TEPCO May Need to Dump Fukushima Water Into Sea, UN Says

[Octafish]

This makes me sad for our planet's future.



Tepco May Need to Dump Fukushima Water Into Sea, UN Says

by Jonathan Tirone
Bloomberg, May 15, 2015

Tokyo Electric Power Co. should consider discharging water contaminated by the Fukushima Daiichi reactor meltdowns into the Pacific Ocean, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

More than four years after the nuclear power-plant disaster in Japan, the United Nations agency renewed pressure for an alternative to holding the tainted water in tanks and offered to help monitor for offshore radiation.

“The IAEA team believes it is necessary to find a sustainable solution to the problem of managing contaminated water,” the Vienna-based agency said in a report. “This would require considering all options, including the possible resumption of controlled discharges into the sea.’

Tepco officials are still using water to cool molten nuclear fuel from the reactors and while on-site tanks were installed to hold 800,000 cubic meters of effluent, engineers have battled leaks and groundwater contamination. The assessment, published Thursday, was based on visits by an IAEA team in February and April.

The IAEA also said it would send scientists to collect water and sediment samples off the Fukushima coastline to improve data reliability.
‘‘TEPCO is advised to perform an assessment of t

CONTINUED...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-15/tepco-may-need-to-dump-fukushima-water-into-sea-un-says

[think]

1. Sigh.... /nt

[Octafish]

5. Four Years. And now they tell us it was all for show.

Apart from the Public Relations of building thousands of storage tanks and filling them with who-knows-what:

It didn't buy time.

It didn't stop the leakage.

It didn't help clean up Fukushima.

It didn't help contain three exposed reactors, each in an unknown meltdown state, but giving off so much radiation robots can't even get close enough to take a picture.

[malaise]

14. Some of us knew the smell of

bullshit early.

[Octafish]

78. News coverage of Fukushima disaster minimized health risks to general population

Science Daily reported a new analysis finds that U.S. news media coverage of the Fukushima disaster largely minimized health risks to the general population. Researchers analyzed more than 2,000 news articles from four major U.S. outlets.



What's not to sideshow?

News Coverage of Fukushima Disaster Found Lacking

American University sociologist’s new research finds few reports identified health risks to public

By Rebecca Basu
American University, March 10, 2015

Four years after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the disaster no longer dominates U.S. news headlines, though the disabled plant continues to pour three tons of radioactive water into the ocean each day. Homes, schools and businesses in the Japanese prefecture are uninhabitable, and will likely be so forever. Yet the U.S. media has dropped the story while public risks remain.

A new analysis by American University sociology professor Celine Marie Pascale finds that U.S. news media coverage of the disaster largely minimized health risks to the general population. Pascale analyzed more than 2,000 news articles from four major U.S. outlets following the disaster's occurrence March 11, 2011 through the second anniversary on March 11, 2013. [font color="green"]Only 6 percent of the coverage—129 articles—focused on health risks to the public in Japan or elsewhere. Human risks were framed, instead, in terms of workers in the disabled nuclear plant.[/font color]

Disproportionate access

"It's shocking to see how few articles discussed risk to the general population, and when they did, they typically characterized risk as low," said Pascale, who studies the social construction of risk and meanings of risk in the 21st century. "We see articles in prestigious news outlets claiming that radioactivity from cosmic rays and rocks is more dangerous than the radiation emanating from the collapsing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant."

Pascale studied news articles, editorials, and letters from two newspapers, The Washington Postand The New York Times, and two nationally prominent online news sites, Politico and The Huffington Post. These four media outlets are not only among the most prominent in the United States, they are also among the most cited by television news and talk shows, by other newspapers and blogs and are often taken up in social media, Pascale said. In this sense, she added, understanding how risk is constructed in media gives insight into how national concerns and conversations get framed.

Pascale's analysis identified three primary ways in which the news outlets minimized the risk posed by radioactive contamination to the general population. Articles made comparisons to mundane, low-level forms of radiation;defined the risks as unknowable, given the lack of long-term studies; and largely excluded concerns expressed by experts and residents who challenged the dominant narrative.

[font color="green"]The research shows that corporations and government agencies had disproportionate access to framing the event in the media, Pascale says. Even years after the disaster, government and corporate spokespersons constituted the majority of voices published. News accounts about local impact—for example, parents organizing to protect their children from radiation in school lunches—were also scarce. [/font color]

Globalization of risk

Pascale says her findings show the need for the public to be critical consumers of news; expert knowledge can be used to create misinformation and uncertainty—especially in the information vacuums that arise during disasters.

"The mainstream media—in print and online—did little to report on health risks to the general population or to challenge the narratives of public officials and their experts," Pascale said. "Discourses of the risks surrounding disasters are political struggles to control the presence and meaning of events and their consequences. How knowledge about disasters is reported can have more to do with relations of power than it does with the material consequences to people's lives."

While it is clear that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown was a consequence of an earthquake and tsunami, like all disasters, it was also the result of political, economic and social choices that created or exacerbated broad-scale risks. In the 21st century, there's an increasing "globalization of risk," Pascale argues. Major disasters have potentially large-scale and long-term consequences for people, environments, and economies.

[font color="green"]"People's understanding of disasters will continue to be constructed by media. How media members frame the presence of risk and the nature of disaster matters," she said.[/font color]

SOURCE with Links: http://www.american.edu/media/news/20150310-Fukushima.cfm

Almost should just bold and make green the entire article because Rupert Murdoch and the rest of CIABCNNBCBSFixedNoiseNutworks won't do their jobs. Amazing the number of people who continue to spew the nuclear industry's side on this, considering how little REAL NEWS COVERAGE has been devoted to Fukushima by Corporate Owned Media.

[malaise]

80. Sadly money trumps human lives

They don't give a flying fuck if they destroy people or any other living things - profit and the corporate agenda are all that counts

[arcane1]

2. "A sustainable solution to the problem of managing contaminated water"

[Octafish]

10. 800,000 cubic meters of contaminated water.

That's a meter-deep lake that is one kilometer long and 8/10-of-a-kilometer wide.

That TEPCO's admitted to.

Who knows what lurks beneath? What isotopes? How much? What else is leaking?

[FBaggins]

19. You might try actually reading the report

The water they're recommending releasing has been cleaned of all radionuclides except tritium.

[Octafish]

30. I did and that's not what it said.

- Begin Page 37 -

Acknowledgement 18:

The IAEA team notes that the rehabilitation of the subdrains and the construction of a treatment system for pumped subdrain water are nearly complete. As the subdrains are placed in operation, they are expected to further reduce the groundwater ingress by about 150 m3, and to near zero following the installation of the land-side ice wall. The IAEA team appreciates TEPCO’s planning to ensure that pumping from the subdrains is carried out while preventing the outflow of contaminated water from the buildings. After controlling the ingress of groundwater, TEPCO also plans to seal leakage points on reactor and turbine building walls.

- - - - - - - - - -

Advisory Point 12:

While recognizing the usefulness of the large number of water treatment systems deployed by TEPCO for decontaminating and thereby ensuring highly radioactive water accumulated at the site is not inappropriately released to the environment including the adjacent Pacific Ocean, [font color="red"]the IAEA team also notes that currently not all of these systems are operating to their full design capacity and performance.[/font color] The IAEA team encourages TEPCO to continue on-going efforts to improve the utilization of these treatment systems. In their planning of water treatment schedules, TEPCO is advised to take into consideration that testing and optimising the operating conditions of complex multi-stage water treatment systems can take time, particularly for those technologies that are new and being deployed under field conditions for the first time.

PDF report: https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/missionreport130515.pdf

The report refers to non-operable cleansing systems that you imply are removing strontium, americium, plutonium and so on. That's not what you said the report said, is it, FBaggins?

[Major Nikon]

31. That's really the best you could come up with?

Because not all systems are processing as much water as they should this means they are planning on dumping water than contains radionuclides other than tritium?

According to TEPCO’s current plans, contaminated water – after treatment to remove all radionuclides (except tritium) – will be stored in above ground tanks. The expected total storage capacity is 800,000 m3, with potential for further augmentation. However, storage being a temporary measure TEPCO has to find a more sustainable solution. For this TEPCO should consider all options, including the possible resumption of controlled discharges of treated water to the sea as advised during the previous mission. In the opinion of the IAEA team, any decision to resume controlled discharges should be taken after carefully considering all relevant aspects including potential impact on the health of the public, protection of the environment and socioeconomic conditions – all in consultation with relevant stakeholders.

“The IAEA team believes it is necessary to find a sustainable solution to the problem of managing contaminated water at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi NPS. This would require considering all options, including the possible resumption of controlled discharges to the sea. TEPCO is advised to perform an assessment of the potential radiological impact to the population and the environment arising from the release of water containing tritium and any other residual radionuclides to the sea in order to evaluate the radiological significance and to have a good scientific basis for taking decisions. It is clear that final decision making will require engaging all stakeholders, including TEPCO, the NRA, the National Government, Fukushima Prefecture Government, local communities and others”.

[Octafish]

32. That's what TEPCO plans, Major Nikon. Which is different from what TEPCO does.

That's a big difference that even you should notice.

[Major Nikon]

34. Try to stay on topic

It wasn't TEPCO's plan, it was from the IAEA and it didn't say what you pretended it said.

[Octafish]

35. IAEA was reporting what they found at TEPCO's Fukushima, then.

Oh, which is what I said.

[Major Nikon]

46. No

It wasn't.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026677362#post30

[RobertEarl]

47. Hey! We have a major expert!!

So, expert, where are they storing all the radionuclides that have been removed?

TEPCO: "According to TEPCO’s current plans, contaminated water – after treatment to remove all radionuclides "

I do look forward to your expertise on just where TEPCO is storing these concentrated radionuclides. Should be easy for you to tell us?

[Major Nikon]

48. Evidently they are keeping them in your neighborhood which is why you have no swallows in the winter

But yeah, it is pretty easy for anyone who bothers to check rather than asking ridiculous questions.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2013/images/handouts_130329_01-e.pdf

[RobertEarl]

49. What does the pdf state?

If you read it you should easily be able to state where it is stored and how much is in storage. But you don't?

Of course, most of the stuff is in the Pacific.

And the reason swallows are not here in the winter is they migrate which as a birder for 30 years is well understood. The person who claimed they all lived in her town was asked about swallows. But you knew that, yet you keep harping with that totally false statement, so, your integrity rating, again, is majorly bad.

Where is the corium?

[Major Nikon]

50. Train wreck...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6563744

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026563744#post53

[Octafish]

58. Deflect. Deny. Disrupt.

Sow Discord. Nice ring to it.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/08/the-15-rules-of-internet-disinformation.html

[Major Nikon]

59. You deflected by claiming what was not in the report was

Then you denied doing it after you were caught red handed.

As far as disrupt goes, meh. Kinda funny actually, although I do enjoy your far out there UFO posts better.

[Octafish]

63. So nothing to say about TEPCO dumping radiation into the ocean?

Interesting that you pay so much attention to what I post.

[Major Nikon]

66. Jeez, and you think I'm the one deflecting?

If you don't want to admit waffling on this post, be my guest:

30. I did and that's not what it said.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026677362#post30

But let's just not pretend this is about anything else while you're accusing me of deflecting, OK?

[Octafish]

71. Time Waster.

[Major Nikon]

72. The entertainment value alone has been worth it

As I said, I love your posts.

[Octafish]

74. You must have a screen open to them or get some kind of IPO instant alert.

Within minutes of a post, there you are.

Hope you don't have to pay anything for your level of entertainment.

[Major Nikon]

76. I wish I did

These kind of posts are not to be missed.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2386337

[RobertEarl]

81. Yep, train wreck for you

Just 21 recommendations and a lot of losers who tied to debate the idea.

Glad to see it rents space in your head. You may actually learn something.

Now, where is the corium?

[Major Nikon]

82. Oh yeah, everyone lost but you, according to you

And you were just testing everyone's knowledge, which is why you edited the post.

Absolutely

Fucking

Hilarious

Thanks for reminding me about that part.

[RobertEarl]

83. Well, you lost

That's why it still is in your head and making you divert away from the question I asked you. Where is the corium?

Glad I am not you. It must be awful carrying around posts in your head for so long. You probably should just log out and go do something useful?

[Major Nikon]

84. ...

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Danth%27s_Law

[RobertEarl]

85. So you are devoid of answers?

Majorly devoid. You are just embarrassing yourself now.

Where is the corium? Besides in the pacific and on land killing the swallows?

[Major Nikon]

86. Sure, that's it. BTW, check out this empty space

25. Did you see any over the winter?

I didn't see any swallows at all this winter.

On edit: This of course was a trick question to see if la poster knew the difference between a swallow and a sparrow.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026563744#post25

"of course"

[RobertEarl]

87. Look at what I replied to

The swallows all live in Morganton WV, said the poster who never showed up again.

But here you are embarrassing yourself. You should take a clue from that poster who was not even as bad as you are.

Have you no shame?

[Major Nikon]

88. So why do you spend so much time defending it if it's as apparent as you claim?

And it's not as if the entire premise of your OP wasn't drop dead hilarious to begin with.

I guess it occupies entirely too much space in your head, no?

I look forward to the next time you decide to descend into the rabbit hole.

[FBaggins]

90. Who needs sock puppets when we have you RE?

The perfect "straight man".

The IAEA document makes clear that the majority of the contaminated water has already been cleaned of all but tritium. Do you really think that they need to point to which tank(s) the removed waste is stored in- in order for that to be true?

[Octafish]

93. Tritium is good for you, right, FBaggins?

Oh. And what about all the other radioactive elements like plutonium, americium, strontium, uranium that are supposed to be filtered, but who knows? Filtration isn't perfect, but hey! This is Nuclear we're talking about.

[FBaggins]

95. I don't know about "good for you", but it isn't particularly dangerous.

Tritium is a very weak beta emitter. It averages a mere .006 MeV (about 200 times weaker than cesium's beta decay). It doesn't have the ability to get past your clothing or skin, so external exposure is virtually nill even at high bq rates.

Of course it can be ingested since it's almost always part of a water molecule (though as seawater, human ingestion is also negligible)

Lastly - as part of that water molecule, the biological half-life for tritium is only about a week. So even that tiny amount of incredibly weak beta radiation simply isn't giving anyone a dose that's worth discussing.

Now - I know this is going to pique your paranoia gland because it used to freak poor BeFree out so much... but do you know how much tritium is around you from non-Fukushima sources and you never knew it?

Oh. And what about all the other radioactive elements like plutonium, americium, strontium, uranium that are supposed to be filtered, but who knows?

You constantly confuse your own ignorance on a subject as an excuse to claim that something is unknown or even unknowable (and thus an excuse to make up your own reality that's directly contradicted by the facts).

Here's some light reading for you:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2013/images/handouts_130329_01-e.pdf

[Octafish]

101. So you need to quote TEPCO to show my ''Ignorance.''

Here's what I wrote about TEPCO in March 2011:

TEPCO: Plutonium is not dangerous. Where's the Boss?

Links there -- apart from the one to DU! -- all still work. So, who's "Ignorant," FBaggins?

[FBaggins]

103. So you point to your own faulty prior posts to defend your current faulty posts?

Hilarious.

As has been pointed out probably a dozen times now. Tepco never said that plutonium is not dangerous (and you have never once provided evidence to the contrary - nor could you).

They said that the plutonium that had been discovered on site was not dangerous. They never said that plutonium itself was never dangerous.

And they were of course correct. Even on-site at Fukushima, the residual plutonium left over from Hiroshima/Nagasaki and thousands of nuclear test explosions globally, is an ongoing Pu exposure that dwarfs any Pu exposure from Fukushima.

I know that means that your raison d'etre here on DU has always been pointless, but that's just something that you'll have to learn to live with.

[Octafish]

104. ''Tepco never said that plutonium is not dangerous.'' -- FBaggins

(and you have never once provided evidence to the contrary - nor could you).

Except it's in the original post, as well as in the links to where CNN reported what TEPCO said:

TEPCO says plutonium found on quake-damaged plant grounds

By the CNN Wire Staff
March 28, 2011 -- Updated 1735 GMT (0135 HKT)

okyo (CNN) -- Some plutonium found in soil on the grounds of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may have come from its earthquake-damaged reactors, but it poses no human health risk, the plant's owners reported Monday.

The element was found in soil samples taken March 21-22 from five locations around the plant, the Tokyo Electric Power Company told CNN late Monday. The company said it was equivalent to the amounts that fell on Japan following aboveground nuclear weapons tests by other countries in past decades.

[font size="6"][font color="red"]"It is not a health risk to humans," the company said. But it added, "Just in case, TEPCO will increase the monitoring of the nuclear plant grounds and the surrounding environment."[/font color][/font size]

Plutonium is a byproduct of nuclear reactions that is also part of the fuel mix at the plant's No. 3 reactor. It can be a serious health hazard if inhaled or ingested, but external exposure poses little health risk, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Three plutonium isotopes -- Pu-238, -239 and -240 -- were found in soil at five different points inside the plant grounds, Tokyo Electric reported. It said that plutonium found in two of the samples could have come out of the reactors that were damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northern Japan.

CONTINUED...

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/28/japan.nuclear.plutonium/?hpt=T2

This is, what, the fifth time you've had me post this to show how wrong you are? Oh, I see. Youre a TIME WASTER, FBaggins.

[FBaggins]

106. Dishonest on that point... as usual

I still can't tell whether you're lying to the rest of us, or just yourself... but either way you aren't telling the truth.

You're dishonestly defining "it" in a way that cannot be true. You're essentially saying "here's what they meant when they said 'it" in that quote)"... yet the evidence directly contradicts that.

CNN clearly understood the context, what excuse do you have?

Some plutonium found in soil on the grounds of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may have come from its earthquake-damaged reactors, but it poses no human health risk, the plant's owners reported Monday.

"It" is "Some plutonium found in soil on the grounds" not "plutonium" in general.

The company said it was equivalent to the amounts that fell on Japan following aboveground nuclear weapons tests by other countries in past decades

[Octafish]

113. As that's different from what I wrote, it shows who's dishonest. Right, FBaggins?

Now you're blaming "context" for what CNN wrote, which is what TEPCO stated, which is what I reported they said.

You, OTOH, chose to ignore that to attack me, so I see where you get your "dishonest" from.

[FBaggins]

117. It is in no sense "different from what you wrote"

Nowhere has Tepco ever said that "plutonium is not dangerous". Not once... ever.

You want to claim that that's what they said, but you've only been able to provide your own spin on what was actually said.

[Octafish]

118. Then I show you that and you say it's not so.

It's how you operate.

[FBaggins]

120. You have never once done so... so we'll never know.

But falsely claiming same is how you operate.

[FBaggins]

124. Let's take a look at what they ACTUALLY said.

As inconvenient for you as primary sources are... it's probably an important lesson.

On March 28th 2011, as part of monitoring activity of the surrounding
environment, we conducted analysis of plutonium contained in the soil
collected on March 21st and 22nd at the 5 spots in Fukushima Daiichi
Nuclear Power Station. As a result, plutonium 238, 239 and 240 were
detected as shown in the attachment.

We will continue the radionuclide analysis contained in the soil.

‹Results of the analysis›

-Plutonium was detected in the soil of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
Station.

-The density of detected plutonium is equivalent to the fallout observed
in Japan when the atmospheric nuclear test was conducted in the past.

-The detected plutonium from two samples out of five may be the direct
result of the recent incident, considering their activity ratio of the
plutonium isotopes.

-The density of detected plutonium is equivalent to the density in the
soil under normal environmental conditions and therefore poses no major
impact on human health. TEPCO strengthens environment monitoring inside
the station and surrounding areas.

-We will conduct analysis of the three additional soil samples.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11032812-e.html

That's the company's actual words that CNN translated into their report... which you then decided to alter for your own purposes. Nowhere do they say that plutonium in general is not dangerous. Just as I've been telling you for years... they said that the amount that they found was not a danger because it was no different than the amount normally found.

[Octafish]

125. That's not what I wrote, though. That's TEPCO.

I quoted what they told CNN.

The reason you don't want to point that out is that it's what I said, too.

That also exposes you for what you are, FBaggins.

[FBaggins]

127. Stunning

I provide the actual primary source for their position at the time... and you claim that your own twisted interpretation of someone else's reporting about that statement is more reliable because we can't trust what the company says.

Wow.

[FBaggins]

38. What you really meant to say was...

... that you read part of it and made up what you thought it said. Just as with your error below re: the supposed failure of the ice wall. Let's review some of the parts that you obviously missed:

As of February 2015, about 600,000 m3 of contaminated water is stored on-site. More than half of this volume has been already been treated, removing all radionuclides other than tritium.

...snip...

According to TEPCO’s current plans, contaminated water – after treatment to remove all radionuclides (except tritium) – will be stored in above ground tanks. The expected total storage capacity is 800,000 m3, with potential for further augmentation. However, storage being a temporary measure TEPCO has to find a more sustainable solution. For this TEPCO should consider all options, including the possible resumption of controlled discharges of treated water to the sea as advised during the previous mission.

...snip...

More than half of the nearly 600,000 m3 of water stored in tanks has been treated so far using the ALPSs and strontium treatment systems and TEPCO expects to complete the treatment of the remaining water in the next few months.

...snip...

Advisory Point 13:
The IAEA team is of the opinion that the present plan to store the treated contaminated water containing tritium in above ground tanks, with a capacity of 800,000 m3, is at best a temporary measure while a more sustainable solution is needed.

They're clearly talking about releasing only water that has already been treated

The report refers to non-operable cleansing systems that you imply are removing strontium, americium, plutonium and so on. That's not what you said the report said, is it, FBaggins?

You have an amazingly creative imagination. Do you think that you fool anyone other than yourself?

If Tepco built a car that was supposed to get 50 mpg and you read an article claiming that it only got 43mpg... I'm certain that you would start linking to that article as proof that the car didn't run at all... an in fact didn't really have an engine.

Note that the "more than half" was as of February. They are reportedly almost done now.

[Octafish]

43. No need to invent what I wrote

On page 13 of the report

Advisory Point 12:

While recognizing the usefulness of the large number of water treatment systems deployed by TEPCO
for decontaminating and thereby ensuring highly radioactive water accumulated at the site is not
inappropriately released to the environment including the adjacent Pacific Ocean, [font color="red"]the IAEA team also
notes that currently not all of these systems are operating to their full design capacity and
performance.[/font color] The IAEA team encourages TEPCO to continue on-going efforts to improve the
utilization of these treatment systems. In their planning of water treatment schedules, TEPCO is
advised to take into consideration that testing and optimising the operating conditions of complex
multi-stage water treatment systems can take time, particularly for those technologies that are new
and being deployed under field conditions for the first time.

BTW: What you wrote, FBaggins, does serve to draw attention from the central fact: TEPCO will likely have to dump its radioactive waste into the Pacific Ocean.

You don't need much of an imagination to know we really don't know what's in it, how much of whatever it contains is there, and how much has been released.

[Major Nikon]

53. At least you admit you used your imagination

[Octafish]

54. What's a poster called who only wastes time, Major Nikon?

You repeatedly missattribute to me things I did not write. You posts photos meant to disparage me. You attempt to intimidate with hypocritical demands like "stay on topic" while linking a music video.

For some reason, you only serve to distract from the reality that Fukushima is an ongoing global catastrophe.

I won't be intimidated by you and nuclear power's supporters. Otherwise, I'd also be a coward and fool.

[Major Nikon]

60. Octafish

Example:

30. I did and that's not what it said.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026677362#post30

I supplement your deflections and denials with a bit of entertainment:

[Octafish]

64. You remind me of a someone who used to stalk my posts to smear me, Major Nikon.

The dude also was a complete waste of time.

[Major Nikon]

67. Your own posts do an excellent job all on their own

Why do you think I'd need or want any such thing? You keep pretending I'm somehow misrepresenting you, but not surprisingly you don't offer any examples. Funny how that works, eh? You just don't play the victim all that well and should try something else.

Just sayin'

[Octafish]

73. ''Play Victim'' as opposed to detract, distract, disinform, delay...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025969645#post74

[Major Nikon]

75. Are you kidding? I love your UFO posts

[Octafish]

77. So why play Major Distraction, Major Nikon?

Tell us what you love, rather than implying they are something other than what they are: TRUE.

You misunderstood on purpose then. The facts are there are more to reality than we know.

[Major Nikon]

79. I had forgotten about that gem, thanks for reminding me

[Rex]

3. Well obviously the UN and Bloomberg belong under the bus!

Tepco...

[Octafish]

11. I'm glad UN's finally asked TEPCO to start taking radiation samples.

It's a start.

Now, four years and all that crapola about a plan to store the water and clean it and all that we're scrubbing like heck with billion dollar machines we're going to buy once their designed and built and pass inspection it's unbelievable is just that...a plan.

[TBF]

4. I'm sure a representative of the nuclear power

Lobby will be along shortly to answer all questions and concerns.

[Octafish]

12. It's difficult not to conclude that Fukushima is a bad thing.

Not that there's not enough money in the world to make some say it and smile. For instance, this nice Lady Barbara Judge, once working in the USA as an SEC lawyer and now serving as a UK regulator and aristocrat extraordinaire, who understood that there's a great demand in Corporate McPravda to keep the world safe for nuclear power.



The mood at Fukushima Daiichi is "fantastic."

Lady Barbara Judge: Japan's smart nuclear weapon

The head of the UK's Pension Protection Fund has been drafted in to help assure the residents of Fukushima that its reactors are safe

MARGARETA PAGANO
The Independent (UK) SUNDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2013

Lady Barbara Judge is just back from inspecting the nuclear plants at Fukushima in Japan, the ones closed down after the devastating earthquake and tsunami two years ago. She visited the control rooms at Daiichi – plant one – where three of the reactors went into meltdown and met many of the men who risked their lives by working during the emergency to cool the over-heated reactors and eventually shut them down.

It's not what she expected but the mood there was " fantastic". "What was astonishing was the optimism and hope shown by the workers that these plants can be made safe, and that they can start operating again," she says. But this was in stark contrast to the mood of the Japanese public, still in a state of shock and strongly opposed to the restoration of the nuclear programme.

Already being hailed as Japan's nuclear saviour, Lady Judge was in Fukushima with the bosses of the plants' owner, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), which was criticised for its bungled reaction to the catastrophe. It's her first trip since being appointed deputy chairman of Tepco's new Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee, set up after the disaster to propose a new self-regulatory structure for the industry. If all goes well, Tepco hopes to persuade the new government – said to be more favourable than the last – to restart two of the plants later this year.

SNIP...

It's her long experience of Britain's nuclear industry that attracted the Japanese, who rarely bring in outsiders, let alone a woman. Lady Judge's credentials go back to 2002 when she became a director of the UK's Atomic Energy Authority, and was then chairman for six years until 2010. She is still closely involved with the industry so, a few days after returning from Fukushima, was able to take Tepco executives to the West Midlands' Oldbury site to show how it has been decommissioned using the strictest safety protocols.

SNIP...

Yet there's one group of people who stay stubbornly anti-nuclear – women, especially the more educated ones. Wherever you are in the world, she says, all the focus groups show that it's better-off women who don't trust fission.

CONTINUED...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/lady-barbara-judge-japans-smart-nuclear-weapon-8497747.html

It seems that government service in the United States can open doors to [s]money[/s] opportunity in the United Kingdom. From the comment section at e-news we learn:

weeman
February 17, 2013 at 10:29 am

Tokyo Rose I have named her, just like the second world war the propaganda machine is on full spin cycle and we all know the false lies that they promote and brainwashing of populace.

...

Time Is Short
February 18, 2013 at 2:09 pm

Here's a big reason she was brought in:

'Radioactive Asia: There Will Be 100 Additional Nuclear Reactors in Asia in 20 Years'

http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2013/02/radioactive-asia-there-will-be-100.html

If she's working for those that control the majority of the uranium mining/processing, you can see the money involved.

Can't let the murder of 8 billion people get in the way of third-quarter profits, can we?

...

Sickputer
February 16, 2013 at 9:20 pm

Her track record has not always been so cheery:

April 23, 2010

"WASHINGTON—Massey Energy Co., owner of a coal mine where 29 workers were killed this month, on Monday said that the board member responsible for governance had resigned because of the demands of "other ongoing business activities."

Lady Barbara Thomas Judge's resignation, effective immediately, comes amid growing criticism of the management of the Richmond, Virginia, company. For months, shareholders had complained that Lady Judge was unable to devote enough time to the job because she served on too many corporate boards. The complaints about Massey's corporate governance intensified after a coal-mine explosion two weeks ago that was the deadliest in 40 years."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703757504575195070711065984.html

Another article in 2007:

"But questions remain. Why does Lady Judge need so many jobs? How did she land her role at the UK Atomic Energy Authority, when she had no relevant experience? Is it relevant that a female friend was on the selection panel?
Lady Judge bristles. She points out that, as a lawyer, it is her job to master a subject about which she is initially ignorant. To prepare for her role at the Atomic Energy Authority, she even studied her son's physics books. She also has a strategic business role, which she is well equipped to carry out.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-452635/Is-best-connected-woman-Britain

The monied class have zero compunction about irradiating the Northern Hemisphere, the Southern Hemisphere or any which way they slice up their planet and protect their loot with the nukes We the People have so kindly paid for.



It's getting apparent that us renters are SOL. The new tenants will be better able to afford the protective gear necessary for surface habitation.

[KoKo]

23. Thanks...glad to have that info.

[Octafish]

44. Can you imagine what we could do with her budget?

The woman powering Japan's nuclear hopes post-Fukushima

By Catriona Davies, CNN
Updated 7:41 AM ET, Tue February 5, 2013

Few people would use the word "fantastic" to describe a visit to Fukushima, the site of Japan's 2011 nuclear disaster. But Lady Barbara Judge is not just anybody.

Judge, a 66-year-old lawyer and businesswoman with dual British and American citizenship, has been called in by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the company behind the Fukushima, to help relaunch Japan's nuclear power program, which was suspended completely in March 2011.

On March 11, 2011, Japan suffered its largest recorded earthquake and tsunami, which killed thousands and devastated parts of the country. Seawater flooded the Fukushima nuclear power planted and caused loss of cooling and partial meltdown in three reactor units.

The nuclear accident was eventually classified at Level 7, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, and the authorities evacuated residents within a 20-kilometer radius of the plant.

Judge visited Fukushima Saturday to talk to workers in her new role as deputy chairman of TEPCO's Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee.

"It was fantastic," she said. "It was absolutely hope and enthusiasm, not despair."

Judge met TEPCO employees, some of whom had been on duty on the day of the accident and others who had been working at the plant ever since to clean up the debris and radiation and to make the site fit to reopen.

CONTINUED...

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/05/business/lady-judge-fukushima-japan-nuclear/

[johnnyreb]

6. "Controlled discharges"

[Octafish]

13. Do you, too, get the feeling TEPCO leaves the faucet open at night?

Fisheries ‘shocked’ at silence over water leak at wrecked Fukushima No. 1 plant

KYODO, JIJI,
Japan Times STAFF REPORT, Feb. 25, 2015

Fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture slammed Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Wednesday after it emerged that water containing cesium and other radioactive isotopes has been draining into the Pacific near the Fukushima No. 1 plant and that Tepco did nothing to prevent it despite learning of the leak last May.

SNIP...

The utility admitted Tuesday it failed to disclose leaks of rainwater containing radioactive substances from a drainage ditch at the stricken plant even though it was aware of high radiation in the water last spring.

The ditch receives runoff from the roof of the No. 2 reactor building, which is highly contaminated with radioactive substances such as cesium.

Tepco has said it recorded 29,400 becquerels of radioactive cesium per liter in water pooled on the rooftop.

The water also contained 52,000 becquerels of beta-ray-emitting radioactive substances such as strontium-90. It also detected some 1,050 becquerels of radioactive cesium and 1,500 becquerels of beta ray-emitting radioactive materials per liter near an outlet leading to the sea.

SNIP...

Yuji Moriyama, a Tepco spokesman said the utility did not disclose the information because there is no evidence of environmental impact.

CONTINUED...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/02/25/national/tepco-admits-failed-disclose-cesium-tainted-water-leaks-since-april/#.VVZZSPlVhBc

[Eleanors38]

21. This is NOT a porno site.

[yuiyoshida]

7. Kore wa totemo baka sugiru

(This is extremely stupid.)

[Octafish]

15. I am truly sorry for what the people of Japan are experiencing due to Fukushima.

Fukushima is a disaster unequaled in history. It is due to human greed, especially that of the power hungry bastards in Wall Street-on-the-Potomac as much as TEPCO. That said, the triple meltdown could have been avoided.

From Greg Palast*

Fukushima: They Knew

This month marks the 3rd Anniversary of the Fukushima Nuclear disaster.

By Greg Palast for FreePress.org
Monday, March 10, 2014

EXCERPT...

I was ready to vomit. Because I knew who had designed the plant, who had built it and whom Tokyo Electric Power was having rebuild it: Shaw Construction. The latest alias of Stone & Webster, the designated builder for every one of the four new nuclear plants that the Obama Administration has approved for billions in federal studies.

But I had The Notebook, the diaries of the earthquake inspector for the company. I'd squirreled it out sometime before the Trade Center went down. I shouldn't have done that. Too bad.

All field engineers keep a diary. Gordon Dick, a supervisor, wasn’t sup- posed to show his to us. I asked him to show it to us and, reluctantly, he directed me to these notes about the “SQ” tests.

SQ is nuclear-speak for “Seismic Qualification.” A seismically qualified nuclear plant won’t melt down if you shake it. A “seismic event” can be an earthquake or a Christmas present from Al Qaeda. You can’t run a nuclear reactor in the USA or Europe or Japan without certified SQ.

This much is clear from his notebook: This nuclear plant will melt down in an earthquake. The plant dismally failed to meet the Seismic I (shaking) standards required by U.S. and international rules.

Here’s what we learned: Dick’s subordinate at the nuclear plant, Robert Wiesel, conducted the standard seismic review. Wiesel flunked his company. No good. Dick then ordered Wiesel to change his report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, change it from failed to passed. Dick didn’t want to make Wiesel do it, but Dick was under the gun himself, acting on direct command from corporate chiefs. From The Notebook:

Wiesel was very upset. He seemed very nervous. Very agitated. [He said,] “I believe these are bad results and I believe it’s reportable,” and then he took the volume of federal regulations from the shelf and went to section 50.55(e), which describes reportable deficiencies at a nuclear plant and [they] read the section together, with Wiesel pointing to the appropriate paragraphs that federal law clearly required [them and the company] to report the Category II, Seismic I deficiencies.

Wiesel then expressed his concern that he was afraid that if he [Wiesel] reported the deficiencies, he would be fired, but that if he didn’t report the deficiencies, he would be breaking a federal law. . . .

CONTINUED...

http://www.gregpalast.com/fukushima-they-knew-3/

Which is why TEPCO, Japan, Nuke Inc and the USA went out of their way the other day to play up the tsunami's role:

Tsunami, not Quake, Seen as Main Cause of Fukushima Accident

by Mari Iwata
Wall Street Journal, Oct. 8, 2014

Japan’s nuclear regulator said Wednesday that the tsunami following the March 11, 2011, earthquake–not the quake itself–was the main cause of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The conclusion matters because of the implications for other nuclear-power plants. Virtually all of Japan is prone to earthquakes, but some places are relatively protected from tsunamis. Currently all of the nation’s 48 reactors are offline, and the government is weighing whether to restart some next year.

In the March 2011 nuclear accident, three reactors melted down after the plant lost main and backup power, paralyzing cooling systems.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority studied why the No.1 reactor lost backup power and concluded on Wednesday in a report that the tsunami was the main cause, based on data about temperature, pressure and other parameters. Those data were stable immediately after the earthquake hit at 2:46 p.m., suggesting the plant didn’t suffer critical damage until the arrival of the tsunami some 45 minutes later.

A previous investigation by Japan’s parliament had left more room for the possibility that the earthquake itself did significant damage.

The regulator said it would translate the report into English and post it on its website. The Japanese-language version is here.

“You cannot say there was no damage by the earthquake at all. But you can say the major cause was the tsunami, looking at the data,” said Tamotsu Kozaki, a nuclear engineering professor of the Hokkaido University.

CONTINUED...

http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/10/08/tsunami-not-quake-seen-as-main-cause-of-fukushima-accident/

Which is not what the scientists said, way back when they were warning TEPCO, which elected to take the cheapskate's way out.



Here's a bit to add to the atomic pile:

Masanobu Shishikura: The Man Who Predicted the Tsunami in 2009.

British scientist 'predicted nuclear power station problem'

Toshiaki Sakai: Utility Engineer Warned of Tsunami Threat at Japanese Nuclear Plant in 2007

Apart from venting hot air in committee meetings, TEPCO did nothing, and hoped for the best. Saved a lot of money, too.

[yuiyoshida]

25. Seen all of this before

Thanks.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

52. Obviously the wrong people are performing the tests.

Wiesel then expressed his concern that he was afraid that if he reported the deficiencies, he would be fired, but that if he didn’t report the deficiencies, he would be breaking a federal law. . . .

If you can get fired based upon reporting the results of a test, you're not the right person to be performing that test. It has to be an outside, independent group, and one that has no financial incentive, even in future, to 'suck up to' the industry.

[bvar22]

8. "Everybody RELAX!!!"

"I know Science, and they are just venting a little steam.
There is nothing to worry about.
These plants are perfectly safe because they have redundant back up systems!
Anybody who disagrees with me is a Henny-Penny Luddite."

(Not one of DUs better moments)

[Octafish]

16. Authority figures project like a real Authority.

Look under the hood, though, and it's a squirrel in a cage making that thing do that.

From Bloomberg's take we go to the industry's POV on the same report:

IAEA sees continued progress at Fukushima Daiichi

The third mission of international experts assembled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has published its final report on decommissioning progress at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan.

World Nuclear News, 15 May 2015

The 15-member team visited Japan between 9 and 17 February at the request of the country's government. The main purpose of the mission was to provide an independent review of the planning and implementation of decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The mission was conducted based on IAEA Safety Standards and other relevant good practice, aimed at assisting Japan in the implementation of its mid- to long-term roadmap on cleaning up the site.

The mission followed two similar missions in April 2013 and November-December 2013. The first of those was to carry out an initial review of Japan's roadmap. The second was to provide a more detailed review of the revised roadmap and mid-term challenges.

The latest mission released a preliminary summary report at the end of their trip to Japan in February. It released its final report yesterday, having handed a copy to Japanese authorities on 13 May.

The reports says, "Japan has achieved good progress in improving its strategy and the associated plans, as well as in allocating the necessary resources towards the safe decommissioning" of Fukushima Daiichi.

The team said it was "impressed by the thoughtful, diligent and continued efforts of Japanese counterparts to carefully consider all advisory points [given by previous missions] and to work on their effective implementation." The report added, "It is obvious that serious intention and commitment to improve execution of the planned on-site activities is in place, as is a common approach of all parties involved."

The team's report said: "The situation on-site has been improved since the last IAEA mission in 2013. Several important tasks were accomplished such as: completion of the removal of fuel from unit 4; the improvement and expansion of contaminated water treatment systems; the installation of new tanks and associated systems for contaminated water storage; the operation of underground water by-pass; and the clean-up of the site resulting in a reduction in radiological dose rate."

However, the report says that, despite progress, the situation at the site "remains very complex". A number of "challenging issues" remain, it says, including the continued flow of underground water into the main buildings and the accumulation of contaminated water; the long-term management of radioactive waste; as well as the removal of fuel.

CONTINUED...

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-IAEA-sees-continued-progress-at-Fukushima-Daiichi-1505154.html

Gotta look at the sunny side of life. Glass is half full. Somewhere the sun is shinin'. Just noticed they didn't mention "Pacific Ocean" at all. Heh heh heh. Must have been an oversight. What a coincidence.

[Cerridwen]

9. Direct link to IAEA Int'l Mission Report:

https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/missionreport130515.pdf

A couple of excerpts re: water contamination treatment:

<snip to page 13>

Advisory Point 12:

While recognizing the usefulness of the large number of water treatment systems deployed by TEPCO
for decontaminating and thereby ensuring highly radioactive water accumulated at the site is not
inappropriately released to the environment including the adjacent Pacific Ocean, the IAEA team also
notes that currently not all of these systems are operating to their full design capacity and
performance. The IAEA team encourages TEPCO to continue on-going efforts to improve the
utilization of these treatment systems. In their planning of water treatment schedules, TEPCO is
advised to take into consideration that testing and optimising the operating conditions of complex
multi-stage water treatment systems can take time, particularly for those technologies that are new
and being deployed under field conditions for the first time.

<snip to Page 18>

Improvement and expansion of contaminated water treatment systems,
along with installation of more robust storage tanks and associated systems
for contaminated water storage, have been achieved to strengthen
the capability to deal with contaminated water.

Operation of the underground water by-pass, including comprehensive control of radioactivity before
discharging to the ocean, is another measure which has made significant progress. The underground
water is pumped up before it reaches contamination under the main buildings of Fukushima Daiichi
NPS.

[Octafish]

18. Thanks, Cerridwen! You might've snipped out the most important point.

Advisory Point 13:

The IAEA team is of the opinion that the present plan to store the treated contaminated water containing tritium in above ground tanks, with a capacity of 800,000 m3, is at best a temporary measure while a more sustainable solution is needed. Therefore the present IAEA team reiterates the advisory point of the previous decommissioning mission: “The IAEA team believes it is necessary to find a sustainable solution to the problem of managing contaminated water at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi NPS. [font color="red"]This would require considering all options, including the possible resumption of controlled discharges to the sea. [/font color]TEPCO is advised to perform an assessment of the potential radiological impact to the population and the environment arising from the release of water containing tritium and any other residual radionuclides to the sea in order to evaluate the radiological significance and to have a good scientific basis for taking decisions. It is clear that final decision making will require engaging all stakeholders, including TEPCO, the NRA, the National Government, Fukushima Prefecture Government, local communities and others”.

- End Page 13 -

- Begin Page 14 -

IAEA

The IAEA team recognizes the need to also consider socioeconomic conditions in the consultation process and to implement a comprehensive monitoring programme to ensure that there is no detrimental impact on human health and the environment. In this regard the IAEA is ready to continue providing assistance in implementing such a comprehensive sea water monitoring programme. Advisory Point 14: The IAEA team advises that TEPCO should consider producing a better calibrated, robust groundwater model, which will allow TEPCO to continuously evaluate and optimize the performance of various countermeasures, such as the land-side ice wall, pumping from by-pass wells, and the operation of sub-drains. An improved model, and a continuously updated, detailed map of water levels, chemical composition, and radioactivity concentrations around the entire site (including under the higher ground west of the groundwater by-pass wells), will help to provide a baseline for monitoring and controlling the migration of any radioactivity from surface contamination. As the multiple water capture, water treatment, and water storage activities are highly interdependent and complex, TEPCO may also consider implementing a “systems analysis” with associated system dynamics computer tools to help understand the integrated set of contaminated water management activities both on the land and sea-side, assess volumes of water and waste production, the impact of shifting schedules, as well as the interdependency of water management, waste management, and future decommissioning activities.

SNIP...

- End Page 14 -

SNIP...

- Begin Page 37 -

Acknowledgement 18:

The IAEA team notes that the rehabilitation of the subdrains and the construction of a treatment system for pumped subdrain water are nearly complete. As the subdrains are placed in operation, they are expected to further reduce the groundwater ingress by about 150 m3, and to near zero following the installation of the land-side ice wall. The IAEA team appreciates TEPCO’s planning to ensure that pumping from the subdrains is carried out while preventing the outflow of contaminated water from the buildings. After controlling the ingress of groundwater, TEPCO also plans to seal leakage points on reactor and turbine building walls.

- - - - - - - - - -

Advisory Point 12:

While recognizing the usefulness of the large number of water treatment systems deployed by TEPCO for decontaminating and thereby ensuring highly radioactive water accumulated at the site is not inappropriately released to the environment including the adjacent Pacific Ocean, [font color="red"]the IAEA team also notes that currently not all of these systems are operating to their full design capacity and performance.[/font color] The IAEA team encourages TEPCO to continue on-going efforts to improve the utilization of these treatment systems. In their planning of water treatment schedules, TEPCO is advised to take into consideration that testing and optimising the operating conditions of complex multi-stage water treatment systems can take time, particularly for those technologies that are new and being deployed under field conditions for the first time.

PDF report: https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/missionreport130515.pdf

Gosh. They're still talking about the ice wall? I heard last summer that it was going nowhere, except the bank. Great to know there's still a chance.

[Cerridwen]

20. .pdf to text copy/paste and formatting always gives me heartburn.

I manage to find what I can and slog through from there.

Not a pretty sight, I might add.

[Octafish]

22. I see now I worded that wrong, Cerridwen. Thank you for finding the IAEA report.

My frustration comes from the scope of the problem and the miniscule attempts of resolving it. They're gonna need more than robots and ice walls. The illustration only hints at the size of the problem. For instance, the location of wells intended to divert the flow of ground water from running underneath the reactors. Unfortunately, the flow is to broad to tap with a few wells. Rain falls on the contaminated mountains to the west, toward the bottom of the photo, and runs up and around and into the sea.



Fukushima No. 1?s never-ending battle with radioactive water

BY KAZUAKI NAGATA, STAFF WRITER
Japan Times, March 11, 2015

The disaster that struck four years ago may have abated for most of the Tohoku region, but the nightmare continues at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, which suffered three reactor core meltdowns and is plagued daily by increasing amounts of radioactive water.

Tepco hopes to improve the situation via two key measures: a 1.5-km-long sunken wall of frozen soil encircling stricken reactors 1, 2 and 3 and the damaged reactor 4 building to keep groundwater from entering and mixing with coolant water leaking in the reactor building basements, and “subdrain” wells around the buildings to pump up the tainted groundwater for treatment and ultimate discharge into the Pacific.

The utility hopes these steps will drastically reduce the amount of radioactive water, which is currently some 300 tons each day.

Many experts, however, say Tepco can’t expect smooth sailing as a wall of underground ice of such magnitude has never before been attempted.

And Tepco’s plans to pump up tainted groundwater via the subdrains and discharge it into the sea after removing most of its radioactive components also appears iffy. The company has already lost the trust of fishermen over its failure to disclose the extent of the radioactive water flowing into the Pacific.

The crippled complex has to contend with some 300 tons of new tainted groundwater every day, and part of the process has entailed a nonstop effort to build steel storage tanks. The groundwater, mainly rain that seeps into the soil both at the complex and at locations farther inland, flows toward the sea, including into the basements of the buildings housing the three wrecked reactors.

There, the groundwater mixes with radioactive water that is leaking from cracks in the reactors. Tepco must keep pumping new water into the reactors to cool the melted fuel rods within. The basements are too radioactive to enter.

The problematic groundwater flow used to amount to 400 tons daily, but the utility has taken some steps, including paving over part of the complex with asphalt to keep rainwater from seeping underground.

To stop the increase of tainted water, Tepco must keep all, or at least nearly all, groundwater from flowing into the basements.

CONTINUED...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/11/national/fukushima-1s-never-ending-battle-radioactive-water/#.VVZgAflVhBc

[Cerridwen]

24. No problem.

I find it easier to read about current events if I can drill down to the source. I try to share those sources when possible and when I have time. It becomes problematic for me when the source is a .pdf file or image. My issues with .pdf files I've already mentioned. When it comes to image sources, I hate bandwidth theft by linking directly to another website's images and going through the process to save an image file to my image hosting service and posting online is frequently a royal pain.

The result of most of that is I don't post as much as I might if I streamlined a few steps.

In the interim, I just sort of muddle through.

[Mnemosyne]

17. May?!!

[Octafish]

33. True, dat. Should read 'apart from all the radioactive water JAPAN and TEPCO already HAVE dumped.'

No one knows how much radioactive water, as TEPCO, Japan or the USA seems to have actually recorded what they've released, let alone reported what they know about it.

What National Rupert Murdoch Geographic wrote a couple years' back:

Fukushima's Radioactive Water Leak: What You Should Know

By Patrick J. Kiger, National Geographic News
PUBLISHED AUGUST 09, 2013

EXCERPT...

Scientists who have been studying the situation were not surprised by the revelation, since radiation levels in the sea around Japan have been holding steady and not falling as they would if the situation were under control. In a 2012 study, Jota Kanda, an oceanographer at Toyko University of Marine Science and Technology, calculated that the plant is leaking 0.3 terabecquerels (trillion becquerels) of cesium-137 per month and a similar amount of cesium-134. While that number sounds mind-boggling, it’s actually thousands of times less than the level of radioactive contamination that the plant was spewing in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, estimated to be from 5,000 to 15,000 terabecquerels, according to Buesseler. For a comparison, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima released 89 terabecquerels of cesium-137 when it exploded. (See related: "Animals Inherit a Mixed Legacy at Chernobyl.&quot

Another potential worry: The makeup of the radioactive material being leaked by the plant has changed. Buesseler said the initial leak had a high concentration of cesium isotopes, but the water flowing from the plant into the ocean now is likely to be proportionally much higher in strontium-90, another radioactive substance that is absorbed differently by the human body and has different risks. The tanks (on the plant site) have 100 times more strontium than cesium, Buesseler said. He believes that the cesium is retained in the soil under the plant, while strontium and tritium, another radioactive substance, are continuing to escape. (Related: "Japan's Nuclear Refugees&quot

CONTINUED...

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/08/130807-fukushima-radioactive-water-leak/

Thank you for caring about this, Mnemosyne. Amazed how little people in the real world I've talked to know about it -- or know much beyond "I thought it was under control."

[jwirr]

42. And aren't they creating new contaminated water every day as they continue to cool the it down?

[questionseverything]

112. yes every day

i am no expert but i had read it takes 50 gallons of water a minute to cool 1 reactor

if that is correct assuming building 4 doesnt need water fed constantly

that is over 315,364,380 gallons since the meltdowns

the worst part being there is no end in sight

[FBaggins]

115. The water they're using for cooling spray is recycled

The addition to what needs to be stored is almost entirely from inflow of groundwater.

the worst part being there is no end in sight

Actually, that's far from true. They've already treated the vast majority of the water so that everything except tritium is removed (tritium being virtually impossible to remove from that much water and posing essentially zero risk). If the ice wall that they just started freezing actually cuts the inflow to negligible amounts (as the technology has succeeded in doing many times), then they'll just be recycling the water over and over.

[questionseverything]

121. aww the ice wall

wonder what kind of energy that hypothetical monster will take to maintain the 20 plus year freeze

and i wonder who will pay for it...o nevermind it will be consumers paying (as always)

too bad the money wasnt spend on solar/wind in the first place

[FBaggins]

122. It isn't hypothetical

The freeze process began a couple weeks ago.

wonder what kind of energy that hypothetical monster will take to maintain the 20 plus year freeze

The construction is the big expense followed by the initial freezing. The ground is a remarkably good insulator. You would probably be shocked at how little energy (comparatively) it takes to keep it frozen. Some estimates say that once it's frozen, it would take weeks/months of no power at all in order for it to thaw.

Either way... surely you agree that it's worth doing? It can't be as expensive/challenging as continuing to store hundreds of thousands of tons of contaminated water.

[Mnemosyne]

134. No one I've spoken with since 2011 has had a clue. Fukushima has nuked the world.

We nuked it too, by spreading DU all over the Mid-East.

Just heart-breaking what is happening in the Pacific, which will just quietly keep dying.

Not with a bang, Octafish, but with a whimper...

[Dont call me Shirley]

26. Fukushima is an ongoing global disaster.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-the-ticking-nuclear-bomb-over-800-tons-of-radioactive-material-pouring-into-pacific-ocean/5356276

"There is growing evidence coming from numerous reports aired on social networks and the so-called social media, among which is the article “Radioactive Water From Fukushima Is Systematically Poisoning The Entire Pacific Ocean” (*), which claimed that every day and for 750 days (now over 800) tonnes of toxic materials have been pouring into the Pacific Ocean.

The toxic substances were identified as Tritium, Cesium and Strontium, being carried far and wide by winds, rain and ocean currents, entering the food chain through seaweed and seafood, building up high levels of toxicity in the fish – and humans – at the top end of the consumption chain.

TEPCO, or Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the plant, admitted in August that between twenty and forty trillion becquerels of radioactive material have entered the Pacific Ocean after a security barrier had been breached. The same operator admitted that in just one week, in August, levels of Caesium-134 rose by 90 times and Caesium-137 rose by 86 times.

Fresh research (**) provides a chilling reminder that this situation is serious, will not go away, is getting worse and cannot be swept under the carpet. This research points to “massive numbers” of sea creatures dying across the Pacific, and that high levels of Cesium-137 are present in “a very high percentage of fish” caught in this ocean “and sold in North America”.

The research then moves on to refer to specific and unexplained incidents. For example, the unexplained death of starfish off Puget Sound off Canada. The animals seem to be melting, a phenomenon observed elsewhere in Canadian waters. Divers spoke of live creatures literally disintegrating in front of them, in “massive numbers”.

On to British Columbia, where abnormal behavior and an unusually high death rate has been observed among killer whales. The vocal communication among the animals has ceased, and in the last two years, seven matriarchs have died.

An Australian traveler sailing from Japan to California, USA, referred that it appeared the entire ocean was dead. All he saw was a whale rolling helplessly in the sea with a tumour on its head, and “for 3,000 nautical miles there was nothing to be seen”. No turtles, no sea birds, no dolphins, no sharks.

On to Alaska, where polar bears, seals and walruses have loss of fur and suffer from open sores on their skin. On to Southern California, where 45 per cent of sea lion pups have died, described by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as “an unusual mortality event”.

Back up to Canada, where the sockeye salmon faces record low numbers, up across the entire west coast of Canada, where fish are dying from bleeding eyes, gills and bellies.

Back across the Ocean, where extremely high levels of Cesium-137 have been found between Hawaii and California. On a test made on 15 dead tuna, all 15 were found to be contaminated with radiation. Of the fish being sold to Canada, in 2012, the Vancouver Sun recorded the number of specimens testing positive for Cesium-137, namely:

100 per cent of monkfish, carp, seaweed and shark; 94% of cod and anchovies; 93% of tuna and eels; 92% of sardines; 91% of halibut; 73% of mackerel."

[Octafish]

37. Fukushima: A Nuclear War without a War

Here's the outside of just one of the wrecked containment buildings.
Unable to do much more than sprinkle seawater on it, they've put a tarp over the thing.
The robots sent in to get a picture of the inner containment vessels fitz out before getting too far.
And yet, a number of people think there's no problem and act angry whenever it gets mentioned on DU.



Fukushima: A Nuclear War without a War

Thank you, Dont call me Shirley. That is quite a resource, there.

[Dont call me Shirley]

39. There is a glimmer of hope...

"In a post-Fukushima Japan, public and political opposition continue to maintain “zero nuclear” power in the country. Most recently, rather than face the mounting economic costs of safety backfits, the Japanese nuclear industry has chosen to permanently close and decommission two of its remaining four Mark I reactors, not counting Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 through 5 and the now permanently closed Unit 6 ( a Mark II boiling water reactor). Conversely, here in the U.S., the NRC has again distinguished itself with the dubious justification for the continued operation of the oldest and most dangerous class of nuclear reactors in the world---the majority here in this country.

Any one of the hazards cited for suspension of the operating licenses in the April 2011 petition serves as ample reason for why the GE Mark I reactors need to be promptly and permanently shuttered. But a primary focus remains on the threat of catastrophic failure of the Mark I containment under severe accident conditions."

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/freeze-our-fukushimas/

Thanks Octafish, for all the work you do to inform us. Beyond Nuclear is a top-notch organization.

[FBaggins]

41. As usual, little of that was correct - except the spelling

Here's the outside of just one of the wrecked containment buildings.
Unable to do much more than sprinkle seawater on it, they've put a tarp over the thing.

Actually, that's a photo of Unit 4. The only reason they "sprinkled water on it" at the time was that they didn't know whether or not the spent fuel pool had water in it (remember that Jaczko falsely claimed at the time that the pool was dry). With an entire freshly-unloaded core in that pool and a full pool, a bad leak could have been incredibly dangerous - but they had no way of knowing at first. Once they were able to confirm that the pool was intact, they didn't need to even do that.

They did far more than "sprinkle water on it" and "put a tarp over the thing". They demolished the building above the fuel pool and built a new one - then they removed all of the spent fuel. Now the building just sits there waiting to be demolished.

The robots sent in to get a picture of the inner containment vessels fitz out before getting too far.

Doubly untrue. They sent no robots in there because there was no meltdown in that unit. For the one that they did send robots into, your description is fictitious. The first robot got physically stuck, but the electronics continued to work until they literally cut the cord to it. The second unit actually lasted far longer than it was designed for (because the radiation levels inside were well below their projections). Neither unit "fitzed out before getting too far".

And yet, a number of people think there's no problem and act angry whenever it gets mentioned on DU.

Untrue (at least as far as this poster is concerned). What he does do is correct you when you make stuff up... and that drives you nutty.

Unfortunately... that's on you.

[Octafish]

45. Show where I ''make stuff up,'' FBaggins.

You post crap, otherwise.

An example, just above.

"Actually, that's a photo of Unit 4"

Sounds officious, as you imply it's not one of the wrecked containment buildings.

Who's nutty, FBaggins?

[FBaggins]

91. That's easy

Sounds officious

If you can show me a way to correct clearly erroneous claims on your part without you thinking they "sound officious" - you just let me know.

as you imply it's not one of the wrecked containment buildings.

I implied no such thing. I merely pointed out that your erroneous description was of two different units, neither of which is shown in the photo.

So let's move on to some easy examples of you making stuff up:

Your #11 - I'm glad UN's finally asked TEPCO to start taking radiation samples.

Now, four years and all that crapola about a plan to store the water and clean it and all that we're scrubbing like heck with billion dollar machines we're going to buy once their designed and built and pass inspection it's unbelievable is just that...a plan.

There are two clear implications here.
1 - Tepco hasn't been taking radiation samples
2 - There was nothing more than a plan

Both are dead wrong. They're entirely unsupported by reality and are thus your own inventions.

Let's look at the reality.

1 - In response to calls to release radiation readings more rapidly, Tepco increased their annual reporting from 30,000 readings up to 70,000 readings. In response to your "who's nutty?" question... I'd say it was the guy who missed that there were thousands of readings released every month for years now.

2 - Here's the actual story of the water treatment:

Water treatment began all the way back in 2011 just a couple months after the meltdowns. The problem was that water was accumulating faster than they could treat it (and at the time they could only remove certain isotopes and desalinate the water). It took about a year and half before their treatment capacity exceeded the amount of newly-contaminated water each day. Once that occurred, they could start to estimate how long it would take for the excess capacity to treat the existing store of contaminated water.

In March of 2013, Tepco promised the PM that they would have all of the water treated by March of 2015. By the middle of last year (August IIRC), it was pretty clear that multiple delays were going to cause them to miss that mark. In January of this year they made it official and indicated that they likely wouldn't be done until May. Now May is here and they're saying that they'll still have 20,000 tons left to treat.

Returning to the "nutty" question. Nuttiness in this case would be well defined by someone who repeatedly claimed that a report that the equipment was not running at full capacity was actually evidence that it didn't work at all... when roughly 97% of the 600,000 tons of contaminated water have now been cleaned of everything but tritium.

Your #18 said "Gosh. They're still talking about the ice wall? I heard last summer that it was going nowhere, except the bank. Great to know there's still a chance."

It's amazing how you constantly claim that there's little reporting come out of Fukushima... yet you can't seem to be bothered to read any of it unless it comes through the lunatic fringe spin machine. They've been pretty much spot-on schedule with the ice wall since it began construction about a year ago. There were reports of trouble forming an "ice plug" in an underground trench that failed over and over for a few months, and that got quickly spun by the fringe as a failure in the "ice wall"... when the wall hadn't even gotten past the earliest stages of construction.

In reality, they only began freezing operations late last month... beginning a multi-month freeze of the uphill half of the wall (construction on blocks 1-8 is now complete)

[Octafish]

92. Where are TEPCO's readings?

Where are the government of Japan's readings?

Where are the US EPA's readings?

Thanks in advance.

[questionseverything]

111. got a link to prove #4 was not on fire?

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8394

Here are the specific details, as I was able to tweet them during the live press conference by Prime Minister Naoto Kan, which just ended. The following are all direct quotes, or as close as I was able to get them, from the PM, as the presser was translated by NHK World news agency:
"Please listen to my message calmly" ... "Every possible method used to cool down all three reactors." ... "There is a fire at Unit 4 and we've had explosions at units 1,2 & 3" ... "Radiation has spread from these reactors and reading of levels seems very high" ... "Still further risk of radioactive material coming out" ... "We need now for everybody to move out of 20km from plant." ... "We would like to you to remain indoors at home or offices and avoid going outside from the 20km to 30km radius" ... "Everybody move out from 20km radius at Fukushima-2 (Daini) plant" ... [Note: As I understood that, references to Fukushima-2 (Daini) were first ones. Previous problems were at Fukushimi-1 (Daiichi)] ... "This is a situation of serious concern. But I request that you react very calmly." ... Takes 1 question: You have not talked about Unit 2 reactor. Kan: "Rather than talk abt each indvdl reactor, I talk about whole picture" ...

Kan then turned it over to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano. Here is what he said:
"Some new developments since I spoke at a press conference this morning." ... "TEPCO will announce specific radiation figures" ... "Number 4 reactor is now seeing a fire. It had been out of operation at time of quake" ... "No fuel rods in reactor" in 4, but "used spent fuels are in the reactor, hydrogen generated, explosion, No. 4 burning." ... "Fallen objects fell inside reactor 4, so instead of burnoff like 1 & 3, now a fire in 4" ... "Since Hydrogen being released, wee assume that radioactive substances also being released" ... "With regard to No. 2, sound of blast heard this morning. 30 minutes after No. 4 reactor" ... "Hole observed in No 2, so little possibility of hydrogen explosion. Happened while I was holding press conf this morning" ... "We believe cooling is effectively being done at 1, 2 & 3, next prob how to maintain this cooling"

[FBaggins]

114. You want me to prove a negative for something that isn't physically possible?

The link you provide is from March of 2011.

I agree that back then we didn't know that this was physically impossible - but that ship has sailed. If you look back at posts here from that period, you'll see lots of speculation on my part that there must be a hole in the pool (likely where the large hole in the building was). This was because the head of the NRC was claiming that the pool was dry, people were talking about a fire, and Tepco was spraying water over the pool.

Here's the science behind that "hole" assumption: The amount of heat generated within the pool is not exactly a constant, but it's a known quantity (or at least a knowable quantity). There have been lots of simulations over the years re: what would happen if a spent fuel pool lost cooling while there was a fresh offload and a full pool. It doesn't matter whether there are meltdowns/explosions at other parts of the plant, the rate at which the pool heats up is not a mystery. Neither is how fast it will boil off once it reaches the boiling point. That's highschool physics (a certain number of calories per second into a given volume of water).

The reason that we assumed that there must be a hole in the pool is that there hadn't been anywhere near enough days passing for the pool to reach the boiling point and lost coverage over the spent fuel (let alone with more water being added) - if the pool had started off full of water. Therefore, if the pool was dry (let alone burning), then it must have drained substantially - with speculation focusing on the refueling gate failing (which would have drained the pool to just a few feet above the tops of the fuel) or a hole punched in the side of the pool by the Unit 3 explosion.

That was then... but we long since discovered that there was no leak in the pool. So it couldn't have boiled off (let alone burned) because there wasn't enough time for the water to heat up that much. Of course we also know that they have since removed all of the fuel from that pool and there wasn't any melting or fire.

[questionseverything]

116. ...

link for this info pls////

That was then... but we long since discovered that there was no leak in the pool. So it couldn't have boiled off (let alone burned) because there wasn't enough time for the water to heat up that much. Of course we also know that they have since removed all of the fuel from that pool and there wasn't any melting or fire.

[FBaggins]

119. You need a link that the pool didn't drain?

I think you've long since left "questioneverything" territory and entered the toddler's incessant "why?" to whatever is said.

If the pool drained due to a leak but now holds water... then the leak must have been repaired (in radiation levels far higher than has been seen inside containment to date). Please link to those repairs.

They've removed all of the fuel from that pool. That would not have been possible if the fuel had melted and burned. Please provide your links to the fire-damaged molten fuel that was removed.

[questionseverything]

123. this is not my job

you have written lots of things like you are right there observing...claimed lots of things with no links

i was interested in reading the material you had that made you claim these things...since you will not provide links i will assume you are just blowing smoke

[Yo_Mama]

27. They're contemplating releasing on very mildly contaminated water -

the theory being that it will make secure storage and treatment of the really contaminated stuff a much more manageable problem.

I think any set of actions that overall reduces net ocean contamination would be the right course.

[Octafish]

55. That's the plan. Reality has proven different.

Japan says Fukushima leak worse than thought, government joins clean-up

By Mari Saito and Antoni Slodkowski
Reuters, TOKYO | Wed Aug 7, 2013 1:10pm EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Highly radioactive water from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is pouring out at a rate of 300 tonnes a day, officials said on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the government to step in and help in the clean-up.

The revelation amounted to an acknowledgement that plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) has yet to come to grips with the scale of the catastrophe, 2 1/2 years after the plant was hit by a huge earthquake and tsunami. Tepco only recently admitted water had leaked at all.

Calling water containment at the Fukushima Daiichi station an "urgent issue," Abe ordered the government for the first time to get involved to help struggling Tepco handle the crisis.

The leak from the plant 220 km (130 miles) northeast of Tokyo is enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool in a week. The water is spilling into the Pacific Ocean, but it was not immediately clear how much of a threat it poses.

SNIP...

"We think that the volume of water (leaking into the Pacific) is about 300 tonnes a day," said Yushi Yoneyama, an official with the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, which oversees energy policy.

CONTINUED...

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE97601K20130807?irpc=932

[betsuni]

28. I'd assumed the title said "TEPCO May Need to Stop Dumping Fukushima Water Into Sea"

Looked again. Oh. "Resumption." Sure. As PM Abe assured us peasants, "everything is under control."

[Octafish]

56. Abe has clamped down on information, not radiation.

Japan Reacts to Fukushima Crisis By Banning Journalism

Posted November 27, 2013 6:12pm UTC by WashingtonsBlog
Japan – Like the U.S. – Turns to Censorship

2 weeks after the Fukushima accident, we reported that the government responded to the nuclear accident by trying to raise acceptable radiation levels and pretending that radiation is good for us.

SOURCE, details: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/11/japan-reacts-fukushima-crisis-banning-journalism.html

[WinkyDink]

29. Hey--just ship it to California! Drought solved!

*sarcasm*

[Octafish]

57. Saw the new Mad Max movie last night...

...I can see how that idea would be attractive. And from hearing about all the economic benefits TPP will bring, now's the time to make it doable. Prolly get a tax break, doing it. It's all good, in a Kafka kind of way.

[FLPanhandle]

36. Japan is odd for an island nation

Especially one that is so dependant on the sea for it's food.

They over fish areas to extinction, continue whaling for food, and dump radioactive water into the oceans.

When the ocean ecosystem eventually collapses, they will suffer more than most, yet they continue on.

Odd.

[ladjf]

51. ... and in addition, Japan has one of the least

stable land masses on the planet making the nuclear facilities very vulnerable to Earthquakes.

[Octafish]

65. Japan is taking its nuclear cues from the USA.

An old OP, the story connects a few dots from the present day back to World War II.



War crime, Yakuza, Secret Government. Why not?

Japan’s Nuclear Industry: The CIA Link.

By Eleanor Warnock
June 1, 2012, 10:18 AM JST.
Wall Street Journal Blog

Tetsuo Arima, a researcher at Waseda University in Tokyo, told JRT he discovered in the U.S. National Archives a trove of declassified CIA files that showed how one man, Matsutaro Shoriki, was instrumental in jumpstarting Japan’s nascent nuclear industry.

Mr. Shoriki was many things: a Class A war criminal, the head of the Yomiuri Shimbun (Japan’s biggest-selling and most influential newspaper) and the founder of both the country’s first commercial broadcaster and the Tokyo Giants baseball team. Less well known, according to Mr. Arima, was that the media mogul worked with the CIA to promote nuclear power.

SNIP...

Mr. Shoriki, backed by the CIA, used his influence to publish articles in the Yomiuri that extolled the virtues of nuclear power, according to the documents found by Mr. Arima. Keen on remilitarizing Japan, Mr. Shoriki endorsed nuclear power in hopes its development would one day arm the country with the ability to make its own nuclear weapons, according to Mr. Arima. Mr. Shoriki’s behind-the-scenes push created a chain reaction in other media that eventually changed public opinion.

SNIP…

Mr. Shoriki, backed by the CIA, used his influence to publish articles in the Yomiuri that extolled the virtues of nuclear power, according to the documents found by Mr. Arima. Keen on remilitarizing Japan, Mr. Shoriki endorsed nuclear power in hopes its development would one day arm the country with the ability to make its own nuclear weapons, according to Mr. Arima. Mr. Shoriki’s behind-the-scenes push created a chain reaction in other media that eventually changed public opinion.

CONTINUED...

http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/06/01/japans-nuclear-industry-the-cia-link/

After President Carter was out of office, it was pretty much full-steam ahead for the Japanese bomb during the Pruneface Ronnie-Poppy Bush years. Hence, Fukushima Daiichi Number 3 and other select Japanese reactors were set up to process plutonium uranium fuels.

United States Circumvented Laws To Help Japan Accumulate Tons of Plutonium

By Joseph Trento
on April 9th, 2012
National Security News Service

The United States deliberately allowed Japan access to the United States’ most secret nuclear weapons facilities while it transferred tens of billions of dollars worth of American tax paid research that has allowed Japan to amass 70 tons of weapons grade plutonium since the 1980s, a National Security News Service investigation reveals. These activities repeatedly violated U.S. laws regarding controls of sensitive nuclear materials that could be diverted to weapons programs in Japan. The NSNS investigation found that the United States has known about a secret nuclear weapons program in Japan since the 1960s, according to CIA reports.

The diversion of U.S. classified technology began during the Reagan administration after it allowed a $10 billion reactor sale to China. Japan protested that sensitive technology was being sold to a potential nuclear adversary. The Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations permitted sensitive technology and nuclear materials to be transferred to Japan despite laws and treaties preventing such transfers. Highly sensitive technology on plutonium separation from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site and Hanford nuclear weapons complex, as well as tens of billions of dollars worth of breeder reactor research was turned over to Japan with almost no safeguards against proliferation. Japanese scientist and technicians were given access to both Hanford and Savannah River as part of the transfer process.

SNIP...

A year ago a natural disaster combined with a man-made tragedy decimated Northern Japan and came close to making Tokyo, a city of 30 million people, uninhabitable. Nuclear tragedies plague Japan’s modern history. It is the only nation in the world attacked with nuclear weapons. In March 2011, after a tsunami swept on shore, hydrogen explosions and the subsequent meltdowns of three reactors at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant spewed radiation across the region. Like the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan will face the aftermath for generations. A twelve-mile area around the site is considered uninhabitable. It is a national sacrifice zone.

How Japan ended up in this nuclear nightmare is a subject the National Security News Service has been investigating since 1991. We learned that Japan had a dual use nuclear program. The public program was to develop and provide unlimited energy for the country. But there was also a secret component, an undeclared nuclear weapons program that would allow Japan to amass enough nuclear material and technology to become a major nuclear power on short notice.

CONTINUED...

http://www.dcbureau.org/201204097128/national-security-news-service/united-states-circumvented-laws-to-help-japan-accumulate-tons-of-plutonium.html

Those of who have seen The World at War series on the tee vee are familiar with the black and white footage and great narrative chronicling the main events and figures of World War II. One of those episodes was entitled "The Bomb" and featured an interview with John J. McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War to President Roosevelt and President Truman.

Here's part of what Mr. McCloy said about the Atomic Bomb – the use of which he counseled only as a last resort, after warning Japan to surrender (around 7:30 mark of Part 2):

“Besides that, we’ve got a new force, a new type of energy that will revolutionize warfare, destructive beyond any contemplation. I’d said, I’d mention the bomb. Mentioning the bomb, even at that late date, in that select group, was like, it was like they were all shocked. Because it was such a closely guarded secret. It was comparable to mentioning Skull and Bones at Yale – which you’re not supposed to do.”

After the war, McCloy was the United States High Commissioner to Germany, administering the U.S. zone of occupation, making him one of the front-line leaders of the Cold War. In that capacity, one of the questionable things he did was to forgive several NAZI industrialists and war criminals.

The great cartoonist Herb Block, HERBLOCK, depicted McCloy holding open a prison door for a NAZI, while in the background Stalin took a photo (if anyone has a copy or link to the cartoon, I’d be much obliged). About 15 years later, Mr. McCloy served the nation as a member of the Warren Commission.

While he wasn’t a member of Skull and Bones, McCloy certainly worked closely with a bunch of them, including Averell Harriman and Prescott Bush. As a Wall Street and Washington insider, "Mr. Establishment" he was called, Mr. McCloy used the offices of government to centralize power and wealth. That is most un-democratic.

Mother Jones goes into detail:

The Nuclear Weapons Industry's Money Bombs

How millions in campaign cash and revolving-door lobbying have kept America's atomic arsenal off the chopping block.

— By R. Jeffrey Smith, Center for Public Integrity
Mother Jones
Wed Jun. 6, 2012 3:00 AM PDT

Employees of private companies that produce the main pieces of the US nuclear arsenal have invested more than $18 million in the election campaigns of lawmakers that oversee related federal spending, and the companies also employ more than 95 former members of Congress or Capitol Hill staff to lobby for government funding, according to a new report.

The Center for International Policy, a nonprofit group that supports the "demilitarization" of US foreign policy, released the report on Wednesday to highlight what it described as the heavy influence of campaign donations and pork-barrel politics on a part of the defense budget not usually associated with large profits or contractor power: nuclear arms.

As Congress deliberated this spring on nuclear weapons-related projects, including funding for the development of more modern submarines and bombers, the top 14 contractors gave nearly $3 million to the 2012 reelection campaigns of lawmakers whose support they needed for these and other projects, the report disclosed.

Half of that sum went to members of the four key committees or subcommittees that must approve all spending for nuclear arms—the House and Senate Armed Services Committees and the Energy and Water or Defense appropriations subcommittees, according to data the Center compiled from the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics. The rest went to lawmakers who are active on nuclear weapons issues because they have related factories or laboratories in their states or districts.

Members of the House Armed Services Committee this year have sought to erect legislative roadblocks to further reductions in nuclear arms, and also demanded more spending for related facilities than the Obama administration sought, including $100 million in unrequested funds for a new plant that will make plutonium cores for nuclear warheads, and $374 million for a new ballistic missile-firing submarine. The House has approved those requests, but the Senate has not held a similar vote on the 2013 defense bill.

CONTINUED...

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/nuclear-bombs-congress-elections-campaign-donations

It isn't ironic or coincidental. It is the Establishment, the in-group, the Elite, the One-Percent that’s pretty much gotten the lion’s share of the wealth created over the last 50 years. The same group that’s pretty much had their fingers on the atomic button ever since the Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as profited from the development of nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and the almost continuous state of war since then. For lack of a better term, I call them the BFEE, or War Party.

[ancianita]

40. See 47:20. Melanizing fungi. It's the least solid of all the solutions shown here, but...

Old growth forests will slowly detox this, but they are still faster than corporate solutions.

And while this man gives away patents so that humans and ecosystems can heal, other media-controlling 'environmental cleanup' profiteers, not making enough profit, give up, telling us that ecosystem healing is hopeless. But it's not.

This video is worth your time; I believe it should be mandatory viewing for all people working in the worlds of human and environmental healing.

[Octafish]

61. Thanks, ancianata!

The link is missing, though.

Biotechnological engineering may offer the needed approach.

[ancianita]

89. Darn it. Typical on YouTube. Here.

http://windswhisperer.blogspot.com/2015/05/paul-stamets-at-uplift-solutions-from.html

or go to YouTube and type in "Paul Stamets at UPLIFT"

Stemets describes Gomphidius glutinosus, a "hyper-accumulating" fungus that absorbs and concentrates elements cesium contamination at more than 10,000-fold over background levels. This property can be used to decontaminate sites contaminated with radioactive cesium-137 and allow the proliferation of other healthy non-contaminated life forms around it, though the mushroom itself is contaminated and inedible. His solution is to have it planted all around old forest growth surrounding Fukushima. Takes time, but would be the most de-contaminating solution.

[hunter]

62. I wish people would get this excited about nasty fossil fuels.

We get all flustered by mildly radioactive tritium farts while the fossil fuel industry is openly murdering our families and making the planet uninhabitable for our descendents and most existing species of life.

If I was a fish or a crab living off the coast of Fukushima I'd rather be mildly radioactive and ignored by the fishermen than served up as some human's dinner.

[Octafish]

68. Hope you don't ingest any hot particles.

Nuclear Fuel Fragment from Fukushima Found In EUROPE

Posted on May 6, 2014 by WashingtonsBlog

The Nuclear Core Has Finally Been Found … Scattered All Over the World

Fukushima did not just suffer meltdowns, or even melt-throughs …

It suffered melt-OUTS … where the nuclear core of at least one reactor was spread all over Japan.

In addition, the Environmental Research Department, SRI Center for Physical Sciences and Technology in Vilnius, Lithuania reported in the Journal of Environmental Radioactivity:

Analyses of (131)I, (137)Cs and (134)Cs in airborne aerosols were carried out in daily samples in Vilnius, Lithuania after the Fukushima accident during the period of March-April, 2011.

***

The activity ratio of (238)Pu/(239,240)Pu in the aerosol sample was 1.2, indicating a presence of the spent fuel of different origin than that of the Chernobyl accident.

(“Pu” is short for plutonium.) Fukushima is 4,988 miles from Vilnius, Lithuania. So the plutonium traveled quite a distance.

SOURCE w/links: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/05/nuclear-fuel-fragment-fukushima-found-europe.html

[hunter]

69. Fuck. I breathe plenty enough highly carcinogenic diesel and tire rubber particles.

What's a little plutonium or tritium in the mix???

[Octafish]

70. The speed at which cancer develops.

Helen Caldicott explains for those new to the subject:

[FBaggins]

94. There are no "hot particles" from Fukushima

There probably were some at Chernobyl... there obviously were lots of them from nuclear weapons testing - but there was no release mechanism for actual hot particles at Fukushima (or any reactor meltdown that doesn't include a burning/exploding core).

That was entirely a figment of Gundersen's imagination. It was never grounded in reality.

[Octafish]

96. Apart from those when the reactor buildings exploded.

That doesn't look like steam to me, flying out of what used to the Fukushima NPP Reactor 3 containment building, FBaggins. What do you suppose it is?

[JEB]

97. Don't ya know a lil radiation keeps ya regular.

Tepco should sell that water as a health supplement. The have already proven they are excellent snake oil salesmen.

[Octafish]

98. The Formula for Success :)

Click me.



"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." -- Upton Sinclair

[FBaggins]

99. Nope - including the explosions

That doesn't look like steam, to me,

Given your propensity to imagine alternate realities... It really doesn't matter what it "looks like to you" (though a steam explosion actually would at least have involved the core directly - that's a hydrogen explosion). Your active imagination somehow allows you to ignore the reality that we know for certain that there was no core explosion or fuel pool explosion.

The concrete lid for that reactor is still in place and the spent fuel is clearly visible within the pool. It was always a near-impossibility... but we crossed over into absolute impossibility years ago. Why not visit reality? I'm sure that we can get you a tourist visa.

[Octafish]

100. The explosion released plutonium into the environment, FBaggins

Seems a lot of it came out of the Reactor spent fuel pool, suspended, for some reason known but to GE, above Reactor 3. Who knew it could escape the Containment Building.



Researchers find plutonium contamination from Fukushima in Europe in this report:

J Environ Radioact. 2011 Dec 27. (Epub ahead of print)

Radionuclides from the Fukushima accident in the air over Lithuania: measurement and modelling approaches.

Lujanienė G, Byčenkienė S, Povinec PP, Gera M.

Source : Environmental Research Department, SRI Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Savanoriu 231, 02300 Vilnius, Lithuania.

Abstract

Analyses of (131)I, (137)Cs and (134)Cs in airborne aerosols were carried out in daily samples in Vilnius, Lithuania after the Fukushima accident during the period of March-April, 2011. The activity concentrations of (131)I and (137)Cs ranged from 12 ?Bq/m(3) and 1.4 ?Bq/m(3) to 3700 ?Bq/m(3) and 1040 ?Bq/m(3), respectively. The activity concentration of (239,240)Pu in one aerosol sample collected from 23 March to 15 April, 2011 was found to be 44.5 nBq/m(3). The two maxima found in radionuclide concentrations were related to complicated long-range air mass transport from Japan across the Pacific, the North America and the Atlantic Ocean to Central Europe as indicated by modelling. HYSPLIT backward trajectories and meteorological data were applied for interpretation of activity variations of measured radionuclides observed at the site of investigation. (7)Be and (212)Pb activity concentrations and their ratios were used as tracers of vertical transport of air masses. Fukushima data were compared with the data obtained during the Chernobyl accident and in the post Chernobyl period. The activity concentrations of (131)I and (137)Cs were found to be by 4 orders of magnitude lower as compared to the Chernobyl accident. The activity ratio of (134)Cs/(137)Cs was around 1 with small variations only. The activity ratio of (238)Pu/(239,240)Pu in the aerosol sample was 1.2, indicating a presence of the spent fuel of different origin than that of the Chernobyl accident.

SOURCE: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22206700

And another one:

Plutonium bioaccumulation in seabirds

Dagmara I. Strumińska-Parulska, Bogdan Skwarzec, Jacek Fabisiak

University of Gdańsk, Faculty of Chemistry, Analytics and Environmental Radiochemistry Chair, Sobieskiego 18, 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland

Received 7 April 2011. Revised 5 July 2011. Accepted 16 July 2011. Available online 23 August 2011.

The aim of the paper was plutonium (238Pu and 239+240Pu) determination in seabirds, permanently or temporarily living in northern Poland at the Baltic Sea coast. Together 11 marine birds species were examined: 3 species permanently residing in the southern Baltic, 4 species of wintering birds and 3 species of migrating birds. The obtained results indicated plutonium is non-uniformly distributed in organs and tissues of analyzed seabirds. The highest plutonium content was found in the digestion organs and feathers, the smallest in skin and muscles. The plutonium concentration was lower in analyzed species which feed on fish and much higher in herbivorous species. The main source of plutonium in analyzed marine birds was global atmospheric fallout.
Highlights

► We determined 239+240Pu in seabirds living in northern Poland at the Baltic Sea. ► We noticed plutonium was non-uniformly distributed in organs and tissues of seabirds. ► We found the highest plutonium content in the digestion organs and feathers. ► We found Pu content was lower in birds feeding on fish and higher in herbivorous.

SOURCE: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X11001676

So, given that, I find it most disheartening to learn that research on fallout from Fukushima, does not get funded in the United States -- even after radioactive sulfur from Fukushima was monitored in Southern California.

Ocean water off La Jolla coast being monitored (and not) for Fukushima radiation

By Pat Sherman
La Jolla Light, Feb. 4, 2014

EXCERPT...

In 2011 Thiemens and a crew of UCSD atmospheric chemists reported the first quantitative measurement of the amount of radiation leaked from the damaged nuclear reactor in Fukushima, following the devastating earthquake and tsunami there.

Their estimate was based on radioactive sulfur that wafted across the Pacific Ocean after operators of the damaged reactor had to cool overheated fuel with seawater — causing a chemical reaction between byproducts of nuclear fission and chlorine ions in the saltwater.

Thiemens has, for the past several years, unsuccessfully sought to obtain grant funding to follow-up his research, first reported on Aug. 15 2011 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

However, he said neither the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board or National Academy of Sciences (of which he is a member) were interested in funding additional research to measure the Fukushima fallout.

“It’s probably one of these things that just fell through the cracks,” Thiemens said. “It doesn’t quite fall under classical (research criteria).”

CONTINUED...

http://www.lajollalight.com/2014/02/04/ocean-water-off-la-jolla-coast-being-monitored-for-fukushima-radiation/

So, there's that. Now, who lives in reality, FBaggins?

[FBaggins]

102. Almost none of it actually.

The estimated release of plutonium for Fukushima was thousands of times lower than that from Chernobyl (which was itself a small percentage of that released by nuclear testing). Much of the plutonium attributed to Fukushima was actually released as neptunium - which decays to plutonium. That's a different mechanism - and not one that could produce hot particles.

Seems a lot of it came out of the Reactor spent fuel pool

As with what you think things "look like" - what "seems" to be the case for you has no basis in reality. The fuel assemblies are clearly visible in that pool. There is no mechanism for them to escape without the pool running dry and the fuel melting/burning. We can all see that that never happened.

Well... "all" except for the guy hilariously asking who is living in reality.

Researchers find plutonium contamination from Fukushima in Europe in this report:

Nope. They found plutonium that came from somewhere other than Chernobyl. If you look at the isotopic ratio fingerprint in the study above for Fukushima... the stuff they found in Europe was also not from Fukushima.

Many millions of times as much plutonium in the environment from weapons testing, yet you continue to claim that anywhere they spot plutonium it just had to come from Fukushima. You continue to ignore the simple fact that they've only been able to spot a couple instances where they could even identify plutonium from Fukushima because the amounts are so dwarfed by the plutonium that was already in the environment.

[Octafish]

105. For most things ''none to almost none'' isn't much. Not plutonium.

In these images, the building containing Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Reactor 3 explodes.
The thing ran on fuel rods that contain a mixture of plutonium and uranium oxide.



TEPCO has been lying from Day One. The company's boss continued his holiday driving tour the day of the disaster. On this side of the great ocean, the U.S. government has not done a very good job of keeping the public abreast of Fukushima and the dangers it represents. It fired Gregory Jaczko, the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, after he pointed out the emergency in public.

One important thing everyone should know is the incredible amounts of plutonium -- one of the most deadly elements known -- that have been introduced into the environment from Fukushima.

Here's some more of what everyone on DU and around the entire planet should know:

DOE-STD-1128-98

Guide of Good Practices for Occupational Radiological Protection in Plutonium Facilities

EXCERPT...

4.2.3 Characteristics of Plutonium Contamination

There are few characteristics of plutonium contamination that are unique. Plutonium
contamination may be in many physical and chemical forms. (See Section 2.0 for the many
potential sources of plutonium contamination from combustion products of a plutonium fire
to radiolytic products from long-term storage.) [font color="red"]The one characteristic that many believe is
unique to plutonium is its ability to migrate with no apparent motive force.[/font color] Whether from
alpha recoil or some other mechanism, plutonium contamination, if not contained or
removed, will spread relatively rapidly throughout an area.

SOURCE (PDF file format): http://energy.gov/hss/downloads/doe-std-1128-98

Why I bring this is up: This is information about Fukushima and plutonium that people have a right to know, yet is what the press and governments of the United States and Japan apparently want people to forget. Thank goodness news and information aren't censored on DU.

[FBaggins]

107. Nope. Even for plutonium

Because it isn't an increase from "none" to "not much".

It's an increase from a known amount spread pretty evenly around the entire world (though much higher in Japan and Nevada - etc.)... to an amount that is indistinguishably higher.

You cannot rationally dispute the fact that there were tons of plutonium literally "blown to pieces" (where "hot particles" actually come from) and spread throughout the world... while the amounts released by Fukushima would be measures in milligrams to grams (depending on estimate).

Yes... when the world is living with many MANY tons of something... a release of milligrams "isn't much".

[Octafish]

108. No links. Just your say so. Which is wrong.

Of course.

[FBaggins]

109. Sorry... you are entitled to wallow in your own ignorance of the facts...

...You aren't entitled to drag the rest of us down with you.

You've been given lots of links. You've developed an immunity to them.

Here's one for you. From 1995.

Environmental plutonium in humans.

Abstract

Although the current world inventory of plutonium is overwhelmingly man-made, it is important to recognize that 244Pu was a primeval radioelement and that 239Pu is formed continuously by spontaneous fission of 238U; the atom ratio U: Pu being about 10(11):1. It has been calculated that the human body has always carried a base load of, perhaps 10(3)-10(5) atoms (< 0.2 amol) of natural plutonium. Since 1945, the release of 239Pu into the environment from atmospheric nuclear weapons testing has added to this base load a civilization-related load which, at approximately 300 fmol, is at least 5 orders of magnitude greater. Within the human body plutonium is deposited mainly in the liver and skeleton where it appears to be retained tenaciously with half-times of many years. Based on 1970-1980 levels, environmental plutonium may give rise to alpha-particle radiation doses of approximately 3-7 microSv/a in human bone and approximately 10-20 microSv/a in liver, doses which from our present understanding of the radio-and chemical toxicity of plutonium are far too small to cause any recognizable health effects.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8535422

It must be incredibly disconcerting to the guy who thinks that "a few atoms" represents a deadly dose of Pu - to find that he has between 1,000-100,000 such atoms in him just from natural sources.

That's right... a billion Pu atoms isn't enough to cause recognizable health effects.

Waiting for the innumeracy reply that almost certainly will come next.

[Octafish]

129. HOT PARTICLES.

http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2014/08/one-hot-particle-of-plutonium-239.html

Thanks for the report on how we breathe contaminated air from all the atmospheric nuclear testing.

[FBaggins]

131. You're still considering Chris Busby as a worthwhile source?

Laughable...

... but ultimately irrelevant in this case. Yes, an actual "hot particle" of plutonium inhaled into the lungs could be a VERY serious event.

Unfortunately for your case here... there were no hot particles of any kind from Fukushima (let alone hot particles of plutonium).

Thanks for the report on how we breathe contaminated air from all the atmospheric nuclear testing.

Why yes! Indeed we do breath in air that was contaminated from atmospheric nuclear weapons testing. Since that represents many thousands to hundreds of thousands of times as much danger, you should feel free to rail against nuclear weapons testing going forward. I'll be happy to join you, so you'll have to find a new interlocutor.

Luckily, we succeeded in banning further testing before dose rates got any higher.

[Octafish]

133. You denigrate him for warning people of the danger of plutonium.

Says exactly what kind of person you are, FBaggins.

[FBaggins]

110. Another link for you

Plutonium is an alpha radiation emitting isotope that, if internalized, can represent a significant radiological health risk. Previous measurements of Pu in air, soil, plants and seawater following the 2011 disaster suggest that Fukushima released about 100,000 times less Pu to the environment than the Chernobyl disaster did in 1986. New measurements of "black substances" found along roadsides in high radiation areas in Fukushima Prefecture support previous work showing that Pu was released from the Fukushima plant. Based on the relative activity of Pu to radioactive cesium (137-Cs) the study determined that 2.3x10^9 Bq of 239,240-Pu (580 mg) was released or about 0.00004% of the Pu core inventories. This release from Fukushima is roughly 40,000 times lower than Chernobyl and 5,000,000 times lower than 239,240-Pu released during atmospheric weapons testing in the 20th century.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/09/1298170/-Update-on-Plutonium-Released-From-Fukushima-Measuring-Roadside-Black-Substances-in-Hot-Zones

[Octafish]

128. ''Marine Chemist'' is the author of that report?

Thanks. Guess it's better than "FBaggins."

[FBaggins]

130. Nope. As usualy you've experienced a reading comprehension challenge.

"Marine Chemist" is the author of the post on HP... but the report was authored by:

Aya Sakaguchi - from the Environmental Geochemistry lab at Hiroshima University
Peter Steier - from the Environmental Research Accelerator lab in the Physics dept at the University of Vienna
Yoshio Takahashi - from Earth and Planetary Systems Science at Hiroshima University, and
Masayoshi Yamamoto - the Environmental Radioactivity specialist in the Low Level Radioactivity Lab at Kanazawa University.

And, of course, with a little effort you would have been able to figure out that "Marine Chemist" is not just some anonymous internet poster. He's Dr. Jay Cullen , from the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria.

[Octafish]

132. Like when you ignore the plutonium Fukushima released?

Now THAT's asinine.