ScribbleLive

@Bobby1 I know people in Stockholm. If something out of the ordinary happens in Sweden I'll know about it. My upstairs neighbour's daughter lives there and they're always in touch.

@Mona If you find something from them, please let us know.

5/31/2011 No. 1 reactor pressure vessel likely damaged immediately after quake

TOKYO (Kyodo) --The pressure vessel housing nuclear fuel at the No. 1 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 power plant or its accessory piping is likely to have been partially damaged immediately after the March 11 earthquake, possibly allowing steam to leak out to the containment vessel encasing it, according to data made public by its operator. mdn.mainichi.jp

5/31/2011 Fukushima forestry industry at risk of collapse due to ongoing nuclear crisis

Forestry cooperatives that oversee woodlands in areas designated as no-entry zones and planned evacuation zones due to high levels of radiation from the ongoing nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture are in danger of collapse, it has emerged. mdn.mainichi.jp

@Bobby1 Absolutely. There have were some traces of unusual radioactivity traced in Sweden, Finland, western Russia and northern England so far, although in very small amounts not considered of danger to the public. And that was over a month ago, if I can remember straight. It's not unheard of since Spain is known to have had problems at their NPPs every once in a while.

(have been)

@RBeaner 250mSv is an emergency exposure limit. It doesn't apply to normal working conditions. 100mSv over 5 years is the exposure under normal working conditions and before Fukushima it used to be Japan's upper limit under emergency conditions. They had to extend the limit to 250mSv, which is still way under the international upper limit of 1000mSv. So, they are still on the safe area in Japan.

Nuclear Radiation May Affect Gender of Babies
Researchers from the Helmholtz Zentrum München have discovered that nuclear radiation exposure either causes a higher rate of male births or a decreased rate of female births.
Scherb and Voigt studied those who live near nuclear facilities, as well as areas affected by radiation from the atomic bomb testing before the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963 and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. What they found was that the ratio of male to female births was biased in favor of male births by a noticeable amount.
In fact, they found that there was an increase in male births over female births in the U.S. and Europe from 1964 to 1975, which occurred immediately after the globally dispersed atmospheric atomic bomb test fallout prior to the ban in 1963. They also found a heightened amount of male births over female births in Europe in 1987, one year after the Chernobyl disaster. The U.S., which was not affected by the nuclear disaster, did not experience the same shift in male-dominated births.
In addition, the study found that those living within 22 miles of nuclear facilities in Germany and Switzerland had an increased birth rate of male babies over female babies.
Researchers believe these results were caused by ionizing radiation from nuclear activity, which possesses mutagenic characteristics and can negatively affect reproduction. It is believed that nuclear radiation causes men to "father more sons while mothers give birth to more girls." The researchers looked at the amount of paternal and maternal exposure and concluded that it may have effects on sex odds, but they're not sure if it increased the number of male births or decreased the number of female births. They also looked at sex odds with respect to normal pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes in regards to maternal exposure and paternal exposure.
Full story here:
www.dailytech.com

@joniver Just anecdotal "evidence". I worked nuclear from ~88 -2001, I have two kids born 1994 1nd 1996, both girls. LOL

@UKVal you out there?

Fukushima Risks Chernobyl ‘Dead Zone’
www.bloomberg.com
"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.
Radiation from the plant has spread over 600 square kilometers (230 square miles), according to the report.'

@Bobby1 The only UK info I've seen was on the Environment Protection Agency website. They were originally publishing a weekly report post Fuku then changed to monthly

@you or it should be edited to remove violent reference

@joniver just an anecdote with a laugh. 2 opposing studies in UK www.thelancet.com(00)04748-6/fulltext says no relationship and www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov says more boys! Whats a sonless father to do??

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Radiation zone farmer grubs his way to survival
TAMURA, Fukushima Pref. — Masanao Usami tosses over a container the size of a wine case and carefully spreads the contents that fall out, including tree bark, dead leaves and warm soil. search.japantimes.co.jp

@RBeaner Those studies are always bound by the limitations of the variables they can isolate. It's impossible to isolate all the variables that can affect this or that effect so there can always be disparate results. Only by comparing and analysing thousands of different studies on the same subject over the years can we draw a more truthful and consistent conclusion.

@UKVal Thanks, I really had a problem with the one word!

@elainekirk happy with that

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 www.bloomberg.com

@Reed Thanks for putting this link. I put few minutes ago but got stuck in mud