IBT: Fukushima mutant daises: Deformed flowers spotted at Japan's disaster site

[justice98]

29 minutes ago, China said:

Research: Fukushima radiation reaches U.S. shores for first time

 

WOOD HOLE, Mass., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- For the first time since the nuclear disaster in 2011, radiation from Japan's Fukushima plant has reached the West Coast of the United States, according to a New England researcher.

 

It's a minuscule amount -- less than one-thousandth the standard for drinking water or a dental X-ray. But it's notable considering the amount was detected 5,000 miles from Japan five years after the disaster.

 

From his lab another 3,000 miles east in Massachusetts, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution chemical oceanographer Ken Buesseler discovered samples of seawater taken in January and February from Tillamook Bay and Gold Beach in central Oregon contain radiation unique to the power plants. It wasn't until last week that it was reported by a media outlet, the Statesman Journal, which serves the Oregon area where the samples were found.

 

"Not to downplay it, but the levels we are seeing are quite low," Buesseler told UPI.

 

He said it wouldn't stop him from eating seafood or swimming in the Pacific Ocean.

 

Click on the link for the full article

Makes you wonder about all the fish between here and there, where maybe the levels haven't been as low.

[DallasCowboyFan156]

I live in Japan. I was at a sushi train a week or two ago and they were advertising a special kind of fish. "Harvested from the Sendai Coast!" it proclaimed proudly. Needless to say I did not buy it.

[PokerPacker]

4 hours ago, DallasCowboyFan156 said:

I live in Japan. I was at a sushi train a week or two ago and they were advertising a special kind of fish. "Harvested from the Sendai Coast!" it proclaimed proudly. Needless to say I did not buy it.

Wuss

[dfitzo53]

5 hours ago, DallasCowboyFan156 said:

I live in Japan. I was at a sushi train a week or two ago and they were advertising a special kind of fish. "Harvested from the Sendai Coast!" it proclaimed proudly. Needless to say I did not buy it.

You just missed your chance at super powers.

[PokerPacker]

1 hour ago, dfitzo53 said:

You just missed your chance at super powers.

Sakanaman!

(yes, I googled the Japanese term for 'fish')

[Elessar78]

Meh. Japanese ghosts are scary but you end up unafraid again after thirty minutes.

[China]

Japanese nuclear plant just recorded an astronomical radiation level. Should we be worried?

 

TOKYO — The utility company that operated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan — the one that went into triple meltdown after the enormous 2011 earthquake and tsunami — has released some jaw-dropping figures.

 

The radiation level in the containment vessel of reactor 2 has reached as high as 530 sieverts per hour, Tokyo Electric Power Co. — or Tepco, as it’s known — said last week. This far exceeds the previous high of 73 sieverts per hour recorded at the reactor following the March 2011 disaster.

 

That was the world’s worst nuclear disaster since the one at Chernobyl, in Ukraine, in 1986. Almost 16,000 people were killed along Japan’s northeastern coast in the tsunami, and 160,000 more lost their homes and livelihoods. The cleanup is taking much longer than expected.

 

At this level of radioactivity, a person could die from the briefest of exposures.

 

Tepco recorded the radiation near the reactor core, suggesting that some melted fuel had escaped, using a long, remote-controlled camera and radiation measurement device. It was the first time this kind of device has been able to get into this part of the reactor. There it found a three-foot-wide hole in a metal grate in the reactor’s primary containment vessel.

 

So, how dangerous is this?

 

At this level of radiation, a robot would be able to operate for less than two hours before it was destroyed, Tepco said.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

On 2/8/2017 at 7:18 PM, China said:

 

 

So, how dangerous is this?

 

At this level of radiation, a robot would be able to operate for less than two hours before it was destroyed, Tepco said.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Robots dying in Fukushima as high radiation levels blight clean-up

 

The company hired to clean up the Fukushima site is reportedly experiencing difficulties as their robotic probes keep malfunctioning.

 

In order to conduct the cleanup efficiently, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is using robots to map the size and locations of the leaks, as the levels of radiation are too high to ensure humans won't be affected by it, even with adequate protection.

 

The latest robot used to attempt to gain data on the site died five times faster than expected, due to the intense radiation. This comes after several TEPCO robots malfunctioned earlier in the year.

Click on the link for the full article

[Captain Wiggles]

Quote

The radiation levels inside the reactor were recorded at 530 sieverts

 

So basically one hundred times the lethal dose of radiation. Damn...

 

 

 

[China]

Six years after Fukushima, much of Japan has lost faith in nuclear power

 

Six years have passed since the Fukushima nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011, but Japan is still dealing with its impacts. Decommissioning the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant poses unprecedented technical challenges. More than 100,000 people were evacuated but only about 13 percent have returned home, although the government has announced that it is safe to return to some evacuation zones.

 

In late 2016 the government estimated total costs from the nuclear accident at about 22 trillion yen, or about US$188 billion – approximately twice as high as its previous estimate. The government is developing a plan under which consumers and citizens will bear some of those costs through higher electric rates, taxes or both.

 

The Japanese public has lost faith in nuclear safety regulation, and a majority favors phasing out nuclear power. However, Japan’s current energy policy assumes nuclear power will play a role. To move forward, Japan needs to find a new way of making decisions about its energy future.

 

Click on the link for the full article