Fukushima… Wasn’t that a movie about… no… hmmm….

The day after the disastrous level-nine earthquake that triggered the tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear crisis, March 12, an Israeli expert on air quality and poisoning, Professor Menachem Luria, told Israeli Channel 2: “From what we can gather, this disaster is even more dangerous than Chernobyl.”

At the time, his was a minority opinion in the scientific community; very few believed that a nuclear accident as bad as the 1986 meltdown in Ukraine would occur again. “I think that’s basically impossible,” said James Stubbins, an expert at the University of Illinois, and many others agreed.

Yet, as we are now slowly coming to realize, Fukushima is worse than Chernobyl. In a revealing recent feature article published by al-Jazeera, Dahr Jamail conveys the comments of Arnold Gundersen, a senior former nuclear industry executive in the United States.

Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind,” Gundersen asserts. “We have 20 nuclear cores exposed, the fuel pools have several cores each, that is 20 times the potential to be released than Chernobyl … The data I’m seeing shows that we are finding hot spots further away than we had from Chernobyl, and the amount of radiation in many of them was the amount that caused areas to be declared no-man’s-land for Chernobyl. We are seeing square kilometers being found 60 to 70 kilometers away from the reactor. You can’t clean all this up.”




  1. ArianeB says:

    I haven’t. I have been keeping an eye on this for a while. If Japan was really honest and sincere in keeping its citizens safe from the threat posed by Fukushima, the entire city of Tokyo would be evacuated. School children are showing signs of radiation poisoning.

    And it is not just Japan. The infant mortality rate in the north western corner of the United States has risen 33% since Fukushima melted down. This is likely going to be with us for 150 years.

    A better story to link to: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/06/201161664828302638.html

  2. ArianeB says:

    Also check out this video
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=bqgg1oKWSvk

  3. bobbo, in Repose says:

    ArianeB==you say: “The infant mortality rate in the north western corner of the United States has risen 33% since Fukushima melted down.” //// What happened? Did a Day Care bus filled with kiddies run off the road?

    Because what you post is pure BS.

    Why can’t you let the horrible facts stand on their own rather than pile on with such non sense?

    Silly.

    Proove me Wrong? = = = Link?

  4. Skeptic says:

    Good site for Fuk-u-shima status reports:
    http://jaif.or.jp/english/
    Click on “You can read the update here.” Then download 2011-06-24 Earthquake Report 122 PDF (119KB)

    Document is mislabeled… It’s all about Fukushima, not the earthquake. Sample from the report below. (Interesting how some blame is directed to the USA and France.)

    “●Valve likely set incorrectly from the beginning
    The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant says it was unaware of an incorrectly opened valve that caused another disruption in its ongoing test run to filter radioactive water. Tokyo Electric Power Company found on Wednesday that a US-made device attached to the water treatment system had lowered concentration of radioactive cesium by just 10 percent the planned amount. The open valve meant that some contaminated water passed through only one of the system’s 3 absorbent chambers. The valve is believed to have been incorrectly
    3
    set since the device was installed. The amount of contaminated water on site is growing by about 400 tons a day, as fresh water is injected into reactors to cool them. The rainy season threatens to raise the water levels further. The test-run was interrupted on Tuesday after a pump to send water into French-made decontamination equipment stopped, also due to the wrong setting of a valve.
    Thursday, June 23, 2011 19:40 +0900 (JST)”

  5. Hmmmmmm says:

    Hey Bobbo, are you sure you want links to articles about the increase in infant mortality in the Pacific NW? Maybe it’s better to ignore it, since nothing can be done about it.

  6. foobar says:

    There was a huge myth of safety around nuclear power in Japan. They didn’t even update and modernize their systems and controls because that would make it appear that something might be wrong.

    Saving face contributed to this mess.

  7. dusanmal says:

    Somewhat apples-and-oranges article. Fundamental differences in design and technology of Japanese and Soviet reactors in question simply do not allow comparison. I have had very good access to data about Soviet failure, not much about Japanese so I’ll assume author is honest about “hot spots” away from the reactor. I am suspecting that the present level of radiation in those spots is actually as author describes but I highly doubt that the sources (and they are important) are the same. In other words – I’d suspect quicker recovery (similar to what Sweden have experienced from Chernobyl) in Japan (half-life and such).
    At the very site story is different than he insinuates. Design choices for Japanese reactor(s) are such that nothing even close to Soviet meltdown can be reached. Fuel is different, behavior on failure is different and most importantly Japanese design does not include vast amount of high-temperature burning, highly reactive sublimating material. Bulk of Soviet reactor have been just that – graphite.

  8. Skeptic says:

    Re #1, ArianeB… “The infant mortality rate in the north western corner of the United States has risen 33% since Fukushima melted down.”

    Uh huh. And you believe that do you? Just curious, but are you a Christian or Muslim?

  9. mharry860 says:

    I don’t understand why they haven’t been burying it with concrete.

  10. Dallas says:

    Republicans are calling for this pile to be buried and a giant shag carpet thrown over top. I agree !!

  11. bobbo, in Repose says:

    #5–Hmmmm==knowledge is a sacred and powerful thing. Not to be corrupted by shills, apologists, jihadists, scaremongers, the ignorant, and not to be redundant: Alfie.

    If infant mortality is increasing in USA because of Fuckyoushima, then USA should pressure Japan to make whatever fix is necessary.

    Without any info on the subject—I will “assume” that only very small just traceable amounts of Fuckyoushima Radiation is falling on the USA and the rest of the World outside of Japan. On the level of a few extra tooth xrays per year. Maybe an uptick in cancer deaths 50 years from now but infants dying?

    Puuuulease!!

    Postings like that rely on the ignorant, again, not to bring Alfie into the conversation. I hadn’t noticed ArianeB doing this before.

    Perhaps its a personal mania. If infants were dying in Seattle, I’d think we’d hear about it more directly?

    Or not. Whether its the Republican tax plan, or Womens Right to Privacy, its just FUD, FUD, FUD everywhere you look.

    Prove me wrong.

  12. bobbo, in Repose says:

    If any of you pick up the google redirect “malware” which is not a virus and therefore not picked up by the 7 anti-virus/spy programs I used to get rid of it, combofix just got rid of it after one week of effort.

    I also found that http://duckduckgo.com/ was a decent search engine not affected by the maleware at issue.

    Puter has been rebooted once and it has not reappeared but I’m getting flooded with requests to install “webcheck.dll” Eventually I’ll say to go ahead and if problem reappears, used combofix to get rid of it again? I don’t use IE==why won’t $MS leave me alone?

  13. McCullough says:

    #13. bobbo- You use 7 anti-virus programs…WTF, really? Har! AND your computer still functions?

    I guess I am dubious. And I agree combofix from bleepingcomputer.com is a gem.

    but 7….?

    As for the article, all I can say is governments suck, and they won’t protect you from ANYTHING. And why oh why does this surprise anyone? Does anyone even remember New Orleans, gawsh how about the Gulf of Mexico. Michelle O eating shrimp after the spill, just to assure everyone that the seafood is GREAT!

    Fools, all you can do is fend for yourself and your family.

  14. sargasso_c says:

    I work in physics and have friends and colleagues in Tokyo who keep in regular contact with me, who say that the Japanese people are of course anxious and frightened by the sheer enormity of the problem of the runaway nuclear cores and are determined to stay calm and to deal with matters as they arise on a day to day basis. These are the people who suffered US Airforce firebombing during WWII which killed 250,000 civilians each day, and they aren’t going anywhere else.

  15. deowll says:

    I don’t see how what happened could have any measurable impact on the US yet especially as compared to the open air nuke testing of my youth.

    On the other hand Much bad juju. Pray to great spirit to make things better.

  16. bobbo, in Repose says:

    sargasso–very few of us have any “options” other than to stay put==whether we were firebombed in WW2 or not. Weird association you make there.

    Debate: Using the Nuke was the most Humane Approach to ending WW2 there was.

    Humane Defined: Not one more American killed.

  17. ramuno says:

    It’s obviously a small sample and not a long term test, but here it is:

    http://counterpunch.org/sherman06102011.html

  18. laxdude says:

    I once read that a child who uses a hair drier doubles their chances of getting leukemia. For example, from 1 in 1 million to 2 in a million.

    It might be true that infant mortality is rising, but it could still be within the margin of error, or something completely unrelated like the cooler than average weather has lead to less insects which means less surface fish so bears are spending more time in the water to catch them which is increasing the bear shit levels in lake water which lead to a small increase in death amongst children who drink formula made with untreated water.

    My example is a little too close to a butterfly flapping its wings, but you get my point.

  19. TooManyPuppies says:

    Yes, I stopped giving a shit because:

    “March 12, an Israeli expert on air quality and poisoning, Professor Menachem Luria, told Israeli Channel 2: “From what we can gather, this disaster is even more dangerous than Chernobyl.”

    I said the same fucking thing the same day. I knew the reactors had breached, I knew the spent fuel rods had been blown to fuck all on high. If anyone in the world believed what the infotainment on the retard news on TV said (all is good, up is down, war is peace) please take your gun, put it in your mouth, now pull the trigger you fucktard. Do the human race a favor.

  20. bbjester says:

    Could be my mind playing tricks, but still it sure is a coincidence. And in fairness we just replaced two water faucets in my house. However we replaced the faucets about 1.5 to 2 months before the Fukushima disaster. About a week or two after the disaster I began to smell a very strong metallic odor in my tap water. Is it the faucets? Maybe! Did the fire department flush a nearby hydrant? It’s possible! Did the city replace water pipes and mains(idk!)? I have not witnessed any hydrant flushing though. Nor have I seen the telltale signs of rust covered streets nearby resulting from a flush. Also why didn’t the new faucets start releasing ions into the water immediately after installation? Would that sort of thing take a couple of months to happen? I guess where I am going with this, is that the metallic smell seems to have arrived shortly after Fukushima. I am in the Midwest btw, near Chicago to be exact. Not saying Fukushima caused this, just saying it is awfully odd timing for this odor to arrive. Has anyone else here noticed their tap water picking up a metallic smell around the same time frame? If so please put it in your reply to this post. I have no doubt in my mind the gov would downplay things to keep us from mass hysteria. And no, I am not a conspiracy nut either. Just saying it’s a very odd coincidence.

  21. Rick Cain says:

    Japanese corporations are just as corrupt as american ones. No wonder they continue to lie as to how bad it really is.

    Even Yomiuri online isn’t keeping up with Fukushima now. Might as well be the Soviet press.

  22. Mark III says:

    I have not stopped worrying about this.
    I never worried about it.
    Just one more thing I don’t give a crap about.

    Gracious me, the list of things I don’t give a crap about is quite long. Many of them, I see right here on this blog, but I keep checking it nonetheless, hoping for a gem now and then.

  23. Zybch says:

    Bobo, you might try this tool from MS.
    http://connect.microsoft.com/systemsweeper
    It creates an up-to-date bootable CD that you run the scan from. Perfect for removing rootkits which seems the likely cause of your problems.
    By the way, Avast sucks. Its now a clone of Norton, a resource vampire. Try MS Security Essentials. Far fewer needless popups and MS gives it access to deeper in the OS than the other AV scanners have access too.

  24. jescott418 says:

    I think this will be a disaster for decades to come. What else could it be.
    Nuclear Fission is a controlled meltdown on a good day. Let alone when everything goes wrong. Now that everything has gone wrong. Now we see our errors?? This is how humans do things. Science comes up with these ideals like Fission but is not smart enough to prevent every possible disaster scenario.

  25. rabidmonkey says:

    Uh yes, I’ll have the Fukushima on rye, thank you. I’ll have that to go please. Why yes indeed sir, I would much enjoy that with a side of nuclear radiation. I gotta get my daily dose of greens y’know; doctor’s orders and all. Heh, heh!

  26. rabidmonkey says:

    Marty: Doc look, all we need is a little plutonium!

    Doc: Ohh! I’m sure that in 1985, plutonium is available at every corner drug store, but in 1955 it’s a little hard to come by. Marty, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you’re stuck here.

  27. ArianeB says:

    Re: Infant Mortality

    “The recent CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report indicates that eight cities in the northwest U.S. (Boise ID, Seattle WA, Portland OR, plus the northern California cities of Santa Cruz, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, and Berkeley) reported the following data on deaths among those younger than one year of age:

    4 weeks ending March 19, 2011 – 37 deaths (avg. 9.25 per week)
    10 weeks ending May 28, 2011 – 125 deaths (avg.12.50 per week)

    This amounts to an increase of 35% (the total for the entire U.S. rose about 2.3%), and is statistically significant. Of further significance is that those dates include the four weeks before and the ten weeks after the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster.

    Source: http://counterpunch.org/sherman06102011.html

  28. foobar says:

    Data sampling smell. I wonder what the data would look like if you went back farther than 4 weeks? For example, 10 weeks. Or compare it to a long term trend like a year? Or to infant mortality rates in other areas. Etc.

    From what I remember, infant mortality are highly variable and even seasonal. This data compares two small data samples to each other, not to a larger population.

  29. Chris Mac says:

    That’s what happens when you bomb Hawaii.

  30. President Amabo says:

    I never started worrying about Fuckyoushima. It’s probably better to go forward with thorium but we need nukes.

    Bobbo, use OpenDNS and add Malwarebytes to your arsenal. IOBits Advanced System Care is a good complement / alternative to Crap Cleaner as well.

    I agree with Zybch. AVG was good until it bloated – went to Avast, which was good until it bloated, now running MSE.


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