Fukushima Radiation Level 8 Times Govt Standard: TEPCO

Radiation Level at Fukushima Rises to 8*mSv/yr: Report

NOTE: THE TEPCO REPORT, QUOTED BY JAPAN’S ASAHI SHIMBUN MAY BE SERIOUSLY FLAWED.

ACCORDING TO http://new.atmc.jp/ THE RADIATION LEVEL AT OR NEAR FUKUSHIMA PLANT IS ≥ 40 MICROSIEVERT PER HOUR (OR ~ 350 mSv/yr)

Radiation levels near the boundary of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant have increased to 8 millisievert per year, or eight times the government standard, said Tokyo Electric Power Co. said, Asahi Shimbun quotyed the operator TEPCO as saying.

Following the discovery of leaks from the underground waste storage tanks in April,  TEPCO transferred the radioactive wastewater to hastily built storage tanks near the plant’s southern boundary, company officials said.

TEPCO says the main reason for the dramatic increase in the radiation levels are the X-rays emitted by the radioactive water held in the notorious storage tanks.

However, the background radiation level had already reached 7.8 millisievert per year in May 2013, according to the report.

The No. 1 and No. 2 reactor buildings at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, March 15, 2011. Source:  TEPCO handout.

TEPCO says the X-rays are released when beta rays from radioactive strontium and other substances in the water react with iron and other elements in the storage tank containers.

It’s true that high energy beta particles released from radioactive substances can give off bremsstrahlung x-rays when they decelerate during electromagnetic interactions as they pass through matter; however, most beta particles can be stopped by just  a few millimeter of aluminum.

What is a lethal dose of radiation from a single Exposure?

Studies of the 1945 atomic bombing at Hiroshima and Nagasaki show that 100 percent of victims whose bodies were exposed to 600,000 millirems (6,000 mSv) died from radiation. About 50 percent of victims who received  450,000 millirems (4,500 mSv) of radiation also died.

(Note: Rem is a unit of ionizing radiation equal to the amount that produces the same damage to humans as one roentgen of high-voltage x-rays.  Source: MIT)

1 rem = 10 mSv
1 Sv = 100 rem
1mSv = 0.1 rem
1mSv = 100 millirems (mrem)

Background Radiation in millirems per year (mrem/yr)

• Average background radiation (US):  300 (3 mS/yr)
• Higher altitudes (e.g, Denver): 400 (4 mS/yr)

“Safe Levels” of Radiation (U.S.)

Limits above natural background radiation levels (average 300 millirems per year, or 3 mSv/yr) and medical radiation:

• Occupation Limit: Maximum of 5,000  (the limit for a worker using radiation)
• Average Natural Background: 300

[Note: Lifetime cumulative exposure should be limited to a person’s age multiplied by 1,000 millirems, e.g., a 70-year-old person, 70,000 millirems.]

Adults

• Max single dose for an adult: 3,000
• Annual total dose: 5,000

Under 18

• Max single dose for a person aged under 18 years: 300 millirems (whole body equivalent)
• Annual total exposure: 500

Fetal Exposure

• Maximum limit for fetal exposure during gestation period:  50 millirems per month above background levels

Medical

• Single Chest X-ray (the whole body equivalent): 2 millirem

Air Travel

• Coast-to-coast US round trip flight: 12 millirems

*Notes:

1. Radiation dose of about 2,000 millisieverts (200,000 millirems) cause serious illness.

2. The average annual radiation dose per person in the U.S. is currently 620 millirem (6.2 mSv), according to EPA. “Half of our average dose comes from natural background sources: cosmic radiation from space, naturally occurring radioactive minerals in the ground and in your body, and from the radioactive gases radon and thoron, which are created when other naturally occurring elements undergo radioactive decay. Another 48 percent of our dose comes from medical diagnostics and treatments.”

Half-life of some radioactive elements

[NOTE: Half-life is the time taken for a radioactive substance to decay by half.]

• Cesium-134 ~ 2  years
• Cesium-137 ~ 30 years
• Iodine-131 ~ 8 days
• Plutonium-239 ~ 24,200 years

• Ruthenium-103 ~ 39 days [Ruthenium is a fission product of uranium-235.]
• Ruthenium-106 ~ 374 days
• Strontium-90 ~ 28.85 years  [Strontium-90 is a product of nuclear fission and is found in large amounts in spent nuclear fuel and in radioactive waste from nuclear reactors.]

• Uranium-234 ~  246,000 years
• Uranium-235 ~ 703.8  million years
• Uranium-238  ~ 4.468 billion years

Related Links

• Record Radiation Detected at Fukushima [AGAIN] December 22, 2013
• Japan Renews Nuke Ambitions Despite Fukushima, Common Sense December 14, 2013

• 80 Percent Chance of Major Catastrophe at Fukushima NPP November 7, 2013
• Crimes Against Nature: Water Overflows from 12 Fukushima Barriers Posted on October 21, 2013
• Fukushima Potentially More Disastrous Than Hiroshima October 18, 2013
• TEPCO Continues to Contaminate the World October 3, 2013
• Overflow of Water from the Dike of H8-South Area at Fukushima Daiichi NPS  Oct 2, 2013

• Fukushima Fatal Farce Turns Deadlier September 1, 2013
• Disaster Deepens at “Nuked” Fukushima Plant August 21, 2013
• Fukushima SNAFU August 20, 2013

For earlier links, where they have not been removed or hacked, search blog content.

Japan Disaster PM Declares Izu Oshima Island “Severe Disaster Area”

Once again Japanese authorities stand accused of “criminal negligence” for failing to save lives

Japan’s disaster Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited typhoon-hit volcanic island of Izu Oshima on Sunday and declared the devastation caused by the Typhoon WIPHA as a “disaster of extreme severity.”

Just about everyone and their uncle knew typhoon WIPHA was a very intense storm capable of causing major damage, possibly multiple deaths.

Even Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) had earlier warned about the severity of the typhoon, which failed to make a direct hit, describing it as a “once a decade” type of storm.

The storm triggered deadly mudslides on the island destroying homes and burying residents alive on October 16. At least 32 people were killed and about a dozen were missing, presumed dead.

Once again the authorities in Japan have been accused of “criminal negligence” for failing to issue adequate warnings and evacuation alerts as the deadly storm approached, which would have saved dozens of lives.

Related Links

• 70,000 People Told to Evacuate as FRANCISCO Pounds Japan October 25, 2013
• Typhoon WIPHA Dumps 800mm of Rain Over Tokyo October 16, 2013
• Typhoon WIPHA Targets Tokyo October 15, 2013
• Typhoon NARI Chased by TS WIPHA October 12, 2013
• Vietnam Evacuates 250,000 ahead of NARI October 14, 2013

Worst Disaster since WWII: Japan PM

WARNING: SEISMIC CHAIN REACTIONS MAY OCCUR IN JAPAN REGION

CONTINUED OCCURRENCES OF SIGNIFICANT AFTERSHOCKS COULD LEAD TO A SEISMIC CHAIN REACTION UNLEASHING MORE MEGA QUAKES IN JAPAN REGION AND/OR SURROUNDING REGIONS: FIRE-EARTH

[Time Period: Up to 18 months from now; probability ≥0.6]

March 14, 2011 at 00:48 UTC

The Aftermath of Japan’s Megaquake and the Unfolding Nuclear Crisis is Japan’s Worst Calamity since World War II:  Prime Minister Naoto Kan

This Page would be updated throughout today, as new information becomes available.

Japan’s  Nuclear Crisis:

The cooling system has failed at a third nuclear facility in Japan, following the M9.0 Mega Quake near Sendai.

The Tokai Nuclear Plant in Ibaraki prefecture is causing great concern. Two of its three diesel generators used to operate the cooling system have failed. The plant is located about 120km north of Tokyo.

Tokai 1 and 2 Nuclear Power Plants. Click image to enlarge and view licensing details.

Built in 1962, 1 was Japan’s first nuclear power plant. Having generated electricity for about 32 years it was decommission in 1998.  Tokai 2 was built in 1973 and commissioned in 1978,  Japan’s largest at the time with a generating capacity of  1,060 MW.

Meanwhile, a state of emergency has been declared at the Onagawa plant, where radiation readings have exceeded allowed limits, said Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant is located in  Ishinomaki city, Miyagi Prefecture, and is operated by the Tohoku Electric Power Company.  Click image to enlarge and view licensing details.

The latest declaration is the third to be issued by the agency, with the first two still in force at Fukushima plant Nos 1 and 2.

• At Fukushima Plant No.1, at least two reactors may be experiencing partial meltdown.   As a last option, sea water is being pumped into reactors 1 and 3 to prevent them from total core meltdown.
• On May 12 an explosion said to have been caused by hydrogen buildup tore through the walls of containment building of reactor 1.
• Up to 4 other reactors face the threat of explosion, due to excessive pressure, and possibly meltdown.
• As of 10:00UTC Saturday  May 12,  up to 300 people had received varying degrees of radiation, including 60 students at high school in Fukushima located about 3.5km from Plant No. 1, who were waiting to be evacuated.
• UPDATE: Radiation at Onagawa plant has returned to operating background levels, Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has announced.
• Up to 170,000 people have been evacuated from a 20-km radii of Fukushima Plants 1 and 2.
• Tens of thousands of people were due to be evacuated from a 20-km radius of  the Tokai plant.

People throughout Japan have been asked tio save electricity. About 1.8 million customers are currently without power.

In Tokyo area there’s a sever shortage of electricity, with only 75 percent of the demand currently being met. [Demand: 41 gigawatt;  supply: 31 gigawatt]

Second Round of Tsunami Warnings

Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)  issued a new round of Tsunami Warnings for Japan Region at 03:20 JST, Saturday March 12. A Major Tsunami Warning covered the entire eastern seaboards of Honshu and Hokkaido islands.

See below for tsunami map and list of the prefectures under TSUNAMI WARNING.

Source: JMA. Click image to enlarge.

Maximum Tsunami Observation

The following Tsunami Observation Map (NUMBER 64) was issued at 18:05 JST 13 Mar 2011.

The Surviving Victims of the Mega Quake and Tsunami

The surviving victims are well and truly trapped. There are  severe shortages of water, food and fuel, as well as clothes, sanitation and other basic amenities. Large areas have had no electricity sine the Megaquake struck about 70 hours ago. Many people are attempting to leave the disaster zones; however, there are no plains, trains or any other form of transport.  Automobiles are not going anywhere, anytime soon.  There are long lines of vehicles outside gas stations waiting to be filled, some reportedly as long as 10-mile. Many people are sleeping in their car in order not to miss their turn.

Many roads have been destroyed or severely damaged in Miyagi prefecture, as far as in the Tokyo area, in northern Japan, and in the far-northern Iwate prefecture. The toll road highways are restricted to emergency vehicles only, according to reports.

The Aftershocks

As expected, the aftershock, some of them powerful quakes in their own right, continue to rattle the eastern seaboard of Japan’s main island of Honshu.

10-degree Map Centered at 40°N,140°E

Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS. Click image to enlarge.

List of Significant Aftershocks (≥M5.0)

March 14 UTC

March 13 UTC

March 12 UTC

March 11 UTC

Source: USGS.  Click images to enlarge.

The Death Toll and the Number of Missing

More than 2,000 bodies have been found this morning on the shores of Miyagi prefecture, the area worst affected by the tsunami,  Kyodo news agency has just reported. The latest gruesome discovery brings the total death toll so far to about 4,000. At least 10,000 others are believed to be missing.