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Poisoning Mother Earth: Fukushima and America's Gulf

Posted: 2011/04/22

As best we know it, the shocking truth is that preventable disasters keep proliferating life-destroying contamination globally. Yet news about them is suppressed, so few people everywhere are unaware how calamitously they're being harmed.

As a result, distinguished environmental researcher, Dr. Ilya Perlingieri, now warns to stay out of rain because it's likely radioactive. So is drinking water, food and air with unknown levels because governments like America and Japan won't say.

However, Norwegian Institute for Air Research static and dynamic maps show radiation contamination across the Northern Hemisphere with estimates of potential releases, increasing daily. Access them through the following link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24411

Also, Radiation Network.com gives levels across America, accessed through the following link: http://www.radiationnetwork.com

Minimally, the danger is extreme and worsening as Fukushima releases are expected to continue for months, perhaps years.

Reporting what little is known about Japan, Kyodo News headlined an April 21 article, "Radioactive leaks into sea were 20,000 times above limit: TEPCO," saying:

In early April, "an estimated 5,000 terabecquerels of radioactive substances," amounting to 520 tons were released over a six-day period alone. However, leakage began on March 11 and continues daily in unreported amounts. One terabecquerel = one trillion becquerels. Already, contamination levels are disastrous.

more at above link

Radiation Spreads throughout the Northern Hemisphere

Dynamic Map by Norwegian Institute for Air Research

Below is the static map based on real time tabulations of the Norwegian Institute of Air Research pertaining to potential releases of radiation from the Fukushima plant.

For the dynamic version of this map, regional dynamic maps as well as technical information click below. Japan and North America static maps are indicated below

You will need to refresh the dynamic map (Global Research, April 20, 2011)

http://transport.nilu.no/browser/fpv_fuku?fpp=conccol_Xe-133_;region=NH

LATEST STATIC MAP APRIL 21, COMPARE WITH PREVIOUS

diagrams at link

[caniff]

[visitorq]

^ Oh, it's been a clusterf#%$ since day one. They've now openly admitted that they're not even going to bother trying to flood the number 1 reactor anymore, since it's basically fully exposed and molten (ie. cannot be cooled). They're just planning on covering it with a polyester/steel frame structure (supposedly capable of resisting strong winds and filtering out radioactive particles in the air). The million-times-greater-than-normal radioactive water is still leaking into the ocean and has been this entire time. I suppose that will at least be somewhat taken care of if they stop pumping new water in and pump the old contaminated water out.

Radioactive Cesium is all over the place, meaning Fukushima will not be habitable again. Latest news is it's been showing up in the tea leaves in neighboring prefectures (we already knew it was in the water and other leafy plants like spinach). But everyone in Tokyo is just living life as normal and not giving it a second thought... I guess there's not much else they can do (but still the amount of willful ignorance about the subject is a bit alarming to me).

[Ya-ta Boy]

I suspect the whole episode is just a hoax. They probably staged the media event to advertise an up-coming disaster/monster movie. Some people can be so gullible, believing everything thing hear.

[visitorq]

[Abe Scrap]

[TL]

Appears the Japanese government is content with higher levels of radiation exposure for children.

Translated blog comments by Professor Kunihiko Takeda regarding the protection of children from radiation:

[visitorq]

You know the situation is FUBAR when media reports prove that everything from day one was a basically a cover up (ie. despite the gov't telling the public everything was fine, it turns out nearly all the reactors went into rapid meltdown with molten fuel that is too hot to ever cool off, fuel rod fragments ejected a mile from the site, ongoing fires and explosions, extreme radiation pouring into the ocean), and is now casually reporting that the final solution will be to cover the reactors up with circus tents...

[Abe Scrap]

I've compiled some of the gems from this thread:

[caniff]

[Abe Scrap]

This is just panic-mongering. Feel free to ignore.

Meanwhile, in Fukushima: Rising Radiation Levels

A series of worrying incidents at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has drawn the eyes of the international media away from the Osama Bin Laden spectacle and back toward northeastern Japan this week. In a string of increasingly alarming reports, every one of the troubled reactors at the site faced major new setbacks this week as the Tokyo Electric Power Co and the Japanese government struggled to maintain the appearance that the situation was under control.

After admitting that radiation levels in the building housing Reactor number 1 had reached 700 millisieverts per hour on Monday, TEPCO was forced to concede on Thursday that the reactor core has in fact been exposed and melted down, causing a leak in the containment vessel itself. This not only poses greater likelihood of contamination of groundwater, but makes it even more difficult to continue cooling operations. As one nuclear adviser noted, TEPCO�s current operation of flooding the core must now be scrapped, as large amounts of cold water hitting melted fuel could trigger another explosion, causing a further massive atmospheric radiation release.

Meanwhile, a new leak was found at reactor number 3 this week, and an unknown amount of radioactive material was confirmed to have leaked into the ocean. This leak was reportedly sealed by Wednesday.

On Tuesday the Japanese government confirmed that the number 4 reactor building was leaning and that emergency work had been done to shore up the building to prevent it from collapsing in the event of another earthquake or aftershock. Reactor 4 contains fuel rods from 3 to 4 reactors, leading to worries that a building collapse would lead to spent fuel rods being scattered around the Fukushima site, making the entire area unworkable.

As nuclear engineer Arnold Gunderson notes, the admissions of containment vessel leaks in three of the reactors represents a turn of events that nuclear regulators in the United States have previously thought impossible.

In the latest setback, one of the plant workers collapsed and died shortly after beginning his shift at the Fukushima plant on Saturday. The cause of death has yet to be determined.

Confidence in the Japanese government�s ability to respond to the unfolding catastrophe slipped even further this week, as it was revealed this week that the prefectural government appears to have failed to notify 4 of the towns in the vicinity of the Fukushima plant that there had been a nuclear accident following the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. The government is connected to all six towns within 10 km of the plants via special digital communication lines, and is obligated to inform the town governments in the wake of any nuclear emergency. However, records released this week show that the government only contacted two of the towns in the vicinity, and neglected to inform the other four. Two of the towns that were not notified learned of the accident via tv news reports and concluded that it was necessary to evacuate residents.

Meanwhile, TEPCO has announced that its latest plan to prevent further release of radioactive materials from the plant is to cover the damaged reactor buildings with giant polyester covers.

Now, tempers are flaring over news that TEPCO has reached a deal to secure billions of dollars in government aid to help cover the costs of the cleanup and to compensate victims of the accident. As journalist Yoichi Shimatsu notes, the package is being sold to the public as emergency assistance to the victims, but in reality is a bailout of TEPCO with government funds under fraudulent pretenses.

�One thing is certain,� Shimatsu writes in his latest report. �The burden for Tepco�s malfeasance will fall on taxpayers and consumers. Despite official claims that the bailout will not trigger higher taxes or electricity prices, Tepco has already raised household power rates in May, stealthily by lower discounts for households, and the government is preparing to raise the consumer sales tax to 8 percent from the current 3.5 percent. Insiders are predicting a 16 percent electricity rate hike spread over the next decade.�

Now, signs that the traditionally reserved Japanese public have become fed up with government lies and obfuscation are beginning to emerge...

[TL]

Soil contamination from Fukushima crisis comparable to Chernobyl: study

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[TL]

Fukushima I Nuke Accident: Japanese Government Admits "Melt-Through" in Reactors 1, 2 and 3

[visitorq]