ScribbleLive

Over 350 pCi/kg radioactive cesium detected in Sacramento, CA manure sample collected August 16 Radionuclides, once deposited by rainwater or air onto the ground, will find their way through the ecosystem. We are already tracking its path from rainwater to creek runoff to tap water, but we would also like to monitor how much these isotopes that make their way into our food. For example, how much gets taken up by the grass and eventually winds up in our milk?
We have been collecting produce that is as local as possible to test for the radioactive isotopes. We might expect different kinds of plants to take up different quantities of cesium and iodine, so we are trying to measure as many different plants and fruits as we are able to. So far, we have measured: www.nuc.berkeley.edu

Dolphin Slaughter Begins Again in Taiji : And so the nightmare begins again...
While the people of the town of Taiji attended funerals and mourned the victims of the typhoon – just a block away, the dolphin hunters were slaughtering a pod of Risso’s dolphins. I saw an old woman, dressed in black with an umbrella, slowly walking by herself. The way in which she was crying indicated to me that she had lost someone very close to her. It was a strange experience, as I felt so much sadness for the people of Taiji, who were clearly distraught over the loss of family and friends - and that only added to the sadness I felt for the innocent dolphins whose lives were stolen today by a handful of dolphin killers. It was a horrific day of misery, no matter which direction you turned. savejapandolphins.org

www.mmafighting.com article linked from the Huffington Post, by a famous Japanese fighter who sneaks into the Fukushima NPP. Worth the read!

oops! Just saw this was posted less than an hour ago!

@lillymunster Yes!

China and Germany—Opposing Actions on Nuclear Power : Compared with the nuclear facility in Fukushima, China’s reactors are thought to be much safer. Natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis will not destroy their cooling systems. However, the Chinese have taken a more cautious attitude after the Japan accident. (1) Their government announced on March 16, “We will temporarily suspend approval for nuclear power projects, including those that have already begun preliminary work. We must fully grasp the importance and urgency of nuclear safety.” That safety review is now nearing completion and all 13 existing reactors have been found safe. Inspections of the reactors under construction are expected to be finished by fall, and seemingly pose no challenge to the push forward with nuclear power plant construction reports David Biello.
China can build a Western-designed nuclear reactor in less than 4 years. That’s quite a feat considering that it takes France almost 6 years to build one. And, it costs the Chinese 40 percent less, around $4 billion, compared to almost $7 billion for France. Fully-loaded capital costs for nuclear plants in the United States could be potentially 200 to 250 percent more expensive than the new Chinese nuclear plants. www.hawaiireporter.com

kmareka.com

Rhode Island’s Nuclear Fatality–Part I<br>
<pre>

"In more than 500 reactor years of service in the United States, there
has never been a death or a serious injury to plant employees or to
the public caused by a commercial reactor accident or radiation
exposure."

In fact, a Rhode Island man was killed on the job by radiation
exposure. In 1964 in Charlestown, Rhode Island, Robert Peabody was
working the second shift at the United Nuclear waste processing plant.

no one warned him that a container full of radioactive water was more
concentrated than what he usually handled. When he emptied it into a
larger tank the highly concentrated sludge set off a fission reaction…

The Peabody family was left bereft and in poverty. Robert Peabody was
blamed for the accident that killed him.

kmareka.com
… …Karas cleared the emergency room halls. He also called Dr.Thomas
Forsythe, the hospital’s radiologist, to distribute radiation-dose
gauges for nurses and doctors. Staff members wore the lead aprons
usually used by x-ray technicians, and they wrapped their feet in
paper grocery sacks.

Realizing that Peabody’s skin was prickly with radiation, Karas worked
fast to run water over his body. He had orderlies place Peabody on top
of some plastic sheets and use a hose to wash him off. The radioactive
water running off the plastic sheets was captured with towels, which
were tossed into disposable bags.

The towels, blankets, sheets, pillows, clothing, gloves, masks,
needles, syringes, utensils, drinking glasses, magazines, hair, body
wastes — everything that came out of Peabody’s room during his last
hours was placed in an unused x-ray room that was lined with lead.
After the radiation levels subsided, the waste was burned. …

Measurements taken when he was admitted to the hospital showed that he
was emitting 40 millirems of radiation two feet above his head and
upper chest, 18 millirems above his stomach, and 10 millirems above
his feet.

@ariadne That is an interesting read from MMAfighting. This excerpt from the printed part answers a question we've been pondering for a while:
"I had bought two radiation meters, they were both geiger counters and dosimeters, and I wanted to put one inside of my suit and one outside of my suit.

What kind of suit?

Those white radiation suits you see on TV. They are thin, almost like paper. The contractors have a whole bunch of them. Masks and everything. We were completely sealed off. They have to burn them after every time they go in so they had a bunch of them.

So what did you find out?

Well those suits aren't working. They do nothing. If the meter on the outside of my suit was reading 19 micro seiverts or whatever, the one on the inside was reading around 17. The suits don't do jack s***. They aren't protecting those workers. I don't understand how those people are allowed to go in. They have a false sense of security.

Did you tell the contractors about this?

Yeah I showed my friend the meters, and he kind of freaked out, and said it was his last week working there. You don't feel anything, you get a real false sense of security. We weren't really supposed to be there though so we didn't talk to anybody else."

North Anna in the NYT: www.nytimes.com

Reuters Africa: FACTBOX-Japan reactors' stress test status af.reuters.com

1. Nuclear Power Stations (NPSs)
･ Fukushima Dai-ichi NPS (TEPCO)

The accumulated water in the condenser of Unit 2 was transferred to the
turbine building (from 10:11 to 14:54 on September 6, from 10:00 on
September 7).

The water injection rate into the reactor of Unit 2 was adjusted to 3.8m3
/h,
due to the decrease to 3.4m3
/h (at 16:27, September 6).

Fresh water (about 22m3
) was injected into the spent fuel pool of Unit 4
using a temporary spraying facility (from 16:09 to 16:52, September 6).

Operations of opening and shutting of the silt fence were carried out at the
northern part of intake channel for Units 1 to 4 due to the blocking work
with steel plates to prevent the diffusion of contaminated water (from 10:20
to 10:45, September 7).

Rubble (not put into containers) was removed with remote-controlled heavy
machinery (from 08:45 to 16:15, September 6).

The accumulated water was transferred from the site banker building to the
process main building (from 10:19, September 7).

The circulating seawater decontamination system was temporarily
suspended, because a pinhole was found in the welded part of the filter of
the system (from 09:45, August to 09:30, September 6).

The decontamination device shut off due to a malfunction alarm on the
agitator of coagulation settling device (at 05:51, September 6). Although the
decontamination device was restarted up later, the decontamination device
Extract 2
and the cesium adsorption device shut off due to a multiple failure alarm on
the coagulation settling device (from 06:21, September 6). The electric
current value of overload trip setting was readjusted in the
decontamination device and both devices were restarted up (at 15:13,
September 6). Thereafter, the rated flow was reached (at 16:35 of the same
day) www.nisa.meti.go.jp

webcache.googleusercontent.com
Diffusion of fission and activation products after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear ... Radioactive pollution released by the accident fo Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear

@Majj 'parts of the plant can handle???' Well that's ok then ......

@ElaineKirk Yes I like this "Parts of the North Anna Power Station.... ". But make me curios of what parts can not stand ?????