High levels of radiation found in groundwater at Fukushima

[Octafish]

Source: CBC

Strontium-90 levels near Japanese power plant are 30 times above safety limit

CBC News Posted: Jun 19, 2013 4:04 AM ET Last Updated: Jun 19, 2013 12:37 PM ET

High levels of a toxic substance called strontium-90 have been found in groundwater at the devastated Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan — coming to light even as the country moves closer to bringing its nuclear reactors back online.

Strontium-90 was detected in groundwater near the plant at levels 30 times above the government safety standard, officials said Wednesday.

Strontium-90 is a by-product of the fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear reactors as well as nuclear weapons. People exposed to it are at a greater risk of developing cancer.

High levels of tritium, a less harmful substance, had also been found, Toshihiko Fukuda, a general manager at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), told a news conference.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/06/19/japan-nuclear-fukushima-safety-requirements.html

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TEPCO says these radionuclides aren't making it to the Pacific. Of course, they don't mention groundwater ends up in people.

[closeupready]

1. But wait! It's invisible! You can't smell it, thus

it's okay.

K&R

[FBaggins]

4. You've got that backwards

It's invisible and you can't smell it... therefore people are irrationally afraid of it no matter how low the concentration is.

The entire globe was exposed to far higher strontium concentration during the nuclear testing years. These releases are tiny by comparison. The cesium contamination (and the earlier radioiodine levels) are of far greater significance.

[closeupready]

5. Keep carrying water here for the nuke nuts.

[Octafish]

6. Internal Radioactive Emitters – Invisible, Tasteless, and Odorless

EXCERPT...

Strontium 90 is a high-energy beta emitter, half-life 28 years, detectably radioactive for 600 years. As a calcium analogue, it is known as a bone-seeker. It concentrates in the food chain, specifically milk (including breast milk), and is laid down in bones and teeth in the human body, where it can irradiate a bone forming cell, or osteoblast, causing bone cancer; or mutate a white blood cell in the bone marrow which can initiate leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells.

SOURCE: http://www.helencaldicott.com/2011/07/internal-radioactive-emitters-invisible-tasteless-and-odorless/

PS: Thanks for noticing the one-note wonder.

[FBaggins]

7. Thanks for proving my point

Amounts are irrelevant...

[Octafish]

8. Radiation is not good for you.

Dr. Caldicott explains why even one particle lodged in a bone can lead to cancer.

Why you insist it's not is sad, at best.

[Faux pas]

2. I'm

I tell ya! I figure the meltdown is working it's way to the center of the earth. I think this will be the end of things for all living things on this planet.

[chervilant]

3. Bookmarked,

so I can watch for the pro-nuke sycophants who will try to disparage or diminish this OP...

The Fukushima disaster will require decades and as-yet-uninvented technology just to mitigate the radiation emanating from the damaged reactors. The Japanese government reminds me of the little Dutch boy. They're putting their finger in the hole in the dike, while ignoring the deluge pouring through the massive hole behind them.

I grieve for the children who are still proximal to the site. They should be moved, now.

[Art_from_Ark]

9. The children closest to the site were moved away 2 years ago

There is a 12-mile exclusion zone around the reactor site that was evacuated in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and is still deemed unfit for habitation. There is a 19-mile evacuation preparation zone around that where residents were advised to be constantly prepared for evacuation, and some of the hot spots in the northwest of that zone (that is, downwind from the reactors) were eventually evacuated as well. As far as the groundwater under the reactor site goes, it is not going to flow inland-- its natural course is toward the sea.

[chervilant]

10. Really, Art?

Then, why has Noam Chomsky advocated for removing children close to the site?

I just finished reading an article about the residents of small towns in Utah, who were told that watching the mushroom clouds produced while our government "tested"nuclear weapons was not dangerous. Many of these individuals died from cancers caused by radioactive fallout, and/or lost their livestock and livelihoods.

I have a tough time believing that the Japanese government (protectors of whale and dolphin murderers) is responding responsibly to the Fukushima disaster.