SimplyInfo » Entries tagged with "contamination"
Researchers Confirm “Black Substance” Is Fukushima Reactor Fuel
In a peer reviewed paper released this week by the journal Environmental Science & Technology, a Japanese team of researchers has concluded that portions of the “black substance” found in Japan is nuclear fuel fragments from Fukushima Daiichi. Discoveries of the black residue along roadsides in and near the evacuation zone have been going on since at least 2011. Most were initially found by local citizens doing radiation monitoring. Some of these black substance sightings have … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Is Here! Contamination Found Off Vancouver Coast
Scientists from the Bedford Institute of Oceanography have found levels of cesium in sea water off the Vancouver Canada coast that can be attributed to the Fukushima nuclear disaster. They levels are low, but the presence of cesium 134 confirms the contamination to be from Fukushima Daiichi. They cited the levels as such: “less than one becquerel per cubic metre of water ” Recent readings off the US coast did not find traces of cesium 134 in their … Read entire article »
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Living With Radiation In Japan
Local food coops that carefully select and test their food have become a go-to source for people concerned about contamination in the food supply. Food vendors that source from safer regions or direct from farm sales from these safer areas have become popular ways to compensate for the uncertainty in the food supply. This non profit called Project Food is sourcing foods from safer areas, testing them then offering them for sale. They recently sent some … Read entire article »
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Fukushima & The Controversy Of The Pacific
There were big concerns thrown around about the situation in the Pacific related to Fukushima in the last year. Oceanographers raised concerns that the plant was still leaking, something TEPCO denied at the time. Newer testing had shown that contamination levels in sea life had not decreased as it should have indicating that the plant was continuing to leak over two years after the initial meltdowns. TEPCO later admitted this to be true. Testing further out … Read entire article »
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23 Tbq Water Leak At Fukushima Caused By Multiple Human Errors
100 tons of water leaked from a contaminated water tank at Fukushima Daiichi after workers incorrectly aligned valves. They then ignored the alarm that alerted them to a tank that was not supposed to be filling, had overfilled. After the tank spilled out over the top flange the water then leaked out through a failure in the water weir that is supposed to catch any leaks. This water is highly radioactive water left over from … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Brings New Awareness Of Contaminated Food Worldwide
The concerns about food contamination from Fukushima has also increased awareness of the lingering problems of world wide food contamination from various sources. Fukushima was not the first major radiation release to the environment. Atomic testing in the Pacific contributed to considerable amounts of radioactive contamination of the sea that can still be found in sea life today. Chernobyl contaminated a wide swath of Europe and Russia, this contamination is still routinely found in foods … Read entire article »
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New Independent Fukushima Food Contamination Results
People in Japan early on realized they needed to take things into their own hands if they wanted to know the conditions around them and what their risk factors were. Citizen labs have been set up in Japan to allow people to test their own food. These labs were modeled after the labs set up in Europe after Chernobyl. This has provided an independent confirmation against government testing and a more diverse set of readings. … Read entire article »
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More Record High Radiation Readings At Fukushima Daiichi
After the recent admission of record high strontium 90 readings being found at the sea front at Fukushima Daiichi, more record high readings have been admitted this week. At the same time the record high strontium 90 readings were admitted, data for record high cesium readings were quietly included for a nearby well. Now last night even higher cesium readings were found in yet another well. Well 1-3 was previously found to have: 11,000 bq/liter of cesium 134 22,000 … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Fish Tales; US Fish Marketing Deceptive To Consumers
This article is a good example of the motivations and biases in play related to Fukushima food contamination in North America. The article from an Alaska fishing promotion group proclaims “Alaska Fish Factor: Seafood Free of Radiation Following Fukushima“. Since that is simply not true it caught people’s attention. First, fish in the Pacific has been showing up with low levels of radiation even before Fukushima due to the long lived left overs from Pacific atomic testing. … Read entire article »
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5 MILLION bq/liter Strontium 90 Found In Well At Fukushima Daiichi
TEPCO released readings for two seafront wells that have not been published before. Wells 1-2 and 1-3 were not on any older reports from before January.These are the first strontium 90 readings for these wells. The strontium 90 reading for well 1-2 was 5,000,000 bq/liter dated July 5, 2013. The “all beta” reading for the same date was actually lower than the strontium 90 alone at 900,000 bq/liter. TEPCO gives no explanation for how they … Read entire article »
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TEPCO Tries To Sell Failed Bypass System Again
In an unexplained change of plans TEPCO and the Japanese govt. are back to trying to sell the fishing groups and the public on their plan to use a failed water bypass system. In late 2013 IRID directed TEPCO and the Japanese govt to begin work on a wide scale bypass project that would create diversion wells far outside the plant grounds. This would reroute groundwater before it has a chance to flow into the plant … Read entire article »
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Unit 1 Scans Find Highly Contaminated Vent Pipe
Robots with sophisticated gamma scanning cameras were sent in to unit 1 to establish contaminated areas as decontamination efforts take place. One area that has been of particular concern since 2011 is a section on the 1st floor that had unusually high radiation. The same area had steam coming out of the floor in 2011 through the pipe penetration. This area is above the torus room in a section over the #8 downcomer pipe. This … Read entire article »
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Groundwater Well At Fukushima Daiichi Hits 3.1 Million Bq
Groundwater well 1-16 at Fukushima Daiichi has hit 3.1 million bq of beta radiation. This is a new high for this well. TEPCO still has not provided an explanation for this rising problem. The levels began soaring when this section had impermeable wall installed. well 1-16 at 3.1 million bq beta http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2014/images/2tb-east_14012101-j.pdf This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content cited, quoted … Read entire article »
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Alaska & Washington Salmon Tested For Radiation
A Seattle fish company had some of their fish privately tested in late 2013. With all the US government agencies refusing to test anything and growing consumer anxiety due to the lack of information, Loki Fish company paid for private testing. This is some of the only North American seafood testing done. While the current findings of these limited samples is somewhat good news, more testing is needed to have a better understanding of the situation … Read entire article »
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NRA Releases New Radiation Zone Maps
The NRA has released new radiation “fly over” maps. The newest scans were done in September of 2013. They showed a slight reduction in the highest level zones. This is likely due to the decrease in shorter lived radiation like cesium 134 and migration of contamination by natural processes. NRA cited the more recent changes in the shape of the highest zones was due to more detailed scanning flights. Read the report here: http://www.nsr.go.jp/english/library/data/special-report_0114.pdf This article would … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Groundwater Well Hits 2.4 Million bq/liter
Well 1-16 at the seafront has again hit a new high. 2.4 million bq/liter was found in the water of the well. The cause has not been confirmed. http://www.jiji.com/jc/eqa?g=eqa&k=2014011400896 This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content cited, quoted etc. from other sources is under the respective rights of that content owner. If you are viewing this page on any website … Read entire article »
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Taiwan Activists Want Lower Food Radiation Levels, Show Loophole In System
Activists in Taiwan are trying to further lower the allowed level of radioactive contamination in food allowed for sale in the country. The current standard is 370 bq/kg, set soon after the Chernobyl disaster. There is a push to lower it to 100 bq/kg the same as Japan’s. The loophole pointed out is that Taiwan may already have a somewhat lower standard compared to other countries but actual testing results are not disclosed. In Hong Kong … Read entire article »
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60 bq/liter Strontium 90 Found In Deep Well Near Reactors At Fukushima Daiichi
60 bq/liter of strontium 90 was found in the 3/4 deep permeable layer well near the unit 4 turbine building. Earlier TEPCO admitted contamination in the two deep layer wells, the new reading shows a growing trend of contamination in water deep below the plant. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content cited, quoted etc. from other sources is … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi ALPS Water Treatment System Hits Big Problem
Lack of planning again foils efforts at Fukushima Daiichi. Ex-SKF found the very bad news in a METI report from a closed meeting. The report explains how the ALPS treatment system is unable to properly filter out the radioactive contamination properly in the state it exists in. The portion of the system capable of extracting that contamination does so but makes a huge amount of waste in the process. So now Toshiba, TEPCO and Energy … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Groundwater Well Hits 2 Million Bq Beta Radiation
Well 1-16 in the sea front area at Fukushima Daiichi has hit another new record. 2,100,000 bq/liter of beta radiation was found in the well. TEPCO has yet to explain why this particular well is so high in beta radiation without related increases in other types of radiation. They have also provided no explanation why this specific well has been consistently much higher than any of the surrounding wells. The well does sit adjacent to the … Read entire article »
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Radioactive Water Found Deep Beneath Unit 4
TEPCO announced today that contaminated water was found in deep groundwater 25 meters (82 feet) below the unit 4 reactor well. NHK reported this but did not elaborate how TEPCO had tapped a well so deep beneath the building. “In a water sample taken on Tuesday of last week, 6.7 becquerels per liter of Cesium 137 and 89 becquerels per liter “ Unit 4 was under maintenance to replace the shroud at the time of the disaster … Read entire article »
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Radioactive Strontium 90 And Radioactive Silver Found In Fukushima Fish
TEPCO tested fish within 20km (fish hauled 1-3 km offshore) of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant for cesium, strontium 90 and radioactive silver. This appears to be some of the first testing for isotopes other than cesium or iodine 131. Seventeen samples were tested, five fish were found with strontium 90 levels. There appeared to be a weak connection between the cesium levels in the fish and the strontium 90 levels in the fish. The cesium … Read entire article »
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Japan Govt. Declared Evacuation Too Expensive, IAEA Promotes More Sea Dumping
A government trip to research how the response to the Chernobyl disaster was conducted but the report was never made public. The officials looked at what was done after Chernobyl and declared it to be too expensive and complicated for the Japanese government so they suggested it be ignored. They declared there was little benefit to evacuating people but it was admitted the report ignored more critical evidence of the actual damage done to the … Read entire article »
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Tokyo Suburb To Be Decontaminated, 70% Of Town Marked For Clean Up
Toride City, a suburb of Tokyo was declared in need of decontamination after 70% of the city was found to potentially be contaminated above allowable levels. Surveys are being conducted to determine what homes require decontamination. Hot spots were found around Chiba, also considered to be a suburban part of Tokyo, requiring response from the government to do clean up there. PM Abe and other government officials have insisted Tokyo is not contaminated at all and … Read entire article »
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US Group Calls For Radiation Monitoring Of Food Supply
A US grassroots group is urging the public to support a set of efforts to improve food monitoring in the US against radioactive contamination. The fallout from Fukushima that fell on the US and that which has been crossing the Pacific has been an area of concern with residents of the US and Canada. Government agencies have declared the issue to be a “non-issue” and either have opted to do no testing or rely on premature … Read entire article »
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Radiation Monitoring For US/Canada Food Added
We have added a page to our site that compiles results of independent food testing for the US and Canada. There has been no centralized testing in the US or Canada since the Fukushima nuclear disaster. While what has been found so far is fairly low compared to what is being found in some parts of Japan, additional more widespread testing is needed to fully understand the situation. See the results here. http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/?page_id=11724 If you know of independent … Read entire article »
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US Pacific Coast Seaweed Shows With Fukushima Cesium Contamination
New testing done by Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering found Fukushima cesium in US Pacific sea weed. The samples were standardized against a known amount of cesium 137 and cobalt 60. The finding of cesium 134 would indicate this is at least partially from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. “Washington State Pacific coast eel weed sample contained 0.22 pCi/g of Cs134 and 0.24 pCi/g of Cs137. It also contained 0.1 pCi/g of Co60” These values converted to … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Finds Increased Contamination In Drainage Ditch To The Sea
Contamination in a drainage ditch that still runs to the sea saw a considerable spike. The levels went from 19 bq/liter before the typhoon to 1400 bq/liter after the typhoon. These readings were for beta radiation including strontium 90. Rainwater released from tank weirs during the typhoon had lower levels of radiation leaving TEPCO to assume this was not related to that release. Spikes in various locations along the drainage ditch have been found before … Read entire article »
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Fukushima’s Fish Tale
A Canadian paper talked to experts and used government data to estimate the risk to human health from Fukushima contaminated fish. The results were rather disturbing. Using EPA cancer calculations and Japan’s existing fish testing data they found a clear cancer risk to not just people in Japan but anywhere those fish are exported to. They then looked at the potential due to distribution of radiation around the pacific and found an exponential risk to … Read entire article »
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FDA’s Dual Messages Show Lying To Public On Fukushima Contamination In Food
The FDA’s mantra since 2011 to the concerned public about Fukushima contamination in the food supply has been “don’t worry”. They have declared no need to test US Pacific fish or most imports. What the FDA is telling the general public through the media and what is going on behind the scenes is quite different. The FDA has made this public statement: ”To date, no evidence that radionuclides from the Fukushima incident are present in the U.S. … Read entire article »
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22.97 uSv/h In Koriyama Park Far From Fukushima
We see these quite frequently where citizens document radiation in places deemed safe or at levels much higher than the government claims for the same location. The gutter was found to be 22.97 uSv/h. Notice also in this video he walks up to a government radiation monitor and his handheld counter is much higher than the monitor. He should have taken a reading in the trees where the children were playing on the ground. This article … Read entire article »
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Radioactive Contamination Still Found In Drinking Water Across Japan
This NRA report from June of 2013 found cesium 134 and cesium 137 still showing in city drinking water across a number of regions of mainland Japan. This includes Tokyo. The reading for Tokyo for cesium 137 was higher than the reading for Fukushima City Fukushima. The highest reading was found in Ibaraki for cesium 137. While these amounts are small, water is consumed in large quantities, added to and used in food and also … Read entire article »
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“Dump It In The Sea” Says TEPCO’s New US Consultant
TEPCO’s new US based consultant, Lake Barrett declared Friday that the solution to the massive contaminated water problem at Fukushima Daiichi is to dump it all in the Pacific Ocean. Barrett who worked for the US Department of Energy but now operates his own private consulting business is not an official representative of the US. He declared that “public understanding” should be obtained so they can openly pollute international waters. Barrett wants to dump the … Read entire article »
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Guam Requests Funds To Test For Fukushima Contamination
Guam’s EPA has requested funds from the US EPA so they can begin testing sea water and fish for Fukushima contamination. The island sits near Japan and directly on the Kuroshio current known to be transporting at least some of the contamination from Fukushima Daiichi. The new admissions that the plant has been leaking all along and is expected to increase how much it releases to the sea, of course Guam has increased concerns. US … Read entire article »
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New Leaks Found, Ocean Contamination Confirmed At Fukushima
Two new tank leaks have been found at Fukushima Daiichi in another group of tanks. High radiation levels were found at the base of these two tanks indicating some form of leak. No nearby puddles were found to be releasing high levels of radiation. It is also suspected that the larger leak found earlier in the week may be leaking for the same location in the base of the tank. All of the tanks involved hold … Read entire article »
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Radiation Levels In Air Rising At Fukushima Daiichi
NHK is reporting after the most recent TEPCO press conference that radiation levels are rising around Fukushima Daiichi. This seems to indicate a change from the reporting earlier in the day. The initial reports cited the dust monitor near the anti-seismic building as having gone off. The new report from NHK hints there may be a wider problem now at the plant. From NHK: “TEPCO officials say they have detected radioactive substances above the alert level in air around the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.” We are working on confirming this further. If this is the case it indicates something at the plant has changed. Workers have been instructed to wear full protective masks in all areas of the plant since the dust monitor went off this morning. Update: TEPCO released a press … Read entire article »
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Radiation Monitors Go Off At Daiichi, Workers Exposed
The dust monitoring equipment both inside and outside of the anti-quake building at Daiichi went off on the 19th. Two workers were found with contamination on their heads and TEPCO reconfirmed an order to wear full face masks (respirators) in all areas of the plant. This problem when it happened last week, TEPCO assumed it was the water misting system for the bus stop nearby. In that incident 10 workers were found to be exposed. This time the water misting system was not in operation. TEPCO does not explain why the dust monitor went off both inside and outside the building. The anti-quake building has a staging area to process and scan people before they are allowed into the controlled area where radiation protection (suits and masks) gear is not required. A … Read entire article »
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TEPCO; Alligator Tears And Excuses Among Admissions Of Failure & More Delays
TEPCO released a quarterly report required as part of the TEPCO “reform plan”. TEPCO attempts to make excuses for their failures & cover up while looking to place blame anywhere they can. There was this gem of corporate spin: “The firm will admit that it has sloppy risk management, and that the company has a different view on safety from the public“ Then there are the admissions and excuses: “TEPCO has failed to sufficiently consider specific measures to handle the roughly 20-thousand tons of radioactive water in an underground utility tunnel at the plant” Considering the water has been there since 2011, right after the disaster began and they still haven’t dealt with this, that would qualify as a failure. TEPCO admitted earlier in the week that the tunnels leaking contaminated water have a gravel floor, … Read entire article »
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New Leak Found Near Unit 3 At Fukushima Daiichi
TEPCO is admitting to increased levels of radiation near unit 3. An increased amount of beta radiation and cesium was found today near the unit 3 intake canal in groundwater well #3. These levels increased since July 4th when beta was at “none detected” to 1400 bq/liter. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2013/images/2tb-east_13071201-e.pdf In addition to the well water increase, they found an elevated reading in a seawater piping trench just outside the unit 3 turbine building. The contamination levels inside the turbine buildings were all at about the same contamination level. TEPCO doesn’t mention exactly where in the turbine buildings they took those readings. What this testing showed is that something is creating contaminated water that is showing up at the seafront outside the turbine buildings and near unit 3. This is outside the previous thought … Read entire article »
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TEPCO; More Leaking Contamination, TIPS Exploration & Debris Analysis
TEPCO announced a number of new leaks over the weekend. Tritium levels were going up including in the port. TEPCO also announced they began a plan in April to add another metal sea wall in front of the first one to try to stem the leaking. TEPCO sent workers into unit 2 again to do more investigative work in the TIPS room. The original hope was to find an open TIPS probe pipe to send sensors and a camera into the pedestal below the reactor vessel. Earlier attempts found blockage in the pipes. This attempt again found blockage but brought out a sample of a dark grey substance. TEPCO cites the radiation level of the small bit of debris to be 200 mSv/hour but this is only y-rays and beta radiation. … Read entire article »
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