Researchers Confirm "Black Substance" Is Fukushima Reactor Fuel

[bananas]

http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/?p=12519

Researchers Confirm “Black Substance” Is Fukushima Reactor Fuel

March 8th, 2014

In a peer reviewed paper released this week by the journal Environmental Science & Technology, a Japanese team of researchers has concluded that portions of the “black substance” found in Japan is nuclear fuel fragments from Fukushima Daiichi.

Discoveries of the black residue along roadsides in and near the evacuation zone have been going on since at least 2011. Most were initially found by local citizens doing radiation monitoring. Some of these black substance sightings have been as far away as parts of Tokyo, The paper only studied those found in the evacuation zones.

Marco Kaltofan made a similar conclusion in their research of a sample of the black substance, that it was at least in part containing reactor fuel.

The new peer reviewed paper from the Japanese research team also concludes the black substance is from the reactors. They make a number of calculations to rule out existing uranium and plutonium isotopes in the environment. The ratios and concentrations confirm that the high radioactivity in the black stuff is from Fukushima Daiichi and includes enough uranium and plutonium to confirm it to be from the fuel itself.

<snip>

[Warpy]

1. As far as Tokyo?

The news just keeps getting worse and worse.

[jeff47]

2. No.

The paper only studied those found in the evacuation zones.

This study didn't look at what was found in Tokyo.

[Demeter]

3. I never expected it to get better

What with the Keystone Kops in charge.

[questionseverything]

5. 178 miles away

Title: Concentration of Strontium-90 at Selected Hot Spots in Japan
Source: PLoS ONE
Authors: Steinhauser G, Schauer V, Shozugawa K
Date Published: March 7, 2013

Southern wind directions and rainfall explain the relatively high activity levels in the remote hot spot in Kashiwa and Yokohama, which are located close to Tokyo. Accordingly, also local environmental conditions seem to be responsible for the surprisingly low contamination levels at spots [...] quite close to the damaged reactors of Fukushima NPP [...] Our results once again evidence that distance from the source alone is no sufficient factor for the prediction of a contamination level at a certain spot after a nuclear accident.







Soil sample from Kashiwa, a Tokyo suburb: 827,000 Bq/kg of cesium (827 Bq/g)
Soil sample taken 1.9 kilometers (1.19 miles) from Fukushima Daiichi: 249,000 Bq/kg of cesium
Taylor Wilson, nuclear scientist on Third Eye Weekly, Sept. 12, 2013 (at 51:15 in): In Japan there is […] a serious problem — What especially got washed out in the rain in Japan and then concentrated in low-lying areas. There are significant contamination problems throughout Japan, even in Tokyo for example, major metropolitan area.

////////////

this snip was no specifically about the "black substance" but about radioactive contamination but this is same for both.........

distance from the source alone is no sufficient factor for the prediction of a contamination level

[Warpy]

8. Bird shit?

Think about it, marine birds eat contaminated sea life from right offshore and fly elsewhere to drop the end result. It could explain contamination far from Fukushima greater than that which is much nearer to the plant.

It bears consideration and points out the necessity for vigilance and quick cleanup of hot spots.

[questionseverything]

10. the black stuff is bigger than bird poop

Marco Kalofan, an environmental engineer in the US was able to obtain a sample for detailed analysis. What was found was quite unusual. The substance isn’t a sand but an aggregate of radioactive substances, metals and rare earth materials. The materials for some reason clumped together into an aggregate rather than dispersing as tiny particles./////////////////////////

but yes birds and other animals could also carry the contamination

[Warpy]

11. Maybe picked up near the plant

by residents going to retrieve stuff from their homes and bringing it back wedged in the tires?

There are a lot of possible vectors out there and I imagine hot spots are going to pop up in some amazing places.

[mindwalker_i]

4. Cool, put it on a sandwich

It'll be self-heating!

[MyNameGoesHere]

6. Well there are experts here on DU

that assure me I could go for a swim in the waters around the site, and I would be blessed with little more than Happy Sunshine Rays.

[blackspade]

7. How is it getting to these locations?

Is it condensing out of the air or was there more to the explosions that tepco has let on?

[RobertEarl]

9. It came from the explosions and fires

The thinking is that at least one reactor -#3- exploded and cast its core to the winds. #1 also blew up but it is not known if the core went into the air.

There were fires at 4 fuel pools, meaning the pools overheated and smoked to one degree or another.

Around the N. Hemisphere, monitors found traces of core material. Even plutonium, but the most found was cesium which comes from uranium reactions.

Personally, i did see, in 2011, odd patches of black scum in areas that rainfall became concentrated. Those patches have since been greatly reduced in size and distribution.

When you consider that the monitors around the N. Hemisphere did find deposits, then you know we all got dosed and it is still around.

[kristopher]

12. Reporting on unusual radioactive "black dust" 2012

Feb 16 2012
Over 1 Million Bq/kg of Radioactive Cesium from the Mysterious Black Dust in Minami Soma City
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2012/05/minami-somas-black-dust-with-over-10.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11276989

MONDAY, MAY 14, 2012
"Black Dust" in Tokyo? With 243,000 Bq/Kg of Radioactive Cesium

Freelance journalist Rei Shiva [Shiba] writing for Nikkan Spa, a daily tabloid in Japan (part; 5/15/2012):
...

It was this February when the super-radioactive and mysterious "black dust" found in Minami Soma City in Fukushima Prefecture was in the news.
...

Although 1.08 million Bq/kg was shocking, it was considered to be specific only to Minami Soma. However, I've been told that "black dust" exists everywhere in Tokyo.
...

"When I brought the radiation detector closer, it visibly responded. So I knew it might be highly contaminated, but didn't know it was this contaminated...", says Ayako Ishikawa incredulously. Ishikawa is the head of the citizens' group "No! to Radiation, Protect Children in Koto". [Koto-ku is one of the eastern Special Wards of Tokyo]. She says, "We found something that looked like "black dust" near the Hirai JR station in Edogawa-ku. We collected the sample and and asked Professor Tomoya Yamauchi of Kobe University to measure the radiation. The result was that it had the maximum 243,000 Bq/kg [of radioactive cesium]."
...

It is 2,430 times the clearance level [100 Bq/kg] specified by the Nuclear Reactor Regulation Law...

http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2012/05/black-dust-in-tokyo-with-243000-bqkg-of.html


Reporting moves back to Fukushima

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

Minami Soma's "Black Dust" with Over 10 Million Bq/kg of Radioactive Cesium, Says Assemblyman Ooyama (Just Don't Multiply by 65!)

He keeps finding "black dust" in his city with ever higher radioactivity. That's extremely high, even though Mr. Ooyama hasn't given the details as to the exact measurement or the location in his blog post.

But one thing the readers had better keep in mind: YOU DO NOT MULTIPLY THIS NUMBER BY 65 TO CONVERT TO BQ/M2.

As I said in the previous post on Tokyo's "black dust", the multiplier of 65 is only applicable if:
- The soil sample is taken from the surface to 5 centimeter deep; and
- The soil's relative density is about 1.3 gram/cm3 (cubic centimeter)....
....

http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2012/05/minami-somas-black-dust-with-over-10.html