Saturday, April 5, 2014

Nuclear debacles updates for week beginning April 5 , 2014 -- Fukushima focus - note how as it becomes increasingly obvious that the Fukushima plant is totally beyond any hope of remediation , there is a shift toward discussing entombing the plant ........ By now , the ongoing debacle at Fukushima has resulted in the spread od radioactive contamination to the western coasts of Canada and the US and the food chain has been affected ( regardless of what Authorities say ow want you to believe ) ..... Updates on WIPP in New Mexico ( note the call for an independent investigation ) and a round up on recent news items on Hanford ongoing clusterfuck ( Hanford Challenge )


UN Reports Fukushima Is Not Chernobyl; Expects No "Significant Changes" In Cancer Rates

Tyler Durden's picture





Just as we should be re-assured by Shinzo Abe's declaration that the Olympics will be 'safe' in Japan (despite his incessant calls for recovery in the Japanese economy when it is actually collapsing under its own devalued currency import costs); the UN is out with a report that states it did not expect “significant changes” in future cancer rates that could be attributed to radiation exposure from the reactor meltdowns. The levels, according to their report, were much lower than Chernobyl and therefore the Fukushima nuclear disaster is unlikely to lead to a rise in people developing cancer. But... some children 'might' have received doses that could affect their risk of developing cancer later in life...

The Fukushima nuclear disaster is unlikely to lead to a rise in people developing cancer as happened after Chernobyl in 1986, even though the most exposed children may face an increased risk, U.N. scientists said Wednesday.

In a major study, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) said it did not expect “significant changes” in future cancer rates that could be attributed to radiation exposure from the reactor meltdowns.

The amounts of radioactive substances such as iodine-131 released after the 2011 accident were much lower than after Chernobyl, and Japanese authorities also took action to protect people living near the stricken plant, including evacuations.

...

No discernible changes in future cancer rates and hereditary diseases are expected due to exposure to radiation as a result of the Fukushima nuclear accident,” UNSCEAR said in a statement accompanying its nearly 300-page study.

...

The occurrence of a large number of radiation-induced thyroid cancers as were observed after Chernobyl can be discounted because doses were substantially lower,” it said.
But, having said all that, the UNSCEAR report finds...
...some children — estimated at fewer than 1,000 — might have received doses that could affect their risk of developing thyroid cancer later in life...

UNSCEAR chairman Carl-Magnus Larsson said there was a theoretical increased risk among the most exposed children for this type of cancer, which is rare among the young.

But “we are not sure that this is going to be something that will be captured in the thyroid cancer statistics in future,” he told a news conference.
So, in summary: The UN finds that a) Fukushima is 'unlikely' to cause cancer rates to rise, but b) some children might have been exposed to cancer-increasing doses, however c) you will never know coz the data probably won't show it...
Seems like a good enough excuse to allow people back into the death zone?






Energy News - Japan.....


Fairewinds Video: Many in Fukushima told me of family or friends dying suddenly — “I sense something grave is happening” — People are sicker in Tokyo as well — I also experienced unusual symptoms when in Japan recently

Godzilla trailer features nuclear plant in crisis: “They’re not fooling anybody that it was a natural disaster… They’re lying, I’m not crazy, whatever they’re guarding so carefully, I need to be able to prove it” — “You have no idea what’s coming! It’s going to send us back to Stone Age” (VIDEO)

Experts: Nuclear chain reactions may have lasted over 7 months at Fukushima — Neutron leakage from ‘active’ molten fuel — “Core producing radioactive sulfur” — Top Gov’t Official: MOX fuel could be neutron source




Navy Sailors: Frozen Fukushima steam blanketed ship; Crew suffered massive radiation doses, dozens have cancer — Calls for it to be sunk… still too radioactive; Navy: There’s some contamination, but it’s ok — Tepco: No way US officials would rely on information we were telling to public

Bloomberg: Fukushima a global disaster with huge environmental consequences… like all nuclear catastrophes — UC Berkeley Nuclear Expert: There’s ‘clear and obvious’ consequences from radiation release… citizens should be prepared… ‘cold truth’ is accidents will always occur

AP: Fukushima children flee radiation; “Getting nosebleeds, growing pale and lethargic”; Mistrust of officials high — Father: “Cases of cancer are up… we are worried” — Mother: I don’t believe it’s as safe as gov’t claims, raising questions can get you branded a troublemaker




Gov’t model shows airborne radioactive plume covering entire west coast of US & Canada on Mar 22, 2011… 10 times more radioactive than plume coming from Fukushima plant on same day — Radiation levels in some plumes had no discernible decrease after crossing Pacific (VIDEO)




U.N. Agency: Fukushima reactor “burst” after fuel melted — Radiation doses soon hit highest levels of crisis for many places across region… in almost every direction… even places far from plant… all at around same time (VIDEO)

PHOTOS: Study finds deformities “significantly higher” in Fukushima insects — “To my knowledge, such deformations haven’t been reported” in species before — Lower body split in half, 2 tail-like appendages — 1,000% higher death rate in young than other Japan area — Urgent investigations called for

Marine Chemist: Highly contaminated waste flowing in aquifer below Fukushima — Mag: Groundwater can ‘erupt’ from seafloor offshore — Gov’t expert warned about radioactive substances ‘springing up’ in Pacific (PHOTOS)




Former Energy Dept. Official: People near Tokyo “were getting a yearly radiation dose in about 10 minutes” from Fukushima releases — “Radioactive gases might have been leaving at a rate of 300% a day, instead of 1% assumed by designer” (AUDIO)

MIT Professor & US Experts: Japan “must act now to seal Fukushima reactors, before it’s too late” — Concern US to be affected by “explosions – a chain reaction, engulfing reactors one to four” — “Situation is dynamically degrading and unstable” — Aircraft can likely entomb plant in 6 months

Nuclear Engineer: We know pieces of Fukushima Unit 3 reactor core got released and “spread all over the place like a virus” — ‘Scary part’ of finding one very potent hot particle is there’s going to be a lot more (VIDEO)

Former US Gov’t Official: Growing likelihood Fukushima reactors will be entombed — Nuclear ‘sacrifice zone’ where they can only try to reduce contamination from escaping — Unprecedented situation, it’s flowing into Pacific Ocean continually adding to plume soon to hit West Coast (AUDIO)

Caldicott: All of Japan contaminated by Fukushima — “Realistic estimate is 60,000 km², occupied by 46 million people” — “Things are grim, it gets worse by the day” — Unheard of in history, 100s of tons of melted fuel may be in earth (VIDEO)

Gundersen: This video “confirms our worst fears” — Scientist: Reactor core materials found almost 500 km from Fukushima plant — 40,000,000,000,000,000,000 Bq/kg — Can travel very, very significant distances — Hot particles found in 25% of samples from Tokyo and Fukushima (VIDEO)

Award-winning project finds seafood sold in Canada with high radiation levels — Many samples well over contamination limit — “Incredible discovery; Something unexpected may be lurking in Canadian waters” — Believes dangerous Fukushima pollution carried across ocean — “I hope people will open their eyes”

Foreign reporters find radiation levels over 100 times legal limit off Fukushima — Captain: Radioactive releases “may last until end of the Earth” — “Deep sense of dread set in… Stop, don’t go any closer!” — “World deserves honest assessment of the disaster” — “A worst-case scenario come to life” (VIDEO)





Energy News - US and Canada......


TV: “Far more serious than Feds letting on” at US nuclear site — Many workers in much worse shape than reported — Week-long nosebleeds, intense headaches, shaking, burning lungs, vomiting — Worker: Now I’m worrying… after two weeks I feel worse, not better (VIDEO) #Hanford

Navy Sailors: Frozen Fukushima steam blanketed ship; Crew suffered massive radiation doses, dozens have cancer — Calls for it to be sunk… still too radioactive; Navy: There’s some contamination, but it’s ok — Tepco: No way US officials would rely on information we were telling to public

Bloomberg: Fukushima a global disaster with huge environmental consequences… like all nuclear catastrophes — UC Berkeley Nuclear Expert: There’s ‘clear and obvious’ consequences from radiation release… citizens should be prepared… ‘cold truth’ is accidents will always occur






Expert: No one in world has ever dealt with something like WIPP disaster — Continuous release of radioactive material ’24/7′ to environment — Nobody knows when leaking will end — It’s a ‘major failure’ for so many people to be exposed — Gov’t yet to say if dump will open again (AUDIO)



Award-winning project finds seafood sold in Canada with high radiation levels — Many samples well over contamination limit — “Incredible discovery; Something unexpected may be lurking in Canadian waters” — Believes dangerous Fukushima pollution carried across ocean — “I hope people will open their eyes”

Experts: Concern gases caused underground explosion at WIPP; Extent of contamination “could topple long-held assumptions” — AP: Plan to enter mine postponed — ‘Very excited’ about new monitors for detecting further releases (VIDEO)

Radio: “Surprisingly, high concentrations [of Fukushima cesium] found in Vancouver area” since ocean currents slow down — Levels are increasing — “Might be hotspots where radiation concentrates” — “Chances are high for marine life to absorb it… concern about mussels… clams, oysters” (AUDIO)




Fukushima Diary .....


Tepco started pumping up the bypass water to 

discharge / Tritium density jumped up to 87% 

of desired safety level

↑ The groundwater bypass wells


↑ The tanks to stock pumped water before discharging


Following up this article.. Tepco NOT to analyze Plutonium or Uranium in bypass water before discharging to the Pacific [URL]

Tepco started pumping up the groundwater from the bypass wells on 4/9/2014. They have already stocked the pumped water, but adding the new water to prepare to discharge to the sea.
They announced they are going to take approx. 1 month to analyze the water. However they usually take longer than a few months to analyze α nuclide to include Plutonium, Uranium and Americium etc.. in the water sample. This means they won’t analyze the pumped water for those nuclides.

Since they announced to discharge the bypass water “after radiation check”, contamination levels have been increasing in the water for some reason.
From the radiation test of 4/8/2014, Tritium density marked the highest readings in 3 of 8 bypass wells. In one of the wells, the highest density of Tritium has been exactly 1,200,000 Bq/m3 this March as if it was set not to indicate over this certain number. (cf, [Coincidence ?] 3 highest densities of Tritium are “exactly 1,200,000 Bq/m3″ in groundwater bypass [URL 2]) However it swiftly went up to 1,300,000 Bq/m3. This is already 87% of Tepco’s “desired dischargable level”.

















Tepco NOT to analyze Plutonium or Uranium in 

bypass water before discharging to the Pacific

Following up this article.. Tepco plans to discharge pumped groundwater to the sea this coming June [URL]

Tepco is not going to analyze / put the safety limit on α nuclides including Plutonium-238/239/240 and Uranium-235/238 in bypassed groundwater to discharge.
They are planning to discharge the pumped groundwater to the Pacific from this coming June. They are supposed to analyze the contamination though they won’t filter the pumped water.

However from their answer to the local fishery cooperative, α nuclides will be excluded from the checking list. No matter how contaminated by Plutonium, Uranium, or / and Americium the water is, the pumped water will be discharged limitlessly.

α nuclides, which are the highest risk for the health and environment, are hardly checked in fishery products either. Potential Plutonium or Uranium of Fukushima plant will be discharged to the Pacific without any checking, and it can be transferred to the body of the fishery products consumers with no control.














Fukushima plant to produce over 560,000 m3 

of radioactive debris by 2027 / No storage 

facility for 30% of them



Following up this article.. [Photo] Tepco finally started removing the Tsunami debris in plant area, trucks, pipes, etc.. [URL]

Fukushima plant is estimated to produce 560,000 m3 of radioactive debris by 2027. Tepco released the assumption on 4/7/2014.

Tepco plans to recycle a part of it, but 160,000 m3 would still remain. This is the equivalent of 328 of 25m swimming pools, and Tepco doesn’t have sufficient storage facilities for it. Also, it doesn’t include the parts of reactor buildings or contaminated water tanks. If they end up dismantling a part of the plant buildings or current water tanks, this assumed volume would even increase.

On 4/7/2014, Tepco published the estimate of the potential debris volume produced by 2027. Currently they stock the debris caused by 311, and are going to have to stock more debris from dismantling the leaked contaminated water tanks.
The potential debris volume is 560,000 m3 in total. The highest surface dose is over 30 mSv/h.
Tepco plans to recycle a part of it if the surface dose is lower than  1 mSv/h. The recycled debris would be concrete and subbase course material. They are also to reduce the volume of the steal parts and reuse it as the shielding material or storage container.
However still 160,000 m3 of the debris is assumed to remain to be stocked even based on Tepco’s calculation. It is not announced where the reused material would be consumed either.

They only focus on the shortage of contaminated water storage, but Tepco is also in a serious shortage of radioactive debris storage facilities.








[Deteriorating plant] Reactor 1 thermometer 

malfunctioned “due to the leaked rainwater”

One of the thermometers in reactor1 malfunctioned due to the leaked rainwater, according to Tepco. It is assumed to take 40 years to decommission the crippled Fukushima plant. It’s been only 3 years but one of the most important sensors is already deteriorated seriously.

At 4 am of 4/4/2014, one of the thermometers in Reactor1 primary containment vessel suddenly indicated -20℃. It was indicating 17.2℃ before then.

On 4/7/2014, Tepco found a connecting part of the cable sank in water. The thermometer indicated the normal temperature when they took the connector out of the water.
Tepco’s spokesman announced the water was the leaked rainwater.

The reactor buildings turned out to be so deteriorated that rainwater leaks even to the inside of the facilities already.






















Monitoring post closest to reactor4 “malfunctioned”→Back up post “malfunctioned”→40 mins of “recording blank”

One of the monitoring posts malfunctioned on 4/4/2014, according to Tepco. The monitoring post is to measure the radiation level on the plant area border, where is the closest to reactor4.
They switched it to the back up post, however it malfunctioned as well. Tepco ended up sending a human worker to measure the radiation level, however they missed the record of the radiation level for 40 minutes.

When the human worker started measuring the radiation level, the dose level was 2.5 μSv/h, which is the same as just before the monitoring post malfunctioned, Tepco announced.
Tepco stated the monitoring post went back on about one hour later, however the cause isn’t announced. It is unknown what happened during the “missing” 40 mins.





Tepco to reduce the regular press conference from 3 times to just once in Tokyo per week

Tepco is going to reduce their regular press conference from 3 times to twice a week from this July. Tepco’s spokesman announced on 4/4/2014.
Among the two press conferences, one conference will be in Fukushima, and the other conference will be in Tokyo, therefore it will be only once in Tokyo practically.

They used to hold the press conference every weekday, but they reduced it to only 3 times a week in December of 2012. Tepco is going to reduce it even less.

Tepco is obviously not publishing all the information, however their press conference was one of a few sources along with NRA (Nuclear Regulation Authority).

Multiple media even including so-called mass media made complaints in the press conference of4/4/2014. They stated it can’t be decided only by Tepco etc.
As the reason, Tepco announced they can organize the press conference better that way.

Tepco also confessed that they have the unofficial place to update so-called mass media. They provide the mass media with information material on the daily basis in the press room of NRA.

Note : This is totally my personal view. Please skip this part if you are seeking just information. – I honestly think the foreign media really should have attended Tepco’s press conference to give them more pressure. Foreign media reported about Fukushima more honestly than Japanese just after 311, but most of them withdrew until they realized the seriousness of the contaminated water issue in 2013. Though the situation is rapidly changing, a lot of the non Japanese “journalists” stopped at the level of “Fukushima 50″ or “Fukushima ostrich”, all they do is just to retweet NHK news and try to sell their book. Even though they look totally outdated, almost dropping out, they should have re-started attending the press conference at least once a week since the summer of 2013. The fact that international media attend at the conference could have changed the situation and the world. Approaching Fukushima plant by boat or chasing after ostrich might look more heroic, but the reality is “radiation is invisible, it’s totally un-sensable”. Battle field journalist-ish approach doesn’t fully work in Fukushima. They could have been more into reading into Tepco’s “decorated” data or pressuring Tepco somehow.










Tepco plans to discharge pumped groundwater to the sea this coming June

Following up this article.. Fukushima fishery cooperative gave Tepco the approval to discharge bypassed groundwater to the sea [URL]

Tepco is already planning to discharge the pumped groundwater to the Pacific this coming June.
On 4/4/2014, Tepco published the report about their plan to increase the contaminated water storage. In this report, they made 4 different simulations.
In 3 of 4 simulations, Tepco assumed they can discharge the groundwater pumped up from the bypass wells this June. Tepco is supposed to explain to the local governments about the “bypass plan”, but they already expect to obtain their approval.

The pumped groundwater contains significant level of radiation as well, however it would not be filtered before discharging. (cf, [Coincidence ?] 3 highest densities of Tritium are “exactly 1,200,000 Bq/m3″ in groundwater bypass [URL 2])




The radiation dose limit of Fukushima schools and kindergartens is 3.8 μSv/h / MEXT “Unrealistically low”

MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) allows Fukushima schools to use the school facilities if the atmospheric dose is lower than 3.8 μSv/h.

MEXT states the annual dose would be 20 mSv on the unrealistically strict assumption that a child spends 8 hours on a schoolyard and 16 hours inside of the building when the atmospheric dose is 3.8 μSv/h. (1 mSv = 1,000 μSv) 20 mSv / y is the maximum dose within the safety range that ICRP defines.
ICRP advises that the artificial exposure (except for the natural exposure and medical exposure) dose for ordinary people should not exceed 1 mSv per year, which is based on the study of Hiroshima / Nagasaki atomic bomb victims. This 20 mSv / y is 20 times much as this dose limit. Additionally, ICRP regulates the annual average dose of arbitrary 5 years should not exceed 20 mSv / y in case of occupationally exposed personnel.

This “20 mSv / y rule” is applied for kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school and high school in Fukushima prefecture.
It was made in April of 2011. In July of 2011, MEXT re-announced that they try to keep the annual dose lower than 1 mSv / y as ICRP advises, however they add “this is only the desired value. They won’t limit the outdoor activities if it’s lower than 20 mSv / y.”.










Significant level of cesium-134/137 from 3 of 3 

bamboo shoot samples in Yokohama

Significant level of Cs-134/137 were measured from 3 of 3 bamboo shoot samples in Yokohama.

Over 3 years have passed but still Cs-134/137 are detected from food.
The sampling location is Yokohama. The samples were collected on 4/1/2014.
The highest reading was 34 Bq/kg (Cs-134/137), the lowest was 15 Bq/kg. Because Cs-134 is measured from all of these bamboo shoots, it is from Fukushima for 100% sure.

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare states these products are not distributed.



3 vice presidents of Tepco’s new Fukushima 

company are from nuclear makers / Mitsubishi, 

Toshiba, Hitachi GE


Following up this article.. Tepco to make the inner company organization specialized in Fukushima decommissioning [URL]

3 vice presidents of the new inner company are from the nuclear makers.

Tepco established the inner company organization specialized in Fukushima decommissioning on 4/1/2014. As of the day, this company is to take the initiative and responsibility of Fukushima decommissioning.
According to Tepco, 3 of 6 vice presidents are invited from outside of Tepco. However, all of these 3 vice presidents were invited from the nuclear makers.
These are Mitsubishi heavy industries, Toshiba, and Hitachi GE nuclear energy.

Tepco comments they invited the professional members. They call it “All Japan tactics”.




Tepco can’t even investigate why ALPS 

stopped purifying contaminated water / Too 

radioactive to study

Following up this article.. 21 tanks and 1km of pipe must be decontaminated due to the system failure of ALPS / Not known when to reboot ALPS [URL]

Tepco cannot even investigate what caused the system problem in multiple nuclide removing system ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System).
The system has shut down 3 times within 10 days. This is about the first shut down.
Tepco found that one of the 3 systems did not purify the contaminated water on 3/18/2014. Before they notice this problem, they already contaminated 21 tanks and 1km length of the pipes.
They assume the problem was in a filter of this system. However, they can’t investigate the part due to the excessively high level of radiation.
Tepco states they need to decontaminate the part but they haven’t even been able to start cleaning the filter.
Tepco’s spokes man commented they are in the process of preparation but it’s not known when they complete the investigation.

ALPS is practically considered to be one of the national projects on contaminated water issue. Tepco’s president Hirose stated to Japanese Prime Minister Abe to complete purifying all the contaminated water by the end of March in 2015.
The current contaminated water volume is approx. 450,000 m3. ALPS is required to process 1,960 m3/day of contaminated water from this summer. However ALPS hasn’t been in the full operation since early 2013. The cause of this latest trouble hasn’t even been identified either.There is a possibility that ALPS is only an imaginary technology to swerve the domestic / international criticisms for a short term.






There is 1m gap on the ground of reactor1 

seaside

On the seaside of reactor1, there is a gap of level on the ground.

A freelance journalist mentioned this in Tepco’s press conference of 4/2/2014.
The height of the gap is approx. 1m. She commented she found that when she visited Fukushima plant last month.

It is located near the entrance of reactor1 area on the seaside. Tepco didn’t state if it was the land subsidence of the seaside or the ground of reactor1 rose up for unknown reason.




WIPP.......


http://nuclearactive.org/an-independent-investigation-of-wipp-is-needed/



An Independent Investigation of WIPP is Needed


00:00
03:35



CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 4/4/14 through 4/11/14

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

•    An Independent Investigation of WIPP is Needed
It has been almost two months since the vehicle fire and radiation release from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and we don’t know the essential facts about what happened.  We do know that the radiation release was never supposed to happen, and the federal government is unprepared to safely address the situation.  In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency, charged with determining whether WIPP would leak in 10,000 years, said it would not.
On Wednesday, two eight-person teams traveled down an elevator to the underground salt mine located 2,150 feet below the surface.  It is the first time that people have entered the site since the February 14th radiation release.  They wore anti-contamination suits with air-breathing units.  First reports indicate that no airborne contamination was detected.  That was expected since they entered where outside air comes into the mine and the workers were more than 1,000 feet from where they will find contamination.
Joni Arends, of CCNS, stated, “We understand that plans needed to be prepared in order to ensure the safety of the workers re-entering the mine, and we applaud the Department of Energy (DOE) for being thorough.  On the other hand, for more than 15 years, CCNS has pressed DOE and the New Mexico Environment Department to enhance the emergency preparedness requirements in the hazardous waste permit in anticipation that such an event could happen.  We were ridiculed by the agencies.  And now we see that our concerns were more than justified.”
For decades the non-governmental organizations have made suggestions to promote enhanced protection of workers at WIPP and community members living along the WIPP transportation routes.  Those organizations and others are continuing to carefully monitor what’s happening and demanding that all information be made public.  But those efforts are not enough, given the unprecedented nature of the release and the many unknowns.
Now is the time for an independent investigation of the radiation release.  An Accident Investigation Board was formed to investigate the vehicle fire, which was composed of DOE employees and consultants.  Their report is out and now they have been charged with investigating the radiation release.  But they are not doctors and epidemiologists who are qualified to assess the exposures received by at least 21 workers.  Those people, and the DOE, do not have all the expertise needed to create a plan to decontaminate a salt mine from the first-of-its-kind accident.  There will be no easy, fast solution as to what will happen at WIPP.  We do know that an independent investigation is needed now.
Please contact your elected officials, including the Governor, congresspersons and senators, and urge them to support an independent investigation of the WIPP radiation release.


http://www.hanfordchallenge.org/newsroom/




Newsroom

Cleanup at Hanford will take several decades, but there are always rapidly developing stories, regular public events, and lots of information worth knowing. Hanford Challenge tracks the news, makes some of its own, and has built up a library of fact sheets, reports, and primary source documents that will help you make sense of what happened, what is happening, and what’s next for Hanford. This page is constantly updated to keep you informed of the latest news, press releases and calendar events.

The Latest News:

April



http://thetruthwins.com/archives/school-science-project-reveals-high-levels-of-fukushima-nuclear-radiation-in-grocery-store-seafood


Citizens in the US and Canada need to hold their governments accountable as they are killing us.by allowing  contaminated foods to be sold to consumers and not bothering to test same  ....



School Science Project Reveals High Levels Of Fukushima Nuclear Radiation in Grocery Store Seafood



Fukushima Radiation - University Of New South Wales
A Canadian high school student named Bronwyn Delacruz never imagined that her school science project would make headlines all over the world.  But that is precisely what has happened.  Using a $600 Geiger counter purchased by her father, Delacruz measured seafood bought at local grocery stores for radioactive contamination.  What she discovered was absolutely stunning.  Much of the seafood, particularly the products that were made in China, tested very high for radiation.  So is this being caused by nuclear radiation from Fukushima?  Is the seafood that we are eating going to give us cancer and other diseases?  The American people deserve the truth, but as you will see below, the U.S. and Canadian governments are not even testing imported seafood for radiation.  To say that this is deeply troubling would be a massive understatement.
In fact, what prompted Bronwyn Delacruz to conduct her science project was the fact that the Canadian government stopped testing imported seafood for radiation in 2012
Alberta high-school student Bronwyn Delacruz loves sushi, but became concerned last summer after learning how little food inspection actually takes place on some of its key ingredients.
The Grade 10 student from Grande Prairie said she was shocked to discover that, in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) stopped testing imported foods for radiation in 2012.
And what should be a major red flag for authorities is the fact that the seafood with the highest radiation is coming from China
Armed with a $600 Geiger counter bought by her dad, Delacruz studied a variety of seafoods – particularly seaweeds – as part of an award-winning science project that she will take to a national fair next month.
“Some of the kelp that I found was higher than what the International Atomic Energy Agency sets as radioactive contamination, which is 1,450 counts over a 10-minute period,” she said. “Some of my samples came up as 1,700 or 1,800.
Delacruz said the samples that “lit up” the most wereproducts from China that she bought in local grocery stores.
It is inexcusable that the Canadian government is not testing this seafood.  It isn’t as if they don’t know that it is radioactive.  Back in 2012, the Vancouver Sun reported that cesium-137 was being found in a very high percentage of the fish that Japan was selling to Canada…
• 73 percent of the mackerel
• 91 percent of the halibut
• 92 percent of the sardines
• 93 percent of the tuna and eel
• 94 percent of the cod and anchovies
• 100 percent of the carp, seaweed, shark and monkfish
So why was radiation testing for seafood shut down in Canada in 2012?
Someone out there needs to answer some very hard questions.
Meanwhile, PBS reporter Miles O’Brien has pointed out the extreme negligence of the U.S. government when it comes to testing seafood for Fukushima radiation.  The following comes from a recent EcoWatch article
O’Brien also introduces us to scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute who have been testing waters around the reactors—as well as around the Pacific Rim—to confirm the levels of Fukushima fallout, especially of cesium.
These scientists are dedicated and competent. But they are also being forced to do this investigation on their own, raising small amounts of money from independent sources. They were, explains lead scientist Ken Buesseler, turned down for even minimal federal support by five agencies key to our radiation protection. Thus, despite a deep and widespread demand for this information, no federal agency is conducting comprehensive, on-the-ground analyses of how much Fukushima radiation has made its way into our air and oceans.
In fact, very soon after Fukushima began to blow, President Obama assured the world that radiation coming to the U.S. would be minuscule and harmless. He had no scientific proof that this would be the case. And as O’Brien’s eight-minute piece shows all too clearly, the “see no evil, pay no damages” ethos is at work here. The government is doing no monitoring of radiation levels in fish, and information on contamination of the ocean is almost entirely generated by underfunded researchers like Buesseler.
video news report in which O’Brien discusses these issues is posted below…
It is the job of the authorities to keep us safe, and the Fukushima nuclear disaster was the worst nuclear disaster in human history.
So why aren’t they doing testing?
Why aren’t they checking to make sure that this radiation is not getting into our food chain?
The Japanese are doing testing off the coast of Japan, and one fish that was recently caught off the coast of the Fukushima prefecture was discovered to have124 times the safe level of radioactive cesium.
So why are all the authorities in North America just assuming that the fish are going to be perfectly fine on this side of the Pacific?
One test that was conducted in California discovered that 15 out of 15 Bluefin tuna were contaminated with radiation from Fukushima.
So how can the authorities say “don’t worry, just eat the seafood”?
Everyone agrees that a plume of radioactive water has been moving from Fukushima toward the west coast of the United States.
According to researchers at the University of South Wales, that plume is going to hit our shores at some point during 2014…
The first radioactive ocean plume released by the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster will finally be reaching the shores of the United States some time in 2014, according to a new study from the University of New South Wales — a full three or so years after the date of the disaster.
The following graphic comes from that study…
Fukushima Radiation - University Of New South Wales
And multiple independent tests have already confirmed that levels of nuclear radiation are being detected on California beaches that are more than 10 times the normal level.
Clearly something is happening.
So why are the U.S. and Canadian governments willingly looking the other way?




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