    The earliest functional evidence of experimental radiation nephropathy is proteinuria, which is evident by 6 weeks in a radiation nephritis model with 17-Gy multifraction total-body irradiation. Azotemia and hypertension are present by 12-15 weeks in the same model. The origin of the hypertension probably is similar to that of most experimental hypertension, although pressure-natriuresis curves have not been studied. Renin levels in systemic blood are normal or low, and blood and intrarenal angiotensin II levels are within the reference range (ie, not elevated).

    In clinical experience, radiation nephritis does not occur until months after the kidneys are exposed to sufficient ionizing radiation. Early data suggested that a dose of 20 Gy (2000 rads) given in multiple fractions over several weeks can cause radiation nephritis.[1]

    Radiation nephritis after BMT (BMT nephropathy) occurs following a lower dose of radiation than had been traditionally accepted. This dose is given over days, not weeks, to the whole body (total-body irradiation) and is accompanied by chemotherapy, which may account for the unexpectedly dramatic effect on the kidneys. Proteinuria is usual, although generally not in the nephrotic range. Azotemia and hypertension also develop. Anemia out of proportion to the degree of azotemia is a characteristic finding.

    Severe cases of radiation nephritis after BMT may be associated with a hemolyticlike or uremiclike picture, with thrombocytopenia, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, and a high blood level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). This last syndrome may be the result of severe endothelial injury. (Histologic changes similar to those of BMT nephropathy were described in a single patient who had undergone BMT and who had chemotherapy-based pre-BMT conditioning without irradiation.)

    In the case of unilateral renal irradiation, progressive scarring of the irradiated kidney may occur, with severe hypertension related to renin release by the single irradiated kidney.

    Not all patients exposed to sufficient renal irradiation develop renal injury. The reason for this clinical variability is unknown. Indeed, the heterogeneity of response of healthy tissue to ionizing radiation is poorly understood. No reliable clinical predictors are available for the development of radiation nephritis. Some individuals may develop radiation nephritis at a dose of radiation that has no clinical effect on others.

    http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/243766-overview#a0156
    http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/243766-overview#a0156

    Epidemiology

    Radiation nephritis does not occur in all irradiated patients. In the large British series of classic radiation nephritis described by Luxton, only 20% of subjects developed radiation nephritis, although each received more than 2500 rads to the kidneys.[1] The form of radiation nephritis in patients who receive BMT occurs in 10-20% of these patients.

    In a report from Seattle, Wash, 30 of 83 subjects treated with 166 Ho to DOTMP developed some kidney injury; 7 subjects had thrombotic microangiopathy (ie, hemolytic-uremic syndrome [HUS]).[6]

    No confirmed sex-based differences in radiation nephritis have been reported. At the BMT unit of the Medical College of Wisconsin, BMT nephropathy has affected more women than men, but other centers have not had this experience. No age-based differences in susceptibility to classic radiation nephritis have been confirmed. However, in the case of BMT nephropathy, children appear to be more likely to develop this syndrome than adults.

    http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/243766-overview#aw2aab6b2b4aa
    Prognosis
    Radiation nephritis may progress to end-stage renal failure. The same is true of BMT nephropathy; the occurrence of end-stage renal failure in subjects who have undergone BMT is almost 20 times higher than it is in the age-matched general population.[7] The progression to end-stage renal failure has also occurred after internal radioisotope radiotherapy.Complete renal failure may evolve in weeks in severe cases, and after years in less severe cases. Predict when a patient will need dialysis by using a 100/plasma creatinine graph. At the point where the 100/plasma creatinine value is equal to 10, the estimated renal function is approximately 10% of normal, revealing that dialysis may be needed soon after that. (See Rate of Kidney Function Loss.)

    Patients with BMT nephropathy whose renal function declines to the point of their needing chronic dialysis have a poor prognosis compared with that of age-matched control subjects receiving dialysis. This probably is related to the burden of immunosuppression and past illness associated with BMT. Individuals with BMT nephropathy may also have accelerated atherosclerosis, which may be related to total-body irradiation and chemotherapy.[8]

    Mortality/morbidity
    As with other causes of chronic renal failure, radiation nephritis may be asymptomatic. When it sufficiently reduces kidney function, symptoms and signs of renal failure occur. End-stage renal disease and the need for dialysis or transplantation may develop. In patients with BMT nephropathy who are receiving dialysis, the survival rate is less than that of age-matched control subjects.[9]

    Proteinuria occurs, but it is usually not a striking feature in patients with radiation nephritis. Reports of classic radiation nephritis generally describe non–nephrotic-range proteinuria (< 3 g/d). In BMT nephropathy, the average urinary protein level has been reported at 2.5 g/d. Fluid overload, edema, pulmonary edema, and hyperkalemia are additional complications of renal disease.

    In classic radiation nephritis, malignant hypertension may affect as many as 30% of patients and can occur as late as 11 years after irradiation. In BMT nephropathy, hypertension is a cardinal feature and observed along with azotemia. Were it not for antihypertensive agents, malignant hypertension would probably be a major feature of BMT nephropathy.

    On hematologic analysis, accompanying anemia is present in radiation nephritis and BMT nephropathy and is more severe than that expected for the degree of azotemia. In severe cases of BMT nephropathy, hemolytic anemia, a high blood LDH level, and a decreased platelet count may be present. This syndrome may be mistaken for HUS or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP).

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    A different ‘normal’

    The normalcy bias works quite differently for seasoned players than for the unwashed.

    For example, those who have been trained for and/or work with radionuclides and radiation sources have a different ‘normal’.

    Emergency workers & disaster response teams have a different ‘normal’.

    Military personnel and dependants have a different ‘normal’.

    Liars have a different ‘normal’. Lawyers have a different … but now I am repeating myself.

    Homicidal politicians and guilty corporate shills have a different ‘normal’.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    1,510 march in Fukushima on June 19

    http://www.doro-chiba.org/english/dc_en_11/PDF/Doro-ChibaQR_027.pdf

    Doro-Chiba Quake Report

    June 24, 2011/ issue 27

    International Labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba (National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba)

    1,510 marches in Fukushima on June 19

    Speakers from Fukushima Prefecture Teachers Union, National Railways Workers Union Koriyama Factory Branch, Sendai City Municipal Workers Union, Farmers, Evacuees, and Student of Fukushima University demand;

    “Give back Fukushima! Give back rice fields! Give back our future and human beings!”

    As many as 1500 participants of June 19 Fukushima Rally declared to pursue responsibility of TEPCO and Kan administration till the end and rushed to the task force center of TEPCO and the state to demonstrate their fierce protest. Fukushima Prefecture Teachers Union joined the rally in order to express their determination to fulfill their duty as labor union in front of this disaster. Appeals were made to rise up for struggle to defend children and their families by all means against any difficulty.

    Expropriate the expropriators!

    A fresh fight has begun.

    What is developing actually in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant is: a complete meltdown of the first reactor—thee nuclear fuel has melted through the base of the pressure vessels and the outer containment vessels causing destruction of concrete-made foundation. Thus all the facilities are now sinking down onto the ground. Though the facts are completely and maliciously concealed by the TEPCO, similar dangerous developments are suspected also for the second and third reactors.

    The only effective measure to control the present critical situation of the nuclear plants seems to be a construction of a thick retaining wall of concrete reaching to deep underground (“underground dam”) to stop contamination of groundwater and to prevent leaking of contam-inated water into the ocean. Quite outrageously, TEPCO flatly refuses to take this measure, insisting that this operation would cost 100 billion Yen, causing the increase of utilities’ debt and that it would work on stockholders negatively who fear lowering stock price! They explain that contamination of the ocean will take place only after a year because the speed of the groundwater is estimated 5~10cm per day. Kan administration supports this absurd view of the TEPCO and clings to its discredited Road Map for the Disaster Control.

    The TEPCO recently checked the degree of in-ternal exposure of a part of the workers who were involved in the emergency operation to put down the hydrogen explosion. Upon the request of the workers to let them know the result of the measurement, TEPCO answered: “We can’t tell it to you now. For the publication of the result in future, we can’t promise you”. Evidently the result of the measurement must have shown a high level of radioactive exposure exceeding the official limit recently raised for an emergency situation by the nuclear authority.

    On the other hand, ISHIHARA Shintaro, Tokyo Governor, shamelessly insists, “What happened in Three Mile and Chernobyl were man-made accidents, but Fukushima is totally beyond expectation”, “Japanese people must restrain selfish interest in order to achieve restoration”. ISHIHARA Nobuteru, Liberal-Democratic secretary general and Shintaro’s son, expressed his fear at people’s mounting anger, “It is quite understandable that they have been driven into a mass hysteria after the tremendous accident”.

    The most outrageous and astonishing example is offered by KAIEDA Banri, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, who urged the restart of the operation of 21 nuclear reactors which have been shut for routine maintenance, under the pretext that the following five nonsense requirements have already been met: installation of large type drill for boring of the reactor building in order to prevent hydrogen explosion and introduction of heavy machinery to get rid of debris etc. He proposed this just at the precise moment, in which Fukushima Daiichi accident is developing into the world worst disaster ever in the history.

    “If only there had been no nuke plant”, with these last words, farmers commit suicide one after another, fishermen look up the sky with a sore heart and numerous workers are thrown on the street due to the closure of stricken factories. 300,000 school children in Fukushima are forced to radioactive exposure by the ad-ministrative instruction that their circumstances are “free from dangerous radiation.”

    TEPCO and Kan administration deserve death. Is 100 billion Yen too expensive to save human lives? Are the stock price and the general meeting of TEPCO shareholders more important than human future?

    Let’s crush a drive of outsourcing, casualization and mass dismissal of workers in pretext of the Earthquake!

    We call on workers of the whole world to make a big step forward for the abolition of nuclear plants and nuclear energy!

    3
    Let’s relieve earthquake victims through people’s power!
    (1) PayPal Account for Donation:
    PayPal Account: bleve21@gmail.com
    Account Holder: YAMAMOTO Hiroyuki:
    Secretary Treasurer, International Labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba
    (2) Donation through the International Humanities Center (IHC):
    Alternatively, donation could be made through the international Humanities Center (IHC) in each following way.
    1. Checks can be made out to “People's Earthquake Relief Center / IHC” or “PERC / IHC”, and mailed to the Coalition for Alternatives to Militarism in our Schools (CAMS) box: PO Box 3012, South Pasadena, CA 91031.
    2. Donations can also be made on line at: http://ihcenter.org/groups/perc
    (3) Bank Account for Donation:
    Some or all of the following data 1 to 9 are required to send a remittance to Japan. And if the purpose of remittance is questioned, please reply that remittance is made for relief to the earthquake in Japan through the National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba (Doro-Chiba).
    1. Bank name: The Chiba Bank, Ltd
    2. Bank code# in Japan: 0134
    3. Branch name: Chuo Branch
    4. Branch code# in Japan: 001
    5. Branch address: 2-5-1 Chuo, Chuo-ku, Chiba City, Chiba 260-0013, Japan
    6. Type of address: Ordinary deposit
    7. Account number: 4177605
    Address of Account: 2-8 Kaname-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba City, Chiba 260-0017, Japan
    Phone No. of Account: +81-43-222-7207
    8. Account name: Kokutetsu Chiba Doryokusha Rodokumiai
    9. SWIFT address: CHBAJPJT 001 4177605
    Note: One space is needed between Branch Code# (001) and Account number (4177605).
    You can find the archive of Doro-Chiba Quake Report: http://dorochibanewsletter.wordpress.com

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    “A fresh fight has begun.”

    1,500 march in Fukushima

    http://www.doro-chiba.org/english/dc_en_11/PDF/Doro-ChibaQR_027.pdf

    Speakers from Fukushima Prefecture Teachers Union, National Railways Workers Union Koriyama Factory Branch, Sendai City Municipal Workers Union, Farmers, Evacuees, and Student of Fukushima University demand;

    As many as 1500 participants of June 19 Fukushima Rally declared to pursue responsibility of TEPCO and Kan administration till the end and rushed to the task force center of TEPCO and the state to demonstrate their fierce protest.

    Appeals were made to rise up for struggle to defend children and their families by all means against any difficulty.

    Doro-Chiba Quake Report June 24, 2011/ issue 27

    Doro-Chiba Quake Report: http://dorochibanewsletter.wordpress.com

    1,500 march in Fukushima

    http://www.doro-chiba.org/english/dc_en_11/PDF/Doro-ChibaQR_027.pdf

    Speakers from Fukushima Prefecture Teachers Union, National Railways Workers Union Koriyama Factory Branch, Sendai City Municipal Workers Union, Farmers, Evacuees, and Student of Fukushima University demand;

    The only effective measure to control the present critical situation of the nuclear plants seems to be a construction of a thick retaining wall of concrete reaching to deep underground (“underground dam”) to stop contamination of groundwater and to prevent leaking of contam-inated water into the ocean. Quite outrageously, TEPCO flatly refuses to take this measure, insisting that this operation would cost 100 billion Yen, causing the increase of utilities’ debt and that it would work on stockholders negatively who fear lowering stock price! They explain that contamination of the ocean will take place only after a year because the speed of the groundwater is estimated 5~10cm per day. Kan administration supports this absurd view of the TEPCO and clings to its discredited Road Map for the Disaster Control.

    Doro-Chiba Quake Report June 24, 2011/ issue 27

    Doro-Chiba Quake Report: http://dorochibanewsletter.wordpress.com

    1,500 march in Fukushima

    http://www.doro-chiba.org/english/dc_en_11/PDF/Doro-ChibaQR_027.pdf

    Speakers from Fukushima Prefecture Teachers Union, National Railways Workers Union Koriyama Factory Branch, Sendai City Municipal Workers Union, Farmers, Evacuees, and Student of Fukushima University demand;

    The TEPCO recently checked the degree of internal exposure of a part of the workers who were involved in the emergency operation to put down the hydrogen explosion. Upon the request of the workers to let them know the result of the measurement, TEPCO answered: “We can’t tell it to you now. For the publication of the result in future, we can’t promise you”. Evidently the result of the measurement must have shown a high level of radioactive exposure exceeding the official limit recently raised for an emergency situation by the nuclear authority.

    “If only there had been no nuke plant”, with these last words, farmers commit suicide one after another, fishermen look up the sky with a sore heart and numerous workers are thrown on the street due to the closure of stricken factories. 300,000 school children in Fukushima are forced to radioactive exposure by the administrative instruction that their circumstances are “free from dangerous radiation.”

    TEPCO and Kan administration deserve death. Is 100 billion Yen too expensive to save human lives? Are the stock price and the general meeting of TEPCO shareholders more important than human future?

    Doro-Chiba Quake Report June 24, 2011/ issue 27

    Doro-Chiba Quake Report: http://dorochibanewsletter.wordpress.com

  18. http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110601/wl_nm/us_japan_un_6

    U.N. report highlights Japan nuclear plant flaws

    By Kevin Krolicki Kevin Krolicki – Wed Jun 1, 12:25 am ET

    TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan underestimated the risk of tsunamis and needs to closely monitor public and workers’ health after the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a team of international safety inspectors said in a preliminary review of the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

    The report, from an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team led by Britain’s top nuclear safety official Mike Weightman, highlighted some of the well-documented weaknesses that contributed to the crisis at Fukushima when the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was hit by a massive earthquake and then a tsunami in quick succession on March 11.

    Those start with a failure to plan for a tsunami that would overrun the 5.7-meter (19 ft) break wall at Fukushima and knock out back-up electric generators to four reactors, despite multiple forecasts from a government agency and operator Tokyo Electric Power Co’s own scientists that such a risk was looming.

    The IAEA team said Japan’s crisis offered several lessons for the nuclear industry globally, including that plant operators should regularly review the risks of natural disasters and that “hardened” emergency response centers should be established to deal with accidents.

    “The tsunami hazard for several sites was underestimated,” the report’s three-page summary said.

    “Nuclear plant designers and operators should appropriately evaluate and provide protection against the risks of all natural hazards.”

    Goshi Hosono, an aide to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, accepted the report, marking the first step in an effort by Japanese officials to show that the lessons learned from Fukushima can be applied to make its remaining reactors safe.

    Hosono said the government would need to review its nuclear regulatory framework.

    The IAEA team will submit its findings to a ministerial conference on nuclear safety in Vienna from June 20-24.

    “We had a playbook, but it didn’t work,” said Tatsujiro Suzuki, a nuclear expert and vice chairman of Japan’s Atomic Energy Commission.

    HIGH STAKES

    The economic stakes are high. Japan is operating only 19 of its pre-Fukushima tally of 54 reactors. Unless local officials can be convinced that Tokyo has a plan to make the others resistant to the kind of blackout that plunged Fukushima into meltdown, more plants will drop off-line for maintenance.

    In the worst case, all of Japan’s reactors could be shut down by the middle of 2012. That would take out 30 percent of the nation’s electricity generation and raise the risk of deeper, near permanent power rationing, officials say.

    The Fukushima accident has forced more than 80,000 residents from their homes and raised deepening concerns about the safety of nearby children, workers battling to stabilize the reactors and the food supply as radiated water leaks from the site.

    In the report, the IAEA team urged Japan to follow up with monitoring of worker and public health.

    The crisis has also diverted attention and resources from rebuilding after the quake and tsunami that killed about 24,000 people in northern coastal Japan.

    Experts who have reviewed the Fukushima incident say the IAEA report represents a starting point in the debate over what needs to be done to make nuclear plants safe in a country where the risks of earthquakes are still imperfectly understood.

    “There are aspects of the planning for the safety of the Fukushima plant which are, in retrospect, very stupid, and show a lack of imagination,” said Kim Kearfott, a University of Michigan nuclear safety expert who toured Japan on her own this week. “The nuclear industry can do better than this.”

    As the uranium fuel in the No. 1 reactor began heating toward meltdown on March 11, Tokyo Electric (Tepco) officials grappled with outages of key safety equipment because of the loss of power to the plant.

    With gauges blank from Fukushima, officials in Tokyo monitoring the expected radiation risk faced a related problem. Complicated software to model the expected plume of debris from a Fukushima explosion had been set up to run with precise data rather than rough assumptions.

    By early on March 12, officials at the Ministry of Education and Technology had fixed the glitch and sent a projected radiation map to Prime Minister Kan’s office, but the data was never released to the public.

    Meanwhile, it was dangerously unclear who was in charge on the ground at Fukushima. Tepco’s chairman was in China, the utility’s president was grounded in western Japan on a personal trip. Sakae Muto, the ranking Tepco official, spent the night of the quake huddled with mayors of small towns near Fukushima, giving them formal notice of the accident rather than joining the command center.

    The plant’s chief operating officer, Masao Yoshida, ignored an order to stop injecting seawater into the No. 1 reactor based on a request from Kan’s office. Experts say Yoshida made the right call, but say the confusion underscored the bigger problems in the early response to the accident.

    “It was impossible for the system to work as it had been set up,” said Suzuki, who believes Japan’s nuclear industry will now have to show it can manage and contain the most improbable accidents at all of its remaining reactors to win public trust. “Unless they can show that, it’s going to be very hard.”

    Others say Japan needs to show it will act on the toughest advice from critics, including long-delayed steps to make its nuclear regulatory agency independent of the politically powerful utility industry.

    “Japanese nuclear operations need to be upgraded based on international advice,” said Kearfott. “Much of this advice was ignored in the past.”

    (Additional reporting Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Alex Richardson and Edmund Klamann)

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    And even the IAEA rightfully thinks Japan is stupid.

    http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110601/wl_nm/us_japan_un_6

    TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan underestimated the risk of tsunamis and needs to closely monitor public and workers’ health after the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a team of international safety inspectors said in a preliminary review of the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

    The report, from an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team led by Britain’s top nuclear safety official Mike Weightman, highlighted some of the well-documented weaknesses that contributed to the crisis at Fukushima when the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was hit by a massive earthquake and then a tsunami in quick succession on March 11.

    Those start with a failure to plan for a tsunami that would overrun the 5.7-meter (19 ft) break wall at Fukushima and knock out back-up electric generators to four reactors, despite multiple forecasts from a government agency and operator Tokyo Electric Power Co’s own scientists that such a risk was looming.

    “The tsunami hazard for several sites was underestimated,” the report’s three-page summary said.

    “We had a playbook, but it didn’t work,” said Tatsujiro Suzuki, a nuclear expert and vice chairman of Japan’s Atomic Energy Commission.

    In the report, the IAEA team urged Japan to follow up with monitoring of worker and public health.

    “There are aspects of the planning for the safety of the Fukushima plant which are, in retrospect, very stupid, and show a lack of imagination,” said Kim Kearfott, a University of Michigan nuclear safety expert who toured Japan on her own this week. “The nuclear industry can do better than this.”

    The plant’s chief operating officer, Masao Yoshida, ignored an order to stop injecting seawater into the No. 1 reactor based on a request from Kan’s office. Experts say Yoshida made the right call, but say the confusion underscored the bigger problems in the early response to the accident.

    Others say Japan needs to show it will act on the toughest advice from critics, including long-delayed steps to make its nuclear regulatory agency independent of the politically powerful utility industry.

    “Japanese nuclear operations need to be upgraded based on international advice,” said Kearfott. “Much of this advice was ignored in the past.”

  19. The Stupidity that is IAEA

    “When news of the Japanese nuclear disaster started filtering out, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Incident and Emergency Centre released a statement that the four nuclear power plants which were closest to the quake had been “safely shut down”. Further, on March 12, the IAEA peddled to the world the statement of Japanese authorities that “no radiation was released” from various nuclear plants hit by the disastrous 8.9 magnitude earthquake. On March 19, an IAEA expert released a statement stating that the radiation levels detected in Japan till then did not pose any harm to human health. Wonder of wonders, the IAEA did not have an on-ground team at the site of the nuclear disaster, the Fukushima prefecture, even on March 19, and was like a simpleton forwarding Japanese government press releases.”

    http://www.businessandeconomy.org/14042011/storyd.asp?sid=6054&pageno=1

    “Such a series of responses from the IAEA personifies an attitude that is not only inanely irresponsible, but also unbelievable to the extent of even being called stupid. How could the UN’s global nuclear watchdog ever publicise the logic that a set of nuclear plants were safe, when the reality was quite different? Did not IAEA realize that this was not a matter of ensuring that Japanese public relations remain pristine, but of ensuring that the human race and its existence is protected?”

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.businessandeconomy.org/14042011/storyd.asp?sid=6054&pageno=1

    NUCLEAR ENERGY: FATAL RISKS

    The Stupidity that is IAEA
    The Agency has handled The Japan disaster in The Worst Manner Possible
    Issue Date – 14/04/2011

    When news of the Japanese nuclear disaster started filtering out, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Incident and Emergency Centre released a statement that the four nuclear power plants which were closest to the quake had been “safely shut down”. Further, on March 12, the IAEA peddled to the world the statement of Japanese authorities that “no radiation was released” from various nuclear plants hit by the disastrous 8.9 magnitude earthquake. On March 19, an IAEA expert released a statement stating that the radiation levels detected in Japan till then did not pose any harm to human health. Wonder of wonders, the IAEA did not have an on-ground team at the site of the nuclear disaster, the Fukushima prefecture, even on March 19, and was like a simpleton forwarding Japanese government press releases. Thankfully, the IAEA started recognizing that the situation could be “dangerous”.

    Such a series of responses from the IAEA personifies an attitude that is not only inanely irresponsible, but also unbelievable to the extent of even being called stupid. How could the UN’s global nuclear watchdog ever publicise the logic that a set of nuclear plants were safe, when the reality was quite different? Did not IAEA realize that this was not a matter of ensuring that Japanese public relations remain pristine, but of ensuring that the human race and its existence is protected? It took almost a week post the disaster for IAEA to come to terms with the fact that radiation was being released in massive doses. Imagine the statement that comes on March 19, 2011. “We continue to see radiation coming from the site… and the question is, where exactly is that coming from?” said James Lyons, a senior IAEA official. God save the world from the stupidity that is IAEA!

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/28/3255151.htm?section=justin

    Radioactive caesium heading for US coastline

    By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy

    Posted 1 hour 33 minutes ago

    Japanese scientists say radioactive caesium leaking from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is expected to reach the west coast of the United States in five years.

    Japan’s Atomic Energy Agency has put together a map predicting how caesium-137 from the Fukushima plant will spread through the Pacific Ocean.

    It estimates the contamination will travel 4,000 kilometres off the Japanese coast in one year, reach Hawaii in three years, and wash along the west coast of the US within five years.

    But the agency believes that by then the density of the radioactive caesium will have declined so significantly it will pose no risk to human or marine life.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Doctors who smoke can dredge up some of the wildest pseudo-scientific excuses.

    Most of the radiation from an Alpha/Beta/Gamma/Neutron source ‘goes the other direction’ and misses us, unless we swallow it or inhale it. Once internalized, we get shot at point blank range. For the rest of its life, or ours, the source never misses.

    http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/vision/isql.html

    As one of the fields which obey the general inverse square law, the light from a point source can be put in the form …
    E = 1/R2
    … where E is called illuminance and I is called pointance. For any description of the source, if you have determined the amount of light per unit area reaching 1 meter, then it will be one fourth as much at 2 meters.

    The fact that light from a point source obeys the inverse square law is used to advantage in measuring astronomical distances. If you have a source of known intrinsic brightness, then it can be used to measure its distance from the Earth by the “standard candle” approach.

  20. This anonomous thread has been quite monotonous. The OP has been trying to ‘score’ some trivial debate point regarding the flight plan. Mark has handled that particular argument quite patiently and thoroughly. Here is another bit of Cosmic Ray history trivia.

    http://www.ast.leeds.ac.uk/haverah/cosrays.shtml

    The bigger issue remains the comparison of a 3 hour cross country airplain flight to plutonium particles in the lung, strontium in the bones and/or radioactive iodine in the thyroid. BRAWM and the Nuclear (military industrial) complex will defend this specious concept ‘to the death’. “That’s their story and they’re sticking to it”. That is the position of the industry, and SOMEBODY has to defend it. BRAWM is trying. I don’t blame them for the myopia of the industry. In point of fact, I admire their frantic tenacity.

    Nevertheless, the premise is, by my lights, quite absurd. Without putting too fine a point on it, or leveling any personal accusations, I simply take Upton Sinclair at face value.”It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

    It is just a fact of life that denial comes easily where self-interest is involved. That is why we have public policy debates. It is not my intent to convince the industry or the BRAWM Team on this matter. Most of them actually even believe it. It is sufficient to convince the undecided jury, judge and public. Lives are at stake. The nuclear industry will continue to ‘trot this out’, until everyone in the room laughs out loud at them.

    To a very sad extent, the nuclear industry is increasingly comfortable with a a combination of obfuscation, profits, regulatory capture and large-scale casualties. They do NOT, for the most part, recognize this. We see it. It is quite obvious, but they are too myoptic to grasp it. I gently share another Upton Sinclair quote, and again, not as an accusation. This is a warning beacon, to the public, as to what can occur, not a personal attack. “Fascism is capitalism plus murder.”

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.ast.leeds.ac.uk/haverah/cosrays.shtml

    What are cosmic rays?

    At the start of the 20th century scientists became very interested in a puzzling phenomena. There seemed to be rather more radiation in the environment than they could account for by the known sources of natural background radioactivity.

    After much debate, the puzzle was partly solved by a daring Austrian scientist, Victor Hess. In 1912 he took a radiation counter (he used a gold leaf electroscope) on a balloon flight. He risked his life, by travelling to 17,500 feet without oxygen, but managed to observe that the amount of radiation increased as his balloon climbed. This demonstrated that the radiation was from outer space and eventually it was dubbed “Cosmic Radiation”.

    Since 1912 we have learnt a lot about cosmic rays. We now know that they are sub-atomic particles and possess a large range of energies (usually measured in electron-volts [eV]) from a few billion eV to more than 1020 eV.

    The rate at which cosmic rays bombard the Earth varies enormously with their energy. Low energy cosmic rays are plentiful (many thousand per square metre every second). The highest energy cosmic rays are very rare (less than one hits a square kilometre of the Earth’s surface each century). This makes detecting them very difficult.

    We know from measurements made on board satellites and high altitude balloons that the vast majority of cosmic rays are protons, although other heavier atomic nuclei are also present, extending all the way up to uranium nuclei. The vast majority of cosmic ray particles therefore have a positive electrical charged.

    A small fraction (0.1%) of cosmic rays are photons (in the form of gamma-rays). These gamma-ray photons are important when trying to find the origin of cosmic rays since they have no electrical charge and so arrive at the Earth undeflected by the galactic magnetic field.

    Left: Victor Hess before his balloon flight, during which he observed cosmic ray intensity increasing with altitude. Right: Hess’s balloon.

  21. http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2011/06/fire-and-flood-waters-threaten-us-nuclear-facilities/39281/

    U.S. Nuclear Facilities Threatened by Flood and Fire

    Erik Hayden Jun 27, 2011

    This morning, two separate United States nuclear facilities are threatened by fire and flood. In New Mexico, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (i.e. the “nation’s nuclear weapons laboratory” according to Reuters), has been evacuated due to a “fast-moving” wildfire. In Nebraska, rising floodwaters have breached a protective berm surrounding the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant and the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is headed to the facility.

    At Los Alamos, special fire crews have been dispatched to protect the nuclear laboratory from a fire a mile away and the lab has said, “All radioactive and hazardous material is appropriately accounted for and protected,” reports CNN. A statement on the lab’s site reads: “All laboratory facilities will be closed for all activities and nonessential employees are directed to remain off site.”

    In Nebraska, officials at the Fort Calhoun plant have told ABC News that “there is no danger to the public” and that the berm “wasn’t critical to protecting the plant.” Still, the flooding breach “allowed Missouri River flood waters to reach containment buildings and transformers and forcing the shutdown of electrical power,” writes the news outlet. The facility has been shut down for refueling since April. NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko will fly over the plant and then speak to officials later on Monday, relays the Associated Press.

    Want to add to this story? Comments (5) below or send the author of this post, Erik Hayden, an email. Have a hot tip or story idea? Let us know on the Open Wire.

    Sources

    Wildfire triggers evacuation for Los Alamos lab, Reuters

    Wildfire threatens Los Alamos National Lab, CNN

    Nebraska Residents in No Danger After Floods Hit Nuke Plant, ABC News

    NRC chief to tour Neb. nuke plant, Associated Press

    Topics: Nuclear Power

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/news/6192712-418/populations-around-u.s.-nuke-plants-soar

    Populations around U.S. nuke plants soar

    By JEFF DONN The Associated Press June 26, 2011 9:48PM

    Updated: June 27, 2011 2:07AM

    BUCHANAN, N.Y. — As America’s nuclear power plants have aged, the once-rural areas around them have become far more crowded and much more difficult to evacuate. Yet government and industry have paid little heed, even as plants are running at higher power and posing more danger in the event of an accident, an Associated Press investigation has found.

    Populations around the facilities have swelled as much as 4½ times since 1980, a computer-assisted population analysis shows.

    But some estimates of evacuation times have not been updated in decades, even as the population has increased more than ever imagined. Emergency plans would direct residents to flee on antiquated, two-lane roads that clog hopelessly at rush hour.

    And evacuation zones have remained frozen at a 10-mile radius from each plant since they were set in 1978 — despite all that has happened since, including the accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima Dai-ichi in Japan.

    Meanwhile, the dangers have increased.

    More than 90 of the nation’s 104 operating reactors have been allowed to run at higher power levels for many years, raising the radiation risk in a major accident. In an ongoing investigative series, the AP has reported that aging plants, their lives extended by industry and regulators, are prone to breakdowns that could lead to accidents.

    And because the federal government has failed to find a location for permanent storage of spent fuel, thousands of tons of highly radioactive used reactor rods are kept in pools onsite — and more is stored there all the time.

    These mounting risks, though, have not resulted in more vigilant preparations for possible accidents.

    The AP found serious weaknesses in plans for evacuations around the plants, including emergency drills that do not move people and fail to test different scenarios involving the weather or the time of day.

    Some plans are merely on checklists and never have been tested. In drills, responders typically go to command centers and not to their emergency posts. There is no federal requirement for how fast an evacuation must be carried out.

    And disaster planners from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have made dubious assumptions about the public response to a major accident. They insist, for example, that people who are not called upon to evacuate will stay put; they’re now saying that they might under some circumstances tell residents to hunker down at home even in the 10-mile evacuation zone, and they believe people will do it.

    That advice flies in the face of decades of science and policy, millions of dollars in planning and preparations — and common sense.

    The advice also conflicts with what U.S. officials told Americans in Japan in March, when an earthquake and tsunami knocked out power to Fukushima and melted fuel in three of its six nuclear reactors.

    Japanese officials ordered those living within 12 miles of the site to leave. The U.S. government’s advice to its citizens? If you’re within 50 miles, you should evacuate. And NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko insisted that this was nothing more than what would be recommended in a similar situation at home.

    In fact, under rules in force for more than 30 years, U.S. communities must by law prepare federally reviewed evacuation plans only for those living within 10 miles of a plant.

    Those living within 50 miles are covered only by an “emergency ingestion zone,” where states are required to make plans to ban contaminated food and water — but not evacuate.

    After a May 10 tour at the Indian Point nuclear complex, where two reactors operate just 25 miles from New York City’s northern border, Jaczko said the 10-mile rule was merely a “planning standard.” He said decisions on what to do in the “unlikely event” of an accident would be based on circumstances. “So if we needed to take action beyond 10 miles, that’s certainly what would be recommended.”

    If a 50-mile order were ever issued for Indian Point, it would take in about 17.3 million people — 6 percent of all Americans, according to an AP population analysis. That would include parts of New Jersey and Connecticut and all of New York City, except for a chunk of Staten Island.

    Such a mass exodus would be an “enormous challenge” — and a historic feat, said Kelly McKinney, New York City’s deputy commissioner of preparedness.

    “At no time in the history of man,” he said, “has anyone tried to move 17 million people in 48 hours.”

    ———

    ANALYSIS PINPOINTS GROWTH

    When reactors were being built, starting in the 1960s, they were generally kept away from population centers. Their remote locations were viewed as a fundamental safety feature — protection aimed at “reducing potential doses and property damage in the event of a severe accident,” according to federal guidelines.

    However, over the decades, millions of newcomers have transformed tranquil woodland or shoreline into buzzing suburbs and bedroom communities.

    The AP gathered four sets of population data starting in 1980 through 2010 and used mapping software to calculate growth as part of a yearlong investigation of aging issues at nuclear power plants.

    Last week, the AP reported that federal regulators, working in concert with industry, have repeatedly weakened or failed to enforce safety standards so old reactors can keep operating. The records review included tens of thousands of pages of government and industry studies, test results, inspection reports and regulatory policy statements.

    The AP found in its population analysis that over the decades, plant operators and federal regulators have given surprisingly little thought to nearby population growth.

    Officials calculate plant safety margins without considering whether an accident would expose 10,000 or 100,000 people to radiation sickness and cancer. And federal regulators have set no limit for how long evacuations may take for given conditions and locations.

    The NRC and FEMA acknowledge that radiation releases can happen within a half hour of an accident. Yet a 2004 study for Indian Point estimated total evacuation time from the 10-mile zone, in the snow that is common during local winters, would take 12 hours.

    The federal government has not even required population updates for the evacuation zones, though that would change under a proposal expected to be adopted later this year.

    The AP analysis also shows that:

    —Four million people now live within 10 miles of the 65 operating sites. (Population in overlapping zones was counted only once for this part of the analysis.) Back in 1980, with 38 nuclear sites, only 1.5 million people lived that close.

    —Overall, from 1980 to 2010, the average population in the 10-mile evacuation zones ballooned by 62 percent, from 39,762 to 64,363.

    —Populations within the 10-mile radius have more than doubled at 12 of the 65 sites during the same 30-year period.

    —The most explosive growth occurred around the two-reactor Saint Lucie complex near Fort Pierce, Fla., where the 10-mile population of 43,332 in 1980 grew 366 percent to 202,010 in 2010. Others in the top five: the two-unit Brunswick complex near the North Carolina coast, which increased 326 percent from 8,164 to 34,782; Monticello, 35 miles from Minneapolis, where population rose 314 percent from 14,130 to 58,538; the two-unit Turkey Point site, 20 miles south of Miami, up 302 percent; and the two-unit San Onofre facility in San Clemente, Calif., up 283 percent.

    —Among newer reactors, the biggest jump occurred around Shearon Harris, 20 miles southwest of Raleigh, N.C., where population nearly quadrupled from 24,700 in 1990 to 94,465 in 2010. Three other facilities where populations more than doubled during the same 20-year period are the three-unit Palo Verde site, 50 miles west of Phoenix; two-unit McGuire site, 17 miles north of Charlotte, N.C., and the two-unit Catawba complex in South Carolina, 18 miles south of Charlotte.

    —About 120 million people, almost 40 percent of all Americans, live within 50 miles of a nuclear plant, according to the AP’s analysis of 2010 Census data.

    EVACUATING NEW YORK CITY?

    The geography and population around Indian Point have always been a challenge for emergency planners.

    Homes and businesses dot hillsides sloping to the eastern shore of the Hudson River. Along its bank, a curvy, two-lane main artery meanders through quaint town centers. At rush hour, the roadway crawls with idling cars. Choke points are everywhere: the narrow Bear Mountain Bridge just north of the plant; the Route 202 slog through old Peekskill; and the Tappan Zee Bridge, which acts as the major river crossing to the south, beyond the 10-mile evacuation zone.

    A potential destination for many evacuees, the bridge often backs up with traffic for miles during the morning and evening commutes.

    Though modest population growth of 32 percent within 10 miles of Indian Point has mirrored the nation’s increase as a whole between 1980 and 2010, more people live within this evacuation zone than any other in the country: 268,906, according to the AP analysis.

    Population density isn’t the only concern. A 2008 Columbia University study discovered a seismic fault line near Indian Point, where another earthquake-prone zone was already known to exist. Yet a steel liner designed to be earthquake-proof has been leaking at the site since 1973.

    New York state has fought relicensing. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the area can’t be evacuated in a severe nuclear accident.

    Given the local topography — natural and man-made — a quick evacuation would be a challenge.

    But when a possible 50-mile evacuation is brought into the equation, the prospect is truly daunting.

    In some accidents, New Yorkers would presumably head west to New Jersey using the George Washington Bridge, the Lincoln Tunnel and the Holland Tunnel — passageways that are rarely light on traffic.

    Indian Point’s lead community evacuation planner, Anthony Sutton, at the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services, acknowledged that area roads couldn’t handle the traffic surge from a full-scale nuclear emergency. “I think in a perfect world, we’d all like to see the place in a different location, with all the challenges of evacuating the public around it,” he said.

    John Curry, Indian Point’s emergency director, said he believes people can evacuate from the 10-mile zone. But he acknowledges the depth of public skepticism: “It’s very difficult, and I don’t know how to make them feel any better.”

    Indian Point is a special case, but it should be noted that two dozen of the nuclear sites along the East Coast are within 50 miles of New York, Boston, Washington, Baltimore or Richmond, Va.

    U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu recently suggested that the Japanese accident will indeed drive U.S. regulators to pick less populated areas for future nuclear plants.

    For the present, there is the relatively new and sparsely publicized concession to escalating populations and roads that haven’t been upgraded or widened in decades. It’s called “sheltering” — if people stay put, maybe they can evacuate later, after the first wave of people has left.

    A 2007 Sandia National Laboratories report said excess radiation doses could be reduced if residents simply hunkered down in their homes. However, the report acknowledged that “some contamination and radiation will enter most shelters.”

    Then, sending another mixed message that could prompt unofficial evacuations, the report continued: If quick evacuation is possible, leaving is “always the most appropriate recommendation.”

    NONSTANDARD STANDARDS

    Today, government regulators verify emergency preparedness of communities essentially by checklists, not by standards for what plans must accomplish. They require that communities show the elements of a good plan, but not that the plan is effective.

    For example, evacuation time estimates are required, but there is no standard for how quickly people must be able to leave. Regulators say the estimates will help planners make decisions in a real accident, even in the absence of a standard.

    Jim Kish, a FEMA administrator who focuses on emergency preparedness, said in an interview that a standard would put communities in an undesirable “planning box.”

    “They need the flexibility to make decisions on what to evacuate, and when to evacuate, and how to evacuate,” he said.

    “I think the NRC wants to make sure that the evacuation side of things doesn’t make plants have to close, even if the population grows quickly,” said Richard Webster, an environmental lawyer who unsuccessfully fought the relicensing petition at the Oyster Creek reactor in Lacey Township, N.J.

    More broadly, the government seems careful to avoid anything fully binding in its planning requirements. It sets a supposed standard that people within 10 miles must be notified of an accident within 45 minutes. But NRC rules also say that’s not a guarantee early notification can be provided for everyone.

    During an emergency at Oyster Creek, many would be forced to leave in the same direction, away from the Atlantic Ocean, along a highway that a pro-nuclear state senator has called “a two-lane cow path.”

    Helen Henderson, who lives three miles from the reactor, is among the doubters. She said she repeatedly ignored the forms sent home by her children’s school certifying that she has read and agrees with the Oyster Creek emergency plan.

    Tired of the stream of reminders sent her way, Henderson said she finally wrote back: “Refuse to sign. Evacuation plan will not work.”

    The AP National Investigative Team can be reached at investigate(at)ap.org

    Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

    ADVANCE FOR USE MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2011 AND THEREAFTER – FILE – In this Saturday, March 19, 2011 file picture, evacuees from Futaba, a town near the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture, arrive at their new evacuation shelter at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, near Tokyo, Japan. Japanese officials ordered those living within 12 miles of the site to leave; the U.S. government told its citizens within 50 miles to evacuate.
    (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/26/fort-calhoun-flooding-nuclear-plant-nebraska_n_884773.html

    Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station: Flood Berm Collapses At Nebraska Nuke Plant

    OMAHA, Neb. — A berm holding back floodwater at a Nebraska nuclear power plant has collapsed.

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the 2,000-foot berm at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station collapsed about 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

    There is no danger. The plant has been shut down since early April for refueling, and the commission says there’s no water inside.

    Also, the Missouri River isn’t expected to rise past the flood level the plant was designed to handle.

    The NRC says its inspectors were at the plant when the berm failed and have confirmed that the flooding has had no impact on the reactor shutdown cooling or the spent fuel pool cooling. NRC spokesman Victor Dricks says the plant remains safe.

    NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko will visit the plant Monday.

  22. http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/kan/topics/201106/pdf/chapter_v.pdf

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110625e14.pdf

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11062510-e.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

    TEPCO NEWS

    Press Release (Jun 25, 2011)

    The results of nuclide analyses of radioactive materials in the ocean soil off the coast of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station
    (continued report 3)

    We had been studying to implement sampling surveys on the ocean soil, completed preparations and conducted the surveys on April 29, 2011.
    (Previously announced on May 3, 2011)

    Today, we put together and reported the results of nuclide analyses of Strontium in the ocean soil sampled on June 2nd to Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency and the government of Fukushima Prefecture as per attachment.

    We will continuously conduct the same sampling surveys.

    Appendix: The results of nuclide analyses on the ocean soil (PDF 8.05KB)
    http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110625e14.pdf

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Air Flight Gamma Radiation measurements
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3df0xhLHKc

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.hps.org/publicinformation/ate/faqs/commercialflights.html

    Radiation Exposure During Commercial Airline Flights

    What radiation doses do people receive from flying commercially?

    We have summarized the following information from the articles referenced:

    Feng YJ et al. Estimated cosmic radiation doses for flight personnel. Space Med Med Eng 15(4):265-9; 2002.

    The average effective dose rate of all flights of Xinjiang Airlines from 1997 to 1999 was 0.238 mrem (millirem) per hour.

    The average annual cosmic radiation dose for flight personnel was 219 mrem.

    Annual individual doses of all monitored flight personnel are well below the limit of 2,000 mrem per year recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).

    Bottollier-Depois JF et al. Assessing exposure to cosmic radiation during long-haul flights. Radiat Res 153(5 Pt. 1):526-32; 2000.

    The lowest dose rate measured was 0.3 mrem per hour during a Paris-Buenos Aires flight.

    The highest rates were 0.66 mrem per hour during a Paris-Tokyo flight and 0.97 mrem per hour on the Concorde in 1996-1997.

    The corresponding annual effective dose, based on 700 hours of flight for subsonic aircraft and 300 hours for the Concorde, can be estimated at between 200 mrem for the least exposed routes and 500 mrem for the more exposed routes.

    Waters M et al. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health/Federal Aviation Administration (NIOSH/FAA) working women’s health study: Evaluation of the cosmic-radiation exposures of flight attendants. Health Phys 79(5):553-559; 2000.

    Radiation dose levels represent a complex function of duration of flight, latitude, and altitude.

    Based on data collected for this study, radiation dose levels that would be experienced by a flight crew are well below current occupational limits recommended by the ICRP and the FAA of 2,000 mrem/year.

    The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) recommends a monthly equivalent dose limit of 50 mrem. The ICRP recommends the radiation limit during pregnancy be 200 mrem.

    Only flight crew flying both a large number of hours during pregnancy (for example, 100 hours per month) and strictly the highest dose-rate routes (typically global routes—United States to Buenos Aires or United States to Tokyo, etc.) would exceed the NCRP monthly guideline.
    Friedberg W et al. Radiation exposure during air travel: Guidance provided by the FAA for air carrier crews. Health Phys 79(5):591-5; 2000.

    Seattle to Portland: 3 mrem per 100 block hours
    New York to Chicago: 39 mrem per 100 block hours
    Los Angeles to Honolulu: 26 mrem per 100 block hours
    London to New York: 51 mrem per 100 block hours
    Athens to New York: 63 mrem per 100 block hours
    Tokyo to New York: 55 mrem per 100 block hours

    Oksanen PJ. Estimated individual annual cosmic radiation doses for flight crews. Aviat Space Environ Med 69(7):621-5; 1998.

    In this study, crew members averaged 673 block hours and pilots 568 block hours.

    Average annual cosmic ray dose for cabin crews was 227 mrem.

    Average annual cosmic ray dose for long-distance flight captains was 219 mrem.

    We plan to bring our 15-month-old grandson to Sicily for vacation, flying a commercial airline from the Philippines. Will the radiation while flying during our 12-hour trip plus the return flight be dangerous to his health?

    There is no evidence to indicate that the low-level exposure which will be received on the single round-trip flight you have described will pose any harm to your grandson. The total dose from such a trip is only a few percent of the naturally occurring differences in background radiation that exist from one place to another on the Earth. People live healthy lives in areas where exposures over their entire lifetimes are differentially much greater than the in-flight exposure you have described.

    I work in the airline industry as a crew member and want to know if there is a way to find out what my radiation exposure might be.

    There are several commercial firms that can provide individual dosimeters to interested passengers or crew members. It is extremely important to know that there are several types of radiation that contribute to a person’s dose at flight altitudes. Any dosimeter that will be useful in this application must contain a suitable neutron measurement system. To locate current vendors of these products, one can search on the Internet for “radiation dosimetry services,” “radiation dosimetry,” or “personnel radiation monitoring.”

    I understand that the radiation dose while flying diminishes as you get closer to the equator. Is this true?

    Because incoming cosmic radiation particles are deflected by the Earth’s magnetic field, the intensity of in-flight radiation is a function of both altitude and latitude. In general, radiation shielding by the geomagnetic field is greatest at the equator and decreases as one goes north or south. At typical flight altitudes of 30,000 to 40,000 feet, the difference between the cosmic ray dose rates at the equator and at high latitudes is about a factor of 2 to 3, depending on where one is in the approximately 11-year solar cycle. So if all your flying is in the equatorial zone, you would expect that the dose rates at altitude are 2 to 3 times lower than for your colleagues flying more northern or southern routes. Of course, your total exposure will be a function of the hours you spend at altitude. In any case, your annual radiation burden will be well within the limits considered acceptable for occupational exposure by such organizations as the ICRP.

    Have there been studies of long-term, low-level exposure to radiation during commercial flights and the effects for flight crew?
    At present, the Airline Pilots Association is conducting dosimetry studies for its membership and NIOSH is engaged in a study of reproductive disorders among flight attendants. Several studies have already been published; some show an increase in various malignancies among crew members while others show no increased risk. The following references all present data showing an increase in malignancies among flight crew members with the exception of the second British Airways paper which, as discussed above, reevaluates data published in the earlier reference. These papers can be obtained through your local library.

    References:

    Pukkala E, Auvinen A, Wahlberg, G. Incidence of cancer among Finnish airline cabin attendants, 1967-1992. British Medical Journal 311:649-652; 1995.

    Lynge E, Thygesen L. Occupational cancer in Denmark. Cancer incidence in the 1970 census population. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health 16 (Sup 2):3-35; 1990.

    Band PR, Nhu DL, Fang R, Deschamps M, Coldman AJ, Gallagher RP, Moody J. Cohort study of Air Canada pilots: Mortality, cancer incidence, and leukemia risk. American Journal of Epidemiology 143(2):137-143; 1996.

    Grayson JK, Lyons TJ. Cancer incidence in United States Air Force aircrews 1975-1989. Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine 67(2):101-104; 1996.

    Vagero D, Swerdlow AJ, Beral V. Occupation and malignant melanoma: A study based on cancer registration data in England and Wales and in Sweden. British Journal of Industrial Medicine 47(5):317-324; 1990.

    Irvine D, Davies DM. The mortality of British Airways pilots, 1966-1989: A proportional mortality study. Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine 63:276-279; 1992.

    Irvine D, Davies DM. British Airways flightdeck mortality study, 1950-1992. Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine 70:548-55; 1999.

    Gundestrup M, Storm HH. Radiation induced acute myeloid leukaemias and other cancers in commercial jet cockpit crew: A population based cohort study. Lancet 354:2029-2031; 11 Dec 1999.

    Reynolds P, Cone J, Layefsky M, Goldberg D, Hurley S. Cancer incidence in California flight attendants. California Department of Health. In Press.

    For pilots flying below 6,000 feet for 200 hours a year is there any danger from cosmic radiation?

    Even at ground level, cosmic radiation is part of our normal environment. The Earth’s atmosphere absorbs this radiation, so its intensity is least at ground level. The altitude of interest in this question—6,000 feet (1,800 m)—is, of course, ground level in many places. Using the CARI-6 program available from the FAA, the calculated cosmic-ray dose rate at this altitude at high geographic latitude is about 0.0001 millisievert per hour. It would, therefore, require 10,000 hours of flying at this altitude to reach the 1 millisievert annual limit recommended as a maximum for members of the public exposed to ionizing radiation. It should also be noted that exposures well above this 1 mSv limit are not “dangerous.”

    Is there any specific limit for air travel for children?

    An annual radiation dose limit of 1 mSv (100 mrem) for members of the public has been recommended by both the NCRP here in the United States and by its overseas counterpart, the ICRP. In June 2003 the Health Physics Society, the organization of radiation protection professionals that sponsors this Web site, reaffirmed that these limits are appropriate. This recommended limit, unchanged for more than 10 years, has generally been adopted into law or regulation by the government agencies that mandate radiation protection programs. No distinction is made between the exposure of adults or minors. However, radiation exposure to the flying public (versus someone who works as a crew member) is not regulated—it is considered a “voluntary” activity. So at least as far as any legal limits are concerned, there are none for this category of exposure, for adult flyers or anyone else.

    The information and material posted on this Web site is intended as general reference information only. Specific facts and circumstances may alter the concepts and applications of materials and information described herein. The information provided is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be relied upon in the absence of such professional advice specific to whatever facts and circumstances are presented in any given situation. Answers are correct at the time they are posted on the Web site. Be advised that over time, some requirements could change, new data could be made available, or Internet links could change. For answers that have been posted for several months or longer, please check the current status of the posted information prior to using the responses for specific applications.

    This page last updated 08 September 2010. Site Map | Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Security Notice | Webmaster

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    Translation to English
    Translate
    Google

    http://www.bfs.de

    Go to the site in German,

    Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2011-04-07 08:29.

    Go to the site in German, cut link

    Go here, paste link

    http://translate.google.com/#

    http://translate.google.com/#

    http://radiation.yahoo.co.jp/

    »

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.bfs.de/bfs

    http://www.bfs.de/de/kerntechnik/papiere/japan/strahlenschutz_japan.html

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://mychinaviews.com/2011/06/china-dispatches-team-to-monitor-nuclear-radiation-in-west-pacific/

    XIAMEN, June 16 (Xinhua) — China’s State Oceanic Administration dispatched a marine monitoring team Thursday from Xiamen City, in China’s southeast Fujian Province, to monitor radiation in the west Pacific.

    The aim of the mission is to get a better understanding of how nuclear radiation affects the marine environment.

    Wang Fei, deputy chief of the State Oceanic Administration, said the mission will help China establish a radioactive alert system in the west Pacific.

    The monitoring team consists of 40 people and will sail about 5,000 nautical miles in 30 days, according to the plan.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    China Radiation Monitoring

    Perhaps the Chinese government will publish their radioactive data.

    http://mychinaviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/d1975_fukushima-nuclear-polltion.jpg

    http://mychinaviews.com/2011/06/china-dispatches-team-to-monitor-nuclear-radiation-in-west-pacific/

    XIAMEN, June 16 (Xinhua) — China’s State Oceanic Administration dispatched a marine monitoring team Thursday from Xiamen City, in China’s southeast Fujian Province, to monitor radiation in the west Pacific.

    The aim of the mission is to get a better understanding of how nuclear radiation affects the marine environment.

    Wang Fei, deputy chief of the State Oceanic Administration, said the mission will help China establish a radioactive alert system in the west Pacific.

    The monitoring team consists of 40 people and will sail about 5,000 nautical miles in 30 days, according to the plan.

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCMzjJjuxQI

    Camel Cigarette Commercial

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine

    Physical properties

    Phase solid
    Density (near r.t.) 4.933 g•cm−3

    Melting point 386.85 K, 113.7 °C, 236.66 °F
    Boiling point 457.4 K, 184.3 °C, 363.7 °F
    Triple point 386.65 K (113°C), 12.1 kPa

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://www.chemicalbook.com/ProductMSDSDetailCB3125298_EN.htm

    Product Identification Back to Contents
    【Product Name】

    Potassium iodide
    【Synonyms】

    Dipotassium diiodide
    Kisol
    Knollide
    【CAS】

    7681-11-0
    【Formula】

    IK
    【Molecular Weight】

    166.01
    【EINECS】

    231-659-4
    【RTECS】

    TT2975000
    【RTECS Class】

    Mutagen; Reproductive Effector; Human Data
    【Merck】

    12,7809
    【Beilstein/Gmelin】

    13713 (G)
    Physical and Chemical Properties Back to Contents
    【Appearance】

    Colorless or white, cubical crystals, white granules, or powder, slightly hygroscopic, slightly deliquescent.
    【Solubility in water】

    1440 g/L
    【Melting Point】

    686
    【Boiling Point】

    1330
    【Vapor Pressure】

    9 (879 C)
    【Density】

    3.123 g/cm3 (25 C)
    【Heat Of Vaporization】

    【Usage】

    Manufacture photographic emulsions, in animal & poultry feeds to the extent of 10-30 ppm, in table salts & in some drinking water.
    【Odor threshold】

    Odorless
    First Aid Measures Back to Contents
    【Ingestion】

    Do NOT induce vomiting. If victim is conscious and alert, give 2-4 cupfuls of milk or water. Never give anything by mouth to an unconscious person. Get medical aid.
    【Inhalation】

    Remove from exposure to fresh air immediately. If not breathing, give artificial respiration. If breathing is difficult, give oxygen. Get medical aid if cough or other symptoms appear.
    【Skin】

    Flush skin with plenty of soap and water for at least 15 minutes while removing contaminated clothing and shoes. Get medical aid if irritation develops or persists. Wash clothing before reuse.
    【Eyes】

    Flush eyes with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes, occasionally lifting the upper and lower eyelids. Get medical aid.
    Handling and Storage Back to Contents
    【Storage】

    Store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area away from incompatible substances. Store protected from moisture. Store protected from light.
    【Handling】

    Wash thoroughly after handling. Use with adequate ventilation. Minimize dust generation and accumulation. Avoid contact with eyes, skin, and clothing. Avoid ingestion and inhalation. Store protected from light. Do not allow contact with water. Keep from contact with moist air and steam.
    Hazards Identification Back to Contents
    【Inhalation】

    May cause respiratory tract irritation.
    【Skin】

    May cause skin irritation. Chronic ingestion of iodides during pregnancy has resulted in fetal death, severe goiter, and cretinoid appearance of the newborn.
    【Eyes】

    Causes eye irritation.
    【Ingestion】

    Causes gastrointestinal irritation with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Chronic ingestion of iodides during pregnancy has resulted in fetal death, severe goiter, and cretinoid appearance of the newborn.
    【EC Risk Phrase】

    R 42/43
    【EC Safety Phrase】

    S 22 36/37 45
    【UN (DOT)】

    3335
    Exposure Controls/Personal Protection Back to Contents
    【Personal Protection】

    Eyes: Wear appropriate protective eyeglasses or chemical safety goggles as described by OSHA’s eye and face protection regulations in 29 CFR 1910.133 or European Standard EN166. Skin: Wear appropriate protective gloves to prevent skin exposure. Clothing: Wear appropriate protective clothing to prevent skin exposure.
    【Respirators】

    Follow the OSHA respirator regulations found in 29CFR 1910.134 or European Standard EN 149. Always use a NIOSH or European Standard EN 149 approved respirator when necessary.
    【Exposure Effects】

    Chronic exposure can lead to iodism characterized by salivation, nasal discharge, sneezing, conjunctivitis, fever, laryngitis, bronchitis, stomatitis, and skin rashes. Chronic ingestion of iodides during pregnancy has resulted in fetal death, severe goiter, and cretinoid appearance of the newborn.
    【Poison Class】

    4
    Fire Fighting Measures Back to Contents
    【Fire Fighting】

    Fire-fighters should wear full protective clothing self-contained breathing apparatus. Use equipment/media appropriate to surrounding fire conditions.
    Accidental Release Measures Back to Contents
    【Small spills/leaks】

    Vacuum or sweep up material and place into a suitable disposal container. Clean up spills immediately, using the appropriate protective equipment. Avoid generating dusty conditions. Provide ventilation. Do not get water inside containers.
    Stability and Reactivity Back to Contents
    【Stability】

    Stable under normal temperatures and pressures.
    【Incompatibilities】

    Strong acids, strong reducing agents, strong bases, strong oxidizing agents.
    【Decomposition】

    Oxides of potassium, iodine.
    Transport Information Back to Contents
    【UN Number】

    3335
    【HS Code】

    2827 60 00

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_iodide

    Melting point 661 °C, 934 K, 1222 °F

    Boiling point 1304 °C, 1577 K, 2379 °F

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/je800682p

    Solubility and Density of Potassium Iodide in Binary Ethanol−Water Solvent Mixture at (298.15, 303.15, 308.15, and 313.15) K

    AbstractFull Text HTMLHi-Res PDF[83 KB]PDF w/ Links[73 KB]Addition/CorrectionFiguresCiting ArticlesYour current credentials do not allow retrieval of the full text.

    Purchase the full-text
    PDF/HTML,
    figures/images,
    references and tables,
    (where available) Ramesh R. Pawar, Sandip B. Nahire and Mehdi Hasan*
    P. G. Department of Physical Chemistry, MSG College Malegaon Camp, Pin 423105, India
    J. Chem. Eng. Data, 2009, 54 (6), pp 1935–1937
    DOI: 10.1021/je800682p
    Publication Date (Web): April 1, 2009
    Copyright © 2009 American Chemical Society
    * Corresponding author. E-mail: mihasan@rediffmail.com.
    AbstractThe solubility of potassium iodide in ethanol + water binary solvent was measured over the entire composition range from 0 to 1 weight fraction of ethanol at (298.15, 303.15, 308.15, and 313.15) K. The densities of the saturated solutions are also reported. Equations are given for the solubility and density of the saturated solutions as functions of mole fraction of ethanol and temperature.
    View: Full Text HTML | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ LinksCiting ArticlesCitation data is made available by participants in CrossRef’s Cited-by Linking service. For a more comprehensive list of citations to this article, users are encouraged to perform a search in SciFinder.
    This article has been cited by 1 ACS Journal articles (1 most recent appear below).
    Solubility and Density of Potassium Iodide in a Binary Propan-1-ol−Water Solvent Mixture at (298.15, 303.15, 308.15, and 313.15) KRamesh R. Pawar, Sambhaji M. Golait, Mehdi Hasan and Arun B. Sawant
    Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data2010 55 (3), 1314-1316

    ——————————————————————————————————–

    1. The comments are perhaps more interesting than the article. The IEE, now IEEE has a long history of open debates regarding the nuclear industry. This resulted in a rift, where many in the nuclear power industry left.

      Engineering Ethics were a bone of contention. The nuclear engineering society is the ONLY such association without a ‘Code of Ethics’.

      I do not think that the nuclear engineers would BENEFIT from a nominal ‘code of ethics’, which would be observed primarily in the breach thereof. Those who are licensed professional engineers are under such a code, yet they do not observe the spirit or the letter of that code.

      The oft-used comments of ‘Team Nuke’ are certainly present in the reader responses.

      Sincerely,

      Bill Duff

      1. Litany of lies,

        The litany of lies, misrepresentations, concealments, disinformation, half-truths, cyber-bullying, black-listing, retaliations, junk-science, and WILLFUL endangerment of the public; that swayed me, to oppose the industry.

        So for example, the civilian nuclear power plants in the USA are not subject to the National Fire Code. Another example is, the re-licensing of 40 year old, corroded, vugged, brittle, defective design reactors. The planned MOX fuel uprates are similarly ill-advised. The civilian reactors in the USA are NOT a competitive, economic source of electrical power. The Price-Anderson Fund is GROSSLY inadequate, except to demonstrate that the commercial insurance industry WILL NOT TOUCH nuclear reactors.

        I was a TEPID supporter of civilian nuclear power plants. The CONTINUOUS misbehavior of ‘Team Nuke’ has convinced me that the civilian nuclear power industry should be dismantled. A few research reactors,of various technologies, should remain; as a hedge against an uncertain future.

        Sincerely,

        Bill Duff

  23. WWII era War Crimes information was provided to demonstrate that corporations, politicians and military personnel have been internationally prosecuted for ‘war crimes’ and ‘crimes against humanity.

    TEPCO has committed offenses similar to those of IG Farben.

    IMHO

  24. ‘Team Nuke’ benefits from ‘Global Warming’ scare tactics. I personally am more concerned about a returning ‘Ice Age’ than a warmer planet. AND Much of the evidence has been tampered with, as indicated in the ‘Climate Gate’ disclosures. Data-Diddling and manipulation of the ‘Peer Review Process’, really set us back. The ACTUAL evidence for global temperature change, warmer-static-cooler, such as remains following the Data Diddling, is less than convincing.

    Sincerely,

    Bill Duff

    1. “Returning Ice Age”? Perhaps.
      What we will see is more extreme weather events in increasing magnitude and frequency.

  25. Most of my posts here have been for the student writing the thesis.

    “I was meeting a university student in Bucharest. He is planning to write about Fukushima issue for his thesis. The purpose is to analyze the transition of media coverage over Fukushima issue by collecting as many articles as possible. Before 311, 99% of the information was FOR nuclear power. Most of the human beings were deceived to believe it’s the “clean energy”. After 311, shock, lies, ignorance, everything is mixed in media coverage and we still don’t have the solid trend.

    The deadline of the report is June 2014.”

    Too many quotes. Quotes are too long, for most people. Sorry if this extensive quoting has been tiresome. Unusual request & unusual response. Some of the articles and blogs have been edited, hidden or altered.

    Sincerely,

    Bill Duff

Comments are closed.

About this site

This website updates the latest news about the Fukushima nuclear plant and also archives the past news from 2011. Because it's always updated and added live, articles, categories and the tags are not necessarily fitted in the latest format.
I am the writer of this website. About page remains in 2014. This is because my memory about 311 was clearer than now, 2023, and I think it can have a historical value. Now I'm living in Romania with 3 cats as an independent data scientist.
Actually, nothing has progressed in the plant since 2011. We still don't even know what is going on inside. They must keep cooling the crippled reactors by water, but additionally groundwater keeps flowing into the reactor buildings from the broken parts. This is why highly contaminated water is always produced more than it can circulate. Tepco is planning to officially discharge this water to the Pacific but Tritium is still remaining in it. They dilute this with seawater so that it is legally safe, but scientifically the same amount of radioactive tritium is contained. They say it is safe to discharge, but none of them have drunk it.

Categories

January 2014
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031