Non Traceable Radiation: 2012 and still counting

The health risks associated with radiation exposure, whether it comes from cancer treatments or medical imaging scans, are much more significant than most people probably think. The latest published data on radiation exposure suggests that roughly 25,000 Americans develop cancer every year as a result of medical radiation exposure, and many more experience DNA damage that could eventually lead to the development of cancer and other health problems in the long term.

A smartphone or a teddy bear for the baby? According to a study involving 1,650 mothers living in the UK, almost 30 percent of the moms surveyed chose a smartphone over milk or some other common form of comfort for their crying, restless, or unoccupied child. This choice of distraction can be viewed as the beginning of a lifetime of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and possibly the initiation of electromagnetic field intolerance. Also known as electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), this condition is associated with long-term contact with low levels of EMFs emitted from a myriad of electrical devices.

“That amount of radium found to date cannot be explained by gauges, deck markers, and decontamination activities,” wrote Stephen Woods, an environmental cleanup manager at the California Department of Public Health.

Besides the fact that they are being operated by an agency that demonstrates on a daily basis a disdain and disregard for discretion, privacy, and professionalism, the Transportation Security Administration’s full-body backscatter x-ray machines are just not safe.

A company charged with decontaminating the devastated Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant encouraged its workers to falsely lower their radiation dosimeter readings by covering the devices with lead, according to a leaked tape of an internal meeting.

Over the past two years, there has been mounting medical and scientific evidence of the grave biological dangers to humans from so-called “Smart” Meters exposure that are being installed by the hundreds of thousands all over North America and Europe. Scientists have been documenting the EMF/RF exposure effects for decades. However, it is only in the last two years, with the constant wireless electromagnetic radiation exposure to these new meters, that other medical evidence (down to the cellular level) has been reported. In the US, there has never been a mandate to force these utility meters on millions of unsuspecting people. There has been no Precautionary Principle used, while corporate greed has abounded. Various utility companies have not told their customers of the dangers. What they told their customers about these new meters was that it would update the grid and help them control individual usage. Customers have not been told about the serious health problems that these RF pulsing meters cause. We have been given no informed consent to this dangerous but invisible exposure.

Most people who know about the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex on Japan’s east coast believe it was caused by a natural disaster: A huge, earthquake-generated a tsunami that swept over and through the complex in March 2011, heavily damaging three of its reactors in the process, leaving radiation-contaminated earth and sea in its wake.

Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis was a preventable disaster resulting from “collusion” among the government, regulators and the plant operator, an expert panel said on Thursday, wrapping up an inquiry into the worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Co.), the owners of the Fukushima plant, reported that the lethal levels — 10,300 millisieverts an hour — were 10 times higher than the levels at Fukushima’s numbers two and three reactors. “Workers cannot enter the site and we must use robots for the demolition,” said TEPCO.

As the fallout – no pun intended – from Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear reactors at its Fukushima complex continues to worsen, scientists are now concerned about another related phenomenon that appears to be invading the U.S. West Coast – buckyballs.

People have been misinformed about the tragedy at Fukushima and its consequences. There is a continuing cover up, the reactors have not been stabilized, and radiation continues to be released. The Japanese College of Intravenous Therapy (JCIT) has recently released a video for people wishing to learn more about how to protect themselves from contamination by taking large doses of vitamin C.

The news you are about to read puts everything else in the category of “insignificant” by comparison. Concerned about the 2012 U.S. presidential election? Worried about GMOs? Fluoride? Vaccines? Secret prisons? None of that even matters if we don’t solve the problem of Fukushima reactor No. 4, which is on the verge of a catastrophic failure that could unleash enough radiation to end human civilization on our planet.

During a recent Congressional delegation trip to Japan, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden witnessed with his own eyes the horrific aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, which we have heard very little about from the media in recent months. The damage situation was apparently so severe, according to his account, that he has now written a letter to Ichiro Fujisaki, Ambassador of Japan, petitioning for more to be done, and offering any additional support and assistance that might help contain and resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

The crisis in Japan has also brought into the open the unspoken relationship between nuclear energy and nuclear war. Nuclear energy is not a civilian economic activity. It is an appendage of the nuclear weapons industry which is controlled by the so-called defense contractors. The powerful corporate interests behind nuclear energy and nuclear weapons overlap.

Cell phones emit a dangerous non-ionizing form of electromagnetic radiation; radiation which can be absorbed by the tissues and cells which come into close contact with the phone, e.g., the head and neck. Scientific studies in the past have produced conflicting results; however, more recent studies working with long term exposure, (ten years or more), have clearly established that a link between cell phone use and certain forms of cancer exists.
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The Journal Environmental Science and Technology reports in a new study that the Fukushima radiation plume contacted North America at California “with greatest exposure in central and southern California”, and that Southern California had 2,500 Bq/kg of iodine-131 in seaweed … over 500% higher than other tests in the U.S. and Canada:

During the nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan’s northeast last March, the world watched in horror as conditions in the plant deteriorated by the day. Despite public reassurances that the situation was under control, we now know that three of the plant’s reactors actually began meltdown within hours and that plans were being made at the highest levels of the Japanese government to evacuate Tokyo, the world’s most populous metropolitan area.
In effect, the world was given a crash course in cascading nuclear failure. What many do not know is that the damaged reactors were designed by General Electric, rely on 40-year-old containment technology, and are substantially similar to 32 reactors currently operating around the world, including 23 in the United States.

They were the nuclear guinea pigs of the Cold War.
And this is the shocking film to show how U.S. Marines were used in hundreds of experiments by the US military to test the limits of nuclear bombs between 1951 and 1957.
During many of those tests, soldiers who thought of themselves as ‘ground grunts’ and were sworn to secrecy witnessed the atomic explosions first-hand, and from close range, before the devastating health risks of those bombs were fully understood.

Areas with 10,000 Bq/m² of radioactivity considered “highly contaminated” by study — Over 30,000 square kilometers in Japan exceed level, 8% of nation.

The Dual Ridge Metal Boutique tissue boxes sold at Bed, Bath & Beyond stores have been discovered to be radioactive. Made with the extremely dangerous material used to blast cancer tumors with radiation — cobalt-60 — they emit gamma rays that are known to cause both cancer and infertility. They were manufactured in India, shipped on a commercial container to New Jersey, and then distributed to Bed, Bath & Beyond stores in 20 states.

No matter how many times the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) claims the machines are safe and pose no threat to travelers or personnel, naked body scanners that emit ionizing radiation are, indeed, a very serious health threat. And Dr. Edward Dauer, head of radiology at Florida Medical Center, agrees, having recently come forward to explain that naked body scanners can cause cancer, particularly in those over age 65 and in women who are said to be genetically prone to developing breast cancer.

Things are suddenly heating up again with Fukushima. As we reported yesterday, the southern wall of Fukushima reactor #4 apparently collapsed over the past few days, calling into question the structural integrity of the remainder of the containment building.
The mainstream media has said absolutely nothing about this development, continuing its pattern of downplaying news involving Fukushima, radiation or the flawed structure of nuclear power plants. This is hardly surprising, given that many of the largest media outlets (such as NBC and MSNBC) are owned by corporations such as General Electric, the designer of many of the world’s nuclear power plants.

The woes of Fukushima are far from over as the plant’s owner, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), announced recently that a purification mechanism has leaked at least 45 tons of highly radioactive water, some of which ended up flowing directly into the ocean. TEPCO officials are reportedly in the process of investigating the situation to determine the extent of the damage caused.

Many people are aware that prolonged cell phone use has been associated with brain cancer, but most don’t realize how other sources of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation (EMR) also radically increase cancer risk.

In Northeast Arizona the Navajo nation is living on contaminated land. The land was once full or uranium ore and in the 1940’s the Navajo natives were employed by the US government to mine the Uranium ore. But since then the Navajo have been suffering severe health issues from the contamination of the elevated levels of radiation.

During court proceedings concerning a radioactive golf course, Tokyo Electric Power Co. stunned lawyers by saying the utility was not responsible for decontamination because it no longer “owned” the radioactive substances.
“Radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant belong to individual landowners there, not TEPCO,” the utility said.

The nuclear disaster is ongoing. At present, I believe that there is a possibility that massive amounts of radioactive materials will be released into the environment again.

Electromagnetic fields, or EMFs, are emitted by all electronic devices. This means that EMFs are in your home, in your office, and even outside! Unfortunately, few people are aware of the dangers of overexposure to EMFs and even fewer know how to prevent it. EMF filters are a great way to keep your home safe and reduce the EMF exposure of your family.

The debate surrounding the relative dangers of electromagnetic radiation has raged on for years. As technology has become more and more advanced, and more electromagnetic fields, or EMFs, are created, the fact that electromagnetic radiation can be harmful cannot be ignored. Wireless routers, one of the most convenient products in homes across the world, can actually contribute high levels of EMF exposure to your home.

Electromagnetic fields, or EMFs, are areas of energy that form around all electrical appliances and devices. Your body is sensitive to electricity (some if its functions actually rely upon electric current), so it is understandable how you can be affected by the EMFs radiated by cells phones, microwaves, televisions, and other electrical devices. But is there one product that is worse than the others? One everyday item you may use that could be hurting your body? Yes. Research has indicated that cordless phones can be up to one hundred times more dangerous than their mobile counterparts!

The silence of governments and the world press about the radiation dangers from Fukushima is alarming to say the least. We have an open nuclear sore on the planet, a radioactive boil that continues to burst casting a toxic shadow on the people of Japan and a few other billion people who happen to live in the northern hemisphere.

In the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, some countries have decided to rethink their energy policies and initiate moves towards safer energy alternatives. Following in the footsteps of Germany, the European nation of Belgium has reportedly decided to phase out its nuclear energy sector, beginning with the shutdown of three of its oldest reactors by 2015.

Few in the mainstream media are talking about it these days, but radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is still spewing into and contaminating the environment. And a professional engineer from Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s (WPI) Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering says that levels of radioactive cesium in US topsoil have recently been detected at levels up to 10,000 percent higher than previous studies have found.

On Sept. 23, 1998, a panel of radiation safety experts gathered at a Hilton hotel in Maryland to evaluate a new device that could detect hidden weapons and contraband. The machine, known as the Secure 1000, beamed X-rays at people to see underneath their clothing.

With worries about the safety of nuclear energy on the rise worldwide, word comes from workers at an Ohio nuclear power electric utility plant [Davis-Besse] that a giant crack has appeared in the facility’s containment building.

When nuclear energy production technology first began to emerge in the US in the 1950s, neither scientists nor the US government considered what would be done with nuclear reactors once it was time for them to be put out of commission. And recently-released documents reveal that, in an effort to hastily deal with this problem after the fact, the US government actually tried to conspire with Japan to gain secret approval for dumping decommissioned nuclear reactors into the world’s oceans.

It resembles the plot line of a cheesy horror flick, but the idea that a new generation of vicious “mutant” dogs will one day spawn from puppies still living in and around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster zone is something that Japanese officials are taking very seriously. According to a recent report in The Seattle Times (ST), efforts aimed at capturing the hundreds of wild dogs still living in the Fukushima no-entry zone are failing, and many of the dogs are growing ever more wild as they freely scour the human-less fallout zone.

At least one billion becquerels a day of radiation continue to leak from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant after the March earthquake and tsunami.
Experts say that the total amount of radiation leaked will exceed amounts released from Chernobyl, making Fukushima the worst nuclear disaster in history.

The United States could only account for 1,160 out of 17,500 kilograms of Highly-Enriched Uranium (HEU) — weapon-usable nuclear material — exported to 27 countries in response to a 1992 congressional mandate, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released last week.
“The world today is dramatically different than when most U.S. nuclear cooperation agreements were negotiated,” the report said. “Many new threats have emerged, and nuclear proliferation risks have increased significantly.”

Exposing the “unspeakable” realities of the Japanese catastrophe in this 60 Minutes program Sunday night during which leading nuclear scientist Dr. Michio Kaku said radiation from Fukushima will impact of all of humanity. The nuclear energy power industry violation of the right to health is apparent throughout the new Australian report.
“In fact the whole world will be exposed from the radiation from Fukushima,” Dr. Kaku told reporter Liz Hayes.

There has been a lot of disinformation regarding the Fukushima Nuclear disaster. It appears the government agencies of other nations cooperated with Japan while the international nuclear industry sided with TEPCO’s (Tokyo Electric Power Company) disinformation and denial campaign.
As Mike Adams noted in his April 5th, 2011 Natural News article on Fukushima, “The government is going to turn off the radiation detectors, raise the official EPA limits of radioactive exposure, urge Americans to avoid preparing for fallout, and then pretend absolutely nothing is wrong.”

Nothing good about the nuclear news at the end of August as we have official recognition (finally) of what is going on in Japan and thus what is threatening the rest of the world, especially the northern hemisphere. It is now being said that the amount of radioactive cesium that has leaked from a tsunami-hit nuclear plant is about equal to 168 of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II, Japan’s nuclear agency said Friday the 26th.
Time is running out for the 35 million people in the Tokyo metropolitan area and, in fact, in a year or two all of northern Japan will become quite uninhabitable for there is no way for them to stop the process once the fissioning materials work their way down into the earth and the water table below, which they have already done.

TV station KHOU of Texas, reported a cover up conspiracy regarding radioactive levels in Texas drinking water in May 2011. The cover up efforts were known as high as the Texas governor Rick Perry’s office and allowed to continue. In a small way, this reflects what’s been happening with the Fukushima radioactivity reports that affect the world.

An independent radiation test in Toronto Canada has revealed startling levels of radiation just days after famed nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen claimed that radioactive rain would continue to hit the west coast for upwards of a year.
Radioactive Rain In Toronto Canada As Large Scale Government Cover Up Of Radiation Dangers Exposed, 8/18/11

Five months ago today, the nuclear crisis began in Fukushima, and the government began lying about the threat and the dangers to its people. Now they are beginning to build a gigantic tent over reactor number one. We do not have any information from Japan about people dying but the plants are dying in the middle of central Tokyo and it could be because of the increase in radiation. One irony of the radioactive fallout from Fukushima is that people in Japan are starting to pay more attention to nature.

A Major Canadian Paper Reports That The Government Covered Up Massive Amounts Of Radioactive Material From Fukushima In Canadian Air” And Are Continuing To Manipulate Radiation Monitoring Data.

Remember all those idiots who claimed that Fukushima is contained, or better yet, the drama is exaggerated? Perhaps it is time to exile them all, starting with that moron from MIT, to Fukushima where the radiation measured at the base of the main ventilation stack just hit an all time high 10 sieverts/hour. The truth likely is much uglier: this is simply the highest reading the devices are able to record. In other words, there does not exist a device that can capture the true extent of the catastrophe at Fukushima!

TSA rolled out the scanners on the sly. The majority of the flying and non-flying public, including airline employees, had no clue what was going on. Many passengers went through the scanners without knowing what they were. Scientists at government-run (NIST) or government-contracted (JHU-APL) labs were given limited access to the technology and were also given a limited scope of research. This research did not include an assessment of safety. Nonetheless, the TSA repeatedly claimed these scientists had shown the scanners were safe, and, in the past year-and-a-half, they have not made the machines available to independent scientists or addressed the major concerns that have been brought up by “independent” (or at least, critical) scientists. The only additional data to come out has not been peer-reviewed and still does not address the primary questions that are necessary to assess the safety of these machines.
I have no reason to expect the collectivist mentality that leads to concerns about public security would even remotely consider individual rights. But, if the naked scanners are being used in the name of “public security,” then why is the matter of “public safety” being treated so cavalierly? The answer is that these machines are not in place to protect you or me, or even all Americans. They are in place to protect the state and its bureaucrats.

What happened in Fukushima, Japan on March 11, 2011 may be the most sinister global disaster in the recorded history of our planet. The repercussions of this historic disaster will remain for centuries to come. The manifestations of nuclear radiation from the meltdown of the reactors in Fukushima will haunt humanity in ways that we’ll only discover over time. The obvious poisoning of our food, water, and air is just the beginning of what is happening to humanity, animal and plant life, and the planet.

For almost three months the bad nuclear news has been shouting at us, warning us, but even the professionals in the area of toxicity are not abandoning their lives or homes. Is it an everyone-goes-down-with-the-ship paradigm that has a hold on these people? The invisible but hot magna of nuclear toxicity is our latest inheritance and few will escape it though there are many things we can do to diminish radiations nasty effects.

Fort Calhoun is a nuclear facility near Omaha, Nebraska. Why should you know about Fort Calhoun? It is currently in a state of near meltdown, but the mass media decided to put a blackout on the subject. There was an official story that there was a fire in an electrical switchgear room at the plant. The fire resulted in the loss of power to a pump that cools the spent fuel rod pool, allegedly for about 90 minutes. Even if power was only lost for 90 minutes a full nuclear meltdown was extremely possible, and in such a populated area a breaking news report should have been made.

A nuclear research reactor at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, NC, was recently shut down after it was discovered that the plant has been leaking about ten gallons of nuclear cooling water per hour for at least the past week. Officials from the university, however, claim that the leak, which stems from the 15,000 gallons of water used to cool the superheated uranium reactor core, poses “no public health threat.”
The announcement comes on the heels of several others involving US nuclear plants, including the potentially ill-fated Fort Calhoun Nuclear facility near Omaha, Neb. and the Los Alamos National Laboratory that was threatened by wildfires last week. In the NC case, reports do not indicate why radioactive cooling water is leaking from the facility, but its operators insist, just like the experts associated with the other nuclear plants are doing, that everything is just fine.

Threats of radioactive disaster from what is shaping up to be the largest wildfire in the state’s history are escalating, as heavy winds and plenty of dry brush have fueled flames to within 50 feet of New Mexico’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), home of the first atomic bomb.
Crews claim there are currently no fires burning on the lab’s 36 square mile property, but the entire town of Los Alamos, population 11,000, has been evacuated, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now on radiation alert in the area.

What in the world is really going on at Los Alamos, Ft. Calhoun and Fukushima? There are millions of Americans that would like the truth about what is happening at these nuclear facilities, but the mainstream media has been strangely quiet. Instead, the mainstream media is running headlines such as “10 Dirtiest U.S. Beaches Named” and “Pole Dance Stops Times Square Cold”. Yes, those are actually headlines that appeared on the front pages of major mainstream news websites in the United States today. Sadly, you really have to dig to find anything about the problems that are currently happening at nuclear facilities in the United States, and the mainstream media seems to have gotten really tired of talking about Fukushima. It is almost as if the mainstream media actually prefers to talk about mindless things rather than focus on the truly important events that are happening all around us.

Doctors from Watari Hospital in Fukushima, Japan, recently conducted tests on residents living in two Japanese towns located about 25 miles from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility, and discovered that all of them had radioactive particles in their urine. This shocking discovery reveals just how widespread the nuclear catastrophe really is, and how its devastating implications will likely continue to persist indefinitely.

The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station turned to diesel-powered generators Sunday after disconnecting from the main grid because of rising floodwaters. That move came after water surrounded several buildings when a water-filled floodwall collapsed. The plant, about 19 miles north of Omaha, remains safe, Omaha Public Power District officials said Sunday afternoon.
Sunday’s event offers even more evidence that the relentlessly rising Missouri River is testing the flood worthiness of an American nuclear power plant like never before. The now-idle plant has become an island. And unlike other plants in the past, Fort Calhoun faces months of flooding.

Looking at the current Japanese meltdown as more than 50 Chernobyls is one way some people are beginning to estimate the disaster. Simple division tells us there are at least 48.6 Chernobyls in the burning old reactor cores pumping fiery isotopes into the Earth’s atmosphere. Some are calculating that this all adds up to three thousand billion (3,000,000,000,000) Lethal Doses of Radiation ~ meaning there are 429 Lethal Doses chasing each and every one of us on the planet, to put it in a nutshell.

Two U.S. nuclear electricity facilities, the Fort Calhoun and Cooper nuclear plants in Nebraska, are facing the threat of rising flood waters from the Missouri river. Though safety regulators insist the plants were designed to withstand flooding and no risk of disaster exists, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been enforcing a no-fly zone over the Fort Calhoun plant since early this month, even though the plant has been shut down since early April for refueling.

Last week, NaturalNews reported that rising Missouri River flood waters prompted officials to declare a “Notification of Unusual Event” as the Fort Calhoun Nuclear plant just outside of Omaha, Neb. (http://www.naturalnews.com/032672_n…). Since that time, flood waters have continued to rise, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has declared a mysterious two-mile radius “no-fly” zone around the plant for unknown reasons, and federal officials continue to claim in spite of all this that plant is just fine.

“Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind,” Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president, told Al Jazeera.
Japan’s 9.0 earthquake on March 11 caused a massive tsunami that crippled the cooling systems at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) nuclear plant in Fukushima, Japan. It also led to hydrogen explosions and reactor meltdowns that forced evacuations of those living within a 20km radius of the plant.
Gundersen, a licensed reactor operator with 39 years of nuclear power engineering experience, managing and coordinating projects at 70 nuclear power plants around the US, says the Fukushima nuclear plant likely has more exposed reactor cores than commonly believed.

“On June 6, 2011, the Fort Calhoun pressurized water nuclear reactor 20 miles north of Omaha, Nebraska entered emergency status due to imminent flooding from the Missouri River. A day later, there was an electrical fire requiring plant evacuation.
Then, on June 8th, NRC event reports confirmed the fire resulted in the loss of cooling for the reactor’s spent fuel pool. The discussion includes specific details of the technical failures at Fort Calhoun, the risks of coolant loss at overcrowded “spent” fuel pools, and the national hazards of nuclear facilities along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, and other water sites during the current period of floods and climate change.”

Recent reports confirming that Reactors 1, 2, and 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility completely melted just hours after the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the area on March 11 (http://www.naturalnews.com/032537_F…) have been trumped by even worse news that those same reactors have all likely “melted through,” a situation that according to Japan’s Daily Yomiuri DY is “the worst possibility in a nuclear accident.”
And senior political official Ichiro Ozawa suggested in an interview with The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the Fukushima situation could make the entire country of Japan “unlivable.”

What we have not heard from the EPA, AMA, CDC, NIH and, even less, from ‘your doctor’ or ‘medical experts’ on major TV networks, is that there is a good alternative that does exist under the circumstances. The main reason for the silence engulfing this alternative is not only because of its belonging to alternative medicine but, also, because it represents its most strange and even irrational category. Its name is homeopathy. The list that reflects its seemingly irrational nature, at least for allopathically or pharmaceutically-conditioned minds, is quite impressive, indeed.
It is nothing short of astonishing that the nuclear catastrophe we’ve all been told was “no big deal” has now escalated into the worst nuclear disaster in the history of human civilization. It’s so bad now that soil samples taken from outside the 12-mile exclusion zone (the zone considered safe enough by the Japanese government for schoolchildren to attend school there) are higher than the 1.48 million becquerels a square meter limit that triggered evacuations outside Chernobyl in 1986.
In other words, the radiation level of the soil 12 miles from Fukushima is now higher than the levels considered too dangerous to live in near Chernobyl. This is all coming out in a new research report authored by Tomio Kawata, a fellow at the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan. That same report also reveals that radiation from Fukushima has spread over 230 square miles.

The long term effects of cell phone towers on health are not certain, but cell phone companies are doing whatever they can to get as many towers out there as possible. Most towers are fairly obvious, but recently they are being disguised as trees, hidden in flag poles, and even placed neatly inside church steeples.

Professor Christopher Busby, who sits on the European Committee on Radiation Risks, told RT yesterday that the reactors at Fukushima are a raging nuclear inferno and he believes at least one of the reactors is now outside its containment structure and emitting vast amounts of radiation into the atmosphere.

A renowned nuclear activist has said the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear complex brought on by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and resultant tsunami March 11 is much worse than the atomic disaster at the Chernobyl plant in the former Soviet Union in 1986.
Dr. Helen Caldicott, at a March 18 Montreal press conference where she talked about the dangers of atomic war, discussed a wide range of nuclear-related issues she says are having profound effects on Europe, the U.S. and Japan – just a week after the quake crippled at least two of the site’s six nuclear reactors, which resulted in the release of radioactive materials.

“Fukushima’s epic calamity continues to pose a major threat to the Japanese population (and) the rest of our planet.” Massive amounts of radiation keep leaking. “The magnitude of Fukushima’s radiation is now off the scale,” but its amount is deliberately suppressed – from up to six, not one, reactors.

The New York Times and other mass media publications have been publishing articles that downplay the dangers of radioactive fallout from nuclear disasters like the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters. And the Environmental Protection Agency has now stopped testing air, water, and milk samples for radiation despite the continuing release of radioactive materials into the environment from Japan.
Radiation still a problem – Don’t be fooled by reassurances, 5/9/11

Workers at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Plant in Port Gibson, Miss., last Thursday released a large amount of radioactive tritium directly into the Mississippi River, according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and experts are currently trying to sort out the situation. An investigation is currently underway to determine why the tritium was even present in standing water found in an abandoned unit of the plant, as well as how much of this dangerous nuclear byproduct ended up getting dumped into the river. Many also want to know why workers released the toxic tritium before conducting proper tests.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday that it is ceasing its special monitoring protocols in the US for radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, despite the fact that no real progress at the plant has been made, and threats to the US are persistent. At the same time as the EPA announcement, foreign reports also indicate that levels of radiation in Pacific waters near the Fukushima plant are now up to 1,000 times normal levels, with no real indication of where this radioactive water is flowing.

Based on the accumulation of information from multiple sources, it is now clear that the true scope of the Fukushima disaster has been greatly downplayed by both the Japanese and U.S. governments. NaturalNews is now urging its readers to begin taking regular, safe doses of three things: Natural iodine sources (seaweed or otherwise), bentonite clay (for internal use) and zeolites (any brand).

Below is the static map based on real time tabulations of the Norwegian Institute of Air Research pertaining to potential releases of radiation from the Fukushima plant.

As a result, distinguished environmental researcher, Dr. Ilya Perlingieri, now warns to stay out of rain because it’s likely radioactive. So is drinking water, food and air with unknown levels because governments like America and Japan won’t say

And then, right there on the chart, the very next line was a huge eye-opener, because it said: • 20,000 mSv Highly targeted dose used in cancer radiotherapy Cancer radiotherapy dose is fatal? Okay, so wait a minute. A dose of 10,000 is fatal, yet the cancer industry uses twice that dose to “treat” cancer? I knew cancer radiation treatments were barbaric, but I never knew they were twice the amount considered absolutely fatal.

The medical Gestapo was recently spotted working in Japan getting the police to charge two people with the selling of zeolite. The substance, sold as “Premium Zeolite,” was billed as absorbing radioactive substances and allowing the body to excrete them within six hours. The two were charged with selling medicine without a license. A month later we hear that they are using tons of zeolite at the nuclear plant to control radiation. What gives

Five weeks after Japan’s disaster, reports suggest worse, not improved conditions. It portends serious regional and global trouble ahead, besides what’s already happened. On April 16, AP headlined, “Radioactivity Rises in Sea Off Japan Nuclear Plant,” saying: “Levels of radioactivity have risen sharply in seawater near (Fukushima), signaling the possibility of new leaks at the facility, the government said Saturday.”

Thanks to an announcement by TEPCO, we now have a “target date” for addressing the radiation leaks from Fukushima. Believe it or not, TEPCO now says it plans to “reduce” the radiation leaking within three months. Notice that there is no admitted goal of “ending” the radiation within three months; just reducing it. So a drop in radiation of one percent would qualify as meeting this goal.

This site was sent to me, and it clearly shows the hidden (not shown to public) forecasts! In these shots, we see VERY high levels of Cesium-137 making its way across the pacific to the USA and Canada.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster has sparked an uprising against nuclear energy production due to concerns about its safety. Recently, 45 groups and individuals from across the US banded together to ask that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) cease all licensing for 21 pending nuclear reactor projects in 15 US states, and establish an independent commission to conduct an updated safety analysis of nuclear energy production in light of the ongoing meltdown taking place in Japan.

What does radiation do to us? It burns the cells, kind of like burning down a house. It is well known that radiation burns our cells by creating too much free radical damage. Now of course this is like talking Greek to medical officials and professors because if they knew this they would be on the bullhorn telling the public what to do to minimize free radical damage.

The Japanese government is trying to calm fears about radiation levels and food safety in the region around the heavily damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility, even as it has raised the severity rating of the crisis to the highest possible level. “Radiation is continuing to leak out of the reactors, the situation is not stable at all,” says Dr. Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics at the City University Of New York and the City College of New York, in an interview on Democracy Now! April 13. “The slightest disturbance could set off a full scale melt down at three nuclear power stations—far beyond what we saw at Chernobyl.”

What started as less serious than Three Mile Island has just become as serious as Chernobyl, with the Fukushima disaster assessment having been raised to the highest, Level 7. From NHK: “For a series of accidents happening at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of the Ministry of Economy, which released large amounts of radioactive substances that affect human health and the environment in a wide range

Zero Hedge predicted from the very beginning that unfortunately Fukushima would end up being an as serious, if not more so (just consider the extremely high concentration of human and other capital in proximity to Fukushima: unlike the USSR there is little to none displacement capacity) catastrophe than Chernobyl. Yesterday’s final hike in the incident severity level, which started at 4 and hit the highest , 7, is simply yet another confirmation of this although in absolute terms Fukushima still has a ways to go before surpassing the Soviet accident:

The radiation risk from Fukushima is “no longer negligable,” says CRIIRAD, the French research authority on radioactivity. It is now warning expectant mothers and young children to avoid drinking milk or rainwater. They should also avoid certain types of vegetables and cheese due to the dangerously high levels of radiation they may contain thanks to the radioactive fallout spreading across the globe.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to release new data showing that various milk and water supply samples from across the US are testing increasingly high for radioactive elements such as Iodine-131, Cesium-134, and Cesium-137, all of which are being emitted from the ongoing Fukushima Daiichia nuclear fallout. As of April 10, 2011, 23 US water supplies have tested positive for radioactive Iodine-131 (http://opendata.socrata.com/w/4ig7-…), and worst of all, milk samples from at least three US locations have tested positive for Iodine-131 at levels exceeding EPA maximum containment levels (MCL)

New EPA milk samples in Hawaii show radiation in milk at 800% above limits for C-134, 633% above limits for C-137 and 600% above EPA maximum for I-131 for a total of 2033%, or 20.33 times, above the federal drinking water limits.

Not content with the official government story that the unfolding Fukushima Daiichi nuclear fallout is of no concern to Americans, some New York City restaurant owners are voluntarily having their fish stocks tested for certain radioactive isotopes. Though recent reports claim that none of the fish scanned thus far have shown up positive for radiation, some restaurant owners simply want to do everything they can to ensure the safety of fish served to customers

As the famous physicist Dr. Michio Kaku said on April 4th, “The situation at Fukushima is relatively stable now… in the same way that you are stable if you hang by your fingernails off a cliff, and your fingernails begin to break one by one.” (http://bigthink.com/ideas/37705). That same article also refers to the Fukushima damage assessment by the NRC’s Nuclear Safety Team, which concluded that “cooling to the core of Unit 1 might be blocked by melted fuel and also by salt deposits left over from the use of sea water.”

In Japan today we are witnessing a noble people being put to the test. In fact the entire world, with all its peoples and governments, are going to be tested against the sheer power of nuclear contamination that knows little of time and space. Radiation moves rather freely through space and some forms of it stay around for so long we might as well say forever.
People of Japan, 4/11/11

Hold onto your chelators folks. And watch out for those Made in Japan labels on products. Are you worried that your seaweed may be radioactive? Should you eat that shrimp at the gourmet restaurant? Take that krill oil supplement? Start bowing to colleagues rather than shaking hands? Carry a Geiger counter? Fish and other imports from Japan are now showing varying levels of radiation. We are entering a strange era where Japanese products will all be suspect, and food manufacturers will add the label Not Made in Japan alongside the Non-GMO label. The nuclear disaster in Japan has us all worried about radiation exposure. Just look at the rate that potassium iodide pills were snatched up on the internet

An intrepid Japanese duo has decided to do the reverse Fukushima commute and in a stunning filmed expose, drives through cracked roads, herds of animals in city streets and ghost towns to measure the radiation from 30 km out to 1.5 km away from Fukushima, where it hits 112 microsieverts, or roughly 350 times normal radiation. But don’t worry. Everything is still under the recently updgraded (twice) legal limit…. for those clad in lead armor.

Recklessly promoting nuclear proliferation, America’s NRC is notorious for coverup and denial of its harmful effects. As a result, their rare admission virtually confirms a full core meltdown in one or more reactors, meaning vast amounts of radiation are being uncontrollably released into the atmosphere, water and soil, spreading over a vast area. It’s the ultimate nightmare scenario now unfolding, but don’t expect major media reports or government officials to explain.

Virtually all the numbers you’re seeing about the radioactivity coming out of Fukushima are based on iodine-131 which only has a half-life of 8 days, not the far more dangerous cesium-137 which has a half-life of 30 years. So while the mainstream media reports that “radiation levels are falling rapidly” from the 7.5 million times reading taken a few days ago, what they’re not telling you is that the cesium-137 radioactivity will take 30 years just to fall by 50 percent.

The mass dumping of highly radioactive water (measured at 7.5 million times the normal allowed levels) into the Pacific Ocean is not just an environmental disaster; it’s also a violation of international law. The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, passed in 1972, forbids nations and companies from dumping toxic wastes into the ocean.

The mass radioactive contamination of our planet is now under way thanks to the astonishing actions taking place at the Fukushima nuclear facility in Japan. As of last night, TEPCO announced it is releasing 10,000 tons of radioactive water directly into the Pacific Ocean. That 2.4 million gallons of planetary poison being dumped directly into the ocean.
EPA to raise limits for radiation exposure while Canada turns off fallout detectors, 4/5/11

Governments and those involved in nuclear power claim that it is safe and it is the cleanest energy. Japan has proved that wrong. It shows one event can cause the pollution of the Earth in such a toxic way that the oceans are being destroyed as Japan dumps radioactive water into the ocean. The air and land is being made toxic not to be able to be used for thousands of year (plutonium) and officials are still saying it is the “cleanest and safest” form of creating energy?

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, said Monday that it plans to release water containing radioactive materials into the sea in a bid to help speed up work to bring the crippled complex under control. The total amount of water to be released will be 11,500 tons and the concentration of contaminants in the waste water is estimated at about 100 times the legal limit, which is deemed as a relatively low level, it said.

The battle continued Monday to plug a crack at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility that’s been a conduit for highly radioactive water leaking into the Pacific Ocean, utility company officials said.

I’ve seen a lot of lousy, inaccurate reporting from the mainstream media over the years, but some of the reporting we’re seeing now on the Fukushima catastrophe is just astonishing in its ignorance of basic physics. Today, the Boston Globe published a story containing this whopper:

The NYT has compiled a useful visual summary of the current assessment of the Fukushima radiation, distributed by either air, soil, water and food, compiled through the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency and others. The observable trade off is that while the impact of inland radiation has so far been muted courtesy of favorable wind direction and modest rainfall, the actual concentration of radioactivity in the sea and groundwater is rising at an exponential pace. How long before conventional wisdom realizes that radiation tens of thousands of times above normal contaminating the sea is very bad, while one day of northeastern winds will set off every seismic counter in Tokyo?

Despite countless reassurances that no harmful levels of radiation from the Japan nuclear fallout would hit the US from the EPA, the University of Berkley in California is now reporting that rainwater in San Francisco water has now been detected at levels 18,100% above federal drinking water standards.

The unfolding of the Fukushima catastrophe continues to worsen. Here are today’s most important developments: A nuclear expert is now warning that it will take 50 to 100 years before the spent nuclear rods at Fukushima will cool enough to be removed from the site. In the mean time, Japan must keep pouring water on the fuel, and that creates highly radioactive water that’s being flushed directly into the ocean. So now we’re looking at the possibility of a century-long radiation leak

Nuclear engineers at UC Berkeley reported Wednesday they are detecting “extremely small” levels of radiation from the stricken Fukushima power plant in Japan, but the levels barely reach the limits of detection by their highly sophisticated monitoring equipment, they said.

New research presented at the 36th annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology in Chicago, Ill., has revealed the incredible power of antioxidants to protect the body against the damaging effects of radiation. Researchers from the University of Toronto, Ontario, Can., department of medical imaging found that patients who took an antioxidant blend prior to receiving medical radiation scans experienced significantly less DNA damage than others.

Fukushima update: Three raging meltdowns are underway. Direct quote from Dr. Kaku: “If it goes to a full-scale evacuation of all personnel, it means that firefighters are no longer putting water onto the cores. That’s the only thing preventing a full-scale meltdown at three reactor sites. Once they evacuate, then we past the point of no return. Meltdowns are inevitable at three reactor sites, leading to a tragedy far beyond that of Chernobyl, creating permanent dead zones in Japan.”

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration say that very low levels of radiation have turned up in a sample of milk from Washington state. But federal officials say consumers should not worry. The FDA said such findings are to be expected in the coming days because of the nuclear crisis in Japan, and that the levels are expected to drop relatively quickly.

High radiation has been detected at a village 40 kilometer from the Fukushima plant, according to the IAEA. Japan has encouraged evacuations only within a 20 kilometer radius. The finding will increase pressure on the government to extend the zone.

The battle to save the Fukushima nuclear power plant now appears lost as the radioactive core from Reactor No. 2 has melted through the containment vessel and dropped into the concrete basement of the reactor structure. This is “raising fears of a major release of radiation at the site,” reports The Guardian, which broke the story (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/201…). A former General Electric nuclear expert told The Guardian that Japan appears to have “lost the race” to save the reactor.

Initial March 27 Tokyo Electric (TEPCO) reports detected Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2 radioactive water readings at ten million times normal levels. This measure was 1,000 times above water readings in Units 1 and 3. Emissions happen during nuclear fission. Tokyo University Professor Naoto Sekimura said the leak came from Unit 2’s damaged suppression chamber, designed to contain radioactive substance overflows. French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety’s Olivier Isnard believes high readings are “proof that the reactor core (at least) partially melted.” Others suggest a likely full meltdown, covered up and downplayed.

Several nuclear power plants in the southeastern US have begun to detect low levels of radioactive iodine-131 in the air, which is the same type of radiation now being found all over the place as a result of the mega-earthquake and tsunami that struck the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan on March 11, 2011. Reuters has indicated that power plants in both North and South Carolina, as well as one in Florida, have all detected what they say are “low levels” of the non-native radioactive substance.
Fukushima radiation plumes have now struck the Carolinas and Florida, 3/29/11

The Fukushima crisis continues to worsen by the day, with nuclear experts around the world finally realizing and admitting we’ve all been lied to. “I think maybe the situation is much more serious than we were led to believe,” said Najmedin Meshkati of the University of Southern California, in a Reuters report (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011…). That same article revealed that recent radiation readings at Fukushima show “contamination 100,000 times normal in water at reactor No. 2 and 1,850 times normal in the nearby sea.” Massachusetts rainwater has also been found to be contaminated with low levels of radiation from Fukushima, indicating just how widespread the radioactive fallout has become. It’s not just the West Coast of North America that’s vulnerable, in other words: even the East Coast could receive dangerous levels of fallout if Fukushima suffers a larger release of radioactive material into the air.

The latest news out of Fukushima confirms fears that irradiated water containment at the radioactive plant has been complete breached, after Radioactive iodine-131 at a concentration 1,250.8 times the legal limit was detected Friday morning in a seawater sample taken around 330 meters south of the plant, near the drainage outlets of the four troubled reactors, the government’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Saturday.

If you listen purely to what Japanese authorities and officials at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are saying concerning the unfolding nuclear meltdown situation, you might come away thinking that everything is just fine and under control. But reports continue to flood in that seem to say otherwise, suggesting that conditions at the plant are far from remedied.
Ominous smoke plumes, contaminated water and food, neutron beams — but everything is just fine in Japan, suggest authorities, 3/25/11

Two bangin’ superfood recipes designed strategically to help your body inhibit the absorption of radioactive chemicals

Alex Smith of Radio Ecoshock has just produced a definitive interview with Dr. Helen Caldicott, the world’s foremost anti-nuclear activist and authority. Listen to it now at Ecoshock.net. Here are some notes I took from the broadcast:

The darkness is broken only by the flashing torchlight of the heroes who stayed behind. These first images of inside the stricken Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant reveal the terrifying conditions under which the brave men work to save their nation from full nuclear meltdown. The Fukushima Fifty – an anonymous band of lower and mid-level managers – have battled around the clock to cool overheating reactors and spent fuel rods since the disaster on March 11.
First pictures emerge of the Fukushima Fifty as steam starts pouring from all four reactors, 3/24/11

According to Asahi Shimbun which is quoting the Japan NRC, the Fukushima event has just surpassed Three Mile Island in terms of seriousness, and has been upgraded from Level 5 “Accident with Wider Consequences” to Level 6 “Serious Accident.” Only Chernobyl is a Level 7 event. We believe Fukushima should get there within 2 weeks as ever more of the current devastation becomes public. Of course, all of this is a paper-pushing formality. What isn’t, are people who may be developing serious diseases as the government continues to misrepresent the severity of the situation.

The media hailed Warren Buffett last December for donating $50 million dollars toward a United Nations nuclear bank with control over uranium enrichment. The intent is control over nuclear weapons and nuclear power by the elites who are the true forces behind the UN.

In the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear power plant catastrophe, radiation levels are now rising in Tokyo’s water supply, leading to near-panic among citizens there who have stripped the shelves bare of virtually all bottled water supplies. This was all set in motion by Tokyo officials finally admitting that radiation levels had risen in the water supply beyond the point of safe consumption by infants and toddlers

Not an hour passes without something material developing in Fukushima. Just out from NHK: all four broken reactors are now smoking. While 2, 3 and 4 have all issued smoke or steam at some point in the past, it is now Reactor 1’s turn. From NHK: “An NHK helicopter crew has confirmed what appears to be steam rising from No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 reactor buildings at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. This is the first time that steam has been seen coming out of the No.1 reactor. The helicopter crew was filming from a location more than 30 kilometers from the plant shortly before 7:00 AM on Thursday.” It was not all bad news: “The Tokyo Electric Power Company says that black smoke seen rising from the No.3 reactor building on Wednesday was no longer visible as of 6:00 AM Thursday.” It is unclear if the radiation level had dropped enough to where workers could resume their attempt to reactive the cooling stations at Fukushima.

Tokyo authorities said city tap water may be unsafe for infants while Japan’s government sought to assure people that radiation levels detected in the food chain following a nuclear accident don’t pose a health threat. Radioactive iodine levels taken yesterday at a treatment facility in Katsushika ward were double the recommended limit for babies, a city official said in a televised briefing today. The water would pose a health risk if drunk over the long-term, such as a year, he said. Tokyo’s population is estimated to be about 13 million people.

Per the Japan Nuclear Agency: the Radiation level at Fukushima reactor No. 2 at its highest level recorded so far. From Reuters: “Radiation at the crippled Fukushima No.2 nuclear reactor was recorded at the highest level since the start of the crisis, Japan’s nuclear safety agency said on Wednesday. An agency spokesman said 500 millisieverts per hour of radiation was measured at the No.2 unit on Wednesday. Engineers have been trying to fix the plant’s cooling system after restoring lighting on Tuesday.”

After repeatedly refusing to publicly release safety reports for its airport X-ray machines and naked body scanners — even after lawmakers ordered their release — the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) now says that the same reports are flawed anyway (http://www.naturalnews.com/031321_n…). TSA insists data showing that some naked body scanners emit as much as ten times more radiation than normal is a “math error,” and that a retest will be required to obtain accurate results.
TSA to retest airport body scanners after reports expose extreme radiation safety violations, 3/22/11

Japan has been reporting for several days that much of the raw milk being produced in the Fukushima province is now radioactive. This raises today’s quiz question: If the FDA were operating in Japan, what would they do about this raw, radioactive milk? Answer: They would seize it because it’s RAW, not because it’s radioactive.
Doctors use Fukushima-like radiation to “treat” thyroid disorders, 3/22/11

There is some good news emerging in this nuclear catastrophe: TEPCO has been able to restore grid power to buildings 5 and 6, which also house enormous quantities of stored fuel. Neither of these buildings was considered the primary threat in the first place, but it is at least a hopeful sign that TEPCO might have a chance at preventing a meltdown

The status of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant’s Unit 4 reactor is one of the most critical aspects in determining the severity of the impending nuclear meltdown. After all, the most recent temperature readings available showed that the rods there were three times hotter than they should be, which was far worse than the other reactors at the time. And yet for several days, basic information like whether or not there is actually water left in Unit 4’s cooling pool, or what the current temperature is of the spent fuel rods there, is no longer being supplied and reported, at least not accurately.

weeping The boss of the company behind the devastated Japanese nuclear reactor today broke down in tears – as his country finally acknowledged the radiation spewing from the over-heating reactors and fuel rods was enough to kill some citizens.

In a truly incredible example of the complete disregard for the health and safety of the American people, President Obama today told Americans that they should NOT prepare for radiation from the possible meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. His exact quote: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health experts do not recommend people in the U.S. take precautionary measures beyond staying informed.” In other words, Americans should do nothing other than listen to their government. Don’t buy potassium iodide pills (even though the U.S. Surgeon General has already urged people to do so), don’t fuel up your automobiles in case you need to evacuate California, don’t store some extra food and water… basically, don’t worry! There’s no problem! Obama says so!

All medicines may cause side effects, but many people have no, or minor, side effects. Check with your doctor if any of these most COMMON side effects persist or become bothersome when using Potassium Iodide Drops

The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan has led to fears of nuclear destruction and an increasing talk about iodine. It is important to understand that not all forms of iodine are the same, and different types of iodine will concentrate in different tissues and glands within the body.

The protocol: Iodine – Glutathione – Natural Chelation – Clay – Baking Soda. On Sunday, when I first released this protocol I said that it is too early to call everyone in North America to prepare for a radiation cloud streaming down radioactive particles from the accident in Japan. According to the media and government, America is not at risk due to radioactive fallout from the recent Japanese nuclear accidents and that is still officially the case.

The New York Times notes: A United Nations forecast of the possible movement of the radioactive plume coming from crippled Japanese reactors shows it churning across the Pacific and touching the Aleutian Islands on Thursday before hitting Southern California late Friday.

How much of a threat is the nuclear crisis in Japan? That question is on the minds of millions of people around the globe tonight. Unfortunately, the Japanese government and the mainstream media have both been doing their best to downplay this crisis. Even though there have been massive explosions at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear facility, authorities in Japan have still been very stingy with information and they keep insisting that the situation is under control. But the situation is not under control. In fact, it just seems to get worse with each passing day. Radiation levels are now incredibly high at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex and the radiation cloud is starting to spread. Radiation levels in Tokyo are already 10 times above normal levels, and there are reports in the international media that some people have begun to flee the city. It is imperative that the Japanese government tell the truth about what is going on because this could potentially affect the health of millions of people. There are over 12 million people in the city of Tokyo alone. If this nuclear crisis continues to get worse it could potentially end up killing more Japanese than the tsunami just did.
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Radiation produces free-radicals (“inflammatory molecules”) that damage cells that make up tissues such as organs, glands, muscles, and bones. Besides causing the cells to age more quickly they also become distorted, or mutated, creating cancers such as leukemia, anemia, birth defects, and other diseases. Sulfur has a long history of use as an antidote for acute exposure to radioactive material. DMSO is the classical sulfur compound. A Japanese study showed that even low concentrations of DMSO had radio-protective effects through the facilitation of DNA double-strand break repair, providing protection against radiation damage at all cellular levels in the whole body.

In the aftermath of Japan’s nuclear catastrophe and the fear that winds could blow radiation into the west coast of North America, there has been a sudden rush on potassium iodide, which helps protect your glandular system from radiation poisoning if you’re exposed. The Japanese government is handing out this supplement in huge quantities to the survivors north of Tokyo, and here at NaturalNews, we’ve received a flurry of requests from people wanting to know where they can find available supplies of potassium iodide.

Germany and Switzerland said Monday that they would be the first industrialized nations to freeze development of nuclear power facilities while they reassess safety procedures, in the wake of Japan’s ongoing nuclear crisis following last week’s devastating earthquake.

For years, Helen Caldicott warned it’s coming. In her 1978 book, “Nuclear Madness,” she said: “As a physician, I contend that nuclear technology threatens life on our planet with extinction. If present trends continue, the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink will soon be contaminated with enough radioactive pollutants to pose a potential health hazard far greater than any plague humanity has ever experienced.”

The term meltdown is being used often. But what exactly would a meltdown in one of the Japanese nuclear power plants entail? The following is a simplistic description I found at a blog called Modern Survival. It gives a step by step of the process, with the end result being a catastrophic release of radiation into the atmosphere.
It all starts when the cooling system fails as it did as a result of the massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake that

fallout10x7 Contradicting earlier reports that claimed the Fukushima nuclear power plant suffered no reactor core damage, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano today admitted that a “partial core meltdown” is now underway. This is being reported at the Washington Post
The conflicting reports coming out of Japan over the last 24 hours point to the very likely possibility of a massive Japanese government cover-up where government officials are telling the public everything is fine while desperately pumping sea water into the reactor cores to prevent them from going Chernobyl.

Japanese authorities have confirmed there was an explosion at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant Saturday afternoon but said it did not occur at its troubled No. 1 reactor, brushing off concerns that the quake-triggered problem could develop into a catastrophe.
Chief Cabinet secretary Yukio Edano told an urgent press conference that the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., has confirmed there is no damage to the steel container housing the reactor, although the 3:36 p.m. explosion resulted in the roof and the walls of the building housing the reactor’s container being blown away.
The top government spokesman said TEPCO has begun new cooling operations to fill the reactor with sea water and pour in boric acid to prevent an occurrence of criticality, noting it may take several hours to inject water into the reactor.

Three days before the Fukushima nuclear power explosion, I made this comment on a peace activist’s Facebook page: “I believe a successful, final anti-nuke campaign will only take place in one of two ways: (1) collapse puts the entire infrastructure of industry and consumption out of business, forcing the survivors to minimally babysit the nukes forever, or, there’s an accident or deliberate blast or meltdown that motivates people all over the world to shut down the mechanical beast once and for all.”

“If they can’t restore power to the plant (and cool the reactor), then there’s the possibility of some sort of core meltdown”. An alarming statement made by James Acton, a physicist who examined Japan’s Kashiwazaki nuclear plant after a 2007 earthquake, who told CNN that Japanese authorities are in race to cool down the Fukushima reactor.
Following the fifth largest earthquake in recorded world history, a magnitude 8.9 earthquake, has resulted in the closure of all Japan’s nuclear power reactors, one of which, the Fukushima reactor, is overheating and in danger of a meltdown if coolant is not restored soon. It’s like a pressure cooker… when you have something generating heat and you don’t cool it off or release the steam…
Reported from abc NEWS, Scientists said that even though the reactor had stopped producing energy, its fuel continues to generate heat and needs steady levels of coolant to prevent it from overheating and triggering a dangerous cascade of events.
They go on to say, “Up to 100 percent of the volatile radioactive Cesium-137 content of the pools could go up in flames and smoke, to blow downwind over large distances,”
“Given the large quantity of irradiated nuclear fuel in the pool, the radioactivity release could be worse than the Chernobyl nuclear reactor catastrophe of 25 years ago.” said Kevin Kamps, a nuclear waste specialist.
Fukushima I (there are two plant locations) is one of the 25 largest nuclear power stations in the world.

Watch now for another million-to-one shot of the second atomic power plant “going super-Chernobyl” on the nation that sided with Hitler during World War II and which pinned blame on Jewish Bankers” for Japan’s economic meltdown of the 1990s.
The Port City of Fukushima, surrounded by dormant volcanoes, and a modern reactor with all of the best safeguards has, most improbably, is in danger of breaking down following a tailor-made super-quake and possible international sabotage of safety systems.
Over 50,000 of the living have been forced to evacuate — but with major radioactive contamination there will be no place to go.

This guide ‘When An ill Wind Blows From Afar! (Like from Japan Fukushima reactor)’ deals specifically with radioactive fallout that originated from afar, like a Chernobyl in the past, or Iran in the future that’s had its nuclear facilities bombed, releasing radioactive contamination into the atmosphere, or a North Korea gone mad, etc. This guide provides panic dispelling knowledge so people downwind can more promptly initiate appropriate protective actions, as required.
This is the third in the series that begins with The Good News About Nuclear Destruction! that debunks the myths of nuclear un-survivability and What To Do If A Nuclear Disaster Is Imminent! that details the practical methods for American families to protect themselves from nuclear explosion(s) and fallout originating here.

A nuclear reactor in the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power station about 220 kilometers (140 miles) north of Tokyo may be starting to melt down after Japan’s biggest earthquake on record hit the area yesterday. Fuel rods at the No. 1 reactor at the plant run by Tokyo Electric Power Co. may be melting after radioactive Cesium material left by atomic fission was detected near the site, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, spokesman Yuji Kakizaki said by phone today. “If the fuel rods are melting and this continues, a reactor meltdown is possible,” Kakizaki said. A meltdown refers to a heat buildup in the core of such an intensity it melts the floor of the reactor containment housing.

Japan declared states of emergency for five nuclear reactors at two power plants after the units lost cooling ability in the aftermath of Friday’s powerful earthquake. Thousands of residents were evacuated as workers struggled to get the reactors under control to prevent meltdowns.
Operators at the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s Unit 1 scrambled ferociously to tamp down heat and pressure inside the reactor after the 8.9 magnitude quake and the tsunami that followed cut off electricity to the site and disabled emergency generators, knocking out the main cooling system.
Some 3,000 people within two miles (three kilometers) of the plant were urged to leave their homes, but the evacuation zone was more than tripled to 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) after authorities detected eight times the normal radiation levels outside the facility and 1,000 times normal inside Unit 1’s control room.

The Institute for Public Accuracy issued the following statement by nuclear expert, Kevin Kamp, about the risk of nuclear disaster in post-Earthquake Japan: “The electrical grid is down. The emergency diesel generators have been damaged. The multi-reactor Fukushima atomic power plant is now relying on battery power, which will only last around eight hours. The danger is, the very thermally hot reactor cores at the plant must be continuously cooled for 24 to 48 hours. Without any electricity, the pumps won’t be able to pump water through the hot reactor cores to cool them. Once electricity is lost, the irradiated nuclear fuel could begin to melt down. If the containment systems fail, a catastrophic radioactivity release to the environment could occur.”

In my experience, it’s not often that pro-mammogram literature or textbooks tell the truth about the limitations of mammography so imagine my surprise when I came across this section in the 1,100 page textbook I’m studying called Breast Imaging by Dr. Daniel B. Kopans.
“Because screening does not detect all cancers and does not detect all cancers sufficiently early to permit cure, screening should not be thought of as a method to reassure someone she does not have cancer. Emphasis was added by the book’s author.

Does using a cell phone have an effect on the brain? According to a 2011 study titled “Effects of Cell Phone Radiofrequency Signal Exposure on Brain Glucose Metabolism,” the answer is absolutely.

A groundbreaking study published today by one of the world’s leading neuroscientists challenges the longstanding conviction that radiation emitted from cellphones is too weak to have an effect on the brain.
You can think of cellphone saturation as one giant, uncontrolled human experiment. There are now 293 million wireless connections in use in the United States, according to the trade group CTIA-The Wireless Association. And Americans log a staggering 2.26 trillion minutes yakking on those mobile devices every year—all at a time when the biological effects of cellphones remain controversial and the research on those effects often of dubious quality.

Radiation from a mobile phone call can make brain regions near the device burn more energy, according to a new study.
Cellphones emit ultra-high-frequency radio waves during calls and data transfers, and some researchers have suspected this radiation — albeit inconclusively — of being linked to long-term health risks like brain cancer. The new brain-scan-based work, to be published Feb. 23 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, shows radiation emitted from a cellphone’s antenna during a call makes nearby brain tissue use 7 percent more energy.

The Transportation Security Administration has told members of Congress that more than 15 million passengers received full-body scans at airports without any malfunctions that put travelers at risk of an excessive radiation dose.
Despite the reassurance, however, the TSA has yet to release radiation inspection reports for its X-ray equipment — two months after lawmakers called for them to be made public following USA TODAY’s requests to review the reports.

Scientists with the University of California at San Francisco were so worried that they wrote a letter to the White House Office of Science and Technology in April, 2010 raising “a number of red flags” on the scanners’ safety.
The “red flags” raised by these scientists are absolutely shocking and clearly expose the propaganda being put out by the TSA that these machines are safe.

Is something burning, or are you just computing again? New research published in the medial journal Fertility and Sterility (Nov 2010) reveals that laptop computers can roast a man’s testicles to the point where sperm production (and quality) starts to drop.

America’s hidden history is ugly and disturbing. No nation ever matched it. To Iraq alone, over the past two decades, it includes ongoing genocide, destruction, terror, occupation, and contamination – a horrendous combination of crimes, unmentioned in Western discourse.
Environmental Engineering Professor Souad N. Al-Azzawi documents them, including in his report titled, “Crime of the Century: Iraq’s

CT scans yield higher-resolution images than regular medical X-rays. Unfortunately, they also expose the patient to hundreds and sometimes thousands of times the amount of radiation.
The routine use of CT scans has vastly increased. In 1980, there were roughly 3 million CT scans performed. By 2007, that number had increased to 70 million. CT scans are now being promoted to healthy people – even whole body CT scans.

My, you look glowing today! Cancer patients who receive radiation of their thyroid glands by being given radioactive iodine are highly radioactive for up to a week following their release from the hospital — and they end up irradiating not just hospital rooms but also other patients, friends and family members. Radiation levels are so high in these people that they have set off radiation alarms designed to detect terrorist threats, says a congressional report.

Magda Havas demonstrates how WiFi connects your laptop, iPhone and iPad to the internet via microwave radiation. You will also learn how WiFi base stations, portable phones and baby monitors constantly radiate microwave radiation. The Swiss Government feels that all of these devices have the potential to do great harm if used incorrectly and warn their citizens.
Microwave radiation dangers in your home, 10/19/10

Mammograms deliver overwhelmingly more false positive results than true positives in women under the age of 40, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
In a false positive result, a mammogram detects signs of a tumor that turns out to be non-cancerous or otherwise not dangerous to a woman’s health.

Mobile phone firms have been accused of concealing warnings about the health risks of using their handsets.
A warning that Apple’s popular iPhone should be kept at least 15mm away from the body is buried deep inside the manual.
BlackBerry goes even further, saying customers should use their devices hands-free or keep them an inch from the body ‘including the abdomen of pregnant women and the lower abdomen of teenagers’. Again, this advice is hidden in the instruction booklet.

A tiny amount (a milligram) of this radioactive poison quick marches up your smelling nerves right into your brain and keeps firing 1.2 Million bullets a day – forever. That’s a bunch.
850 Rounds a Minute The radioactive 850 rounds a minute automatic weapon is about as big as the period at the end of this sentence, never needs reloading and never jams. It’s a perfect killing machine for brain cells and other cells. The range is about 20 cells, after that there is what the famous British physicist Dr. Chris Busby calls the “bystander effect.” He discovered it, he gets to name it.

As the privacy controversy around full-body security scans begins to simmer, it’s worth noting that courthouses and airport security checkpoints aren’t the only places where backscatter x-ray vision is being deployed. The same technology, capable of seeing through clothes and walls, has also been rolling out on U.S. streets.

The proper interpretation of this study is that the link between heavy cell phone use and brain tumors is confirmed, yet low level usage is actually beneficial. We need to determine what low level usage really means, but so far so good.

The research on depleted uranium comes out of French researchers that examined the manner DNA is affected by enriched and depleted uranium. The metal or chemical effect it seems is the more important in depleted uranium exposure.
Questions remain on the problem of inhalation and ingestion of depleted uranium in the sands of Saudi/Iraq that has a high silica content and the health effects that would be seen. Questions also remain on syngestic health effects when you add in other toxic exposures experienced by Gulf War Veterans.

A new report released by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement reveals that Americans’ exposure to radiation has increased more than 600 percent over the last three decades. Most of that increase has come from patients’ exposure to radiation through medical imaging scans such as CT scans and mammograms.
Americans Exposed to Atomic Bomb Levels of Radiation through Medical Imaging, CT Scans, Mammograms, 3/4/10

The compelling new video, Everything Nuclear, produced by David Weisman and the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, is packed with… authoritative interviews of experts on the myriad problems of nuclear power. Featured here is a transcription of the highly informative speakers juxtaposed against industry promotional videos and government propaganda videos.

The outback of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington State is called the T-Farm. It’s a rolling expanse of high desert sloping toward the last untamed reaches of the Columbia River. The “T” stands for tanks—huge single-hulled containers buried some fifty feet beneath basalt volcanic rock and sand holding, the lethal detritus of Hanford’s fifty-year run as the nation’s H-bomb factory.
Those tanks had an expected lifespan of thirty-five years; the radioactive gumbo inside them has a half-life of 250,000 years. Dozens of those tanks have now started to corrode and leak, releasing the most toxic material on earth—plutonium and uranium-contaminated sludge and liquid—on an inexorable path toward the Columbia River, the world’s most productive salmon fishery and the source of irrigation water for the farms and orchards of the Inland Empire, centered on Spokane in eastern Washington.
A Trip to America’s Most Toxic Place: Inside Hanford, 10/17/08

In 1979, depleted uranium (DU) particles escaped from the National Lead Industries factory near Albany, N.Y.,which was manufacturing DU weapons for the U.S military. The particles traveled 26 miles and were discovered in a laboratory filter by Dr. Leonard Dietz, a nuclear physicist. This discovery led to a shut down of the factory in 1980, for releasing morethan 0.85 pounds of DU dust into the atmosphere every month, and involved a cleanup of contaminated properties costing over 100 million dollars.
Imagine a far worse scenario. Terrorists acquire a million pounds of the deadly dust and scatter it in populated areas throughout the U.S. Hundreds of children report symptoms. Many acquire cancer and leukemia, suffering an early and painful death. Huge increases in severe birth defects are reported. Oncologists are overwhelmed. Soccer fields, sand lots and parks, traditional play areas for kids, are no longer safe. People lose their most basic freedom, the ability to go outside and safely breathe. Sounds worse than 9/11? Welcome to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Depleted Uranium – Far Worse Than 9/11, 5/3/06

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University’s medical center in Hershey have stumbled onto what may be an effective home remedy to prevent serious radioactive contamination of the thyroid gland from iodine-131 emitted in the event of a major nuclear plant mishap. They swab the skin with a tincture of iodine.
Of the many radioactive gases that can be emitted during a nuclear plant release, iodine-131 causes special concern. Because iodine is readily accumulated in the thyroid, exposure to radioactive iodine radioactive iodine can lead to serious, concentrated doses in the small metabolism-regulating gland. For years scientists have considered prescribing community-wide ingestion ingestion of potassium iodide
A white crystalline compound used as a source of iodine to treat thyrotoxic crisis and to prevent thyroid cancer in the event of overexposure to nuclear radiation. It is also used as an expectorant and antifungal. in regions downwind of a serious nuclear accident to block the thyroid’s uptake of radioactive iodine.
Tincture of iodine keeps radiation away.

By illegally using thousands of tons of nuclear waste in the form of armor piercing rounds, referred to as “depleted uranium” or “DU”, in the invasion of Iraq, the United States and Britain have gravely endangered not only the Iraqis and their own troops, but the entire world. In the first invasion, at least 320 tons of DU were exploded into Iraq, at least 1500 tons were blasted in the second illegal invasion.
Weapons of Mass Destruction Found In Iraq!

Nuclear power plants: A hidden world of untruths, unethical behavior

 

The long and the short of it is this: Nuclear power plants probably would not operate properly in Japan if workers were not willing to sacrifice their health, and possibly their lives.

It emerges that workers at nuclear plants routinely resorted to ingenious ways to conceal the true levels of radiation to which they were exposed–simply to go on earning a living.

That is the disturbing picture that emerges from accounts given by more than 10 people, either working at nuclear power plants or now retired.

They came out of the woodwork after The Asahi Shimbun reported in late July that a senior executive of a subcontractor to Tokyo Electric Power Co. ordered workers to cover dosimeters with lead plates to keep measured radiation doses at low levels.

One man in his 30s who is employed at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant recalled looking into the back seat of a vehicle parked within the complex in May and finding about 20 sets of items that every worker normally carries.

Each set consisted of a dosimeter that displays radiation exposure levels for that day, a badge-type dosimeter that measures accumulated radiation exposure levels over a longer period, as well as the IDs for the workers. The man peeked into the vehicle three hours later and noticed the gear was still in the back seat. He concluded that workers clocked in at the nuclear plant without their dosimeters.

He cited similar instances on five subsequent occasions.

Nuclear plant workers are forbidden from going on-site if they are exposed to accumulated radiation levels that exceed annual standards set by the government.

A man in his 40s echoed his colleague’s comments. He said that between March and April, there were 10 occasions when he noticed 10 sets of such items placed in a vehicle within the same parking lot.

Officials of TEPCO, operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, insisted they had no inkling of the ingenious ways that radiation exposure levels were concealed.

However, on Aug. 3, a TEPCO official said that a worker for a subcontractor got on with his job without displaying a dosimeter. The official said the utility would look into the matter because the company had discovered other similar cases.

LONG HISTORY OF CONCEALMENT

While it is troubling that workers hid their dosimeters while working at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, where radiation levels soared after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami last year, it is now clear that such practices have been in place for years, if not decades.

The man in his 30s who spotted the dosimeters left in the car recalled another incident about a decade ago when he worked within the reactor containment vessels at the No. 1 to No. 6 reactors of the Fukushima No. 1 plant.

At that time, the supervisor for the subcontracting company instructed the man to place his dosimeter in a lead container about the size of a tissue box that was placed within the reactor building.

The man said his work usually lasted about an hour. When the dosimeters were placed in the lead container, radiation exposure doses were close to zero. When the dosimeters were carried by the workers, the readings were between 0.3 and 0.4 millisievert.

The man also said that instructions to place the dosimeters in the lead container tended to increase toward the end of the fiscal year when the accumulated radiation exposure levels approached the 20-millisieverts standard established by the contracting company.

In reflecting on the practices, the man said, “If a worker diligently carried a dosimeter, he would not be able to work because the radiation levels would increase and set off the alarm. I felt it was only natural to place the dosimeters in the lead container.”

On other occasions, the dosimeters were hidden behind operating panels within the reactor building, he added. The individual in charge of radiation management at a subcontractor would remind the workers to be careful so that TEPCO or other authorities would not uncover the ruse.

“I have no idea how much radiation I was really exposed to,” the man said. “The company also does not allow me to get health checks for cancer. I am very concerned about my health.”

A retired man in his 70s who worked at several nuclear plants in western Japan cited yet another underhand practice when he was still working more than a decade ago.

He said one worker would hold on to the dosimeters of his colleagues and wait in an area where radiation levels were low.

“Workers of the electric power company and plant manufacturers also turned a blind eye to such practices,” he said. “That was a well-known practice among anyone who worked at nuclear plants for a number of years.”

One individual took his case to court.

Ryusuke Umeda, 77, of Fukuoka, spent many years at a subcontractor for a nuclear power plant. While working at the Shimane and Tsuruga nuclear plants, he said he was forced to do so without the benefit of dosimeters or protective masks.

In February, he filed a lawsuit at the Fukuoka District Court seeking to overturn a central government decision to not approve worker’s compensation for the heart attack Umeda claims was caused by his exposure to radiation.

“Workers cannot speak out because they are afraid of pressure from the company,” Umeda said. “Although I have repeatedly pointed out the problem, the central government has not even bothered to conduct an investigation.”

One high-ranking official of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare who has been involved in periodic inspections at the Fukushima No. 1 plant said, “Nuclear plants are sealed places where only a limited number of people are allowed in. Even if we hear rumors that dosimeters are not being carried by workers, it is very difficult to obtain evidence for such practices.”

RETIRED WORKER’S CONSTANT HEALTH FEARS

A 64-year-old man living in Kanagawa Prefecture contacted The Asahi Shimbun through family members after the newspaper published its initial report about covering dosimeters with lead plates.

He said such practices were common knowledge among nuclear plant workers. From his late 20s, the man said he spent about 30 years working at subcontractors for several nuclear plants around Japan.

The first time he removed a dosimeter was about five years after he began working. He just followed what everyone else was doing.

At that time, he received about 20,000 yen ($255) a day for minimal work. One worker wrapped string-shaped lead around the dosimeter.

On occasion, he found several dosimeters hidden in a tool box handed out to subcontractors that sent in workers to a reactor building.

One incident that sticks out in the man’s mind was from about 15 years ago when he worked at a nuclear plant in eastern Japan. The work involved inspecting the control valve to adjust the volume of water circulating within the core pressure vessel. The work was done in an area of high radiation levels because workers were limited to 15 minutes of work a day.

Before the start of work, the supervisor from the subcontracting company instructed the men to be careful about not becoming exposed to radiation.

The man immediately realized the supervisor was indirectly asking that radiation exposure levels recorded be kept low so that experienced workers would be able to work for longer periods. Before entering the room where the control valve was located, the man removed his dosimeter and hid it in a ventilation pipe.

Over a 10-day period, the man said he removed his dosimeter five or six days.

Several layers of vinyl were wrapped around the walls and floor near the control valve.

“That was done to prevent contaminated water from leaking because the radiation level was probably very high,” the man said.

While he was well aware of the dangers of radiation, the man said: “If we diligently carried the dosimeter, we would not be able to work at nuclear plants because we would very quickly (reach the radiation level limit). We had no choice because we had to make a living.”

Since retiring about eight years ago, the man’s eyesight has deteriorated due to inflammation. While the relationship with radiation exposure is unclear, the man said, “It would have been better if I had carried the dosimeters properly.”

At the same time, the man said, “Nuclear plants would not operate unless there were people like me willing to sacrifice their lives.”

(This article was compiled from reports by Miki Aoki, Toshio Tada and Tamiyuki Kihara.)
Source

 

Tepco Weighed Using Firearms to Avoid Fukushima Explosion

 

As the first hydrogen explosion rocked the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) officials scrambled to prevent a second blast, at one point weighing the use of firearms to shoot a hole in the reactor building to release the pressure.

“It was probably the last resort,” Hironobu Unesaki, a nuclear engineering professor at Kyoto University, said by phone yesterday.
Enlarge image Tepco Weighed Using Firearms to Avoid Fukushima Explosions

A handout screen shot shows Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s videoconference between the company’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power station in Fukushima and Tepco’s headquarters in Tokyo held on March 14, 2011. Source: Tokyo Electric Power Co. via Bloomberg
Enlarge image Tepco Weighed Using Firearms to Avoid Explosions at Fukushima

The No. 3 reactor building stands at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (Tepco) Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant stands in Okuma Town, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg

Footage of videoconferences between the nuclear plant and Tepco’s headquarters in Tokyo in the days after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami were released yesterday, showing confusion and tension among engineers and executives about how to contain the crisis, the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. More than 160,000 people were evacuated from the area after the damaged Fukushima reactors caused meltdowns and released radiation.

Officials were discussing methods to release hydrogen gas building up inside the facility housing the No. 3 reactor after the first explosion rocked the No. 1 unit on March 12, 2011. Videos show officials considering the use of firearms and a helicopter to drop an object into the reactor housing to make a hole, with those who proposed the actions at one point suggesting they may sound “wild” or “absurd.”

The plan was never carried out. Two days after the first hydrogen explosion, the building containing reactor No. 3 also blew up. The proposed solutions were likely rejected because those who would have carried out the plans would have been endangered had another explosion occurred, Unesaki said.
‘This is Serious’

“Headquarters, headquarters. Serious, this is serious,” plant manager Masao Yoshida called out to Tepco executives in a videoconference with headquarters in Tokyo soon after the second explosion occurred, videos of the crisis showed.

The exchanges are included in more than 150 hours of video recorded from March 11 to March 16 last year after the magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami crippled cooling and power systems at the Dai-Ichi plant, causing the meltdowns and radiation leaks. Tepco altered parts of the videos to conceal the faces and names of employees though some executives can be seen and identified.

Tepco made about 90 minutes of selected footage available to the public while allowing reporters to access all 150 hours at the utility’s head office until Sept. 7. The utility isn’t planning to release its in-house videoconference footage recorded after March 16, Shinji Obata, spokesman for the company, said by phone today. Bloomberg

 

Messages show conflict within NRC after Japan’s earthquake and tsunami

 

In the confusion following the earthquake and tsunami that damaged Japan’s Fukushima nuclear complex last March, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it was standing by to help.

But a trove of e-mails posted on the NRC’s Web site shows an agency struggling to figure out how to respond and how to deal with the American public while cutting through what one official called “the fog of information” coming out of Japan.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Japan quake puts spotlight on aging U.S. nuclear reactors

“THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” said an e-mail from the NRC operations center early on March 11, hours after the quake. “This may get really ugly in the next few days,” said one NRC official later in the day after a report that Tokyo Electric Power Co. was venting gas from a containment building.

Three days later, another official said, “It’s frustrating, but we have very little factual info as an agency.”

Now, as the first anniversary of the Fukushima catastrophe approaches, the initial response by regulators still holds lessons for the nuclear industry and policymakers.

The NRC e-mails reveal disagreement about how to advise the Japanese. The NRC staff chafed at some un­or­tho­dox advice coming from an ad hoc group of scientists assembled by Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Famed physicist Richard Garwin, one of Chu’s group, proposed setting off a controlled “shaped” explosion to break through the concrete shield around the primary steel containment structure to allow cooling water to be applied from the outside. One NRC scientist called the idea “madness.”

Another idea from the Chu group was to attempt a “junk shot” — a variation on what some engineers proposed to stop the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — to plug leaks of radioactive water from Fukushima’s nuclear reactors into the sea. When using a mixture of sawdust, newspapers and other junk failed, Japan’s Tepco ultimately used a compound known as liquid glass.

“The e-mails provide a candid picture of the level of uncertainty and confusion within the U.S. government and indicates that even U.S. experts had major divisions about what was going on and how to best mitigate the crisis,” said Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist and nuclear expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

One of the e-mails said that during the first week after the earthquake, a major U.S. company, Bechtel, offered to provide desperately needed equipment to pump sea water to cool the Fukushima reactors, but the price of $9.6 million came in at more than a dozen times what the e-mail called the “original price.” Bechtel says that it did not provide an initial estimate, nor did it make a profit, and that the price included the cost of equipment only, not time spent on design or delivery. The Energy Department stepped in to provide “a couple of million,” the e-mail said, and instead of three or four sets of pumps and hoses, only one was delivered.

While assuring Americans publicly that there was no danger, the NRC did not disclose one worst-case scenario, which did not rule out the possibility of radiation exceeding safe levels for thyroid doses in Alaska, the e-mails show. “Because things were uncertain, we considered it but the data that was available . . . did not support that very pessimistic scenario so no, it was not discussed publicly at that point,” NRC spokesman Scott Burnell said. In the end, Alaska was not affected.

As if the NRC didn’t have enough on its plate, the office of Jordan’s Queen Noor called the agency’s operations center asking that NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko brief the queen, according to a March 14 e-mail written by the NRC international relations officer Mugeh Afshar-Tous, seeking guidance from the State Department.

The NRC also found itself in a sensitive spot on the state of pools for spent nuclear reactor fuel. The pools were located either above or next to the Fukushima reactors. NRC officials were concerned during the first week about making sure those pools did not leak or dry up, which would lead to more radiation releases.

Yet the NRC did not want to share all its background — much of it classified — on this subject. Lyman said that after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center towers, the agency was worried about potential attacks on reactors. He said that in 2003 Sandia National Laboratory built a pool just to observe what might happen if a pool went dry or caught fire in the event of an airplane crash at a reactor.

The e-mails say that experts from France, Germany and Japan — all worried about their own reactors — sought access to the information on March 17, six days after the Fukushima quake. But the NRC was reluctant to share studies even when asked by a science adviser to the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office and an adviser to the French government’s institute for radiation protection and nuclear safety.

“There is a whole base of information about spent fuel fires and pools that the NRC is not sharing with the public,” said Lyman. “We understand that when you’re concerned about terrorist attacks that you want to conceal information, but I don’t think there’s any reason to maintain such a broad blackout over this type of information.”

The e-mails have been publicly available for weeks on the NRC Web site, but the voluminous files have attracted little attention.

Many of the e-mails show that the NRC shared much of the same confusion — and anxiety — as everyone else. A March 25 e-mail written by Mitchell T. Farmer, a nuclear engineer at Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, raised questions about the detection of noble gases outside the Fukushima plant and the low water pressure in unit 1.

“These are some questions, none of them good,” he wrote.

Many of the scientists were worried about water issues and the level of water in spent fuel pools. On March 29, Giulia Bisconti, a senior adviser at the Energy Department, said “Need to establish the water level of the pools — want to get water above the rods, maybe 3-4 feet above.” Per F. Peterson, chairman of the department of nuclear engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, wrote with urgency that Japanese workers had to get a hose into the pool, even if just an unmanned fire hose.

Not everyone relished the frequent calls with outside nuclear experts and physicists. Richard Lee, a veteran NRC staffer, on March 28 wrote to Dana Powers, a senior NRC scientist: “No call today. I know you going to cry!” Powers replied with apparent sarcasm, “Cry!?! No, I will need immediate therapy by overpriced psychologists of international reputation.”

Powers took a dim view of some of the ideas proposed by Chu’s group, such as Garwin’s explosion idea. Garwin was worried that pouring water into the reactor vessel and containment vessel wouldn’t be enough to cool the overheated fuel rods.

“Now we are seriously discussing using shaped charges in the vicinity of the head — madness,” Powers wrote.

“The rarefaction off the backside of the concrete is the way we kill people inside bunkers,” Powers wrote on April 5.

“Let’s send some of the DOE Sci. Council advisers to have this done. I have at least 2 suggestions!” Lee responded.

The Chu group also worried about metal fatigue and corrosion from the injection of salt water to cool the Fukushima plants, though the NRC scientists were less alarmed about that.

“I was glad to be able to help,”Garwin says. “Exactly what of what I was proposing and observing reached the Japanese government is not clear, but I did my best.”

“I brought together an informal group of top engineers, scientists and nuclear experts . . . to help better inform the U.S. response and to offer whatever independent help we could to TEPCO and the Japanese Government,” Chu said in a recent statement. “Our job was not only to brainstorm about possible solutions but also to think through the ‘what-ifs’ and help anticipate next steps . . . as well as new challenges that might be lurking around the corner.”

The NRC was also worried about appearances. By coincidence, the NRC staff had told the commissioners on March 11, the day of the Japanese earthquake, that they intended to issue a license extension to the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor on March 16.

But the Vermont Yankee reactor was built to the same design as unit 1 at Fukushima Daiichi; in the wake of the tsunami, the NRC communications experts realized, that would invite questions about the safety of the Vermont facility.

So on March 15, an e-mail was sent to the commissioners saying: “In light of recent international events, the staff has decided to delay the issuance of the VYNPS renewed license so that it can better prepare needed communication messages for internal and external stakeholders.”

NRC Commissioner Kristine Svinicki fired off a note: “I am very confused on what the regulatory nexus is here,” she said on March 15. “Are you withholding the issuance to perform some additional analysis? If so, what is the regulatory basis?”

Eric J. Leeds, director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, wrote to another colleague that “I assured her we are not doing any additional technical reviews or analysis and we are simply ensuring that our communications plans are prepared for the stakeholder responses which are sure to come. I reminded her that [Vermont Yankee] was . . . similar in design to the Japanese plants.” Source

 

Beta Radiation in the USA Following the Fukushima Disaste- The report [pdf]

 

Excess deaths in the US

Excess mortality in the US derived from CDC data. A pdf containing ongoing reports of mortality in 2011 is available here.

View this document on Scribd

 

Fukushima residents rip nuke power

 

By NATSUKO FUKUE
Staff writer

FUKUSHIMA — Residents of Fukushima Prefecture, speaking Wednesday at a government-sponsored public hearing on national energy policy, called for an end to dependence on nuclear energy by 2030.

The event in the prefecture that hosts the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant was the latest in a series of nationwide hearings by the central government to solicit views on its proposals for the target ratio of nuclear energy by 2030.

Unlike earlier gatherings, the government limited attendance to Fukushima residents and boosted the number of speakers from 12 to 30.

More than 20 of the 30 people allowed to express their opinion, chosen from 216 people who signed up for a chance to speak, said Japan should abandon nuclear power as soon as possible.

“The crisis has not ended yet. It’s completely wrong to restart nuclear reactors under such circumstances,” said a man who gave his name only as Endo. His comments drew loud applause.

“Those who can’t take responsibility (for the crisis) shouldn’t be so quick to talk about restarting reactors,” he said.

A retired man from Aizuwakamatsu agreed. He said Japan should immediately scrap all nuclear reactors. “I’m saying this partly because I regret I wasn’t thinking seriously about nuclear energy before the March 11 disaster,” he said, adding the government should make efforts to shift to green energy.

“Some say that the economy will stagnate without nuclear power, but we can’t choose something that puts our lives at risk,” he said.

Amid criticism over how participants were chosen to speak in the previous hearings, the government said this time it chose them at random regardless of which of three options they prefer for midterm energy policy: reducing nuclear power dependence to zero percent, 15 percent, or 20 to 25 percent by 2030.

Environment Minister Goshi Hosono, who attended the meeting, said the government regards the hearing in Fukushima as the most important, which is why the number of speakers was more than doubled.

But participants were skeptical about whether the central government will take their opinions into consideration when finalizing the energy policy.

“I don’t want them to use (the hearing) as an excuse that they listened to citizens’ opinions” said Hanazawa, a mother of two daughters in the city of Fukushima, who also stressed that the government should give up on nuclear power as soon as possible.

“The government should take responsibility for what happened” in Fukushima, she said. “There are monitoring posts everywhere in town. The weather forecast also talks about the level of radiation. This is not a normal way of life.”

The government, which initially planned to finalize the energy policy by the end of August after holding hearings in 11 cities, has reportedly postponed a decision until September or even later.Source

 

Tue, 24 July 2012 Fukushima Children Unwitting (and Unwilling) Radioactive Guinea Pigs

 

Seventeen months after the earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s six–reactor complex at its Fukushima Daiichi, discussions continue about the possible effects of the radiation “dusting” the prefecture’s inhabitants received, and their consequences.

Far outside most media coverage, 2012 is shaping up to be the media battleground between the massed proponents of the ongoing ‘safety’ of nuclear power, as opposed to a motley coalition of environmentalists, renegade nuclear scientists and anti-nuclear opponents, largely bereft of media contact.

The 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami double punch that effectively destroyed Tokyo Electric Power Company’s power plant complex has effectively become the newest “ground zero” in the debate over nuclear power. Advocates pro and con debate the implications of everything from the amount of damage to the release of radionuclides to the long term health effects on the Japanese population.

The stakes are high – quite aside from Japan’s multi-billion dollar investment in civilian nuclear energy, dating back to the 1960s, there remains the issues of Fukushima’s radioactive debris polluting neighbours.

All sides in the debate are playing for massive stakes, with the Japanese government and the nuclear industry broadly indicating the issue is under control. Accordingly, every issue from the amount of radiation released to the long term health consequences of the Fukushima disaster are subject to acrimonious debate.

That said, there is an involuntary irradiated “test” Fukushima group monitored since March 2011 displaying disturbing health abnormalities that may ultimately decide the debate, should the global media report it, forcing governments to debate its consequences.

The children of Fukushima.

The issue of nuclear radiation on human health cites besides Fukushima the August 1945 U.S nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the April 1986 explosion of the Chernobyl reactor complex in Ukraine, but in reality, there are no comparisons to evaluate Fukushima.

The 1945 U.S. Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were weapon “air bursts,” raising no nuclear debris from the ground. Furthermore, the Japanese medical establishment had no experience with the problem and when U.S. military forces arrived over a month later, information about the human cost of the bombings was censored for decades. Showing pictures of destroyed buildings, okay – showing victims with kimono patterns seared into their skin, no.

As for Chernobyl, the 26 April 1986 catastrophe represented a major black eye for Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev’s “glasnost” policy. Thanks to the heroic efforts of Soviet emergency workers, the Chernobyl smoking nuclear roman candle burned for nine days before being extinguished.

In contrast, Fukushima Daiichi has been like a suppurating wound, leaching radionuclides into the environment since March 2011, and since then furious arguments have swirled about not only how much radiation Fukushima released, but the potential long term health consequences.

But both disputes ultimately devolve into pure speculation.

Only two months ago TEPCO stated that the Fukushima debacle may have released twice as much radioactivity than Japan’s government initially estimated.

Accordingly, how can anyone estimate long term health effects when actual exposure rates are unknown?

That said, scientists do have a well defined test group – the population of Fukushima Prefecture surrounding the stricken NPP.

And the sixth report of the Fukushima Prefecture Health Management Survey, which was released in April, revealed after the survey examined 38,114 local children that 36 percent of Fukushima children have abnormal thyroid growths.

The Fukushima Prefecture Health Management Survey revealed that 13,460 children, or 35.3 percent, had thyroid cysts or nodules up to 0.197 inches long growing on their thyroids and 0.5 percent of the children had growths larger than 0.197 inches.

So, why might this be significant? According to the American Thyroid Association (ATA), thyroid problems from nuclear events occur when radioactive iodine is leaked into the atmosphere and thyroid cells that absorb too much of this radioactive iodine may become cancerous, with children being particularly susceptible.

Furthermore, the ATA reports noted that thyroid cancer “seems to be the only cancer whose incidence rises after a radioactive iodine release” and that that babies and children are at highest risk. The estimated lifetime radiation doses among the children are still low, but they do exist, the Japan’s National Institute of Radiological Sciences stated at a10 July international symposium in Chiba Prefecture.

Who cares about such an arcane issue? Well, the National Institute of Radiological Sciences conclusions refute the government’s assertion that Japanese children in effect received zero thyroid radiation doses from Fukushima.

Re Fukushima children’s health, the news just gets better. Two months ago Tokyo Shinbum reported that 60 percent of Fukushima children under 12 have tested positive for diabetes, according to Dr. Miura, the director of Iwase’s general hospital.

Why, possibly?

Because the Strontium-90 radioactive isotope quickly decays to become Yttrium-90, which can concentrate in the pancreas, causing pancreatic cancer or diabetes. That said, while noting the abnormality, Dr. Miura declined to link it to Fukushima radiation exposure.

So, where does the Japanese government go from here?

It might do worse than to follow the advice of Australian pediatrician Dr. Helen Caldicott, who after observing that “It is extremely rare to find cysts and thyroid nodules in children,” added that “you would not expect abnormalities to appear so early – within the first year or so – therefore one can assume that they must have received a high dose of (radiation)” before concluding, “it is impossible to know, from what (Japanese officials) are saying, what these lesions are.”

Calidcott also noted that Japanese officials are not sharing the ultrasound results with foremost experts of thyroid nodules in children before noting, “The data should be made available. And they should be consulting with international experts ASAP. And the lesions on the ultrasounds should all be biopsied and they’re not being biopsied. And if they’re not being biopsied then that’s ultimate medical irresponsibility. Because if some of these children have cancer and they’re not treated they’re going to die.”

Nothing to see here, move along – unless your child is part of that 35.3 percentile.

Still, something for Westerners to think about the next time their government promotes building a nuclear power plant nearby – or if you live close to an existing one. Source

 

Japan's Nuclear Scandals and The Fukushima Disaster- The Report

 

1. SAFETY BREACHES AND COVER-UPS
“It’s a fact that there was an unreasonable overconfidence in the technology of Japan’s nuclear power generation.” −− Banri Kaieda, head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, quoted in Norimitsu Onishi, 24 June2011, ‘ ‘Safety Myth’ Left Japan Ripe for Nuclear Crisis’,New York Times.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi meltdowns, fires and explosions of March 2011 were by far Japan’s worst-ever nuclear accidents, but they can also be seen as the latest in a long line of accidents in Japan’s nuclear industry − anindustry notorious for its dangerous mismanagement, secrecy, dishonesty and slack regulation.Whereas the earthquake and tsunami were natural disasters, Fukushima was a man-made disaster. Establishingthat argument is the purpose of this paper. The paper does not consider the consequences of the accident butsome are briefly summarised here:
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Three people died (not from radiation exposure) at Fukushima Dai-ichi from March 11−14 and dozens of people were injured. Other nuclear disaster-related deaths have beenreported − for example Japan's self- defence force discovered 128 elderly people abandoned by medical staff at a hospital six miles from theFukushima plant; most were comatose and 14 died shortly afterwards.
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More than 110,000 people were evacuated because of the nuclear disaster according to the Japanesegovernment’sInvestigation Committee.Most are still unable to return to their homes and some never will. The toll on people’s health and mental well-being has been significant − one indication being thesharpincrease in suicide rates as a result of the tsunami, earthquake and nuclear disaster.
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It will be decades before the ruined reactors are decommissioned. Decades before the legal battles haveconcluded. Contamination with long-lived radionuclides will persist for many generations − caesium-137will be a concern for around 300 years.
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One preliminarystudy estimates a long-term cancer death toll of “around 1,000”;another preliminary study estimates “~100s cases” of fatal cancers from Fukushima fallout.
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TEPCO could face compensation claims amounting toUS$136 billion.Direct and indirect economic costs from the disaster will amount to hundreds of billions of dollars.Failure to properly protect back-up power generators was a direct cause of the Fukushima disaster. Tounderstand why a power utility would fail to properly protect vital safety equipment at a plant with six nuclear power reactors, we need to understand the systemic mismanagement of Japan’s nuclear industry. A logicalstarting-point is the scandal which broke in 2002.On 29 August 2002, the Japanese Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency (NISA)r evealed details of multiple ‘malpractices’ by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The information initially came from awhistleblower who worked with a TEPCO contractor, General Electric International Inc.At that point29 cases of ‘malpractice’ had been identified involving 13 TEPCO reactors, including reactors at Fukushima. It wasreported later that these practices had gone since 1977 (if not earlier), the total number of incidents was put at nearly 200, and all Japanese nuclear utilities were involved.TEPCO’s ‘malpractices’ included:
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falsification of inspection records over many years;
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covering up data about cracks in water circulation pumps and pipes which are critical for reactor cooling;
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failure to report cracks in reactor core shrouds (stainless steel cylinders surrounding the reactor core), steamdryers, access hole covers, and components associated with jet pumps (which circulate cooling water insidethe reactor);
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in 1991 and 1992, tests of the leak rate of a Fukushima reactor containment vessel werefaked by surreptitiously injecting compressed air into the containment building;
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written records of cracks in neutron-measuring equipment at Fukushima were deleted by contractor Hitachiat TEPCO’s request; and
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eight TEPCO reactors were still operating although required repairs had not been carried out.Kei Sugaoka, who used to conduct inspections at Fukushima,warned the government in a 28 June 2000 letter about TEPCO’s continued operation of a damaged steam dryer 10 years after he first pointed out the problem

 

Who Ordered The Fukushima Workers To Falsify The Radiation Readings?

 

A company charged with decontaminating the devastated Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant encouraged its workers to falsely lower their radiation dosimeter readings by covering the devices with lead, according to a leaked tape of an internal meeting.

Nuclear plant workers are not allowed to be exposed to more than 50 millisieverts of radiation a year. But managers at Build-up, a company that provided insulation on the pipes that would pump irradiated water out of the plant, believed that doses experienced inside the plant, which suffered a meltdown, meant workers would quickly reach their limit.

A senior executive gave the team at the site lead boxes that they were told to make into shields.

The workers were then told to place these over the dosimeters. Lead effectively blocks radiation, and produces a significantly lower reading.

When some of them refused, the executive called a meeting.

The executive cajoled the workers by saying, “You can no longer make a living when the dose runs out,” according to a tape that was given by somebody present at the meeting to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

“I think this is almost a crime,” retorted one of the workers.

An argument broke out, and while the executive said the decision was voluntary, the rhetoric became threatening.

“Perhaps you are not cut out for working at nuclear plants,” he said. “Go back to your hometown and do some other job.”

Three of the workers resigned immediately, while at least nine agreed to wear the shields.

Fukushima was severely damaged during a tsunami and earthquake last March. Three of its reactors suffered full meltdowns, releasing potentially fatal doses of radiation exceeding the normal levels by a factor of thousands.

Official logs list one of the workers who agreed to wear the shield among those exposed to the highest dose of radiation out of all 5,000 clean-up operatives at the plant. His real exposure is likely to have been exponentially higher.

Build-up worked at the site from November 2011 until March 2012. The company has admitted that workers used the shields on at least one occasion.

The government says it will launch an investigation.

TEPCO, the much-maligned plant operator who hired Build-up, say they were aware of the existence of the shields, but believed they were never used by workers. It is not clear if shields were also used by other contractors.

A parliamentary investigation called the meltdown, which was one of the worst accidents in the history of nuclear energy, “a profoundly man-made disaster” and “the result of collusion between the government, the regulators and TEPCO, and the lack of governance by said parties.”

A newly-published Stanford University study says that between 15 and 1,300 people could die as a result of exposure to radiation from Fukushima.

Article first appeared on RT.com.

Japanese officials are investigating whether workers cleaning up in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster were pushed to shield their radiation meters so they could keep working for longer on the contaminated plant.

Under Japanese regulations, workers can be exposed only to a limited amount of radiation before they must be pulled off the job, a safety rule that has crimped the flow of workers to the disaster site. It is expected to take decades to salvage the Fukushima plant, crippled by a devastating tsunami last year.

Japanese media reported the company behind the alleged cover-up was Build-Up, a subcontractor for Tokyo Electric Power Co. Its president, Takashi Wada, said another executive admits to telling nine workers to use lead shields to reduce their radiation readings, Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Wada said the executive told him it happened only once. Labor officials are now investigating whether other workers were pressured or forced to underreport their radiation exposure at Fukushima, searching for lead plates that were reportedly hidden inside protective suits and later removed.

After shielding their meters with the lead covers, “we threw the plates away in grassy areas within the plant grounds. We thought it would be difficult to find because radiation levels were high there,” one of the workers told Asahi Shimbun.

Anyone could face up to six months in prison or a fine of roughly $6,300, according to Japanese media.
The revelations come as Japan continues to reckon with the failures behind the Fukushima nuclear disaster. In a final report issued Monday, a government panel found the disaster could have been avoided, urging “radical strengthening” of preventative measures to stop future accidents.

The Japanese utility and the government “were bound by a myth of nuclear safety and the notion that severe accidents do not happen at nuclear plants in our country,” the final report found.

The government findings were more gently worded than a blistering recent report from an independent parliamentary commission, which accused the Japanese government and the utility of colluding to sidestep safety measures that would have prevented the nuclear disaster. Yet even the softer words of the government report are likely to be heralded by protesters pushing Japan to abandon nuclear power.

Most of the nuclear reactors in the country are idle, shut down for inspections and upgrades. Protests against nuclear power have swelled to include tens of thousands of people as the Japanese government has begun restarting reactors, arguing atomic power is crucial to avoid soaring prices and electricity shortages this summer. Celebrities and a former prime minister have joined the throngs.Source

 

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 3 Reactor Building Operating Floor Area Investigation

Northwest part of the Operating Floor. Photo taken on July 11, 2012 [Captions by TEPCO. Photo striations in the originals.

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East part of the Operating Floor. Photo taken on July 11, 2012

Fourth floor (Photo taken from the equipment hatch). Photo taken on July 11, 2012

Operating Floor [No date. Appears to be clip of Tokyo Air Service photo 20-21 March, 2011.]