7/13/2011 Fukushima workers brave radiation and heat for £80 a day

Source: UK Guardian
Date: Wednesday 13 July 2011 19.20 BST

Fears grow for inexperienced contractors working in Japanese heatwave to bring stricken nuclear reactors under control


Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Photograph: Ho/AFP/Getty Images

Hundreds of inexperienced contractors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are working in searing heat and high radiation levels for as little as 10,000 yen (£80) a day.
...
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7/13/2011 (Video) High levels of Cesium-134 (23663 Bq/Kg) and Cesium-137 (28884 Bq/Kg) found in Tokyo metro playground

Source: AustralianCannonball YouTube channel
Date: 7/13/2011 upload date

The video below goes over the shocking lab radionuclide test results of soil taken from a Tokyo playground which a private Japanese citizen payed for with their own money:


Results
Iodine-131: < 20 becquerels/kg
Cesium-134: 23663 becquerels/kg
Cesium-137: 28884 becquerels/kg

For reference, the following chart taken from Bloomberg shows safe food and water limits set by the Japanese government:

================================================================
Prescribed safe limits for radioactive Iodine-131:
================================================================
300 Becquerel per kilogram         Drinking water
300 (Bq/kg)                        Milk, dairy products
2,000 (Bq/kg)                      Vegetables*
                                   (*Except root vegetables and
                                   tubers)
================================================================

================================================================
Prescribed safe limits for radioactive cesium:
================================================================
200 Becquerel per kilogram         Drinking water
200 (Bq/kg)                        Milk, dairy products
500 (Bq/kg)                        Vegetables
500 (Bq/kg)                        Grains
500 (Bq/kg)                        Meat, eggs, fish, etc.
================================================================
Prescribed safe limits for uranium:
================================================================
20 Becquerel per kilogram          Infant foods
20 (Bq/kg)                         Drinking water
20 (Bq/kg)                         Milk, dairy products
100 (Bq/kg)                        Vegetables
100 (Bq/kg)                        Grains
100 (Bq/kg)                        Meat, eggs, fish, etc.
================================================================

================================================================
Prescribed safe limits for alpha-emitting nuclides of plutonium
and transuranic elements:
================================================================
1 Becquerel per kilogram           Infant foods
1 (Bq/kg)                          Drinking water
1 (Bq/kg)                          Milk, dairy products
10 (Bq/kg)                         Vegetables
10 (Bq/kg)                         Grains
10 (Bq/kg)                         Meat, eggs, fish etc.
================================================================

Further testing will be done on the soil sample at a second lab, for other radionuclides.

Also, the above video illustrates that when placing a personal dosimeter (Geiger counter) right on the ground in Kashiwa, which is 23 km from the center of Tokyo, the measurement is astonishingly high showing a peak of 6.59 μSv/hr (microsieverts/hour). For reference, there is only one personal dosimeter shared on Ustream (that I could find), which consistently shows values in whole numbered μSv/hr. This is the GM-fukushima Geiger counter, which normally displays the outdoors levels of an open air cafe in Iitate Village, Fukushima Prefecture.  This is the closest Geiger counter in the Live Streaming Radiation Meters collection to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

7/13/2011 52,547 Bq/Kg Of Cesium Radiation Found In Soil Just Outside Tokyo

Source: examiner.com
Date: 7/13/2011
by: Alexander Higgins

52,547 Bq/Kg of of Cesium radiation measured in soil samples collected just outside of Tokyo over 135 miles south of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

A reader from Japan has sent me a copy of his official Lab results for nuclear radiation soil samples collected in Kashiwa, Japan, which is on the outskirts of Tokyo and over 135 miles south of the Fukushima nuclear reactor. The lab results show that 52,547 Becquerels Per Kilogram Of Cesium Radiation was found in the sample. 23,663 Bq/Kg of Cesium 134 radiation was found. 28,884 Bq/Kg of Cesium 137 was detected.
...
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7/13/2011 Fukushima plant site originally was a hill safe from tsunami

Source: The Japan Times
Date: 7/13/2011
by: REIJI YOSHIDA and TAKAHIRO FUKADA
 
Ground zero: Bulldozers (top) take the top off a 35-meter bluff to prepare the site for the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in 
the late 1960s in this image taken from the documentary "Reimei" ("Dawn"). Left: The construction site is seen after the leveling 
work. Right: An excavated area where the emergency diesel generators were installed is seen at the construction site.  
TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER CO.

First of Two Parts

The March 11 monster tsunami that hit the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant destroyed the critical backup power system and triggered the meltdown of hundreds of fuel rods in reactors 1, 2 and 3.

Video of the appalling damage and reactor building explosions led many — from regular people to nuclear and quake experts — to ask: Why wasn't the coastal nuclear plant built in a location safe from all tsunami threats?
...
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7/13/2011 (Video) World Cup heroine brings hope to embattled Japan nuclear workers

Source: Reuters
Date: Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:24am GMT

TOKYO, July 13 (Reuters Life!) - A substitute on the Japanese women's national soccer team who led her country to its first ever World Cup semi-final appearance counts among her supporters workers battling to bring under control the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.

Not surprising, perhaps -- some are former colleagues from when Karina Maruyama herself worked at Tokyo Electric Power Co(Tepco), the operator of the nuclear plant crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The 28-year-old Maruyama has become a national heroine after coming off the bench to score an extra-time winner against the heavily favoured defending champion Germany on Saturday.

Her dramatic 108th minute goal gave Japan a 1-0 win over Germany and brought an outpouring of praise and gratitude on her blog, but it was a former colleague now working to contain damage at the Fukushima Daiichi plant 240 km (150 miles) from Tokyo who really moved her.
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Here is the goal made by Karina Maruyama, former TEPCO employee

7/12/2011 Radiation Coverups And Dangers Exposed Worldwide

Source: The Intel Hub
Date: 7/12/2011
by: Alex Thomas

King 5 News: High levels of radiation detected in Northwest rainwater

The data is not new, but what this report illustrates is the under-reporting (or non-reporting) of dangerous radiation levels.

The nuclear industry and nuclear regulators worldwide, as well as specifically in the United States, have continually covered up disasters and radiation releases as if they never happened or posed no danger to the public.

To begin to understand the corruption of the nuclear power industry and the danger we are in because of it, you must first realize that they actually fund their regulators, The NRC in the United States and the IAEA for the world.
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