Radiation Level Outside Damaged Japan Reactor May Cause Death Within Hours (over one full sievert)

[stockholmer]

Source: Bloomberg News

"Radiation levels that can prove fatal were detected outside reactor buildings at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant for the first time, complicating efforts to contain the worst disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

Water in an underground trench outside the No. 2 reactor had levels exceeding 1 sievert an hour, a spokesman for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. told reporters in the capital yesterday. Exposure to that dose for 30 minutes would trigger nausea and four hours might lead to death within two months, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Preventing the most-contaminated water from leaking into the ground or air is key to containing the spread of radiation beyond the plant. A partial meltdown of fuel rods in the No. 2 reactor probably caused a jump in the readings, Japan’s chief government spokesman said.

“There’s not much good news right now,” said Gennady Pshakin, a former IAEA official based in Obninsk, the site of Russia’s first nuclear power plant. “There’re questions arising on how much fuel will leak out, what isotopes will be carried and how quickly they will settle. It’s becoming less predictable.”..................................."


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-28/hazardous-radiation-levels-stall-efforts-to-cool-reactors-prevent-leaks.html

---

Expert on CNN: Fukushima will end very, very badly — No one knows how to stop it (VIDEO)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_mk7T5MQxI&feature=player_embedded
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
China Detects Radiation Over Southeast Coastal Areas As Asahi Reports Of Holes In Reactor Pressure Vessels 1, 2 And 3


From Kyodo: http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/81587.html

The radioactive material is believed to have drifted from Japan as a result of radiation leaking from the earthquake-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex.

China detected low levels of radioactive iodine-131 in the air over Heilongjiang Province in the northeast for the second day on Sunday, Xinhua said, adding that public health and the environment were not affected.

Chinese monitoring stations detected radioactive material in the air for the first time on Saturday, according to China's Nuclear Emergency Coordination Commission.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From EX-SKF: http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/03/fukushima-i-nuke-plant-reactor-pressure.html

From Asahi Shinbun news http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0328/TKY201103280198.html (Japanese) about one hour ago (3:00PM JST 3/28/2011). Why the hell are they reporting it now?? The information was supposed to have been revealed in the press conference that TEPCO had past midnight on March 28, according to the article:

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) admitted to the possibility in its early March 28 press conference that the steel Reactor Pressure Vessels that hold nuclear fuel rods in the Reactors 1, 2, 3 at Fukushima I Nuclear Plant may have broken. TEPCO explained the situation "Imagine there's a hole." Because of this "hole", contaminated water that's been poured into the Pressure Vessels to cool the fuel rods continues to leak, it is assumed.

In the Reactors 1, 2, and 3, the water level within the Pressure Vessels are not rising as much as desired. TEPCO admitted in the March 28 press conference that the reason why the Pressure Vessels haven't been filled with water was "probably a hole near the bottom, that's the image we have". Asked why there was a hole, TEPCO answered they did not know.

The Reactor Pressure Vessels (RPVs) are the most important of the 5-layer protection against radiation leak (other 4 are the fuel pellets, cladding of fuel rods, Container Vessels, and the Reactor buildings). The RPVs at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is made of 16-centimeter thick steel, and it has an outlet at the bottom to insert measuring instruments. It is possible that the leak is from that area.

TEPCO also admitted to the possibility of the exposed nuclear fuel rods overheating and damaging the RPVs. According to the nuclear experts, if the fuel rods get damaged and start to melt, it will fall to the bottom of the RPVs and settle. It then becomes harder to cool with water effectively, because the surface area is smaller. It is possible that the melted fuel rods melted the wall of the RPVs with high temperature and created a hole.

[MinneapolisMatt]

1. God help those people.

Yowza.

[Eljo_Don]

42. Radiation

God help us all! There is enough nuclear material in those 6 plants to kill us all.

[mimitabby]

43. uh, God help ALL of us...

[Juneboarder]

63. You're reading my mind...

We're all going to be affected by this mess. I thought the gulf BP disaster was a mess, but this is turning out to be equally as disastrous if not more.

[neverforget]

2. I don't know how they can stop this. From what I understand, they have to

wait for the reactors to cool before they can be entombed. But by waiting, the reactors continue to leak. The workers can't get close enough for any long period of time to work because of radiation exposure.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. In order to "fix" the problem, you'd have to engage "Kamikaze" workers,

those who are prepared to die to finish a mission.

[tblue37]

4. I think they are alreasy using them as kamikaze workers, but if they die

too fast, they won't get to finish the job, so they are trying to limit exposure enough to keep them able to work for a while rather than having them get too sick to work and then die before enough containment has been accomplished.

I am quite sure those honorable, brave workers do not expect to live long after their jobs there are done..

[Kelvin Mace]

5. Kind of what happened at Chernobyl

with the Fire fighters. They were sacrificed to get the plant under control. I have read one article by a Russian who ran the Chernobyl cleanup criticizing the Japanese for failing to make the same sacrifices.

[Javaman]

60. I read this horrible story years about regarding Chernobyl...

The workers would rotate in 15 minute intervals. They would run in, do some portion of work and run out.

In that very short time, they would experience huge doses of radiation.

Most of them died.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

6. and THAT"S WHAT THEY NEED TO DO>>."KAMAKZE WORKER"

[aquart]

10. Get hazmat suits on those GE and TEPCO executives!

This is why they get paid the big bucks!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

12. indeed they need to lead by example!

[KansDem]

16. Forget the hazmat suits!

They can go in wearing their three-piece suits! :grr:

[dogday]

68. You are much kinder than I am. I would have them in their

birthday suits going into those reactors.... :hi:

[AtheistCrusader]

20. I sort of doubt it, but you're more likely to see that in Japan than in the US.

Minor cultural difference.

[virgogal]

21. Yep.those are the guys they should send in.

[me b zola]

38. Don't they always say their pay is justified because they take all the risks?

Time for them to put up or shut up.

[defendandprotect]

46. +1000% --

[wordpix]

50. +100,000

[Wednesdays]

53. Like the line by Lord Farquaad in "Shrek"

"Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make."

[Myrina]

65. Hey, he looks like Snott Walker!

:rofl: :rofl:

[wordpix]

49. it's always the same---the CEOs don't go into hazardous areas, presidents don't go to war zones

except for 1/2 a day or so to shake hands under tight security.

[readmoreoften]

62. Too bad the lazy capitalists don't know how to DO ANYTHING.

They just know how to extract profits from laborers work. They don't know how to turn off a valve or hold a fire hose. We could stuff the plant with the world's capitalists and solve the economic crisis at least.

[FirstLight]

7. I am going to keep sharing these links...

because they have some really interesating information and exposure stuff.
I got started by a thread posted he a few days ago:
"ghost town"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

it gives some initial info about measuring radiation and is a wonderful photo journal of a trip through chernobyl country

and that led me to this:
a video documentary about chernobyl in detail... (please note the 8th segment where the govt. woman has files from the early investigations and cover up, where the levels and deaths were significantly higher...but never admitted to this day.)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...


This is, IMO, a worse scenario than chernobyl, the ocean is an obvious reason, so is the water table being so very close to the floor. Needless to add is that this is THREE reactors and 3 times the potential for radioactive material, three times greater exposure risk...or is it exponential? :scared: either way i don't feel good about this at all.

[stockholmer]

15. thanks for the links, but they do not work, due to the endings missing

cheers

[bananas]

29. Bad links - please fix them. nt

[ixion]

8. "No one knows how to stop it "

This is, of course, why nuclear power is a bad idea.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

13. they need to ask Russia to show them how to begin

[WheelWalker]

14. Hell, they don't even know what "it" is yet. nt

[me b zola]

40. Yes, and same for drilling so deep in the ocean, too. n/t

[Frisbee]

9. "worst disaster since Chernobyl"

While technically, it may not have exceeded Chernobyl yet, I don't think there can be much doubt that when all is said and done, Fukushima Dai-Ichi will have proven to be orders of magnitude worse than Chernobyl. This may well prove to be one of the worst disasters in recent history, and there have been some whoopers lately.

[Uncle Joe]

11. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, stockholmer.

[Arugula Latte]

17. Good thing it's a clean, safe source of energy, though.

:grr:

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wordpix]

51. not to mention, "cheap"---i.e. if the US taxpayer will subsidize the industry

[Texano78704]

18. Where's the editor?

"Exposure to that dose for 30 minutes..." That should read 'dose rate,' not 'dose.'

[TBF]

24. Well we'd better totally disregard everything in the article then, huh?

:eyes:

[Texano78704]

45. Either that or lower our expections...

of news media sources like Bloomberg properly using the terms "dose and "dose rate."

[catenary]

19. Those numbers came from Tokyo Electric Power...are we now permitted to trust their information?

It's hard to keep up...

[JackRiddler]

26. Do you think they'd lie by exaggerating the severity?

When they report a high dosage leaking, it's significant, because all their incentives (and their practice so far) have been to downplay the crisis. They may still be understating it, of course, but you can trust them not to overstate.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

55. What's your point?

Or, what's your take on the situation?

[They_Live]

64. I think the take is

that it's problematic getting information from the company that owns the reactors instead of from an unaffiliated source, kind of like trusting BP to spare no expense in cleaning up their own mess in the Gulf of Mexico and provide the public with accurate information.

[gracchorumspes]

22. My God!

This is a huge disaster, I wish well and pray for the people in Tokyo!

[Safetykitten]

25. This is obviously a small setback, and radiation is part of everyone.

[JackRiddler]

27. Besides, oil and coal are worse, and represent the only conceivable alternatives, ever.

You must support cancer because you don't want smallpox, damn it!!!

[TBF]

30. Ah, yes, a very small "setback"...

:crazy:

[Caretha]

48. A small set back?

Please tell me you forgot the sacrasm icon.

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[zalinda]

28. And, I remember those who argued with me about

how safe nuclear plants are. They said those running the plants would never let a breach happen, and even if something happened, they have safety procedures. Now tell me how ill informed I was.

To be quite honest, I would gladly cut back on even the small energy I use now, to get natural energy on line. I'm sorry if I look at the bigger picture, but business owners and politicians don't seem to see further than the nose on their face. Unlucky us can't fly away from a situation or build a house out of lead to be protected. How Obama could even consider more plants, is beyond me.

zalinda

[harun]

61. One would hope a lesson in humility comes from this but that rarely

seems to be the case.

[obxhead]

69. Politicians don't see further than the dollar in their wallet.

[emilyg]

31. Jesus H.

[TBF]

32. "Standing Water at Reactor No. 2 Is Highly Radioactive and Could Spill Into Sea"

From the article in the WSJ (I like to read the Journal because the capitalists keep up on things and don't sugar coat, that way they know what to do with their investments ...):

"Monday's events brought a new phase to the complex battle to stem disaster at the hobbled nuclear complex. Since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems at the plant, the prime battle has been to bring overheating reactors down to safe temperatures. Last week, after crews doused reactors with salt- and fresh water, temperatures stopped rising.

But plant officials are now facing standing water in four of the complex's six reactor buildings, at least one of which is a pool of highly radioactive water. That poses dangers to personnel on the site and threatens to bedevil further work at the site. It also sets a new agenda for the company and government—finding and stopping the radiation's source, keeping the pools that carry the contamination from spilling into the nearby ocean and grappling with how to dispose what is still an unclear quantity of radioactive water."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471904576228013297106224.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond

[DeSwiss]

33. K&R

Radioactive water in external tunnels

NHK World
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 02:21 +0900 (JST)



The operator of the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima, northeastern Japan, has reported that very high levels of radiation have been observed in water in a trench just outside the turbine building for one of the reactors.

Tokyo Electric Power Company announced on Monday that a puddle of water was found in a trench outside the No. 2 reactor turbine building at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Sunday afternoon. It said the radiation reading on the puddle's surface indicated more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour.

The concrete trench is 4 meters high and 3 meters wide and houses power cables and pipes. It is located in the compound of the plant but outside the radiation control area.

TEPCO says the trench extends 76 meters toward the sea but does not reach the sea, and that the contaminated water was not flowing into the sea. TEPCO says it is trying to find out how the contaminated water came to be in the trench.

MORE: (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/28_h37.html">link)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/fixed/asx/28_h37_512k.asx">VIDEO

Plutonium found in Fukushima plant soil

NHK World
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 02:20 +0900 (JST)

Tokyo Electric Power Company says plutonium has been found in soil samples from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

It says the radioactive substance appears to be related to the ongoing nuclear accident, but the level detected is the same as that found in other parts of Japan and does not pose a threat to human health.

TEPCO collected samples from 5 locations around the power plant over 2 days from March 21st and found 2 samples contaminated with plutonium.

MORE: (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/29_02.html">link)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/fixed/asx/28_h37_512k.asx">VIDEO

[stockholmer]

35. here is a quote "the (plutonium)level detected is the same as that found in other parts of Japan"!

would those other parts happen to be Hiroshima and Nagasaki?



:(

[Botany]

34. Where are the "this just like a couple of X-rays or a cross country plane trip" ..

... posters now?

An energy system based on keeping things 100% stable on a dynamic planet for an
infinite period time ....... fucking brilliant.

BTW I hope that the Japanese will be able to contain the radiation and keep the area
of Japan that will not be able to have people living in it for years to come as small as
possible.

[Taft_Bathtub]

56. I'm still here

It's troubling news, but like most of the news coming out of Japan, the media has been quick to run screaming over it and then later found out they were wrong.

Here for example you have TEPCO retracing the story:
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fgw-japan-radiation-20110327,0,7935538.story

Iodine 131 has a half-life of about 8 hours, so it being in the basement is not a big concern, it's probably not even radioactive anymore since most of this happened yesterday.

[Botany]

59. And 1/2 life of cesium 137 is 30 years, strontium 90's is 28 years and

..... and Pu 239's is 24,500 years.

Fukushima Daiich Power Plant has the very real potential for making
a large area of Japan uninhabitable for generations.

Fukushima Daiich is currently spewing toxins into the environment

The radionuclides from Fukushima Daiich are potentially lethal for many living things

The oceanic currents can and will spread the toxins around the Pacific

Biomagnification of some of the longer lived radionuclides pose a very real
threat to the health of many many people

The soils around Fukushima Daiich might no longer be suitable for agriculture

The situation @ Fukushima Daiich is not under control

Radioactivity has been found in the drinking water of Tokyo

U.S. Naval Ships @ > 100 miles from the Fukushima Daiich power plant
detected radiation and were moved to avoid it. Some members of the
crew had to undergo decontamination.

[liberation]

70. Yeah, well...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/29/japan-lost-race-save-nuclear-reactor

You were saying?

Frankly, I prefer the creative spin of Pu being just like bananas, that's always a funny one. I understand it is a tough economy and people have to do what they have to do to put food on the table, so carry on...

[james0tucson]

36. They couldn't have known

They couldn't have known that dumping massive amounts of seawater onto the burning and exploding reactors from helicopters, pumping it in with hoses and cement trucks and fire trucks, after being dowsed with a massive tsunami, could possibly lead to there being puddles of radioactive water afterwards, right? And even if someone could imagine this, who could guess that the puddles would end up in the _basement_ of all places?

[Junkdrawer]

37. +1000

[suffragette]

39. Are tests being done on the groundwater?

Has anyone seen if this is being done?

Also, do any of the cities nearby use groundwater as a source for water supply.

[Little Star]

41. Now's the time to pray for anyone who does so.

[defendandprotect]

44. More radioactive water spills at Japan nuke plant

More radioactive water spills at Japan nuke plant


Plutonium is present in the fuel at the complex, which has been leaking radiation for more than two weeks, so experts had expected to find traces once crews began searching for evidence of it this week.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110328/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake

[defendandprotect]

47. Anyone still believe the BS of "Man's Dominion Over Nature" or "Manifest Destiny" -- ?

"Survival of the fittest" actually means those species which cooperate best

with nature --

[AsahinaKimi]

54. I fear this will not end well

ganbatte Nihon!

[SoulSearcher]

66. but will it end at all?

Given the half-life estimates, it might be awhile...

[K8-EEE]

57. Drop Ann Coulter off there for an hour or two

Because she seems to think this is all one big health treatment....crazy beyatch!

[liberation]

71. Yeah, and then we will end up with mecha mutant Coulterzilla...

... no thanks.

[indimuse]

58. My heart goes out to our Japanese friends...

much love and prayers.


knr.

[SoulSearcher]

67. knr X 2

[German]

72. No need to worry, your Goverment takes care of you

Or perhaps only your new citizens, the corporations?

Government Responds to Nuclear Accident by Trying to Raise Acceptable Radiation Levels and Pretending that Radiation is Good For Us

So now that Japan is suffering the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl - if not of all time - is the government riding to the rescue to help fix the problem, or at least to provide accurate information to its citizens so they can make informed decisions?

Of course not!

The EPA is closing ranks with the nuclear power industry:



EPA officials, however, refused to answer questions or make staff members available to explain the exact location and number of monitors, or the levels of radiation, if any, being recorded at existing monitors in California. Margot Perez-Sullivan, a spokeswoman at the EPA's regional headquarters in San Francisco, said the agency's written statement would stand on its own.

Critics said the public needs more information.

"It's disappointing," said Bill Magavern, director of Sierra Club California. "I have a strong suspicion that EPA is being silenced by those in the federal government who don't want anything to stand in the way of a nuclear power expansion in this country, heavily subsidized by taxpayer money."



The EPA has pulled 8 of its 18 radiation monitors in California, Oregon and Washington because (by implication) they are giving readings which seem too high.

Remember, for the sake of context, that the government has covered up nuclear meltdowns for fifty years to protect the nuclear power industry.
And now, the EPA is considering drastically raising the amount of allowable radiation in food, water and the environment.

In 1992, the EPA produced a PAGs manual that answers many of these questions. But now an update to the 1992 manual is being planned, and if the “Dr. Strangelove” wing of the EPA has its way, here is what it means (brace yourself for these ludicrous increases):

A nearly 1000-fold increase for exposure to strontium-90;

A 3000 to 100,000-fold hike for exposure to iodine-131; and

An almost 25,000 rise for exposure to radioactive nickel-63.

The new radiation guidelines would also allow long-term cleanup thresholds thousands of times more lax than anything EPA has ever judged safe in the past.

As Michael Kane writes:
In the wake of the continuing nuclear tragedy in Japan, the United States government is still moving quickly to increase the amounts of radiation the population can “safely” absorb by raising the safe zone for exposure to levels designed to protect the government and nuclear industry more than human life. It’s all about cutting costs now as the infinite-growth paradigm sputters and moves towards extinction. As has been demonstrated by government conduct in the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of Deepwater Horizon and in Japan, life has taken a back seat to cost-cutting and public relations posturing.

The game plan now appears to be to protect government and the nuclear industry from “excessive costs”… at any cost.

source: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/03/government-responds-to-nuclear-accident.html

[StarsInHerHair]

74. life takes a back seat to money

says it all, money means more to them & they're obviously crazy-how do they expect to survive?

[truebrit71]

73. Holy crap...

..

[StarsInHerHair]

75. that pro-nuke radiation troll is gone now, yes? the 1 demanding an answer

naming civilian deaths?

http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/18-manhattan-project-covered-up-effects-of-fluoride-toxicity/

...."Studies commissioned after chemical mishaps by the medical division of the “Manhattan Project” document highly controversial findings. For instance, toxic accidents in the vicinity of fluoride-producing facilities like the one near Lower Penns Neck, New Jersey, left crops poisoned or blighted, and humans and livestock sick. Symptoms noted in the findings included extreme joint stiffness, uncontrollable vomiting and diarrhea, severe headaches, and death. These and other facts from the secret documents directly contradict the findings concurrently published in scientific journals which praised the positive effects of fluoride."....


I had no idea, I'm sure it's purposely kept as difficult to find as possible, that fluoride is a byproduct of weapons grade plutonium & uranium, that shocks me! All the people I've read saying that fluoride was poisonous, all they had to do was open the conversation with the above sentence, that would be enough for me to reconsider.

wow just fails here..........