Tokyo soil so contaminated with radiation it would be considered nuclear waste in US

Natural News ^ | 5/24/2012 | Ethan A. Huff

[JohnKinAK]

Radioactive fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster continues to show up at dangerously high levels in the city of Tokyo, which is located roughly 200 miles from the actual disaster site. According to an analysis of five random soil samples recently taken by nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen, the soil around Tokyo is so contaminated with Fukushima radiation that it would be considered nuclear waste here in the U.S.

During a recent trip to Tokyo, Gundersen collected soil samples from a sidewalk, a children's playground, a rooftop, a patch of moss by the side of a road, and the lawn of a judicial building. After sending those samples in for testing, it was revealed that each one had high levels of radioactive cesium-134 (CS134) and cesium-137 (CS137), while three of the samples contained high levels of cobalt-60 (CO60). One of the samples also tested positive for uranium-235 (U235).

"[W]hen I was in Tokyo, I took some samples [...] and sent them to the lab," said Gundersen in a recent video report. "And the lab determined that all of them would be qualified as radioactive waste here in the United States and would have to be shipped to Texas to be disposed of."

You can view the complete report here: http://www.fairewinds.com

Despite the fact that radioactive plumes from Fukushima have largely drifted seaward based on wind patterns, a considerable amount of this radiation traveled southward towards Tokyo and elsewhere. The findings also confirm the reality that Fukushima radiation has likely had significant global spread as well, which confirms earlier reports of samples taken on the U.S. West Coast

[MrEdd]

The latter.

Q: What is the half life of dirt?

A: Too low to put in an article like this without embarrasment, assuming you can find a girbilist who knows what the half life is.

[SatinDoll]

Nuclear reactors do not explode. Yes, they can melt down - that is why American nuclear plants have containments.

As for the rest, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You ought to at least try getting some true knowledge.

The American Nuclear Society has a report on Fukushima at their website.

No doubt about it, this has been a horrifying event. But I’m going to emphasize something here: such catastrophic phenomena cannot be controlled, nor can we ever anticipate what the greatest extent such an incident will be when it does occurr.

We could be hit tomorrow with a large meteor in the northeastern reaches of the Pacific Ocean that would instantly light the clathrate hydrate (frozen methane) in the seabed, setting off volcanism, earthquakes and incredible destruction along the Pacific coast of North America. There is not a dam thing you or I can do to prevent that happening.

And, there is no such thing as a radiation plume.

When I read that last week on SHTF.com, {sigh} I knew it was published just to panic folks.

Here is an analogy that most understand: radioactive material is to a pile of dog shit what radiation is to the shit’s stench.

Atomically unstable elements, such as uranium and plutonium, lose energy by emitting ionizing particles - that is radiation.

Three things block radiation: time, distance, and shielding. Radioactive material has a half-life; the further one is from a radioactive sourse, the less radiation one is exposed to; and, material such as water, concrete and lead effectively shield radiation.

Radiation from the spent fuel at Fukushima is not going to fussily settle in Denver, CO, much less reach that far!

I live in southwest Washington State and weekly consume oysters from Willapa Bay, a shallow Pacific Ocean bay north of the Columbia River estuary. If there was any danger in eating those oysters, I wouldn’t indulge.

Stay safe but most of all, stay calm.

[palmer]

It is from a radiation network that has been monitoring for many months. They know what false readings are. They have had them in the past. This one looks legit, which is why the POTR blog released the alert

It is one unverified, uncorroborated spike to about 85 CPM in Colorado at 4200 feet. The guy who wrote up the report even admits he has limited knowledge about isotopes and his suggestion that it came from Japan in the jet stream is pure speculation. It is much more likely to be a local phenomenon.

[snowsislander]

Here's some actual news about searching for people who have been overexposed to radiation. It's an article about how municipalities in Fukushima as well as the prefectural government have on their own initiative gone out and bought portable whole body scanners (at $625,000 a pop) to drive into neighborhoods to check people's actual exposure levels:

  Fukushima municipalities forced to go it alone on radiation testing

Courtesy of Asahi.com

Here's a relevant quote from the article about radiation levels found in people in the hardest hit areas of Fukushima, and not distant Tokyo:

It released encouraging results on May 15 based on tests conducted on 9,502 people. While radioactive cesium was detected in 68.9 percent of adults (senior high school students or older) in October 2011, that figure had dropped to 9.9 percent in March this year.

The corresponding figures for children (junior high school students or younger) also fell from 32.3 percent to 0.8 percent.

Radiation levels dropped in all 67 children who showed high radiation levels in their first checkups and received follow-up tests. Levels also fell for 112 of 114 adults who showed high radiation levels in their first checkups. Two men, both aged 60 or older, showed a slight increase in their levels.

“Cesium has decreased for most of the people because it has passed out of the body in the form of urine or other substances. As for those whose radiation levels rose, there could be influences from food taken by them. It is necessary to continue to have checkups, including tests on food,” said Masaharu Tsubokura, a doctor at Minami-Soma City General Hospital, who was in charge of the WBC checkups for Minami-Soma residents.

[rottndog]

Nuclear reactors do not explode. Yes, they can melt down - that is why American nuclear plants have containments.

Well, nuclear reactors can explode. That's what happened at Chernobyl. But...it was not a 'nuclear' explosion...it was a steam explosion.

[SuziQ]

... Or does it mean that what nuclear waste standards in U.S are silly?

Considering the possibility that someone's old watch with glow in the dark hands might be considered 'nuclear waste', I'd say your opinion is correct.

[SatinDoll]

The steam lines at Chernobyl were operated beyond their design limits and ruptured. The force of the steam eruption battered the reactor and damaged it, and spent fuel was pulverized, carried up with the steam. It was the coolant, which was graphite, that caught fire and sent up smoke.

[rottndog]

Chernobyl was a Light Water Reactor...it used water as coolant and moderator. The fire was the result of the lack of coolant...the fuel got so hot because there was no water to remove the heat...it burned.

[SatinDoll]

My father is a nuclear engineer, and I read the report about the accident that he possessed.

There is a famous photo of Chernobyl where flames are seen in the heart of the reactor. That is graphite coolant burning.

[justa-hairyape]

Now that is how you respond to the report. Thanks.

However, it is fairly clear that they have increasing problems in Japan. Just today Tepco finally admitted that building #4 is deforming. Walls are bulging. Anyone could have seen that, just by looking at the Tepco camera. They are also experiencing negative pressure somewhere within reactor #4 building. You sometimes see fog/smog being sucked into the building center.

[justa-hairyape]

The explosions occurred because the reactors were melting out of the RPV containment. Whenever you see a reactor building explode, you have to assume that the core has escaped containment and that caused the explosion. So the reactor cores exploded via their gas emissions.

[justa-hairyape]

The Japanese media ? Like for example the head of NHK who is taking the head job at Tepco ? Unfortunately, Japan has become Americanized. And we should not have to explain how corrupt the American media became. Heck, their corruption spawned the alternative media.

[SatinDoll]

Nuclear fuel doesn’t explode nor does it burn. You have been lied to on this subject.

[justa-hairyape]

Mayor: “We are definitely suffering from radiation exposure in our bodies” and want health care — Just 2% of Fukushima residents have had radiation testing by gov’t

[justa-hairyape]

The energy of the melting fuel creates the hydrogen gas. That gas is a product of the reactor fuel melting. Thus, reactor product goes boom. Thus, reactor goes boom. There would not have been a boom, without a reactor. Reactor #4 being the strange mysterious oddity in that case however.

[SatinDoll]

What is the source of your information?

[snowsislander]

The Japanese media ? Like for example the head of NHK who is taking the head job at Tepco ? Unfortunately, Japan has become Americanized. And we should not have to explain how corrupt the American media became. Heck, their corruption spawned the alternative media.

Note that my articles are from Asahi. Just exactly whose spin do you think Asahi is going to carry? NHK is a government entity, but Asahi certainly isn't. Asahi is a left-wing newspaper that's perfectly happy to sensationalize any nuclear scare story.

If Asahi cannot find anything more controversial than the local whole body scanners in Fukushima are running a bit behind in scanning folks, then you can rest assured that's nothing else to sensationalize.

[justa-hairyape]

Which specific issue ? That the explosions occurred as the molten fuel was leaving the RPV ?

[justa-hairyape]

Not if the Japanese government has declared this issue to be a national security issue. Quite frankly, it probably should be a national security issue. So, media may not have a choice. The implications for Japans economy alone, makes it a national security issue, IMHO.

[SatinDoll]

Is this what you’re relying on for facts?

“Once power was lost, critical functions like the cooling system shut down, as did the instruments that told workers what was happening inside the reactors. Three of the reactors quickly overheated, causing meltdowns that eventually led to explosions, which hurled large amounts of radioactive material into the air.”

This is from the New York Times - Asia/Pacific, June 1, 2011. They are no more a reputable source of information on nuclear matters than they are on political matters.

I will repeat - nuclear fuel cannot explode. See Wikipedia: Criticalisty Accident
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_excursion