Fukushima Debacle Risks Chernobyl ‘Dead Zone’ as Radiation in Soil Soars

Source: Bloomberg News

Radioactive soil in pockets of areas near Japan’s crippled nuclear plant have reached the same level as Chernobyl, where a “dead zone” remains 25 years after the reactor in the former Soviet Union exploded.

Soil samples in areas outside the 20-kilometer (12 miles) exclusion zone around the Fukushima plant measured more than 1.48 million becquerels a square meter, the standard used for evacuating residents after the Chernobyl accident, Tomio Kawata, a fellow at the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan, said in a research report published May 24 and given to the government.

--SNIP--

Soil samples showed one site with radiation from Cesium-137 exceeding 5 million becquerels per square meter about 25 kilometers to the northwest of the Fukushima plant, according to Kawata’s study. Five more sites about 30 kilometers from Dai- Ichi showed radiation exceeding 1.48 million becquerels per square meter.

When asked to comment on the report today, Tokyo Electric spokesman Tetsuya Terasawa said the radiation levels are in line with those found after a nuclear bomb test, which disperses plutonium. He declined to comment further.

Read more: www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-30/japan-risks-chernobyl-like-dead-zone-as-fukushima-soil-radiation-soars.html

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And here I was, fearing there wouldn't be enough plutonium to go around! If you can get passed the deadly radiation part, looks like TEPCO just made a big chunk of Japan a new wildlife preserve!

Thanks TEPCO!



Much more at the link. A lot more, including other comparisons to the Chernobyl disaster.

PB

to be part of the decision making. Why is Japan allowed to control what information is let out?

to discuss matters related to nuclear power. According to the Fukushima Shimbun newspaper:

この日は（１）放射線量に関するデータ（２）事故発生時の状況と政府、東電の対応（３）原子力安全システムの現状―を協議。日本側は中国国内の原発に関する情報公開も求めた。
"The topics discussed on this day were 1) data on the amount of radiation, 2) conditions that existed during the accident and the responses of TEPCO and the Japanese government, and 3) the current state of nuclear power safety systems. Japan asked China to release information on nuclear power production in China"

http://www.fukuishimbun.co.jp/nationalnews/CN/science_environment/450548.html

The problem with relying on strictly English-language sources is that you will never hear about a lot of stuff like this.

The "Rest of the World('s leaders)" don't want us to know.

They still hope they can build more nukes.
To do that they have to hide the truth from us.

doesn't seem to be any govt kicking up much of a fuss. Come to think of it maybe there is international involvement but its hushed up.

:shrug:

clean up, ie have experts in Japan. The brief article you posted about a Chinese delegation is notable for its lack of detail as in 'nothing to see here, move along'. The Japanese have thus far proved themselves highly incompetent so I am surprised the Chinese were so easily placated.

The United States, for instance

http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/p/tp-20110414-01.html

and France
http://investmentwatchblog.com/french-nuclear-experts-to-visit-japan-to-offer-help-with-tackling-fukushima-nuclear-crisis-kyodo/

There's an IAEA team in Japan right now
http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0517/japan.html

but it seems that our government played a role in keeping these plants open

when about 5-6 years ago scientists saw that there was steadily increasing

seismic activity -- and the problems with the plants included their age and the

fact that they were only built to withstand 7.0 quakes!!

This silence by world governments doesn't reflect the anxiety and concern of

the citizens of the world -- what it is expressing is the corruption of governemtn

and elected officials by $$$ and corporate power!!

TEPCO has been working to recover from a crisis brought about by extraordinary natural circumstances. They are by no means perfect but this disaster began as a result of a 9.0 earthquake and 20m high tsunami.

it seems that only political interference from US kept these plants open!!

Meanwhile, there is NO PRIVATE CORPORATION which can in any way accept responsibility

for nuclear reactors because the damage that they can cause is so immense --

These plants are uninsurable except by government -- there is no master plan for

evacuation which can be developed except by government --

There is no financing without government -- i.e., taxpayer money!


Global Warming is bringing increased numbers of earthquakes and increased severity of

earthquakes --

however, it doesn't matter if this is nature or "error" -- the potential for great and

immense harm is always there -- see Chernobyl and 3 Mile Island.



Using nuclear reactors to boil water for steam is one of the more insane things that

capitalism has done!!

Hardly anybody in Japan complained when about a third of their power came from nukes. It's the price we pay for our quality of life. Why don't you get angry at the burning of coal? That's some nasty stuff.

evidently US political intervention saved them -- and the Mayor was ousted.

PLUS scientists had concerns in reporting increasing seismic activity -- while

plants were only built to withstand 7.0 quakes!!

So far this is more than $300 billion worth of damage -- with more than 350 aftershocks

many so high as to be new earthquakes.

And how do you think Japanese citizens feel about nuclear now?


Global Warming will be bringing yet more numberous quakes and more severe quakes.

All of these reactors should be shut down.


And same for the US!!



We've known for a half century or more that we have to STOP burning all fossil fuels --

We need to nationalize our natural resources -- no private interests should have control

over our natural resources.

I've lived in Japan most of my adult life. I don't think they are happy with the situation but see it as an outcome of an unforeseen cataclysm. Nobody here is ready to pull a Germany just yet.

It is sadly ironic that the US having begun the atomic age in Japan -- well, of course,

first nuking its own soldiers in testing the atomic bomb -- the destruction at Hiroshima

and Nagasaki -- that anyone could have sold Japan on the idea of nuclear reactors as

energy.

Basically, nuclear reactors used to boil water for steam -- !!

The very idea of atomic weapons and nuclear reactors is so inane that it is obvious that

the public has not been sufficiently warned -- that our corporate-press did not do what a

free press was intended to do -- and that the MIC obviously gave us "nuclear reactors"

as a defense against "ban the bomb!" movements. "Look what wonders we have accomplished --

we may have invented death -- but we can boil water with nuclear power!"

Saddest of all is that, after 300 years of men studying physics, they invented an atomic bomb!

If the Japanese understand what has been "pulled" on them -- that these reactors should have

been shut down five years or more ago, then they -- and Americans -- will very well understand

that they should be doing what the Germans are doing.

The earthquake and tsunami were not the unpredictable part. The unpredictable part is that someone would built a chain of nuclear reactors near the fault line. And right at the edge of the ocean, no less.

When you say TEPCO is "by no means perfect but..." you're using language in order to minimize their continued footdragging and lack of a response plan. The concept that "no-one could have predicted this" is absurd. When there are 600 year-old stone markers warning about the potential for major earthquakes and tsunamis, it's tough to swallow that anyone should be caught by surprise when a natural disaster occurs.

PB

Everybody over here knows about the natural disasters that periodically hit Japan. And yes, there plants could have been constructed further from the ocean. However, the extremes of the Fukushima event were such that nobody expected such a situation would occur.

Don't forget, the meltdown occurred in the wake of the worst natural disaster to hit Japan in generations. I don't understand where your anger comes from. What angers you?

We in US also have plants on faults in CA --

Mayor of Fukushima wanted to close these things down based on increasing seismic activity

and the age of the reactors -- plus the fact they were only built to withstand a 7.0 quake!!

This is a disaster of unimaginable magnitude. Tons of cesium-137 and plutonium-238 released in the meltdowns, explosions and destroyed spent fuel tanks.

It is not clear yet, as TEPCO's been slow and sloppy with the truth, but the possibility exists that a large part of Honshu may have been rendered uninhabitable, a former prime minister stated in a recent interview.

Q: If you had been in charge, would you have disclosed all the information about the meltdown in the initial stage?

A: Yes. I would have. There is no use in holding back information. We have to decide what to do, based on the premise of the information we have. This problem may be contained in Fukushima for now, but the contamination may spread outside of Fukushima. Anxiety and frustration are growing. People cannot live in the contaminated areas. These areas are becoming uninhabitable. Japan has lost its territory by that much. If we do nothing, even Tokyo could become off limits. There is a huge amount of uranium fuels in the plants, much more than in Chernobyl. This is a terrible situation. The government doesn’t tell the truth and people live in a happy-go-lucky…

Perhaps one day Corporate McPravda will give the story the attention it merits and ask the questions they should be raising with the, uh, authorities. That's the least owed to the people of Japan.

He is a first-class scumbag and opportunist. Moreover, he is not a scientist.

Ichiro Ozawa was never Prime Minister. He has been called the Shadow Shogun and kingmaker. While he is a lawyer and politician, not a scientist, the former cabinet member is correct when it comes to what the nuclear disaster means for Japan.

Don't know if you saw this ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x309897


:)