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Fukushima

Japanese government says current evacuation plans are faulty, apologies

Japanese central government officials are now saying that they goofed on the evacuation zone currently in place.

Officials say the current evacuation zone is based on a short term, low level, nuclear emergency. They did not expect the current situation to have lasted so long.

Japanese officials say they will revise evacuation plans to take into account long term exposure to high levels of radiation.

Many local governments have given up relying on central government data, and have started their own evacuation plans.

”I feel very sorry that a local government had to decide on its own. As soon as possible, the government and…nuclear experts working together must present clear guidelines on from where to where is safe.”-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano

Fukushima

Reuters misleads, TEPCO lies about severity of reactor core explosion

In a 06 April 2011 Reuters article they compare an explosion of a reactor core, to the explosion of the reactor buildings three weeks ago:  “The possibility of another hydrogen explosion like those that ripped through reactors 1 and 3 early in the crisis, spreading high levels of radiation into the air, was ‘extremely low’, he said.”

This statement is completely misleading. It makes it sound like an explosion of the reactor core wont be any worse the the earlier explosions of the reactor buildings. Reuters does cite Tokyo Electric Power Company officials as the source of this misleading info.

If TEPCo is saying a reactor core explosion isn’t that bad then they are flat lying. If a reactor core explodes it will release a constant stream of deadly radiation, much worse than what is happening now!

It is possible that the TEPCo official was simply saying he thought the chance of an explosion was low (just an explosion), not that the chance of another explosion with resulting spewing of radiation was low. But that’s how the Reuters article reads. However TEPCo now has a proven track record of lying to the public.

In any case, don’t let anybody fool you, a reactor core explosion is THE worst case scenario, for a reason!

 

Fukushima

Nuke Analyst says TEPCo making things worse, new explosion will be much worse than earlier explosions!

NHK (Nippon Housou Kyoukai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation) interviewed a nuclear analyst who said that Tokyo Electric Power Company’s reactionary actions have actually made the situation with their Fukushima Daiichi plant much worse.

Also, he warned that hydrogen gas build up in the Reactor 1’s core is much much worse that the hydrogen gas build up the resulted in the reactor’s outer buildings to explode. TEPCo is going to try using nitrogen to counteract the hydrogen gas build up.

If a reactor core, or containment vessel, explodes it will result in a constant stream of deadly radiation being spewed into the air.

Fukushima

Plutonium contamination found in soil!

Tokyo Electric Power Company admitted that they are still detecting plutonium contamination in the dirt around their Fukushima Daiichi facility.

This is the second time they’ve announced such detection.  It is an indicator that plutonium is being constantly spewed from the reactors. Plutonium is a byproduct of reactors that use uranium enriched fuel rods.

Besides being radioactive, plutonium is highly toxic (poisonous).

Fukushima

Radiation in Ocean will spread across Pacific in 3 Months

French nuclear analysts have used radiation numbers, publicly release by Japanese officials, to determine how bad the contamination is in the Pacific Ocean.

The Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety determined that with the current level of contamination (that is the contamination that has already happened) fish and seaweed will need constant monitoring. Also, they said the high levels of radioactive contamination, recently spilled by reactor 2, will spread through out the Pacific Ocean in three months.

They pointed out that some radiation will float with the ocean currents, while other isotopes will sink to the ocean floor.  The ocean does not affect isotope half life, so cesium-137 still has a half life of 30 years in water.  Cesium-137 is in the ocean.

This does not assume any further contamination, so expect it to get worse.

 

Fukushima

Pregnant women to be evacuated!

Iitate village in Fukushima Prefecture, announced they will start evacuating pregnant women, thanks to increasing radiation levels.

Iitate is 40km (24.8 miles) from the damaged nuclear power plant, and outside the official danger zone, but local officials say they’ve picked up high radiation readings in their area.

Radiation levels exceed standards set by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. So the town, on its own decision with no help from the central government, is going to evacuate pregnant women, children younger than 3 and their guardians. Pregnant women will leave first, by the end of the week. Town officials are still trying to make arraignments, regarding where they will evacuate the people to.

 

Fukushima

No Cold Shut Down for Fukushima says Analyst

NHK interviewed a nuclear analyst who said a cold shut down of the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi can’t be done.

He explained that the reactors are too unstable, and TEPCo is still having trouble getting electrical power to the control rooms. He also said the situation is so dangerous that officials must keep everyone constantly updated.

 

Fukushima, Idaho

Idaho Rain Water over safe limits for Iodine-131

On 22 March 2011, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency reported rain water contamination numbers for Idaho. Do you understand them?

The EPA reported 242 pCi/L of I-131. Understand?  pCi means Picocuries.  I-131 means iodine-131. L means liters. 242 Picocuries per liter of iodine-131. Should you be worried? Yes!

The Federal government set safe levels of iodine-131, in drinking water, at 0.111 Becquerels per liter.  Using a Picocurie to Becquerel conversion program I discovered that the March 22 readings worked out to 8.954 Becquerels per liter, more than the government’s safe limits.

The EPA levels were in rain water, but rain water is used for livestock, and ends up in many municipality’s water systems.

Fukushima

Reactor 1 damaged, explosion immanent?

Tokyo Electric Power Company saying Reactor 1 showing signs of damaged reactor core. They believe hydrogen gas is building up inside. An explosion is immanent unless the hydrogen gas can be counteracted.

They plan on injecting nitrogen gas into the reactor core tomorrow morning.

So far TEPCo does not have a good track record with any of their attempts to control the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Fukushima, International

Russian leaders say situation in Japan Real Bad

Who better to know when a nuclear situation is real bad, then those who dealt with Chernobyl.  Russia, back then part of the now extinct Soviet Union when the Chernobyl disaster happened, says Japan is in trouble.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the situation at Fukushima Daiichi is showing no signs of improvement. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says the situation is still out of control.

From the very beginning of the nuclear disaster in Japan, Russian nuclear engineers have warned that the type of design used at Fukushima Daiichi (by the way, designed by General Electric) is dangerous if damaged in a natural disaster. Basically it can not be saved.