Posted on 10/31/2011 2:44:34 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Radiation Cleanup Confounds Japan
By YUMIKO ONO
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In the crucial early days after the tsunami knocked out power to cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. argued over who was in charge of containing the escalating disaster. Officials delayed the evacuation of residents in hot spots, despite information that radiation levels were high. They didn't distribute iodine pills to protect against thyroid cancer, despite calls from some experts to do so. They insisted that meat and vegetables produced around the nuclear facilities were safe, although they didn't adequately test for radiation.
How Japan fares in cleaning up the radioactive contamination will determine, in part, the extent of any long-term damage. The longer Japan waits to take action, the greater the chances that radioactive materials will spread through wind or rain and get into water and food supplies. Radioactive cesium, which experts say can stick around for as long as 300 years, has a tendency to bind to earth and be carried by silt in water. Earlier in October, Japan detected the highest radiation levels yet outside of Fukushima prefecture in a community 125 miles from the plant, raising new fears about the extent of contamination.
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"This type of shallow-pit burial has not been used in the U.S. since the 1960s," she says. "This is definitely not a good idea."
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"We don't have experience in this field," Vice Minister Hideki Minamikawa said in an interview. "We're talking about such a vast area," especially when including contaminated sludge piling up in places beyond Fukushima prefecture. "Currently, there are no clear signs yet on what needs to be done to make decontamination a success," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I hope Japanese would not end up becoming the ‘Sea People’ of the East.
They were lucky it wasn’t a major city.
Been trying to find out how the US North East Reactors are doing with all the power loss going on in the area due to October snow storm. So far we only have problems reported with a number of warning notification sirens being down due to power loss. For example.
"At approximately 1818 EDT on October 29, 2011, Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station received notification that 25 of 96 emergency notification system offsite sirens were not functional. The loss of >25% of the sirens is considered a Major Loss of Emergency Preparedness Capabilities (10CFR50.72(b)(3)(xiii)). The loss of offsite sirens was due to loss of electrical power caused by significant heavy snowfall in the area. Efforts are in place to restore offsite sirens to service."
"Limerick Generating Station reports a loss of >25% of the EPZ sirens for greater than 1 hour. Forty eight of the 185 offsite sirens are not functioning due to loss of power related to the recent storm."
I’m sure glad Freepers informed everyone the radiation was nothing more than a pilot gets from flying with sunshine....
Justa-hairyape,
I’ve been wondering whatever happened to the reactor that was surrounded by water. They kept saying ‘nothing to see here’ and then banned overflights and ...well....I do wonder.
Thanks for posting updates on the snow impacted regions
They were lucky it wasn’t a major city.
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Oddly enough, Japan’s two largest cities did receive radiation from Fukushima (Tokyo and one city south of Tokyo-forget the name). It’s unknown just how much radiation reached these areas but they are finding hotspots. I say ‘oddly’ because I recall wondering “what are the chances that of all the reactors in Japan, ones closest the two largest cities would melt down?”
I’ve been seeing articles on Ex-Skf.blogspot.com showing citizens power washing buildings and streets to decontaminate them in Fukushima and surrounding areas. It doesn’t work (doesn’t lower radiation readings much) and the citizens are not wearing protective gear - but it keeps happening. Here’s an example: http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/10/110-volunteers-and-residents-to-decon.html
Interesting. Not a peep about this over here but we get daily scares about salt, McDonalds, and second hand smoke etc.
Here’s a link (one of many articles on that site) re stuff detected in Tokyo. The later articles tend to be hotspots by a fountain, rooftop and sludge processing plants in Tokyo and then contaminated agricultural crops in areas south (farther from Fukushima) of Tokyo.
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/08/radioactive-fallout-in-tokyo-in-march.html
Yup - gotta watch that salt!
I have a farm in the Philippines , with enough land , fresh water and reliable electric power to produce easily 500k and perhaps a max of 1 million broiler chickens every 45 days ... I don’t have the capital to build the broiler grow houses which is killing me because we are already surveyed and approved by a large local beer and food company that has a GREAT production program with long term contracts ... The farmer grosses about 3% of his build out expenses monthly!!! 100 payback in 3 years then it’s all GRAVY ... OR tremendous free cash flow with a typical 5 or 7 year balloon commercial loan.
I would love to enter into a similar production (grow out) contract with a Japanese food company that would extend credit for building the facilities... (or anyone else for that matter) and provide the support infrastructure (chicks , feed , meds).
We have a container port less than an hour away... and could probably contract with the beer companies chicken processing / packaging / quick freeze plant if we go independant..
How would I reach possible investors from Japan? I have a somewhat rare commodity as large tracts of land in Asia are usually unavailable for corporate purchase or use.. And I’m smart enough to work it personally and to not become greedy...
Was assuming the water had subsided by now. At any rate, the way the Japanese government was raked over the coals for their Fukushima coverups, my guess is the Cronies have put a lid on any publicity about nuclear power plant problems. Amazing that 4 million lose power and no one in the media wonders if the nuclear plants lost external power ? Great watchdog media we have.
Placemark and thanks for continuing to ping.
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