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Fukushima cesium leaks 'equal 168 Hiroshima bombs,' says report

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That is NOT good news... Nor is it a surprise really. How many of those of us who were here (c.126 million, then) will continue to be affected by what happened, throughout our lives?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Government officials were not immediately available to confirm the report.

"there should be no effect on health" will be their response, I assume. This is getting bad to worse. Still any children living there? Evacuate them PRONTO.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Not to sure Maria, but this news really makes me wonder about the Japanese government. 168 Hiroshima bombs?? And we are supposed to believe all this crap about the beef, vegetables, fish etc...to be yummy and healthy?? I want to see Ozawa, Kan, Edano etc..live on food from that Fukushima area and they can be the guinea pigs for the whole nation and the world.

3 ( +4 / -0 )

“It is not rational to make a simple comparison only based on the amount of isotopes released.”

Correct. You also have to take into account how much those isotopes were spread around and in what way.

What is irrational is blabbering about explosions and heat and deaths from those, and thinking those make the comparison invalid. Its an obvious and irrational attempt to downplay the news and the science from a standpoint of not wanting to believe. You cannot politic away the facts.

With Hiroshima we can be assured the isotopes were spead around fairly uniformly because of the explosion. But with Fukushima, we can be assured that dispersal is completely non-uniform, with high concentrations here and there.

If you want to level the playing field the only way to do it is to examine other isotopes instead of focusing on just this one. That may or not work, but whatever results you get, you have to accept, rather than drag up irrelevant feel-good notions. Remember the old one? "This is Japan not Russia." Well, radioactive isotopes don't discriminate.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Tatsuhiko Kodama only said 30 times. Could the government be, for the first time, offering accurate but unfavourable information about this disaster?

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How does this compare to Chernobyl, by the way?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I agree that while the basic materials may be the same (was it really cesium that caused radiation-related disease in the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Or was it the other nastier radioactive elements?) I think comparing Fukushima with the atomic bombs is misleading. Even comparisons with chernobyl are misleading to an extent, as the events, blast patterns, reactions and subsequent contamination was totally different.

This is useful only as a non-scientfic comparison of the volumes of material released - and even then this should be made perfectly clear.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Parts of Fukushima city have hot spots so understand that when even Osaka measured abnormal levels of radiation that Tokyo would too. All of Honshu is now unusually radioactive in certain areas.

How does this happen?

Well, radioactive gases are carried by the wind and and fall in precipitation.

Where the wind blows and the rain falls and at what time has to be measured by all of us.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

"no deaths so far"

So the headline is sensational?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

kurisupisu you are 100% correct.

These "Hotspots" can cover 100's of KM's... Exactly as it did 12 months after the Chernobyl accident. SOMEONE.... Governments are here to protect its people, why is there no nation wide testing program ? Im scared to think about whats getting into the food supply chain.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Everyday, same and same news ...

Dont you have any other news ?!?!?!

: ~

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

The accident at Chernobyl was approximately 400 times more potent than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, so Fukushima is nearly 50% of what Chernobyl was... I guess the government needs to revise their 10% of Chernobyl figure by releasing other calculations like this.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

no deaths??? isnt a worker just died inside the plant?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Why in light of such continually frightening news do a number of foreigners insist on staying on in Japan? Isn't it time to get out? Why do foreign people elect to stay on in and around Tokyo and other potentially contaiminated areas? And is the food safe anywhere in the country now? Why aren't foreigners leaving in droves? I don't get it.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

"...no such nuclear explosions hit Fukushima."

Duh! You think? And so is it therefore, in the government's eyes, impossible to make a comparison between the radiation 'leaked' in both cases? No one is comparing the number of those killed by Fukushima's hydrogen explosions with the atomic bomb explosions and heat waves, are they? The government is merely deflecting. It's too bad this news wasn't out before the annual ceremony at Hiroshima -- they could have pounded the message home harder about how unsafe nuclear energy is with a comparison people could really relate to.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The government, however, argued that the comparison was not valid.

Could we expect them to react any differently? The J gov is the epitome of foolery, corruption, and deceit.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Good post Oracle!

OK, so there is more Cesium, but the Hiroshima bomb unleashed a hell of a lot of other isotopes, so the comparison is lame from the start.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Interesting article about radiation and the 'no immediate effects' on health:

submitted by Prime Minister Naoto Kan's cabinet

Aren't the prime minister and the cabinet part of, perhaps the most important part of, The Government?

The government, however, argued that the comparison was not valid.

So, Kan & the Cabinets released the report then immediately argued against it?

Government officials were not immediately available to confirm the report.

So, while the government made the report, and commented on it, they also do not confirm the report exists?

I think I see now why the Tohoku refugees have been sitting in junior high school gyms for nearly half a year. The ability of The Government to argue with itself about something they say doesn't exist.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

@gogo Where do you get you figures? Just the spent rods in number 4 have 10 times more radiation than Chenobyl, so lucky they weren't effected by the disaster.

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Smithers they are on to us, release the dogs!

Yes Mr Burns

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Asagao - where do you get your information yourself? Chernobyl was very nasty because it used graphite as moderator - which basically burned and emanated a LOT of radiation...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

With Hiroshima we can be assured the isotopes were spead around fairly uniformly because of the explosion. But with Fukushima, we can be assured that dispersal is completely non-uniform, with high concentrations here and there.

That's the EXACT opposite of what happened. With Hiroshima the explosion sent irradiated particles high into the atmosphere to be dispersed by low and high level winds. There was nothing remotely uniform about the dispersion.

With Fukushima the explosions were not powerful enough to distribute radioactive particles high into the atmosphere - the radiation is relatively localized. Very bad news for Fukushima and surrounding environs, better news for areas further afield.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Due to prevailing weather conditions and the amount of radiation being released at the time the widest dispersions over the Japanese archipelago occurred on March 15/16 and the 21 / 22. This saw radioactive isotopes spread in plumes as far as Shizuoka and across most of Eastern Honshu. The 21 / 22 being particularly damaging as it rained over wide areas. It's bad for EVERYONE and EVERYWHERE for those who have stayed within the national food supply / consummation chain and worse still for those living unwittingly in hotspots. Whichever way you look at it, children, women and men are being exposed to environments / consumption situations that see internal-emitters end up sat in soft tissues, bone marrow and THAT is appalling. There has still been no update on which isotopes are being found. There's a continual focus on Cesium. No news about strontium, for example, for along time. All worrying.

@Asago: I think you'll find Storage Pool 4 was a source of radioactive release in the first days of the accident. It more-or-less ran dry now and then. Also still very much in danger of collapse, because TEPCO have shown us nothing of the work needed to be done to support it's structural integrity. It could still spill its contents across the immediate landscape.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Because of these people going in and out of the reactors, how could they track health related problems from the workers? There could be deaths by now, how would they know? Do they even track those folks? Heck, there could be corpses inside the reactors as we speak...

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The main reason for the Chernobyl disaster to wreak more havoc than the Fukushima accident up to now, was the explosion of the reactor, which did not have a containment from the start. Then they had a raging and blazing fire (due to the graphite) in the ruins of the reactor core which carried the radioisotopes up from the core into high atmospheric layers, where they could be distributed very far.

These things didn't happen like this in Fukushima. The containment is broken, but it is not blown to smithereens. Therefore, most radioactive material is still inside and is still leaking out, though with a diminishing rate. And since there is no big blazing fire, the radioisotopes stay mostly in the vicinity of the plant. Which is why the idea of people returning to the evacuation area in the next five years is revealing the incompetence of the administration. Any comparison of this and Chernobyl is premature, because this is not over yet (and this will not be over for at least one or two years).

In a nuclear bomb, You get a very high neutron flux. That happens through uncontrolled nuclear fission, which first generates extremely neutron-rich transuranic cores, which mostly undergo nuclear fission quickly (in less than a year). Therefore, there is a steep decrease of radioactivity in a short time, which is not the case in a nuclear accident. Furthermore, nuclear bombs tend to be detonated in the air over a place, where the products of the explosion can travel into all directions freely. Therefore, the concentration of radioisotopes is diluted quickly (in a year or so).

In this (Fukushima) case, all these conditions do not apply. There was no big uncontrolled criticality, which produced large amounts of transuranium nuclei, which quickly fission away. There was no symmetric distribution of the radioactive dust. Therefore, the local radiation will stay high for a long time. If they build the tent, they will have to get rid of the radiation inside in some way. We'll have to wait for new glorious ideas from TEPCO.

If they burn the radioactively contaminated rubble all around in Fukushima, they will give all the cesium a new and fiery lift, which will help spread it to otherr areas, which had been affected only a little by the fallout until now. In the end, there is no need for graphite in the reactor if one burns rubble anyway, is it?

For most of us here in Japan, foreigners or Japanese, we cannot move on without being affected. But it is less a physical effect - for most of us, this will be negligible in the end - it is the stress that we are living through since the disaster which divides life into two distinct parts before and after Fukushima. It is as if you woke up and society and the political world has broken the promise with which you have grown up.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Maybe the company "magnaBSP" maybe able to help with some of this data.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Why am I finding fresh fruits and veggies for sale from Fukushima in my supermarket? Don't the Japanese care about consuming radioactive foods?

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Damn I didn't realise there were so many nuclear physicists on JT - alot of people here seem to thnk they are pretty up on this nuclear stuff.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Double it and you know the truth....or something like that.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@delrennich Like the "Fukushima Beef Party" in Shiga, Japanese either believe or led to believe that they are radiation proof. @ j Webber What you say is correct but doesn't mention the VOLANTARY release(s) of radioactive substances into the sea, or the highly dangerous Plutonium. So while we are lucky that the contamination is relatively localised, it is by no means "mission accomplished", radiation checks are a joke and generally only concentrate on cesium, and pathetic attitude of the Environment Ministry to spread contamination around the whole country so cancer can be a shared experience is very worrying. Also restarting reactor during a people of violent earth movements defies explaination.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

“An atomic bomb is designed to enable mass-killing and mass-destruction by causing blast waves and heat rays and releasing neutron radiation,” the Tokyo Shimbun daily quoted a government official as saying. “It is not rational to make a simple comparison only based on the amount of isotopes released.”

And when did you stop beating your wife?

This is a no-win question.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@ ExportExpert

Damn I didn't realise there were so many nuclear physicists on JT - alot of people here seem to thnk they are pretty up on this nuclear stuff.

Johannes Weber is and when he writes I have sense enough to read it to try an understand the situation better.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

For the effects of radiation, research Chenobyl, for the amount of radiation, check China's test figures, more honest than Japan's.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

check China's test figures, more honest than Japan's.

Is it written in English? If so, please let us know the link. Thanks.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

2020hindsight: "OK, so there is more Cesium, but the Hiroshima bomb unleashed a hell of a lot of other isotopes, so the comparison is lame from the start."

How is it lame? What's lame is taking a DIRECT comparison between CESIUM released in the two events and saying that it's invalid because 'other' isotopes were released as well. They're not comparing other isotopes, nor are they comparing number of deaths by heat blasts or shock waves... they're comparing Cesium levels released.

Now if you want to draw attention to the destructive power of nuclear weapons and/or energy by making OTHER comparisons, then so be it.

In the meantime I expect this to be followed with a 'but it's not harmful to health'.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Tokyo Shimbun daily quoted a government official as saying. “It is not rational to make a simple comparison only based on the amount of isotopes released.”

This is the key element of the article in my opinion. The article does not address the spread, destination and durability of the radioactive cesium-137. People killed by the radiation from the Hiroshima bomb were exposed to heavy concentrations in a very short time.

Why in light of such continually frightening news do a number of foreigners insist on staying on in Japan?...Why aren't foreigners leaving in droves? I don't get it.

The radiation leak is dangerous, of course, but so are lots of things--air pollution, water pollution, food additives, intense heat or cold, pit bull dogs--all over the world. I visit Japan to do some research and because I like the Japanese people. Japan is beautiful and in my experience most Japanese are very kind toward internationals. I don't expect the radiation leak to keep me from traveling to Japan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

radiation is dangerous. Claiming otherwise ensures inflictions and birth defects. Kids can't avoid it in their lunches. Foods for sale plus foods used in processing will have it. It's ubiquitous when no one cares.

Nothing to see here, carry on

Get out of there. Just get out.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

All the truth is coming out Friday because they are quitting on Monday.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Good start is here... http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/

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@gogogo

that explains it. Must have been sitting on this bit of information for months.

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ExportExpertAug.

Damn I didn't realise there were so many nuclear physicists on JT - alot of people here seem to thnk they are pretty up on this nuclear stuff.

Useless comment of the year. We are in the middle of a nuclear crisis and are all trying to understand it. No one has claimed to be an expert.

With Hiroshima the explosion sent irradiated particles high into the atmosphere to be dispersed by low and high level winds. There was nothing remotely uniform about the dispersion.

See? Smorkian corrected me and I learned something.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

2020hindsightsAug. 26, 2011 - 09:32AM JST

OK, so there is more Cesium, but the Hiroshima bomb unleashed a hell of a lot of other isotopes, so the comparison is lame from the start.

Thank for complimenting my post. But I have to say that many other isotopes were released in Fukushima as well. Iodine 131, strontium 90, Neptunium 239 and cobalt 60 for example. A well known spot of such contamination is Iitate-mura, which unfortunately became a refuge area despite having more isotopes floating around than places in the evacuation zone.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

proper suits this time compared to the previous gathering

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Why do foreign people elect to stay on in and around Tokyo and other potentially contaiminated areas?

Many of us have families here and consider it our home- it really isn't as easy a decision as you seem to think. As for foreigners leaving in droves, didn't that happen already?

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Agree with Apsara not that easy for many to just leave.

May it be job-commitments, or loans on property they bought, kids school education, etc. Not everyone can just uproot their lifes and restart as some posters here did, fyi nothing to do with income levels, profession, etc. Or even a matter of the means to do so.

Some made japan their home and are committed to their new home in good and bad times. For many just leaving would mean leaving their current life and forsaking all they worked for over the years and that includes career, family, wife's and children's friends and dumping them into a new country and possible a more uncertain future as there are no guarantees of a good job, etc overseas.

Easy to talk for people that didn't make the investment or are not on the ground so to speak.

Easy for younger people to just up and move but when you get older ...

3 ( +3 / -0 )

"Because of these people going in and out of the reactors, how could they track health related problems from the workers? There could be deaths by now, how would they know? Do they even track those folks?"

They conveniently "lost track" of something like 134 of these workers. They can keep track of them. They chose not to because they dont want negative reports. Id venture to say there have been deaths in the Fukushima/Tohoku area that may have been related to radiation but where recorded as something else. A lot of the ppl hospitalized after the tsunami were having stomach complaints. How many of these ppl died & how many of them were examined for internal radiation? What about in other areas outside of the 20km zone? In my area, so many kids are getting stomach ailments since Fukushima plant blew but there are NO records being kept despite the fact radiation has been found in my town just like some hot spots in Tokyo and other outside areas. These areas are being completely ignored when it comes to record taking. I don`t think any real records are being taken of the effects of this radiation just like they were purposely not being taken in Cherynobyl. No government wants a record trail of truth on things like this.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

"Why in light of such continually frightening news do a number of foreigners insist on staying on in Japan? Isn't it time to get out? Why do foreign people elect to stay on in and around Tokyo and other potentially contaiminated areas? And is the food safe anywhere in the country now? Why aren't foreigners leaving in droves? I don't get it"

If I were young and single, Id return to my home country like a lot of the other foreigners who left. Or if I were married to another foreigner especially if I had children then we could return to our home country together. These are the kinds of foreigners Ive seen leaving and I don`t blame them. I think it is good common sense.

But for the many foreigners who have chosen to stay, some stay for work and others like myself stay because of family. Our family is Japanese so to leave means we have to literally break up our family and we prefer to face whatever consequences are upon us as a family than to break up. I am not a foreigner who denies the seriousness of the situation. I see some foreigners who do this and will get mad if you suggest the radiation could be dangerous to their health. I am not one of those. I fully recognize the risks in staying and I have not just woken up. I immediately started researching right after Fukushima blew the first time, and I quickly understood what the government was saying and the reality were two different things. However, I chose to stay to keep my family together. Family comes above health or safety to me. That is my priority and that is why I stay and that is why some other foreigners stay. Others stay because they are in denial. Others stay for money. There probably are other reasons but these are the 3 main reasons I`ve encountered.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Agree with Apsara, ITs Me and all the 7`s. Dont blame any foreigners in the slightest for leaving if they have no reason to stay. But many of us are invested here, financially, emotionally or both.

I have also done the research and made the decision that - for now - where we live and how we live is less of a risk to the family than uprooting and starting again elsewhere, or moving to the other side of the world and separating the children from a Dad they adore (I think hes alright too I suppose!). That may change as new info arises. Like the 7`s I see the seriousness of the situation, but I am also not freaking out and thinking that my area is dangerous to my health because based on current readings I dont believe it is. At least, no more so than when I lived in western Europe at the age of 13 when Chernobyl struck. We are minimising the food we eat from Kanto, eating as much imported food as possible and so on to try and avoid any risk as far as possible.

I am very grateful for people like J Weber above, who are posting real, educated answers to pertinent questions and directing people to links where more info can be found. I am trying to listen to scientific people such as these, rather than the scaremongers and conspiracy theorists. The people I find most helpful are the ones who post information, rather than opinions and judgements, and let people make up their own minds based on their own circumstances. JT has been invaluable to me since all this started in that respect. Mr Weber makes a very good point also in that the stress of living like this can long term be just as harmful - but I am finding the odd Asahi Superdry helps with this!

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Thanks for the comment, Mrs Washida.

I agree very much with those of you who say that there are many good reasons to stay or to leave. It is up to each of us to stay or to leave. There are good reasons for both decisions. Some of us even take both - like me.

I left in March quickly, because I panicked, when I realised how volatile the state of the Fukushima plant really was and my nerves had been laid bare through innumerable earthquakes, the impression that my life here was falling apart and well, because the earthquake had really bad timing for me.

After two months had passed, my post-traumatic stress had subsided somewhat and I calmly judged the situation from more than 10000km away. I tried to understand how the accident would develeop further, how the food situation is - and most important - whether the radiation would go on spreading like in March, or whether radiation levels would supposedly stabilize at an acceptable level in the places where I intended to return to (Tsukuba).

I think the panic that some people still spread does not serve anybody except for those thinking that leaving was not the right decision. Maybe it was, maybe it was not, no one really knows for sure. We all must accept how we had decided back then. We should never use fear-mongering or downplaying as a tool to lecture others or defend our own decisions.

As long as the food supply remains mostly transparent - vegetables labeled for their prefectures, meat at least as kokusan or imported - the danger from radiation outside of Fukushima prefecture is far from being too much to be handled as long as these conditions are met. We all need a well-tuned awareness to the circumstances we are facing here. But through this awareness - remind yourself that we are not part of the sheeple - we can possibly even do something in favour of those Japanese who are lost in denial. That was one of my reasons to return. Japan needs objective discussions.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Damn I didn't realise there were so many nuclear physicists on JT - alot of people here seem to thnk they are pretty up on this nuclear stuff.

Johannes (I believe) and I are both physicists, at least. Probably a few other scientists around, too.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Dont blame any foreigners in the slightest for leaving if they have no reason to stay. But many of us are invested here, financially, emotionally or both.

Great comment. Everybody needs to make their own decision for themselves and their family. I've elected to stay as Japan is my home and my life is here but others may feel its best to leave, or to mitigate the impact of potential food contamination by eating only imported foods, etc. But I don't see how anyone can be faulted for making the decisions they feel are most appropriate for their situation.

Though I am sad as quite a few of my foreign friends have moved away for good in the past few months...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Good start is here... http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/

@Asagao, I have listened to it and read it. It made me panic when I discovered the truth.

Japanese people has been lied a big time. What can I do from here, Asago? I feel very bad and I am ready to faint.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

And let us NOT forget. Radiation is still being released:

http://cryptome.org/eyeball/daiichi-npp/pict7a.jpg

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It"s Me: "Agree with Apsara not that easy for many to just leave. May it be job-commitments, or loans on property they bought, kids school education, etc. Not everyone can just uproot their lifes and restart as some posters here did, fyi nothing to do with income levels, profession, etc. Or even a matter of the means to do so."

From a sentimental perspective, I can see it being tough to leave the place you live and probably loved (hopefully, anyway). As for it being 'hard to leave' because of loans, etc., then it's up to the government and banks to at the very least FREEZE the loans until the people have a means to start paying them back if they have been evacuated or lost their livelihoods. THIS is where the government can help in part. I sure as hell hope the banks aren't charging added interest on delinquent payments when the people are out of work or worse. The priority is their lives, not paying back loans or what have you. They need to get out of their, and it needs to be mandatory. If a company tries to penalize someone for leaving the evacuation zone, that company should in turn be penalized, severely.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The numbers can rise as far as they go. The government says the situation is stable--yet it is "stable'' by “hanging on the cliff with fingernails,” as a Japanese American physicist Michio Kaku says. This is the choice the government agency and TEPCO made. It's been more than 5 months the reactors got crippled and began emitting radioactive substances. If they were unable to find the way to turn off the ducts, fix the cracks on suppression chambers, and de-contaminate the tons of water without any leak, they would end up toxifying not only local economy and environment but also the infrastructure of other regions.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

as a Japanese American physicist Michio Kaku says

You can safely ignore what Michio Kaku says. He's not a nuclear physicist or engineer and has a strong anti-nuke agenda.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Anyway, the worse is to come, as the corium has surely melted through the surface of the earth. Where is it now ? Nobody knows, or tells. This melted super-hot/super-radioactive uranium is polluting anything it meets, water going to water, steam blowing to the sky as it has been revealed on R.T (Russia Today)... and maybe in a soon future, will occure a super-strong earthquake ! Just remember in 1953, a group of japanese "scientists" made a hole down in the earth, near Nippon Steal in Kamaishi, and descended inside this hole 40 tons of TNT in order to create a 1-2 strong artificial earthquake "just to know". In fact, the explosion generated a 6 strong earthquake, which was huge in this time when countryside houses were often in wood... Imagine, then, this corium reaching a large groundwater under our feet... The H2O would be instantly vaporised, turned in explosive hydrogen and burning oxygen. The effect of the explosion may be tens of times (or more) worse than what happened on the 11th of march, 2011. Where do you want to be if it happens ?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Know this .... they are going to burn radioactive debris in 35 prefectures (in less than a month) ... oh yeah ... in Tokyo too ... but while we are talking about stats and debating about comparisons in matters that are not comparable to begin with, the Children of Fukushima are being exposed to incredible radiation exposure both internal and external! So, we should spend more times to think of ways to get them out of there than arguing about what will inevitably be a national disaster ... but for now, it is the children of Fukushima that are paying the price ! So please help !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip4aMIXHd5s

and please sign the petition

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/evacuate_fukushima/

Thank you all

Nelson

0 ( +2 / -2 )

And no ... I did not know that they had burnt highly radioactive debris all at once in 35 prefectures across the whole nation before ... thank you Sensei ! I feel much better now ! Cause after experiencing Chernobyl, I thought I knew a little but here you come my path and show me the light ! I am very lucky !

And for your information ... i don't "bash" bash" bash" ... I actually ACT .... what are you doing beside insulting people on the web !

Have a good week end !

0 ( +2 / -2 )

after more than 5 months they begin to talk about the real situation around fukushima. or just did not wanted to face with it? the very sad that they still dont have plans how to handle this situation. they just think about the 20 kilometer zone. the problem is much bigger than that. they really should think about the alternative energy sources and stop down the 54 nucleair centres around japan before it happenes something again.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Smorkian - didnt realise you were a physicist too! OK - from now on both you and J Weber please just post and tell us what you are both doing/eating. I am just going to do whatever you two do!

Though I am sad as quite a few of my foreign friends have moved away for good in the past few months...

No worries Smorkian, I am always happy to meet you for a beer!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Don't eat ANY food(including rice, sake) from Tohoku. Read labals carefully. Don't eat any fish or seafood from Hokaido to Mie. Learn which species of fish migrate down the Fukushima coast. unfortunately, Japanese meat is definitely out. The mammals are moved around so you can't tell their origin, and the meat people know that different parts have of the body have different levels of contamination, so they can test the less part and say it is safe. NZ or Australian meat is safe. Tea from Oiji to Kagoshima is safe. So long as there is not any more explosions and they don't burn radioactive debris in 35 prefectures, food is our main risk. Stay vigilant and you will be alright.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

This story runs with this one: "Japan lifts ban on beef from Iwate, Fukushima and Tochigi" Interesting. Sad. Ironic.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Should read 'Fukushima cesium leaks equates to Japan being the least desirable travel destination in the world'.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

This is inaccurate. Chernobyl was estimated at 400 times Hiroshima. This incident has been reported many times Chernobyl.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Would this mean US beef is safe? I would think so.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

woundedsamurai1Aug. 26, 2011 - 11:22AM JST

Maybe the company "magnaBSP" maybe able to help with some of this data.

Last time I mentioned the Israeli connection to Fukushima, my post was deleted. Facts are facts! Magna BSP was in charge of security at Fukushima and had installed security cameras etc. ( why Japan needs the services of an Israeli military company is beyond me ) Also reported by the Jerusalem Post. It was confirmed that a large camera was placed in reactor number 3. It weighed around something like 600kg. There is also the matter of the Stuxnet computer virus which has been designed to affect Siemens fluid control equipment which is used in nuclear power plants around the world. It has been confirmed that the virus has been found in Japan and reported by Daily Yomiuri etc. There is much information available on the Stuxnet virus on the net.

Here is another thing- how did number 4 reactor blow up when it was taken out of commission for repairs. Number 3 reactor blew up as everyone knows.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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