SimplyInfo » Reporting Agencies
Disaster Panel Doubts TEPCO’s Claim “The Tsunami Did It”
[Translate] Members of the government disaster panel are expressing doubts about TEPCO’s claim that the tsunami was the sole cause of the Fukushima disaster. Reports of pipe damage and plant readings hint that the reactors may have suffered extensive earthquake damage even though the shaking at unit 1 was within quake standards. Many reports of workers said they witnessed damage to cooling pipes at unit 1. Panel members state that TEPCO’s claim that the tsunami is the culprit is an attempt to give the nuclear industry an excuse that would help them avoid more scrutiny. Both the plants themselves and the current seismic standards come into question if the quake was the major factor in the disaster. This seemingly minor distinction between tsunami and quake could mean the end of the nuclear … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reporting Agencies
Setagaya Hot Spot – Bottle Found With Pic, Radium Claimed As Cause
[Translate] This photo of the radium bottle found at a Setagaya grocery store was released today. Officials claim that the area went from 40 mSv to 25 mSv after the soil and bottle was removed. Officials so far have not found any specifically identifying markings on the bottle. The public is of course very skeptical about the convenient excuse of all hot spots being old bottles of radium as was seen in an earlier hot spot in Setagaya. A much more transparent process along with more media and citizen oversight is needed if public confidence is desired. A recent incident in Tokyo where officials claimed radioactive debris in a container from Iwate was emitting no radiation illustrates why the public is distrustful of what officials are telling the public. A citizen found more … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
Crowd Sourced Information Again Proves Key In Fukushima Disaster
[Translate] Crowd sourced information has been key to our knowledge and understanding of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. It is again proving vital as people work together to find hot spots around Tokyo. The Radiation Defense Project has identified 22 spots of elevated radiation by soil test. The Setagaya hot spots have been found by local citizens working to protect children in the area and to do the work the government won’t. The grocery store hot spot was found by a Setagaya resident that goes by the twitter name nori_tiki. He has been carrying a radiation detector as he rides his bike around the area. The hot spot in front of a house was found by a member of the local protect children group. Experts are warning about the danger of plutonium, that it … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
Hokkido University Experts Say 9.0 Quake Highly Probably – With Translation of Text
[Translate] This has been going around various websites concerning the probability of another 9.0 quake. Hokkiado University experts are saying a new quake could come in December or January based on their findings. The English translation below. Japanese translation in easier to translate charactersets at the end of the post. Graphic from the original article and the original itself can be found here. Have a higher probability of a magnitude 9 earthquake once again To announce the growing possibility of M9 earthquakes seismic waves echo back from the observed VHF.Echo began to be observed in seismic stations Erimo channels from 89.9MHz June 27, 2010 date back about 8 months before the earthquake off the coast of the northeastern Pacific Ocean on March 11, 2011.This frequency echoes from seismic monitoring stations Nakashibetsu several other … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
More Hot Spots Around Tokyo
[Translate] A grouping of hot spots were found earlier this week in Ginza, Tokyo. “An elementary school located in Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo was found with a 0.80 microsievert/hour radiation spot, and a kindergarten, also in Chuo-ku, was found with 0.56 microsievert/hour spot.” EX-SKF translates the story and mentions these involved drains and asphalt, including an area near a school. Read the details at EX-SFK Today another hot spot was found in Setagaya, Tokyo. There was an earlier one found in Setagaya that turned out to be a stash of radium paint under a home. This one is at a grocery store and registered 110 micro sV/h. Fukushima Diary has details, photo and map. Yahoo news Japan confirms the story. The city of Kashiwa is still struggling to deal with the hot spot recently found there … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
TEPCO emergency manuals released
[Translate] TEPCO has released their emergency manuals and NISA opted to make them available to the public. They are not available in English yet but the Daily Mainichi has reviewed them. The manual revealed the fact that there was no operational manual that envisioned a loss of all power sources needed to activate emergency condensers and back-up water injection devices to cool down nuclear reactors. The revelation highlights flaws in TEPCO’s contingency plan in the event of a loss of power sources. TEPCO claims there were no problems with operations at the plant as their manuals were followed, no mention of the issue of them not containing critical emergency procedues by TEPCO. Copies of the manuals can be found here http://www.meti.go.jp/press/2011/10/20111024003/20111024003-4.pdf and here http://www.meti.go.jp/press/2011/10/20111024003/20111024003-3.pdf This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the … Read entire article »
Filed under: NISA, The Latest
Hot Spot In Kashiwa Likely From Fukushima
[Translate] Soil testing results have found very high levels of Cesium in the hot spot recently found in Kashiwa. The high levels of Cesium do not totally account for the high readings found in the field. The Ministry of Science & Education states that it is from Fukushima. Ex-SKF points out that the Cesium counts don’t add up to the total radiation being found in the area. So there are likely other substances in the mix. Stronium and Plutonium have been found in other locations far from the plant. There was no indication if they intend to test the soil for other isotopes. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of … Read entire article »
Filed under: MEXT, The Latest
MEXT Creates Interactive Radiation Map
[Translate] MEXT has created an interesting interactive radiation map. It allows you to look at various regions using different types of monitoring. It could be improved by adding the aerial testing of the western half of the country and possibly some of the on the ground testing results but is still useful as is. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific original authors or creators and was reproduced here with limited permission. While we welcome the sharing of information or promoting our work, please do so with respect to the large amount of effort and time that goes into our research and analysis. Referring to something or a … Read entire article »
Filed under: MEXT
Okuma Radiation Levels 503.1 mSv Annual Exposure
[Translate] MEXT radiation testing found Okuma town, 3km from Fukushima Daiichi is still extremely high at 503.1 mSv annual accumulation. The current high emergency radiation maximum set by the government is 100 mSv annually. This is the old nuclear plant worker maximum in Japan from before the disaster and Okuma is 5 times that. Read more at Minpo.jp This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific original authors or creators and was reproduced here with limited permission. While we welcome the sharing of information or promoting our work, please do so with respect to the large amount of effort and time that goes into our research and analysis. Referring to … Read entire article »
Filed under: MEXT, The Latest
Meanwhile In Japan, People Continue To Grapple With Fukushima Aftermath
[Translate] People in Japan continue to try to effectively deal with the challenges left from the ongoing disaster at Fukushima Daiichi. At J Village and the plant, 480,000 contaminated tyvek suits piled up at each location. Just a small portion of the nuclear waste being generated due to the disaster. 86% of people polled by Asahi Shumbun say they will continue with their power conservation efforts started this summer to prevent blackouts. A growing awareness of conservation was cited as the reason. Parents groups are coordinating with food distributors and producers to work together on protecting children and assisting producers that have been hard hit by the confusion and distrust created by the response to the nuclear disaster on the food supply. Local food testing stations are also being discussed to aid parents … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
Elevated Radiation Levels in Niigata and Akita
[Translate] The ongoing aerial radiation survey has shown radiation in Niigata and Akita prefectures. Experts are trying to determine if the mountainous areas in Niigata that showed higher radiation are due to fallout or if exposed granite could be causing the levels. Granite and some other naturally occurring substances in the region could be contributing to the readings. It may take sending in on the ground survey teams to determine for sure the situation in those areas. It is unknown if the elevated areas in Akita are due to possible exposed granite or if they are radiation hot spots. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific original authors or creators and was … Read entire article »
Filed under: MEXT, The Latest
NISA Calculated “China Syndrome” While TEPCO Claimed Disaster Was Minor
[Translate] In late March and early April NISA had JNES secretly do calculations on a full melt through scenario at Fukushima. While JNES was running scenariios of different full meltdowns, TEPCO was telling the public of slight fuel damage. It is unknown if this information was conveyed to the national government cabinet and no reasoning was given for taking half a year to release this data to the public. Read more at Daily Yomiuri This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific original authors or creators and was reproduced here with limited permission. While we welcome the sharing of information or promoting our work, please do so with respect to … Read entire article »
Filed under: NISA, The Latest
More Stronium Found In Yokohama, More Hot Spots In Tokyo, Citizen Tester Threatened
[Translate] More Stronium 90 has been found in Yokohama 250km from Fukushima Daiichi. A gutter in Yokohama was found to have Stronium -90 and extremely high level of Cesium. A dry fountain in another part of Yokohama was found to have similar levels of contamination. A citizen tester in Yokohama has been anonymously threatened for his documentation of radiation levels around the city. He did not elaborate on the threat but has taken down his blog and blocked his twitter account, depriving others of useful safety information. A citizen testing group working with a nuclear research center has found more than 20 hot spots around Tokyo including one at a youth baseball field. Many experts have said that the government’s unwillingness to act quickly to track and map radiation properly has put many … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
Growing Divide Between Government & People In Japan Over Nuclear Power
[Translate] The Fukushima disaster caused an even more intense spotlight on the problems in the Japanese political system. The public has come out clearly against nuclear power in polls, huge protests and other forms of resistance. The current government had hinted at restarting reactors and much of the old status quo. There was a 70% agreement with Nato Kan’s stance to become nuclear free. The new administration has ignored this. A very telling sign of the public unhappiness is the number of people looking for a way to stop using TEPCO as their power utility. Since TEPCO has a monopoly on the region it has been hard for people to switch from using the private for profit company. People cut their power consumption by 18 percent over the summer and small power … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
Radioactive Stronium Found On Apartment Roof In Yokohama
[Translate] 195 bq/kg of Stronium 90 was found on an apartment rooftop in Yokohama. The same sample tested extremely high for Cesium. Cesium-134: 29,775 becquerels/kg Cesium-137: 33,659 becquerels/kg Total cesium: 63,434 becquerels/kg There has been a reluctance to test for Stronium 90 even though it is a particularly problematic substance as it can lock itself into bones and teeth. The reluctance may come from the cost to run a Stronium tests. The Isotope Research Institute charges $847 US plus tax to do one Stronium test. The mayor of Yokohama has made no official announcement of the found Stronium 90 claiming it was because the apartment was private property. She then closed press conferences to include only the press clubs. This kind of approach is doing nothing to ease fears or build trust. This, like many other hot spots … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
Picture Of Bottles From Setagaya Hot Spot
[Translate] These are the bottles that caused all the trouble in Tokyo. “According to Setagaya-ku and the Ministry of Education and Science, the bottles look to be made of glass, about 7 centimeters long and 5 to 6 centimeters in diameter. There are several tens of bottles in a wooden box. The content of the bottles are powdery.The radiation was so high that the survey meter that they brought couldn’t measure as it went overscale. No one is currently living in that house.” The bottles are likely an old “quack cure” radium powder similar to ones in the Oak Ridge Associated Universites museum What is concerning is how much radiation was being put out and EX-SKF also mentions that it doesn’t explain why the sidewalk is still showing rather high radiation after decontamination. This article … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
Tokyo Hot Spot Likely Due To Bottles, Not Fukushima
[Translate] Update: More information on the bottles (or jars) from NHK. It is still not totally clear what they are. If anyone finds a picture please let us know. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/13_41.html Later on Thursday, the experts found what seemed to be the source of the radiation — 3 or 4 old jars in a wooden box left in a storage space under the floor of a vacant house facing the sidewalk. The jars were reportedly dirty and black, and measured about 8 centimeters long and about 6 centimeters wide. The radiation level of the bottles reportedly exceeded 30 microsieverts per hour — higher than the maximum that could be measured with the experts’ devices. After obtaining permission from the house’s owner, the experts measured radiation levels on the premises. It was discovered that the hot spot in Setagaya is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
Farmers Set Stringent Radiation Standards For Rice
[Translate] Farmers groups in Fukushima have set a much higher standard for rice contamination than the national government. Rice with any level over 5 bq/kg will not be sold, 5 bq/kg being the lowest level detectable with testing equipment. Some in the government are asking for all food to be tested and labeled with the radiation level. The Health Ministry has rejected this as being impossible to do but is considering some changes to contamination limits. Some grocery stores and food retailers have set their own much lower limits and are buying selectively. The government early on tried a tactic of denial and hoping that people would just give in to the high levels of radiation in food as the “new normal” but that has not happened. Food anxiety persists and consumers … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting
Tea Farm Promotes Contaminated Tea As Safe
[Translate] A Shizuoka tea farm is promoting their tea as “safe”, it has 174 bq/kg of cesium 137. It is under the government limit of 500 bq/kg but carries a significant contamination. Ex-SKF also mentioned a grocer selling contaminated chestnuts using the 44 bq/kg contamination level as a selling tool. You really can’t make this stuff up. Read more over at Ex-SKF. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific original authors or creators and was reproduced here with limited permission. While we welcome the sharing of information or promoting our work, please do so with respect to the large amount of effort and time that goes into our … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
Tokyo Sidewalk Closed Due To High Radiation
[Translate] A Setagaya Ward (Tokyo) sidewalk was closed due to high radiation. Local officials were informed by residents of the hot spot of about 2m x 1.5m in size. It had readings of 0.088 to 2.707 micro sievert. The city put traffic cones around the area to warn people not to walk there and is consulting with experts to determine how to decontaminate the area. There was no reason given for how the hot spot could have been created. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific original authors or creators and was reproduced here with limited permission. While we welcome the sharing of information or promoting our work, please … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
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