Japanese scientists have found that radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster has mutated a domestic butterfly species. It may not have morphed into Mothra, but the pale glass blue butterfly has displayed genetic and physiological changes.quoteUnderstanding the Ongoing Nuclear Disaster in Fukushima:
A “Two-Headed Dragon” Descends into the Earth’s Biosphere
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From Meltdown to Melt-Through
The TÅhoku earthquake made a direct hit on the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. At 3:00 p.m. on the following day, March 12, a hydrogen explosion took place in the No. 1 reactor, followed by similar explosions in the No. 3 reactor on March 14 and in the No. 2 and No. 4 reactors on March 15. On March 21, there was another mysterious explosion in the No. 3 reactor.
... March 15: The Largest Release of Radiation
March 21: A Second Massive Release of Radiation
From evening to nighttime of the same day, an “evil wind” struck the village of Iitate and Fukushima City, located northwest of the nuclear plant.
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March 21: A Second Massive Release of Radiation
On the morning of March 21 the wind was blowing from the north.
On March 23, a new plume formed, moving southwest from the coastal areas of Ibaraki through Chiba prefecture.
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The Formation of Contaminated “Hot Spots”
Hot spots were discovered in many parts of the capital city, too, with its population of thirty million.
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The Amount of Radiation Released from Fukushima Daiichi
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source : Fujioka Atsushi
Lethal radiation detected inside Fukushima reactor
Tokyo Electric Power Company has detected extremely high levels of radiation inside one of the crippled reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
TEPCO was able to place monitoring equipment directly inside the reactor for the first time since last year's accident.
A dosimeter lowered into the containment vessel of the No.2 reactor registered 72.9 sieverts, or 72,900 millisieverts per hour at maximum -- a level where a human is certain to die within about 7 minutes of exposure.
The utility hopes to determine the state of the vessels as it moves to decommission the reactors.
It says radiation levels increased as the dosimeter was lowered inside the reactor. This suggests the nuclear fuel melted down and collected at the bottom of the vessel.
The utility also learned the water level inside the vessel was only 60 centimeters, compared to the original estimate of about 3 meters.
TEPCO suspects the suppression chamber at the bottom of the vessel may have been destroyed.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Reactor 2 radiation too high for access
Radiation inside the reactor 2 containment vessel at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has reached a lethal 73 sieverts per hour and any attempt to send robots in to accurately gauge the situation will require them to have greater resistance than currently available, experts say.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120329a1.html
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Strontium at Fukushima plant flows into sea
Tokyo Electric Power Company says more radioactive wastewater has leaked from its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and flowed into the sea. The water contained high levels of strontium.
Workers at the plant discovered water leaking from a pipe connected to a wastewater tank, at around 1:00 AM on Thursday.
Workers shut valves, and the flow stopped about an hour later.
TEPCO says about 12 tons of wastewater leaked from a disconnected joint in the pipe. The company also says it believes that a large portion of the water has flowed into the ocean through a nearby drainage ditch.
The utility is trying to determine how the joint became disconnected, and how much water poured into the sea.
Radioactive wastewater also leaked on March 26th from a different section of the same piping.
Last December, water leaked from another device within the plant compound.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
quoteFukushima air to stay radioactive in 2022
FUKUSHIMA —
A decade from now, airborne radiation levels in some parts of Fukushima Prefecture are still expected to be dangerous at above 50 millisieverts a year, a government report says.
The report, which contains projections through March 2032, was presented by trade minister Yukio Edano Sunday to leaders of Futaba, one of the towns that host the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
The report includes radiation forecasts for 2012 to 2014, and for 2017, 2022 and 2032, based on the results of monitoring in November last year. It was compiled to help municipalities draw up recovery and repopulation programs for the nuclear disaster.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Cesium contaminated fish found in Tone river
Radioactive cesium exceeding the new legal limit has been found in fish in the Tone River, which passes north of Tokyo. Authorities have taken measures to stop the shipment of fish caught in the river.
Chiba prefectural officials say a silver crucian carp caught in the river contained 110 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram. The new limit is 100 becquerels per kilogram.
The Tone River is the river with the largest drainage area in Japan. The town where the contaminated fish was caught is located about 180 kilometers from the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The prefecture has asked 10 municipalities along the river and 6 fishery cooperatives not to ship fish from the river to market.
Last month, fish and shellfish pulled from a pond near the river were removed from circulation because of radiation levels above the legal limit.
Prefectural officials say they will check other types of freshwater fish for radioactivity.
Fukushima Power Plant - Meltdown . Daily Radiation Levels .
Since March 18, 2011, from the Japan Times
. Fukushima, radiation . . .
. Daily Radiation Levels .
Since March 18, 2011, from the Japan Times
. My Daily Report, NHK news and more
. . . . .
Again Many thanks to Dr. Greve.
Reporting since March 11, 2011 . . .
Dr. Gabi Greve, Japan
Daruma Museum, World Kigo Database
