Citizens’ Testing Finds 20 Radioactive Hot Spots Around Tokyo

[Octafish]

A couple of days ago, Tokyo said the radiation hot spot in Tokyo was the result of contamination from old radium bottles apparently stored near where once a watch maker painted glow-in-the dark hands and numbers and such, back in the day.



It turns out there's more to the story.

Citizens’ Testing Finds 20 Hot Spots Around Tokyo

By HIROKO TABUCHI
The New York Times
Published: October 14, 2011

TOKYO — Takeo Hayashida signed on with a citizens’ group to test for radiation near his son’s baseball field in Tokyo after government officials told him they had no plans to check for fallout from the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Like Japan’s central government, local officials said there was nothing to fear in the capital, 160 miles from the disaster zone.

Then came the test result: the level of radioactive cesium in a patch of dirt just yards from where his 11-year-old son, Koshiro, played baseball was equal to those in some contaminated areas around Chernobyl.

The patch of ground was one of more than 20 spots in and around the nation’s capital that the citizens’ group, and the respected nuclear research center they worked with, found were contaminated with potentially harmful levels of radioactive cesium.

SNIP...

The government’s failure to act quickly, a growing chorus of scientists say, may be exposing many more people than originally believed to potentially harmful radiation. It is also part of a pattern: Japan’s leaders have continually insisted that the fallout from Fukushima will not spread far, or pose a health threat to residents, or contaminate the food chain. And officials have repeatedly been proved wrong by independent experts and citizens’ groups that conduct testing on their own.

CONTINUED...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/world/asia/radioactive-hot-spots-in-tokyo-point-to-wider-problems.html

Two questions:

1.) Why isn't the government of Japan protecting its people?

2.) Is the U.S. government doing the same?

No matter what anyone says, from what I can see, Fukushima is worse than Chernobyl.

[G_j]

1. wow!

thanks for posting :-( I think....

[Octafish]

4. U.S. Labs Not Equipped to Handle Radiation Disasters

Don't worry, be happy:

U.S. Labs Not Equipped to Handle Radiation Disasters

EXCERPT...

As a result, in the event of a large-scale disaster, such as one similar to the meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, at least 70% of states would most likely send their clinical samples to the CDC for analysis.

"It could take years to analyze the thousands of specimens that such an event would likely generate," they wrote. Although lab throughput at the CDC has improved in the last four years, it still does not have the capacity to handle such a large volume of specimens, they said.

Latshaw and colleagues pointed out that after the nuclear power plant crisis in Japan, the Washington Public Health Laboratories were able to test multi-state soil samples for radiation levels on behalf of the entire West Coast. If those labs had not had the ability to perform that testing, each state would have been forced to send separate specimens to the CDC, the EPA, and the FDA.

CONTINUED...

Thanks, G_j, for giving a damn.

[G_j]

16. I feel much safer now....

not...

[Vincardog]

2. The US government is not the only government corrupted by the economic royals

[Octafish]

7. Absolutely TEPCO.

Here, in the United States, we have, for one thing, EXELON.

From almost to the day one year BEFORE Fukushima:

Resurrecting a Failed Industry: Obama and Nuclear Power

EXCERPT...

The atom lobby during the 1990s had a stranglehold on the Clinton administration and now they seem to have the same suffocating grip around the neck of Barack Obama.

In 2006 Obama took up the cause of Illinois residents who were angry with Exelon, the nation’s largest nuclear power plant operator, for not having disclosed a leak at one of their nuclear plants in the state. Obama responded by quickly introducing a bill that would require nuclear facilities to immediately notify state and federal agencies of all leaks, large or small.

At first it seemed Obama was intent on making a decent change in the reporting protocol, even demonizing Exelon’s inaction in the press. But Obama could only go so far, as Exelon executives, including Chairman John W. Rowe, who serves as a key lobbyist for the nuclear energy lobby, have long been campaign backers, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars dating back to Obama’s days in the Illinois State Legislature.

Despite his initial push to advance the legislation, Obama’s office eventually rewrote the bill, producing a version that was palatable to Exelon and the rest of the nuclear industry. "Senator Obama’s staff was sending us copies of the bill to review, we could see it weakening with each successive draft," said Joe Cosgrove, a park district director in Will County, Illinois, where the nuclear leaks had polluted local ground water. "The teeth were just taken out of it."

Inevitably, the bill died a slow death in the Senate. And like an experienced political operative, Obama came out of the battle as a martyr for both sides of the cause. His constituents back in Illinois thought he fought a good fight, while industry insiders knew the Obama machine was worth investing in.

CONTINUED...

PS: Thanks, Vincardog, for knowing what's going on.

[hunter]

3. If the U.S.A. was subject to the same intense scrutiny...

... there's no telling what people might find.

It looks like Geiger counters are back in stock again. You couldn't find one for sale anywhere after the accident, at least not for a reasonable price...

Maybe it's time we take a look for ourselves how much radiation we're exposed to and where it's coming from.

[Octafish]

9. A Geiger Counter for the iPhone is here...

Real Geiger Counter

Worried about nuclear power plants?

Not anymore!

Real Geiger Counter is the one and only real Geiger counter in the App Store. It gathers live data from radiation monitoring satellites and displays it neatly on your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch so you can always be sure you and your family are safe.

---

Radiation tracker map included!

---

✭ Radiation map of Europe!
✭ Radiation map of Japan!
✭ Radiation map of Korea!
✭ Performance improvements
✭ Bug fixes

PS: Thank you, Hunter, for being in the good fight -- for years now...

[TheWraith]

5. Unfortunately, "what you can see" doesn't line up with reality.

Comparing Fukushima to Chernobyl is like comparing a fistfight to a war.

Unfortunately, the ongoing absurdity in a science-free media--including describing 18 microsieverts as "dangerously high radiation"--isn't helping.

[Esse Quam Videri]

6. I hope you are kidding or at the least uninformed.

We are witnessing the death of a country. There are hot spots of all different types of isotopes popping up around Japan. The only question is how long before the population wakes up and stops listening to the government reports.

[Octafish]

13. That's why I source my OPs. Do you ever include a link for your contentions?

What Michio Kaku told Liz Hayes of Australia's 60 Minutes:

EXCERPT...

MICHIO: All of us have a piece of Chernobyl in our bodies. Realise that we could take Geiger counters, simulation counters and see and actually see that radiation from Chernobyl has been incorporated into our flesh and tissue.

LIZ HAYES: And that will be the same with Fukushima?

MICHIO: That’s right. In fact the whole world will be exposed to the radiation from Fukushima. It means that the radiation went over the Pacific Ocean, sailed over the United States and is now circulating around the entire earth.

LIZ HAYES: So we’re already getting it?

MICHIO: We are already getting radiation from Fukushima.

[Esse Quam Videri]

8. I would agree that this is so much worse than Chernobyl.

One of the main reasons is that you have three and possibly four reactors that have melted down and continue to vent directly to the atmosphere (going on seven months now). Also not to mention the spent fuel pools that exploded and scattered their contents over miles and miles of countryside. No, as I posted below, I believe we are witnessing the slow death of a country. The only question is how long this will stay covered up. Because once the true extent of this disaster comes to light we will see an equivalent global economic disaster that will make the Greece financial mess seem like a mere hundred point dip in the stock market.

[Octafish]

14. Why the Fukushima disaster is worse than Chernobyl

A heartbreaking summation of...

Why the Fukushima disaster is worse than Chernobyl

EXCERPT..

Chemical physicist Chris Busby is at the forefront of scientists who are challenging the radiation risk model propounded by ICRP, the International Commission on Radiological Protection, whose standards for allowable radiation doses the Japanese government has adopted for its citizens affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident.1 Busby, Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR), points out that the ICRP model “deals with radiation exposure from all sources in the same way, as if it were external to the body,”2 and then takes this dose and multiplies it by a risk factor based on the high acute external doses of the atomic-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The ICRP method thus fails to take into account a number of ways in which certain internal radionuclides can deliver very high doses to critical targets in cells, particularly the cell DNA. One of these is from “inhaled or ingested hot particles, which are solid but microscopic and can lodge in tissue delivering high doses to local cells.”3 As a result, internal radiation exposure can be “up to 1,000 times more harmful than the ICRP model concludes.”4 In his calculation based on the ECRR model that considers such internal radiation risks,5 Busby has estimated that within 100 km of Fukushima Daiichi, approximately 200,000 excess cancers will occur within the next 50 years with about half of them diagnosed in the next 10 years, if the 3.3 million people in the area remain there for one year. He estimates over 220,000 excess cancers in the 7.9 million people from 100 to 200 km in the next 50 years, also with about half of them to be diagnosed in the next 10 years. By contrast, the ICRP model predicts 2,838 extra cancers in the 100 km population.6 “The eventual yield will therefore be another test of the two risk models,” Busby contends,7 pointing out that many studies of the Chernobyl disaster showed much higher cancer yields than the ICRP model had predicted.8

The effect of the nuclear disaster, moreover, extends well beyond the 200 km radius. It has been reported in Japan that “traces of plutonium” have been found in the proximity of Fukushima Daiichi.9 This is no surprise, since unusual amounts of plutonium and uranium have been detected in Hawaii, Guam, Alaska, and on the West Coast by the US Environmental Protection Agency in the wake of the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami.10 CTBTO, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, has reported that radioactive materials had dispersed throughout the Northern Hemisphere within two weeks of the Fukushima accident, and that it had even reached the Southern Hemisphere by mid-April.11 Shukan Kin’yobi, a weekly magazine, interviewed Chris Busby on the issue of global contamination at a time when the Japanese media have maintained silence on the issue. This is a complete original English text of the interview, published simultaneously with the Japanese version on Shukan Kin’yobi (July 8 edition).

CONTINUED w/links, sources...

PS: Thanks, Esse Quam Videri, for giving a damn about truth and our planet's future.

[Overseas]

10. Sad K&R.

Seems like the Japanese government just doesn't know what to do aside from trying to calm peoples' fears. They probably don't want to evacuate as much territory as would be advisable. The quick response with the radium bottles to the last discovery probably calmed a lot of people. But I don't think they can rush to all 20 new hotspots with new reasons they were hot.

Not sure how the 10,000 airline tickets to visit Japan will fare.

I agree with you that Fukushima is worse than Chernobyl.

And our government doesn't want us to know how much of the Fukushima radiation has reached us. It is a pity that it seems to have put PR above science in this case. Fukushima and measuring its aftermath could have given the US government a great reason to stop their pursuit of any additional nuclear power plants after our president had stated his support for nuclear power. It seemed like he did that in order to show that he was not a tree-hugger and not beholden to us liberals. Fukushima could have given him more solid scientific reasons to back off of that ridiculous posture. I thought we had a pro-science administration and am sorry that has only been partially applied.

It is so tough to handle when perfect opportunities to change course present themselves and are pushed aside.

[Octafish]

19. Exactly, Overseas...

"It is so tough to handle when perfect opportunities to change course present themselves and are pushed aside."

Wanted to share an article by Hiroaki Koide of Kyoto University, but it was lost from GOOGLE News before I could post the thing. This is as close to the original as I can find:

Radiation expert says outcome of nuke crisis hard to predict, warns of further dangers

Mainichi Japan, Sep. 9, 2011

EXCERPT...

Recovering the melted nuclear fuel is another huge challenge. I can’t even imagine how that could be done. When the Three Mile Island accident took place in 1972, the melted nuclear fuel had stayed within the pressure vessel, making defueling possible. With Fukushima, however, there is a possibility that nuclear fuel has fallen into the ground, in which case it will take 10 or 20 years to recover it. We are now head to head with a situation that mankind has never faced before.

CONTINUED...

http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2011/09/10/prof-hiroaki-koide-of-kyoto-university-massive-amounts-of-radioactive-materials-will-be-released-into-the-environment-again-fukushima-reactor-core-may-have-sunk-into-the-ground-we-are-now/

You are absolutely correct, Overseas. In all those many crossroads, forks and off-ramps in history, few have been decided by We the People -- including nuclear weapons and power.

[rapturedbyrobots]

11. I'm in Tokyo right now

And there is a lot of doubt about these citizen's groups testing. For one, they were are said to have been conducted at likely collection points (places where runoff from multiple sources drains), and are therefore not representative of the general background levels of radiation. Most of the fall out has most likely been washed away by now by rain and power washing of pretty much everything. While there is much concern over contamination in soil and water in some places, measuring from drain spouts right after the disaster and then generalizing that to an entire city the size of Tokyo is ridiculous. Other independent atmospheric radiation counters have been set up around the city with up-to-the-minute updates, and are reporting pre-3/11 levels of background radiation, including alpha emission. So, while there is cause for concern, there is also no immediate cause for panic. Unless you're trying to make money off of fear (and a number of these independent testers have been found to be directly tied to money making schemes selling everything from testing equipment to radiation damage healing snake oil). I don't travel ANYWHERE north of Tokyo though, and am ready to come home. Next time I will definitely pack a dosimeter.

[Octafish]

21. TEPCO and their servants in Tokyo have put a clamp on good information.

Regarding fall-out and the news: Here's the picture, with as little spin as I can find...

Blackout: Japan media yet to mention radioactive baseball field in Tokyo — 4 times Chernobyl ‘contaminated’ levels — Parents, kids clueless

TOKYO, Oct. 16 — Tokyo residents are making some “unexpected discoveries” while searching for radiation, reports the Voice of America’s Steve Herman.

For example, “Just meters from where a hot spot of radioactive cesium was
confirmed days before by a private laboratory, a Little League baseball
game was underway Sunday.”

News of the ‘hot spot’ made the New York Times front page, but according to Herman, “it had yet to be mentioned in Japan’s mainstream media.”

In fact, players, their parents, and spectators were unaware that dirt here has “tested equivalent to four times the minimum level of the contaminated zones from the 1986 Chernobyl accident.”

CONTINUED...

http://enenews.com/blackout-japan-media-yet-to-mention-radioactive-baseball-field-in-tokyo-4-times-chernobyl-contaminated-levels-parents-kids-clueless

Original Source:

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/east-pacific/One-Tokyo-Neighborhood-Still-Oblivious-to-Radiation-Hot-Spot--131944218.html

To prevent panic, people are not informed. That is criminal.

Thank you for your report, rapturedbyrobots. Several DUers are on Honshu. Two have also pointed out the importance of caution when reporting "unconfirmed" news that can add to anxiety.

The rationale behind posting, however, is caution. When it comes to exposure to radiation, knowledge and forewarning serve as the best ways to protect human life.

[rapturedbyrobots]

12. dosimeters

Also, notice that the article says these people bought dosimeters, but doesn't report what the readings were. Um...isn't that the BEST way to estimate how much radiation you've actually been exposed to? Pretty crappy reporting.

[Octafish]

22. It is crappy reporting. What do you expect from The New York Times?

They said Iraq threatened America with destruction. And the USA 'fell' for it -- both times!

[Karenina]

15. We homo sapiens are too stupid to live...

:freak::shrug::freak:

Grouchily,

Tante K.

[Octafish]

23. Ich bin ein Ungerheuer-Elternteil.

Increasing number of horrified parents in Tokyo-area, as young children enjoy “radioactive autumn” outdoors — Accused of being “monster parent” if concerned

In Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, they all do these fun-filled activities to enjoy and celebrate autumn, just like they did last year and year before, radioactive fallout or not. A minor nuclear accident must not disturb the preset schedule, ever.

At this point, though an increasing number of parents are simply horrified, the majority are quite happily following whatever the school teachers say and accuse the concerned parents as “monster parent” (a Japlish word that they use in katakana) – a troublemaker. The majority are more worried about their children’s prospect of getting into prestigious schools. (...)

SOURCE w links to original, etc:

http://enenews.com/increasing-number-horrified-parents-tokyo-area-young-children-enjoy-radioactive-autumn-outdoors-accused-being-monster-parent-concerned

PS: Herzlichen Dank, Tante Karenina! Zehn Jahren, bald.

[robdogbucky]

17. Japan cities face growing radioactive ash, troubles ahead

Japan cities face growing radioactive ash, troubles ahead

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO | Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:25am EDT


(Reuters) - In the Japanese city of Ohtawara, more than 100 km (62 miles) southwest of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, 400 tones of radioactive ash have piled up at a garbage incineration plant, which will run out of protected storage space in two weeks.

Further south, the city of Kashiwa has been forced to temporarily shut a high-tech incinerator because its advanced technology that minimizes the amount of ash produced has the side-effect of boosting the concentration of radiation.

Ohtawara and Kashiwa are just two of a growing number of municipalities across northern Japan that face similar problems after the Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant, devastated by a huge March quake and tsunami, began spewing radiation into the atmosphere in the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

Although the government aims to bring the Fukushima crisis under control by December, researchers say that problems arising from the radiation, scattered over mountains, rivers and residential areas, are set to persist for years.

"Residents say they are worried about their children's health and grandchildren's health. Faced with such pleas, we just cannot make a move," an Ohtawara city official said, explaining why the ash has not be taken to a nearby city dump...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/17/us-japan-nuclear-waste-idUSTRE79G0JX20111017




Used nuke suits pile up at Fukushima

By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy

Posted October 17, 2011 12:26:57


The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is struggling to deal with hundreds of thousands of protective suits used by workers during the crisis.

Fukushima operator TEPCO has released a photo showing a mountain of bags containing 480,000 used protective suits.

The pile occupies more than 4,000 cubic metres of space in the village housing the workers who are struggling to bring the reactors under control.

Once worn, the full body suits are defined as low-level nuclear waste. But TEPCO says because of a lack of government policy on how to dispose of the gear, it has no choice but to keep piling them up.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-17/fukushima-plant-struggles-with-suits/3574954

[robdogbucky]

18. Radioactive plankton found near Fukushima plant

Radioactive plankton found near Fukushima plant

By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy

Updated October 15, 2011 23:52:17


Researchers say high concentrations of radioactive caesium have been detected in plankton in the Pacific Ocean off the shattered Fukushima nuclear plant.

The Fukushima nuclear plant was badly damaged in the March earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, and has been leaking radiation ever since.

It is feared more radiation could now enter the food chain.

Researchers from Tokyo University collected plankton from the sea south of the Fukushima nuclear plant, discovering nearly 700 becquerels per kilogram of caesium in plankton close to the shore...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-15/radioactive-plankton-found-near-fukushima/3573076

[Gari]

20. Build your own radiation detector

I have a copy of Dean Ing's "Pulling Through" which has a wealth of TEOTWAWKI information, including a radiation detector made of drywall gypsum and aluminum foil. I think there are other parts to it, now I must go look it up. I believe this is the plan they used:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kearny_Fallout_Meter

If you want your own copy of "Pulling Through", it is out of print and copies going for a pretty penny on Amazon. At $20 and up, I am tempted to sell my copy!

Here is another DIY http://glx.net/~exile/electro.htm