How Fukushima Contamination May Have Spread via Waterways

[villager]

How Fukushima Contamination May Have Spread via Waterways

A new study offers fresh insights into how radioactive contamination from the Fukushima nuclear disaster may have spread through Japan’s interconnected waterways, reaching some freshwater fish hundreds of kilometers away.

Although the data had been available the year of the accident from the Japanese government’s fisheries agency, this is the first time the data has been compiled and analyzed to try and assess exactly how — and how far — the damage had spread.

According to the authors, the new study is important because it draws attention to a water system characteristic that may be unique to Japan. “Because Japan’s irrigation system is so advanced, the speed with which radioactive substances spread is also fast,” Hideya Kubo, the other co-author, told JRT

As the Nature article says: “there are not only many source points of water springs and many rivers and streams but also high density water network systems of irrigation canals and urban water systems.”

<snip>

http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/05/13/how-fukushima-contamination-may-have-spread-via-waterways/

[blkmusclmachine]

1. .

.

[Mnemosyne]

2. K&R nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. It is really way too late to prevent wide spread cantamination over Japan

and the ocean.
They know that...they certainly cannot ignore it any longer.

[OnyxCollie]

4. "They" know that here, too.

EPA Relaxes Public Health Guidelines For Radiological Attacks, Accidents
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014449788

Source: NextGov

After years of internal deliberation and controversy, the Obama administration has issued a document suggesting that when dealing with the aftermath of an accident or attack involving radioactive materials, public health guidelines can be made thousands of times less stringent than what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would normally allow.

<snip>

“This is public health policy only Dr. Strangelove could embrace,” Jeff Ruch, executive director for the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said in a statement Monday, referring to Peter Sellers’ character in the Stanley Kubrick film of the same name.

Along with other activists, Ruch laid the blame for the document’s perceived shortcomings on Gina McCarthy, the EPA air and radiation chief who is scheduled for a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday regarding her nomination to become the agency’s next administrator. “If this typifies the environmental leadership we can expect from Ms. McCarthy, then EPA is in for a long, dirty slog,” Ruch said.

<snip>

However, while the new guide will be subject to a 90-day public comment period once it formally is published in the Federal Register, it has been labeled for “interim use,” meaning it is effective immediately.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.nextgov.com/health/2013/04/epa-relaxes-public-health-guidelines-radiological-attacks-accidents/62381/?oref=ng-dropdown

[villager]

5. Another "horse out of the barn" move from this adminstration

"Er, you're already irradiated folks, so these rules just reflect that! Have a nice day!"

[chervilant]

6. "Long, dirty slog..."

Sounds like business as usual for the sock puppets in our co-opted system of government.

[suffragette]

8. Reminds me of when I noticed info about the rise in levels of radiation for decontamination in Japan

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x807184#810655

[chervilant]

7. And,

we have Chomsky adjuring people to help the children in Japan who are still living too close to contaminated areas. Has our species collectively jumped the shark?!?