11/6/2011 Los Angeles rain water found 3x normal background by EnviroReporter

Source: EnviroReporter YouTube channel
Date: 11/6/2011


[11/6/2011] 6:30 pm 10-minute INTERIOR average of SECOND SANTA MONICA RAIN: 140.0 CPM^ or 221% HIGHER THAN PREVIOUS BACKGROUND! 

This stunning detection suggests radon progeny generated by continuing fissile re-criticality at the three melted down and out Fukushima nuclear reactors and perhaps additional radiation caused by the Japanese government's decision to burn over 550,000 tons of radioactive waste in October, much of which will end up as fallout.

11/3/2011 Criticality Confusion at Fukushima Daiichi

After checking the RadiationNews™ Google gadget, I noticed ENENEWS (the tab one to the right of this feed) has highlighted that The Japan Times is calling for an investigation to determine the true seriousness of the condition now at the melted down Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.  In The Japan Times article Find out true reactor conditions from 11/4/2011 JST it is reported that re-criticality (a sustained fission reaction) has occurred and that TEPCO has initially (on Tuesday 11/1/2011 JST) reported localized temporary criticality:

[...]

Because the half life of xenon-133 is 5.25 days and that of xeon-135 is 9.14 hours, criticality is very likely to have occurred just before the gases were analyzed.

Although more than seven months have passed since the start of the nuclear fiasco, clearly the reactor has not yet been stabilized. Tepco's plan to achieve "cold shutdown" of the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors by the end of this year may face difficulty.

The fact that Tepco cannot deny the possibility of criticality irrespective of its scale is a grave situation. The conditions are similar in the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors. It is thought that nuclear fuel in them melted and has collected in the bottom of both the pressure and containment vessels.

[...]

After claiming that possible criticality was indicated by release of various isotopes of Xenon gas TEPCO has now backtracked to say it is only a spontaneous fission reaction of curium (a less serious condition).  So what is really true?  TEPCO has had a tendency to lie, downplay and delay releasing news concerning their crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant so it is likely that something more serious is going on than what they are attempting to present to the public.  For example, per the ENENEWS article Krypton-85 up over 14,000% in one day at Reactor No. 2 — Kr-85 used to detect “plutonium separations” the existence of Krypton-85 in Fukushima Daiichi reactor 2 is indicative of plutonium fission.

11/1/2011 (Video) Xenon found in reactor 2 indicative of possible fission reaction

Source: NHK World
Date: 11/1/2011
by: Catherine Kobayashi

Part 1 from http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/02_10.html

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has poured water containing boric acid into the No. 2 reactor.

The move followed the detection of a radioactive substance, xenon, in the reactor's containment vessel, indicating that nuclear fission may have resumed.

Tokyo Electric Power Company poured boric acid solution into the No. 2 reactor for one hour from shortly before 3 AM on Wednesday.

Last Friday, TEPCO began operating equipment to remove radioactive substances from the No. 2 reactor.
The device sucks out gas from the containment vessel and filters out radioactive materials. The company has been analyzing the types of radioactive substances and their density near the outlet of the device.

On Tuesday, TEPCO detected xenon-133 and xenon-135, substances that are produced during the nuclear fission of uranium-235. The company says the possibility of nuclear fission inside the reactor cannot be excluded.

TEPCO says even if nuclear fission has resumed, it should be on a small scale as there have been no major changes in the temperature or pressure of the reactor, or radiation levels at monitoring posts around the compound.

The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says it is unlikely that nuclear fuel has begun melting again as the density of the xenon is low and there has been no change in the reactor temperatures. The agency says it will continue to monitor the xenon in the reactor.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011 07:27 +0900 (JST)

Part 2 from http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/02_13.html

A nuclear energy expert says the presence of xenon in the No.2 reactor leaves open the possibility that localized and temporary fission could still occur.

Professor Koji Okamoto of the University of Tokyo Graduate School says substances from melted fuel that could undergo fission are probably scattered around, but are unlikely to react.

He says, however, that neutrons from radioactive materials could react with the uranium fuel and other substances.

Okamoto says a self-sustaining chain reaction that creates criticality is unlikely to happen because huge amounts of boric acid have been poured into the reactor.

He adds that these neutrons must be closely monitored to make sure fission does not take place.

The professor also referred to a plan by the government and TEPCO to achieve a state of cold shutdown by the end of the year. He says that if fission reactions are not under control, it would not be a cold shutdown.

Okamoto says TEPCO must locate the melted fuel inside and outside the reactor in order to prevent further reactions.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011 10:24 +0900 (JST)

6/3/2011 | Are Nuclear Reactions Still Occurring at Fukushima?

Source: Washington's Blog
Date: Friday June 3, 2011

You know that Fukushima reactors 1, 2 and 3 all melted down within hours of the Japanese earthquake.

You also know that at least some of the subsequent explosions could have been caused by small-scale nuclear reactions called "prompt moderated criticalities".

But you might not know that nuclear reactions may still be ongoing.
...
Read full article here