BBC Wrong on Fukushima, Again

via Goddard’s Journal / Published March 11, 2016: Response to: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35… Expanded upon here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35… Dose-rate conversion: http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/E… ” 2.8 microsievert/hour = 24.5448 millisievert/year ” Study cited @ 1:40 re regional natural background dose rate of 0.05 uSv/y Malins et al (2016). Evaluation of ambient dose equivalent rates influenced by vertical and horizontal distribution of radioactive cesium in soil in Fukushima Prefecture. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 151 (2016) 38e49 http://pubmed.gov/26408835 … Continue reading

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Five years later, Fukushima’s contamination is slow to fade

via arstechnica.com / March 8, 2016 / The Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred almost five years ago in March 2011. It is the largest event of its sort since Chernobyl, which occurred 25 years earlier. The accident was triggered by a tsunami and earthquake that led to a meltdown at the plant. During this event, large amounts of radioactive materials were released into the atmosphere. Since then, Fukushima Daiichi has continued to leak radioactive materials … Continue reading

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How Citizen Science Changed the Way Fukushima Radiation is Reported

via National Geographic / February 13, 2016 / “It appears the world-changing event didn’t change anything, and it’s disappointing,”said Pieter Franken, a researcher at Keio University in Japan (Wide Project), the MIT Media Lab (Civic Media Centre), and co-founder of Safecast, a citizen-science network dedicated to the measurement and distribution of accurate levels of radiation around the world, especially in Fukushima. “There was a chance after the disaster for humanity … Continue reading

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Japan requests Singapore to review restriction of food imports from Fukushima

via The Online Citizen / January 13, 2016 / It has been reported by Japanese media, Jiji press that Mr Moriyama Hiroshi, Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister has requested a review on the restriction of food imports from Fukushima, Japan during the meet up with Minister of National Development, Lawrence Wong on 10 January. Mr Hiroshi was in Singapore over the weekend to officiate a series of events to … Continue reading

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New ‘Scorpion’ Robot Will Inspect Fukushima Reactor This Summer

via Gizmodo.com / June 30, 2015 / When the 2011 earthquake in Japan damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant, teams scrambled to find a robot that could go where humans couldn’t. In many ways those robots failed, and ever since, there has been a focus on creating robots that can get the job done. Enter Toshiba’s “Scorpion” robot, which will make its way inside the power plant this August. The … Continue reading

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Redeeming Lives of Fukushima’s Irradiated Animals

By Kunio Kobinata / the-japan-news.com / June 29, 2015 / In the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, much remains unknown about the long-term health effects of the radioactive substances released. Seeking answers, Tohoku University Prof. Manabu Fukumoto has been examining the blood and other factors of slaughtered cattle and wild animals caught by hunters mainly within a 20-kilometer radius of the plant. Over … Continue reading

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Search Is Still On For Devices Tracking Fukushima Debris

by J.R Rardon / campbellrivermirror.com / June 30, 2015 / A transponder that spent more than three years floating in the Pacific Ocean before washing up on Vancouver Island has become the subject of a wide-ranging scavenger hunt after mysteriously winding up in Campbell River last week. The transponder, part of a group of 12 dropped in the ocean near Fukushima, Japan in January of 2012, was meant to give … Continue reading

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How Fukushima Produce Is Making Its Way Into International Stores

via Natural Society / May 28, 2015 / It is being reported that tainted food from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Gumma, and Chiba is making its way into local supermarkets in Taiwan due to the irresponsibility of mislabeling. What’s more, these food products were banned in Taiwan since March of 2011. The first question is: Why are food products from the concerned Japanese prefectures surrounding Fukushima mislabelled? The second question is: Why is … Continue reading

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U.S. Restricts Some Japan Food Imports Over Contamination Concerns

via People’s Daily Online / May 9th, 2015 / The United States has recently tightened restriction of food imported from Japan. According to Import Alert 99-33 issued by USFDA, a list of Japanese food will be banned unless they pass physical examination, which includes milk, butter, milk-based infant formula, and other milk products; vegetables and vegetable products; rice and whole grain; fish; meat and poultry; venus clam; sea urchin; yuzu … Continue reading

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Warnings That Fukushima Food Could Enter UK Markets

from FIS.com / April 13, 2015 / An investigation carried out by The Independent newspaper reveals that there is a risk that food manufactured around the Fukushima nuclear disaster site may be entering the United Kingdom, raising the prospect of mildly carcinogenic ingredients entering the food system. According to the report issued by the media source, products contaminated by radiation, which include tea, noodles and chocolate bars, have already been … Continue reading

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Video: How Citizen Scientist Seawater Samples Are Processed

In case you’re interested. A brief explanation of how seawater samples to monitor for Fukushima contamination are processed when they arrive at the University of Victoria. More details about sample analysis can be found at our partner organization’s website Our Radioactive Ocean. The project website is http://fukushimainform.ca. source: Daily Kos

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Radiation From Fukushima Has Reached The BC Coast

It’s official. Radiation from trace amounts of cesium-134 and cesium-137 isotopes originating from the Fukushima disaster have now been detected on the coast of British Columbia. This comes as no surprise and as Dan Dicks of Press For Truth reports those of us in the alternative media have been warning about this for years and yet the msm is still taking the “nothing to see here” position even when the … Continue reading

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Technology to Look Inside Fukushima Reactors Faces Challenge

via abcnews.com / March 27, 2015 / The cutting-edge technology was billed as a way to decipher where exactly the morass of nuclear fuel might sit at the bottom of reactors in the Japanese power plant that went into multiple meltdowns four years ago. But what went wrong, even in a simple demonstration for reporters Friday for the 500 million yen ($5 million) project, was a sobering reminder of the … Continue reading

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Taiwan: 283 Mislabeled Japanese Food Products Originated Near Fukushima

By Stephanie Chao / chinapost.com More than 283 Japanese food products imported from the radiation-stricken areas near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster were found to be relabeled as having come from other areas of Japan and sold to local customers, authorities said yesterday. Officials from New Taipei City’s Department of Health, as well as the Food and Drug Administration and other law-enforcement authorities, seized the mislabeled products, although a substantial … Continue reading

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Fukushima Unit-1 Muon Scan Results: No Fuel In Reactor Vessel

via Daily Kos / March 19, 2015 / “Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, destroyed 4 years ago in explosions and meltdowns triggered by an earthquake and tsunami, won’t be truly safe until engineers can remove the reactors’ nuclear fuel. But first, they have to find it.“ So begins an in-depth article in the March 6th edition of the Journal Science entitled Muons probe Fukushima’s ruins. In February of this … Continue reading

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Looking Inside Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1

via world-nuclear-news.org / February 10, 2015 / TEPCO said it is installing a muon detection system at the unit. The system comprises two measuring devices. The first was installed on the north side of the reactor building yesterday, while the second was scheduled to be put in place on the west side of the building today. Once the system is installed, it will be ready for testing, the company said. Muons are high-energy … Continue reading

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Robots To Work At Fukushima Disaster Scene

via ubergizmo.com / January 18, 2014 / Robots are wonderful workers for a few reasons – they do not get tired, they do not complain and neither will they congregate around a water cooler to gossip about their superior and his or her flaws. Not only that, robots do not have a union, and will be unable to go on strike – not to mention in a more practical manner, … Continue reading

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Fukushima Radioactivity Monitoring in the North Pacific Ocean

via pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca / A paper published in December 2014 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) details the arrival and concentration of radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima nuclear reactor in the North Pacific Ocean. This paper, by Fisheries and Oceans scientist Dr. John Smith, documents the first and only systematic study of its kind validating ocean circulation models while tracking the eastward movement of radioactive isotopes. On … Continue reading

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South Korea To Review Fukushima Seafood Import Ban

via scmp.com / January 9, 2015 / South Korean experts will visit Japan next week for further investigation before deciding whether to lift an import ban on Japanese marine products imposed following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Friday. During the four-day investigation from Tuesday, the second of its kind since December, a team consisting of South Korean researchers and consumer group representatives will visit … Continue reading

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Fukushima Rice Tests ‘Radiation Free’ First Time Since Disaster

via RT.com / January 5, 2015 / For the first time since the 2011 disaster, all of the rice harvested in Fukushima Prefecture this year has passed radiation tests and now can be deemed safe for consumption, according to local officials. Virtually all of the rice harvested in Fukushima in 2014 – or some 360,000 tonnes – has been checked for radiation and met the national standards of less than … Continue reading

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Kurion Mobile Processing System Exceeds Fukushima Decontamination Targets

via environmentalleader.com / December 12, 2014 / Nuclear and hazardous waste management company Kurion has been awarded a contract by Tokyo Electric Power Company for a second Kurion Mobile Processing System for deployment at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant site. The first system started operating at the site in early October 2014 and has exceeded its performance targets during this period, Kurion says. The second system (pictured), identical to … Continue reading

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Studying Radioactive Cesium Contamination of Children Affected by the Fukushima Disaster

via Daily Kos / December 2, 2014 / The purpose of this short diary is to report the results of a very recently published study which used a whole body scanner to look for cesium (134-Cs half life ~ 2 years, 137-Cs half life 30 years) contamination in children directly affected by the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (NPP) disaster (behind pay wall unfortunately).  This diary is part of an … Continue reading

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British Researcher Blasts U.N. Report on Fukushima Cancer Risk As Unscientific

By Masakazu Honda / Asahi Shimbun / December 2, 2014 /A British scientist who studied the health effects of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster panned a United Nations report that virtually dismissed the possibility of higher cancer rates caused by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis. Keith Baverstock (pictured), 73, made the comments during a visit to Tokyo at the invitation of a citizens group related to the Fukushima disaster. In response … Continue reading

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Trace Amounts Of Fukushima Radioactivity Detected Off U.S. West Coast

via WHOI.edu / November 10, 2014 / Monitoring efforts along the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and Canada have detected the presence of small amounts of radioactivity from the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident 100 miles (150 km) due west of Eureka, California. Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found the trace amounts of telltale radioactive compounds as part of their ongoing monitoring of natural and … Continue reading

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Taiwan To Check Waste Shipments From Japan For Radiation

via japantimes.com / November 5, 2014 / Taiwan will conduct radiation checks on some types of container cargo arriving from Japan, the island’s legislature said on Wednesday. The body’s Finance Committee ruled that waste materials such as plastic, scrap metal and paper must be checked with radiation meters upon arrival at the island’s four seaports: Keelung, Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. Jao Ping, director general of the Customs Administration agency, told … Continue reading

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No Fukushima Radiation Found In Coastal Areas

via phys.org / September 3, 2014 / It was raining when Eric Norman, Berkeley Lab physicist and University of California (UC) Berkeley professor of Nuclear Engineering, heard about the nuclear-reactor meltdown in Fukushima, Japan. “I immediately thought of Chernobyl,” he says, referring to the “nuclear rain” that fell in the days that followed the 1986 disaster in Ukraine. Norman wanted to know if, following the March 11, 2011 Fukushima breach, radioactivity … Continue reading

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Significant Radioactivity Heading South in the Pacific

via fukushimainform.com / August 18, 2014 / This diary is part of an ongoing series here that aims to report measurements of Fukushima derived radionuclides in the North Pacific Ocean to help determine the likely impact on ecosystem and public health in western North America. The purpose of this diary is to report the results of a recently published study by Kumamoto and colleagues in the open-access journal Scientific Reports. … Continue reading

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Reports of Genetic Abnormalities in Birds, Insects, Plants Near Fukushima

via RT.com / August 15, 2014 / Fukushima’s nuclear disaster has caused genetic damage, a decline in the population and other changes to non-human organisms from plants to butterflies to birds in the area, US and Japanese scientists say. In a series of articles published in the latest of US science magazine Journal of Heredity, researches revealed the widespread impact of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster on biological organisms … Continue reading

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First InFORM Samples Collected to Track Fukushima Radionuclides

via fukushimainform.com / August 10th, 2014 / In addition to the citizen scientist sampling network that is under construction the other pillar of the InFORM project is the collection of samples in the open North Pacific and Arctic Oceans.  The first samples for radionuclide analyses were collected by University of Victoria undergraduate student Kathryn Purdon on the first leg of the icebreaker CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s annual operations in Canada’s … Continue reading

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No Fukushima Radiation Found In Tests Off U.S. West Coast

via yahoo.com / July 29, 2014 / Tests of water off the U.S. West Coast have found no signs of radiation from Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, although low levels of radiation are ultimately expected to reach the U.S. shore, scientists said on Tuesday. Results obtained this week in tests of water gathered by an Oregon conservation group and tested by East Coast scientists came in as expected with no … Continue reading

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Study shows muddy seabed off Fukushima coast has higher levels of contamination

By CHIKAKO KAWAHARA / Asahi Shimbun / July 3, 2014 / Concentrations of radioactive cesium on the seafloor after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster were discovered to be higher in muddy depressions than on the rocky seabed, maritime researchers said. “We are learning that the nuclear accident didn’t contaminate the entire ocean, but created spots that tend to have higher radioactive levels than others,” said Blair Thornton, a researcher from … Continue reading

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4700 Bq/L of Tritium Detected from Groundwater Taken from 20-Meter Deep Near Reactor 1/2 Turbine Building

via EX-SKF.blogpsot.com / June 25, 2014 / The water was drawn from the lower permeable layer 20-meter deep, according to Kyodo News (6/24/2014) from an observation hole newly dug in preparation for monitoring the frozen soil impermeable wall that is to surround the reactor/turbine buildings of Reactors 1-4. Cesium and all-beta (that includes strontium) are below detection levels, but tritium in 4-digit Bq per liter is apparently not what TEPCO … Continue reading

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Study Finds No Evidence Of ‘Ocean-Borne’ Fukushima Radiation Along West Coast

via CBS L.A. / May 7 2014 / The West Coast shoreline shows no signs of ocean-borne radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, scientists said Wednesday. KNX 1070′s Tom Reopelle reports researchers from CSU Long Beach and other schools are sampling kelp along the California coastline to determine whether seawater arriving from Japan poses any public health threat. The Kelp Watch 2014 project – which is co-headed by … Continue reading

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Minute traces of radiation from Fukushima discovered in West Coast albacore tuna

via undercurrentnews.com / April 29, 2014 / Scientists claim to have found slightly elevated levels of radioactivity in US West Coast albacore tuna caused by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, according to Oregon State University (OSU). Researchers from OSU said in new study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology the increase of radiation has been minute. In fact, it would be needed to consume more than 700,000 … Continue reading

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Report: Fukushima Radiation Levels Drop, Still Dangerous

via Ria Novosti / April 18, 2014 / Radiation levels in the areas surrounding the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant have dropped, but still exceed the long-term target of the Japanese government, according to a report issued by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Friday. The report, quoted by the Asahi Shumbun daily newspaper, says that Fukushima evacuees will receive radiation doses from 0.7 to 3 millisieverts per … Continue reading

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Citizen scientists prepare to test U.S. West Coast for Fukushima radiation

By Kevin Griffin / Vancouver Sun / April 12, 2014 / All along the Pacific coast of North America and as far south as Costa Rica, people with little or no scientific background have volunteered to raise money for the program and collect the sea water samples needed to test for radiation. The crowdsourcing, citizen-scientist program is the idea of Ken Buesseler, a research scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, … Continue reading

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Fukushima Return: At Nuclear Site, How Safe is “Safe”?

By Patrick J. Kiger / National Geographic / April 2, 2014 / For the first time since Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power disaster three years ago, residents of a small portion of the surrounding restricted area are being allowed to return home, even though radiation levels remain elevated At midnight on March 31, the Japanese government officially lifted an evacuation order for a portion of the Miyakoji district of Tamura, … Continue reading

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?TEPCO under-calculated radiation exposure for 142 Fukushima workers

via RT.com / March 27, 2014 / Tokyo Electric Power Co. underestimated internal radiation exposure of 142 workers involved in immediate emergency operations at the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011, according to Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. After reexamining exposure records provided by TEPCO, the Ministry said Tuesday it had increased the 142 workers’ radiation data by an average of 5.86 millisieverts, The Asahi … Continue reading

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New and improved radiation detectors headed for Fukushima

via Japan Times / March 16, 2014 / Starting in April, Fukushima Prefecture will introduce easy to use radiation detectors for food produce at municipalities so that residents will no longer have to cut up items into small pieces to check cesium levels. Currently, residents can test for cesium in home-grown vegetables and edible wild plants at community centers. But those detectors require cutting up 500 grams of food into … Continue reading

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Scientists expect traces of radiation from Fukushima on U.S. coast soon

By Jeff Barnard / via adn.com / March 14, 2014 / Scientists have crowd-sourced a network of volunteers taking water samples at beaches along the West Coast in hopes of capturing a detailed look at low levels of radiation drifting across the ocean since the 2011 tsunami that devastated a nuclear power plant in Japan. With the risk to public health extremely low, the effort is more about perfecting computer … Continue reading

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Japanese Scientists Develop World’s First Radiation Baby Scanner

By Mary-Ann Russon / via IBTimes.co.uk / March 4, 2014 / University of Tokyo scientists have built the world’s first whole body scanner capable of accurately measuring internal radiation exposure in babies and children living in the Fukushima Prefecture. The aim is to ease the worries of concerned parents. BABYSCAN (pictured) is a whole body scanner specially designed so that children can lie down and play or read a book … Continue reading

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Ocean radiation on B.C. coast measured by crowdsourcing

via CBC.ca / February 26, 2014 / People along the British Columbia coast are being asked to step in where governments in Canada and the U.S. have not — to measure radiation from Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in B.C.’s ocean waters. Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass., are calling on the public to collect data from B.C.’s oceans for a crowd-funded research project. The website … Continue reading

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Three Fukushima Radiation Studies Reflect Extensive Monitoring Efforts

via natureworldnews.com / February 25, 2014 / Three news items released Tuesday regarding the public health effects of radiation in the atmosphere as a result of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear incident do little to lessen confusion surrounding the issue, but all point to intense radiation monitoring efforts happening on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. A meeting of the American Geophysical Union’s Ocean Science section revealed Tuesday that low … Continue reading

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The International Workshop on Radiation and Thyroid Cancer

The International Workshop on Radiation and Thyroid Cancer in Tokyo, February 21-23, 2014 The workshop is ongoing, co-hosted by the Ministry of the Environment, Fukushima Medical University, and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. Presenters include expert researchers from around the world, including Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, in radiological research and thyroid cancer research. The link to the English program: http://www.nsra.or.jp/safe/crpph2014/program-e.pdf The link to the Japanese program: http://www.nsra.or.jp/safe/crpph2014/program-j.pdf Live webcast in … Continue reading

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Wading Through The Waters Of Fukushima Daiichi

via PressForTruth.ca / February 10, 2014 / The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan remains to this day as the single most deadly threat to face the world with the potential for radiation poisoning. Dan Dicks of Press For Truth delves deep into the issues regarding the Fukushima disaster to better understand the implications of this catastrophe while at the same time separating the facts from fiction. Joining … Continue reading

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David Suzuki: Citizen scientists can fill info gaps about Fukushima effects

by David Suzuki / via Straight.com / January 28, 2014 / An Internet search turns up an astounding number of pages about radiation from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown that followed an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. But it’s difficult to find credible information. One reason is that government monitoring of radiation and its effects on fish stocks appears to be limited. According to the Woods Hole … Continue reading

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Our Radioactive Ocean: First Results Show #Fukushima Radiation Has Not Reached US Coast

via Our Radioactive Ocean / January 28, 2014 /The first results from seawater samples come from La Jolla and Point Reyes, Calif., and Grayland and Squium, Wash. Four samples from these three locations show no detectable Fukushima cesium. We know this because Fukushima released equal amounts of two isotopes of cesium: the shorter-lived cesium-134 isotope (half-life of 2 years) and the longer-lived cesium-137 (half-life of 30 years). Cesium-137 was found … Continue reading

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Debunking the California Beach Video

via YouTube / Its wall to wall crazies in a panic out there! Original video suggesting that Fukushima is responsible for the high levels of radioactive ‘contamination’ on the beaches in the Bay Area of California. Personally I dont believe a word of it. Firstly because there’s quite a lot of naturally occurring uranium, thorium and radium in california, secondly because beaches are one of the places where geological reworking … Continue reading

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Drones used to measure #Fukushima radiation

by Maan Pamintuan / via Japan Daily Press / January 27, 2014 / A drone manufactured to measure radiation levels has been developed by the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency and the Japanese Space Exploration Agency. It is operated using a remote control and unlike manned aircrafts, it has the option to fly lower, with a minimum of 300 meters in altitude. As the earthquake and tsunami hit area of Fukushima … Continue reading

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