ScribbleLive

The Japanese government said Saturday that radioactivity in the seawater has risen again in recent days. The level of radioactive iodine-131 spiked to 6,500 times the legal limit, according to samples taken Friday, up from 1,100 times the limit in samples taken the day before. Levels of cesium-134 and cesium-137 rose nearly fourfold. The increased levels are still far below those recorded earlier this month before the initial leak was plugged.

The new rise in radioactivity could have been caused by the installation Friday of steel panels intended to contain radiation that may have temporarily stirred up stagnant waste in the area, Hidehiko Nishiyama of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told reporters. However, the increase in iodine-131, which has a relatively short eight-day half life, could signal the possibility of a new leak, he said.

"We want to determine the origin and contain the leak, but I must admit that tracking it down is difficult," he said.

Authorities have insisted the radioactivity will dissipate and poses no immediate threat to sea creatures or people who might eat them. Most experts agree.

Regardless, plant workers on Saturday began dumping sandbags filled with zeolite, a mineral that absorbs radioactive cesium, into the sea to combat the radiation leaks.

@Nancy I saw their reevaluation where they realized that they should nave been adjusting for delay between field and best by date...

@Nancy @radioguy The best buy date is about 18 days after bottling.

@Nancy You saw that the physics forum mentioned you right?

@Nancy they say they're not sure where elevateted readings are coming from

@NHK Listener a few days ago? I saw that. Went and looked. I signed up and meant to go post some things over there and just have not gotten around to it.

health effects are interesting....Im working on it slowly... I'll look into the injestion question.

I sent that link Bobby1 found about the ineffectiveness of Geiger counters for personal food analysis to my catering friend. He said "Yes, but it's the perception that counts. Until it's listed as unsafe, we can't justify cutting all of our seafood dishes."

Thanks nanacy

Information on dairy cow feeding www.extension.umn.edu If you can find cows fed on corn and barley silage, and not on fresh forage, you should be OK, because they would be eating products that have been stored.

Interesting article on EPA and EU changes to acceptable radiation levelshttp://www.activistpost.com/2011/04/eu-follows-epa-raises-acceptable.html

@radioguy @Bobby1 I think of you two as the rad fallout guys> I don't really get the dose, concentration implications clearly. I hope that you'll raise the alarm for me when the 'trigger point' comes, to start alerting my family, friends and community. With your help, I'll print flyers and hand them out: expected plume dates, simple preventative measures, etc. TY! You prob have this link, but.....http://transport.nilu.no/products/fukushima

@marie rich I'm not sure anyone is sure of this. I'm digging as hard as I can to try to get realistic appraisals, but unfortunately, the people I contact to get them have drunk the "airline flight kool-aid" too.

@marie rich The problem is that the levels are so small, and at this point, you'd have to be the unlucky one to get the atoms of Cs-137 spread through those thousands of liters of milk, and then have it lodge someplace sensitive to radiation... increasingly shortening the odds, but what does that mean if you're the one that gets the dangerous liter? But are we already getting more from the simple act of breathing that we do from the milk? And can we find fully safe sources ongoing? I haven't found satisfactory answers for, or even discussion of this topic. Realist vs paranoid? Where's the workable break point?

@marie rich Certainly the trigger point is already there for subgroups such as pregnant women, nursing mothers, people with radiation treatment that is already at max level.

Smoke rises from control panel at TEPCO nuclear plant in Niigata

NIIGATA, Japan, April 17, Kyodo

Smoke rose briefly from a control panel at a nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast Saturday, the operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

No one was injured in the 7:45 p.m. incident that occurred during the checking of water purification equipment at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear complex, the company said, adding it has yet to determine the cause.

The utility is currently battling to bring the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant under control.

==Kyodo

The near-total lack of strontium measurements available (and political reasons for this), the detection of traces of Sr-90 in Moscow when it is 3/4 of the way around the world already, the lack of a physical reason why there would not be significant amounts of strontium released, the enormous inventory of Sr-89 at the plant... all point to Sr-89 being the biggest concern, more than I-131 and Cs-137.

New quake story.... www.mynews4.com

@radioguy, sorry, it did not rain confusion. Confusion reigned!