SimplyInfo » Entries tagged with "Testing"
Namie To Conduct Independent Radiation Exposure Exams
[Translate] Namie town has teamed up with Hirosaki University to do independent examinations for any children from the town who want to have them done. Doubts about the impartiality and practices used by the Fukushima Health Survey has caused many to distrust the project sponsored by the prefecture government. Hirosaki University had begun an exposure dose reconstruction study back in 2011 but was pressured by the prefecture government to terminate the study. They cited that the study “might fuel concern among residents”. The results of that study showed levels considerably higher than the official government numbers and found certain people had quite high thyroid doses. This new study being done long after the initial exposure will look at changes in the shapes of chromosomes in lymphocytes using blood samples. This article would not be possible without … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest
Fewer Choose To Participate In Radiation Monitoring
[Translate] The radiation exposure monitoring program at Minamisoma Hospital has seen numbers of participants drop substantially. The program is not part of the Fukushima Health Survey, instead is a public service being offered in the municipality. The initial scans in 2011 saw 67% of adults scanned with no detectable internal radiation contamination. In 2012 about 92% of adults had no detectable levels but Dr. Tsubokura, the doctor handling the program said participation is lower for this year. Only about 50% of the towns residents were tested during the first round. Of those tested most scans have been low with levels seen on scans continuing on a downward trend in 2012. There was the case of some extremely high readings that were found in some older residents that were still eating banned mushrooms. Dr. Tsubokura did … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest
TEPCO’s New Decontamination System Delayed By Tank Failures
[Translate] TEPCO has announced a delay in the start up of the new decontamination system at Fukushima Daiichi. The system was supposed to go online this fall but remains delayed as TEPCO tries to find acceptable storage containers for the sludge created by the new system. TEPCO did drop tests recently to see how these new containers would hold up to various ways they might be dropped as they are moved about the plant. The drop tests were quite the series of failures. The tanks were procured from Energy Solutions of Barnwell, SC (US), a company located near the Savannah River nuclear site. The High Integrity Container tested by TEPCO doesn’t mention the exact material composition. A press release from Energy Solutions announcing their partnership with Toshiba to provide these casks … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest
Live Reporting From The Algerian Nuclear Test Site
[Translate] Dr. Robert Jacobs of the Hiroshima Peace Institute (and SimplyInfo.org member) will be tweeting his trip to Algeria next week. As part of his ongoing research for the Global Hibakusha Project he will be investigating the French nuclear testing sites in Algeria and the impact that had and still has on the local population there. The French detonated 17 nuclear tests in Algeria between 1960 and 1996. Cancer among the local population is high as are other radiation related health problems. French epidemiological teams also have found a link between low levels of radiation and thyroid cancer and related illnesses in children. There is also a lasting environmental problem where many areas are still unsafe to be in. It is not just the local population showing with medical problems due to exposures in Algeria, … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest
Fukushima Residents With Exposures As High As Chernobyl Areas
[Translate] Two couples from outside the evacuation zones have shown with some of the highest internal radiation exposure to date in Japan. One couple lives in Nihonmatsu, the other in Kawamata-machi. Kawamata-machi man 19,507 becquerels his wife 7,724 becquerels Nihonmatsu City man 11,191 becquerels his wife 6,771 becquerels Dr. Tsubokura, one of the doctors conducting the exposure scans on residents said these levels are similar to internal exposure seen in Belarus. The couples have been eating home grown mushrooms, bamboo shoots and local persimmons. The mushrooms were grown on logs from Namie, a highly contaminated area in the evacuation zone. It was not clear if they logs were gathered before the nuclear disaster or not. EX-SKF mentions they may not have understood the risks in doing this. Most of the elderly rely on TV and print newspapers for information, both … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest
Fukushima Soil Contamination Worse Than Previously Thought
[Translate] A series of admissions have come out pointing to soil contamination problems worse than previously assumed. JAEA has stated that cesium contamination is now being found 30cm down into the soil. Early in the accident contamination was sitting at about 5cm deep. Weather conditions in Japan including extensive precipitation may have caused the drastic change. This is a considerable problem as it confounds decontamination efforts. Decontamination efforts have already proven mostly futile as areas either don’t clean up or the levels come back up as things move around the environment. This new revelation that contamination is sinking down further makes decontamination in the largely agricultural region likely impossible. MEXT has found extremely high cesium contamination in the mud at Horai Dam. The lake behind the dam was found to have 3,000,000 Bq/m2 of cesium 20cm down … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest
Slow Health Screening, Anxiety And Moving On
[Translate] A year into the disaster in Japan, people in the Tohoku region struggle to gain access to diagnostic scans that can tell them their exposure level. Very few of the over 2 million people in Fukushima prefecture have received any sort of scan or estimation of their exposure. This has created the considerable anxiety of not knowing. Children largely did not receive thyroid scans in time to determine if they were exposed to high levels of iodine 131. So now instead of knowing if they were exposed annual thyroid exams will be done to try to catch developing tumors or other thyroid damage. Whole body scans have only been done on a few people with facilities like Minamisoma Hospital giving priority to scan children first. With limited machines in the region … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest
More Disaster Changes And New Radiation Studies
[Translate] The government has announced they will lift the 20km evacuation zone around Fukushima Daiichi next April. Any area with 20 mSv will be considered safe enough for people to return. Areas over 50 mSv will be considered long term no-go zones. The governor of Fukushima also expressed doubts about the national government’s “cold shutdown” claim and urged them to consider the opinions of local residents when establishing the rezoning. Also changing next April will be food standards. “General food” will be lowered to 100 bq/kg, milk and baby foods will be 50 bq/kg and drinking water will be 10 bq/kg. Marumori in Miyagi prefecture will begin their own local radiation screening of anyone under the age of 18. The testing will include thyroid, urine and blood tests. The Ministry of Health is considering … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest
More Food Contamination Found In Japan
[Translate] It isn’t just the new “revelation” that large amounts of Fukushima rice are contaminated, many other foods are showing up contaminated. There appears to be no decline in incidents or the spread. Pollack from Hokkadio that was exported to South Korea has shown up as contaminated. Shizuoka dried shiitake mushrooms were found to be over the 500 bq/kg limit of cesium. Many others were found contaminated but under the govt limit so they were shipped. Soybeans in a number of locations were found to be contaminated. Cesium total of approximately: 40 Bq (Aomori, Nagano and Yamagata). 400 becquerel Nihonmatsu Fukushima Iwaki City, Fukushima 240 becquerel Becquerel 216 Saigo Village, Fukushima , Fukushima 190 becquerels Tenei village Tenei village in Fukushima Prefecture 190 becquerels Becquerel Sukagawa, Fukushima 184 Tome, Miyagi 240 becquerel becquerel 99 Yamamoto-cho, Miyagi , Iwate Becquerel 96 Ichinoseki , Iwate Prefecture 25 becquerel陸前高田City Morioka, Iwate Prefecture 64 becquerel becquerel 99 Hitachi City, Ibaraki , … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest
Stronium Found In Tokyo, High Cesium In Front Of METI Building
[Translate] One of the citizen radiation groups testing for stronium and cesium around Tokyo with some concerning results. EX-SKF provides translations of Yasumi Iwakami’s report. Locations and amounts of radioactive materials: Kiyosumi Shirakawa Station, Koto-ku: Radioactive cesium (134 and 137 combined): 19,126 Bq/kg Radioactive strontium (89 and 90 combined): 44 Bq/kg Yurakucho Station, Chiyoda-ku: Radioactive cesium (134 and 137 combined): 20,955 Bq/kg Radioactive strontium (89 and 90 combined): 51 Bq/kg Front of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Chiyoda-ku: Radioactive cesium (134 and 137 combined): 48,176 Bq/kg Radioactive strontium (89 and 90 combined): 48 Bq/kg The highest location is in front of METI’s offices. BTW, the stronium found in Yokohama has not been addressed by local officials. It was discovered in October. 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 … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest
Aeon Stores Release Independent Food Testing Results
[Translate] Grocery chain Aeon has expanded their in house food testing. Aeon posted some of their results on their website with up to 5000 tests to be completed in the next 3 months. The results were in Japanese, requiring some translation. The results were somewhat expected, showing food harvested near the reactors or where the radioactive of sea dumping are thought to have concentrated as the places where contaminated food were found. Rice: Fukushima rice “Shine” Orimase 30 bq/kg cesium 137 Fukushima rice “Koshihika” Orimase 15 bq/kg cesium 134 Non-store brand rice from other places showed none detected Store brand rice from Shiga was below their detectible limits Produce: Store brand produce from Gunma and Mie was all none detected with minimum levels detected listed that were below 20 bq/kg Non – store brand produce from Chiba, Ibaraki, Saitama, … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest
US Lacks Radiation Resources
[Translate] A new study by Association of Public Health Laboratories found low numbers of states capable of doing radiation testing. “Twenty-seven percent of the respondents reported the ability to measure radionuclides in clinical specimens; 6 percent reported that another state agency or department accepted and analyzed these samples via a radioanalytical method,” the study said. “Of the Radiation Capabilities Survey respondents, 60 percent reported the ability to test environmental samples, such as air, soil, or surface water, for radiation; 48 percent reported the ability to test non-milk food samples; 47 percent reported the ability to test milk and 56 percent reported sending data for drinking water to the Environmental Protection Agency.” This issue does not just involve nuclear power accidents but also potential terrorism incidents. US officials have warned for years of potential “dirty … Read entire article »
Filed under: US Nuclear News
Radiation Testing Update
[Translate] Radiation testing results have been coming in from many sources. We have gathered those found here for comparison. UPDATE: TEPCO release a number of documents on plutonium testing this week http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/111006e5.pdf http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/111006e21.pdf http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/111006e6.pdf http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/111006e22.pdf http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/111006e10.pdf MEXT aerial radiation maps, Tokyo and south There has been criticism that these fly by tests do not show the real levels down on the ground. Citizen testing has found much higher levels in the soil and streets of Tokyo. Sea contamination remains high and may stay that way due to the currents. TEPCO’s stated water contamination level at sea. MEXT radiation testing by car at 1 m and 1 cm off the ground in Fukushima and Iitate. MEXT radiation readings from monitoring posts outside the 20km evacuation zone. Academic testing in Fukushima City showed 5x more radiation in certain locations since June. The … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, MEXT, The Latest
Government Admits Plutonium Found 45km From Fukushima Daiichi In June
[Translate] The Ministry of Education and Science has admitted they found plutonium up to 45km away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in June. No reason was given for why they waited until the end of September to make the admission. The ministry claimed the numbers were small, but plutonium is highly toxic and has a long half life. Citizen testing has already found neptunium, the predecessor product to plutonium up to 60 km away from the plant, so this news isn’t new. So far plutonium and neptunium have been found in the following cities: Futaba-machi Namie-machi Iitate-mura Date City Professor Shinya Nagasaki University Graduate School of Tokyo said it is not impossible for plutonium to travel that far if it is taken up into the weather. Find out more, join us at the live blog https://client.scribblelive.com/Event/Japan_Earthquake5 This article would not … Read entire article »
Filed under: MEXT, The Latest
At Least The Alcohol Is Safe, Japan Agency To Test Beer, Saki And Wine
[Translate] The National Tax Agency said it will be testing the finished product and also water going into brewing beer, sake and wine in Japan. The testing will happen for any facility within 150km of the nuclear plant. They will also randomly test products from facilities outside the 150km zone. The tax agency said the ingredients such as grains for beer will have already been tested. All of this testing is not to report any radiation at all in products but to look for those over the government safety limits. This should help a highly radioactive product from coming to market, but would not prevent low contamination products. The tax agency said it would put results of testing on their website but did not mention if they will show actual test … Read entire article »
Filed under: Food/Water Contamination, The Latest
Minamisoma Residents Do Their Own Radiation Testing, Establish Reconstruction Committee
[Translate] Residents in Minamisoma have created their own radiation monitoring system that is considerably more accurate than the government testing. The group is informing the community of the localized radiation levels and will be starting efforts to decontaminate roads. 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 quote is great, copying it all or in substantial parts is not so great. If … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
10 mSv Inside Tokyo Train
[Translate] A US Expat happened to check the seat in a Tokyo area train and found it to be quite high. The train was headed to Narita airport and the rider double checks his reading multiple times to make sure it is right. Ex-SKF has the video and more details. 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 quote is great, copying it … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
Greenpeace Fukushima Seafood Results
[Translate] Greenpeace has issued a report on their independent seafood testing around Fukushima. The testing dates from late August 2011. They tested a variety of fish and also seaweed from multiple locations. The report can also be found on the Greenpeace website in PDF format. 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 quote is great, copying it all or in substantial parts … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, The Latest
Radiation Survey Maps Of Fukushima In Multiple Formats
[Translate] This useful website by the Research Center For Nuclear Physics at Osaka University has compiled maps of the Fukushima soil survey into a variety of formats. Maps are available for computer, smartphone and tablet friendly formats. There is a Google Earth map, a Google Maps map and also PDF and JPG formats. 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 quote … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current Readings, Protect Yourself, The Latest
Extremely Radioactive Mushrooms Found In Fukushima
[Translate] Wild mushrooms with 28,000 bq/kg of radiation were found by the Citizen Radiation Measuring Station in Fukushima. Considering the already high food limit is 500 bq/kg, these are extremely high. Mushrooms are radiation sponges, wild mushrooms in parts of Europe are still off limits due to high radiation from Chernobyl 25 years ago. Ex-SKF has all the details and both Japanese and English of the original news article. 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 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizen Reporting, Current Readings, Radiation Exposure, The Latest
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