URGENT plant operator says radioactivity in water at reactor No. 2 10 million times usual level

Originally posted by Gregarious
reply to post by bekod

 

Oh, come on. They position the lines and secure, then get out. Then the reading goes up? They don't need to be in there until after it has cooled. And it is really good that they managed to get fresh water and not corrosive salt water they were using. The power can be supplied by a mobil generator, and no big deal. Once the power lines are run, it can be at a safe distance, or enclosure. They are doing a good job. Relax!

Are you for real ? Nuclear reactors need constant attention when they are 100% working. I dont think you quite understand what is actually happening. The reactor cores are damaged. They dont just cool down like a fire that burms out, but are extremely fiercely HOT for millions of years. If it becomes impossible for workers to be there due to the radiation levels, Japan, THE WHOLE OF JAPAN, is screwed. There are FOUR broken reactors. One is emitting 10 Million times normal radioactive particles into the ocean. This doesnt just stop. If not contained it will continue doing this for THOUSANDS of years, polluting the oceans of the world.

DONT RELAX ! THEY ARE DOING A # JOB ! THEY SHOULD STOP BEING SO ARROGANT AND SARCOPHOGISE THE WHOLE PLANT TO PREVENT A GLOBAL CATSTROPHE !!!

A new analysis prepared for Greenpeace Germany by nuclear safety expert Dr Helmut Hirsch shows that by March 23 2011, Japan’s nuclear crisis has already released enough radioactivity to be ranked at Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). This is the scale’s highest level, and equal to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
www.greenpeace.org...

Originally posted by jewston
I would think this would get bigger mention everywhere, I wonder how many realize this is bad, really really bad?

Just saw it on the CNN. They can't keep a lid on it anymore. No pun intended.

reply to post by this_is_who_we_are


Radiation in reactor's building tests 10 million times above normal edition.cnn.com...

The 10-million-times normal reading applies to radioactive iodine-134 found in the No. 2 building's pooled water, according to the nuclear safety agency. This isotope loses half its radioactive atoms every 53 minutes, compared to a half-life of every eight days for radioactive iodine-131 that has also been detected in recent days.

Not to sound evil, but, the plant operator is still alive? Must not be that bad of radiation.. its been how long now?

I don't know about radiation and it seems really no one does.

reply to post by fatboyinternational

1. The contaminated water is 10 million times higher than the amount of contamination found normally within the reactor core.

The news media uses "10 million times higher" for its panic value - Keeps you reading doesn't it???

The very high level of 1,000 millisieverts, is "a rather large figure," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesman for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. e.nikkei.com...

However we find:

# International Commission on Radiological Protection recommended limit for volunteers rescuing lives or preventing serious injuries: 1000 mSv

International Commission on Radiological Protection (1991). 1990 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection - ICRP Publication 60. p. 52.

Then there is the problem of "radioactivity"

They say in the first part of the sentence "has been repeatedly delayed by halts as radioactive clouds and water leakages"


UMMMMmmm, ERRRRrrrrrrr

Water is not radioactive. It can only dissolve radioactive material

....Uranium

Uranium is a hard, dense, malleable, ductile, silver-white, radioactive metal. Uranium metal has very high density. When finely divided, it can react with cold water. In air it is coated by uranium oxide, tarnishing rapidly. It is attacked by steam and acids. Uranium can form solids solutions and intermetallic compounds with many of the metals.

Applications

Uranium gained importance with the development of practical uses of nuclear energy. Depleted uranium is used as shelding to protect tanks, and also in bullets and missiles. The first atomic bomb used in warfare was an uranium bomb. This bomb contained enough of the uramium-235 isotope to start a runaway chain reaction which in a fraction of a second caused a large number of the uranium atoms to undergo fission, there by releasing a fireball of energy.

The main use of uranium in the civilian sector is to fuel commercial nuclear power plants. This require uranium to be enriched with the uranium-235 isotope and the chain reaction to be controlled so that the energy is released in a more manageable way.

The isotope uranium 238 is used to estimate the age of the earliest igneous rocks and for other types of radiometric dating.

Phosphate fertilizers are made from material typically high in uranium, so they usually contain high amounts of it.

Uranium in the environment

Although uranium is radioactive, it is not particularly rare. It is widely spread throughout the environment and so it is impossible to avoid uranium. Uranium can be found naturally in the environment in very small amounts in rocks, soil, air and water. Humans add uranium metals and compounds, because they are released during mining and milling processes.

In air the uranium concentrations are very low. Even at higher than usual concentrations in air, there is so little uranium present per cubic meter that less than one atom transfers every day.

In water most of the uranium is dissolved uranium that derives from rocks and soil that the water runs over. Some of the uranium is suspended, so that the water gets a muddy texture. Only a very small part of uranium in water settles from air. The amounts of uranium in drinking water are generally very low.

Uranium is found in soils in varying concentrations that are usually very low. Humans add uranium to the soil through industrial activities.

Erosion of tailing from mines and mills may cause larger amounts of uranium to be released into the environment.
Health effects of uranium

People always experience exposure to a certain amount of uranium from food, air, soil and water, as it is naturally present in all these components. Food, such as root vegetables, and water will provide us with small amounts of natural uranium and we will breathe in minimal concentrations of uranium with air. The concentrations of uranium in seafood are usually so low that they can be safely ignored.

People that live near hazardous waste sites, people that live near mines, people that work in the phosphate industry, people that eat crops grown on contaminated soil or people that drink water from a uranium waste disposal point may experience a higher exposure than other people. Uranium glazes are banned, but some artists that still use them for glasswork will experience a higher-than-usual exposure.

Because uranium is a radioactive substance health effects have been researched. Scientists have detected no harmful radiation effects of natural levels of uranium. However, chemical effects may occur after the uptake of large amounts of uranium and these can cause health effects such as kidney disease.

When people are exposed to uranium radionuclides that are formed during radioactive decay for a long period of time, they may develop cancer. The chances of getting cancer are much higher when people are exposed to enriched uranium, because that is a more radioactive form of uranium. This form of uranium gives off damaging radiation, which can cause people to develop cancer within a few years. Enriched uranium may end up in the environment during accidents in nuclear power plants.

Whether uranium can cause reproductive effects in people is currently unknown.
Effects of uranium on the Environment

Uranium is a radioactive material that is very reactive. As a result it cannot be found in the environment in its elemental form. Uranium compounds that have consisted during reactions of uranium with other elements and substances dissolve in water to their own extend. The water-solubility of a uranium compound determines its mobility in the environment, as well as its toxicity.

While uranium itself is not particularly dangerous, some of its decay products do pose a threat, expecially radon, which can build up in confined spaces such as basements.

Uranium in air exists as dust that will fall into surface water, on plants or on soils through settling or rainfall. It will than sink to the sediment in water or to the lower soil layers, where it will mix with uranium that is already present.

Water containing low amounts of uranium is usually safe to drink. Because of its nature, uranium is not likely to accumulate in fish or vegetables and uranium that is absorbed will be eliminated quickly through urine and faeces.

The compounds in the soil will combine with other compounds, which can stay in the soil for years without moving towards the groundwater. Uranium concentrations are often higher in phosphate-rich soil, but this does not have to be a problem, because concentrations often do not exceed normal ranges for uncontaminated soil.

Plants absorb uranium through their roots and store it there. Root vegetables such as radishes may contain higher than usual concentrations of uranium as a result. When the vegetables are washed the uranium will be removed.
www.lenntech.com...

If Japan was evacuated then all of Japan's nuclear plants would blow.

Crazy!

Seen this yesterday and dont know if its been posted but worth a look..

www.i-am-bored.com...

reply to post by crimvelvet


In the above article I quoted it states RADON (a gas) causes cancer.

Actually people from houses with RADON have a lower cancer rates.

However this does not advance the Rockefeller agenda of keeping the USA hooked on high priced oil (that they control) so all that research got buried.

Remember the rockefellers helped found the Council on Foreign relations

The Rockefeller empire, in tandem with Chase Manhattan Bank (now JP Morgan Chase), owns over half of the pharmaceutical interests in the United States. It is the largest drug manufacturing combine in the world. Since WWII, the pharmaceutical industry has steadily netted increasing profits to become the world's second largest manufacturing industry; [3], [4] after the arms industry.

The Rockefeller Foundation was originally set up in 1904 as the General Education Fund. The RF was later formed in 1910 and issued a charter in 1913 with the help of Rockefeller millions. Subsequently, the foundation placed it's own "nominees" in federal health agencies and set the stage for the "reeducation" of the public. A compilation of magazine advertising reveals that as far back as 1948, larger American drug companies spent a total sum of $1,104,224,374 for advertising. Of this sum, Rockefeller-Morgan interests (which went entirely to Rockefeller after Morgan's death) controlled about 80%

Rockefeller Foundation:
Some of the members of the Board of trustees
* Margaret Hamburg - Vice President for Biological Programs, Nuclear Threat Initiative
* William H. Foege - Presidential Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
* Jessica T. Mathews - President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
* Raymond Smith - Chairman, Rothschild, Inc.;

www.sourcewatch.org...

From BBC NEWS

The UN's nuclear agency has warned the crisis could go on for months. It is believed the radiation at Fukushima is coming from one of the reactors, but a specific leak has not been identified. Leaking water at reactor 2 has been measured at 1,000 millisieverts/hour - 10 million times higher than when the plant is operating normally." We are examining the cause of this, but no work is being done there because of the high level of radiation," said a spokesman for the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco).

This cannot be good. So it's official, water with radiation levels 10 million times than normal is LEAKING.

There's no other way than bury everything with sand and concrete, the sooner the better.

Some further clarifications from CNN:

The 10-million-times normal reading applies to radioactive iodine-134 found in the No. 2 building's pooled water, according to the nuclear safety agency. This isotope loses half its radioactive atoms every 53 minutes, compared to a half-life of every eight days for radioactive iodine-131 that has also been detected in recent days. This exponentially dwindling amount of radiation means, according to Nishiyama, that it's unlikely that sealife -- and, several steps down the line, humans who might eat once contaminated seafood -- will suffer greatly from the iodine-134 exposure. "Certainly, we have to be concerned about the fact that the level of radiation is increasing," said Nishiyama. "But at this point, we do not ... envisage negative health impacts."

CNN

Despite what they say that leaked iodine-134 should not be so dangerous and pose no health risks, I do not feel comfortable...and I live on the opposite side of the planet.

UPDATE - they say it is a mistake

@BreakingNews Operators of troubled Japan nuclear plant say huge spike in radiation levels was a mistake - AP

@BreakingNews More on Japan plant's water radiation levels: Operators say extremely high reading of 10 million times the normal level was inaccurate - AP

reply to post by sallamy


Bah I really don't know if Tepco is still a reliable source. I don't think - after all these days of missed and partial information from Tepco's management - we can buy what they say. How can you be so unaccurate by saying radiations are ten million times more than normal and later minimize the figures? This is so unprofessional, are the people in charge just amateurs? I would be the happiest man on the planet if the AP article reports the truth, but it's unacceptable that Tepco spreads so creepy news and few hours later "uh, sorry, apologizes, the operator who took the measurements was drunk" or whatever. Something is fishy here.

reply to post by Hundroid


Agreed. Has there been any clarification as to how this "error" was made?

how much water is contaminated does anybody know? surely the pumped alot of water in there, could a earthquake trigger a nuclear tsunami?

reply to post by lifespath420


BBC News now is reporting the following:

Tokyo Electric Power Company, which has previously been criticised by officials for its handling of the crisis at the plant, said it got the readings wrong. Despite the mistake, the radiation spike at reactor 2 was still very high and enough to evacuate workers.

BBC News


Any thoughts?

So it seems values have been overestimated due to an operator mistake (Dirty glasses? Drunk? I didn't know a Geiger counter can be so unaccurate) but anyway levels are uncompatible with human safety and workers had to be evacuated. I believe what was feared days ago after the quake is slowly unfolding. My prays are for the Japanese nation and actually for the whole planet. Where are you, my Lord?

I think we just need to admit this # has gone out of hand. We have a nuclear disaster.

Are you for real ? Nuclear reactors need constant attention when they are 100% working. I dont think you quite understand what is actually happening. The reactor cores are damaged. They dont just cool down like a fire that burms out, but are extremely fiercely HOT for millions of years. If it becomes impossible for workers to be there due to the radiation levels, Japan, THE WHOLE OF JAPAN, is screwed. There are FOUR broken reactors. One is emitting 10 Million times normal radioactive particles into the ocean. This doesnt just stop. If not contained it will continue doing this for THOUSANDS of years, polluting the oceans of the world.

Um.. no. I think many people are unintentionally (or perhaps intentionally) fear-mongering due to ignorance on what happens during a meltdown, and containment at these plants. Not only is this plant much safer than Chernobyl, Chernobyl has been completely sealed off, and the environment around it is flourishing, now that the destructive presence of humans has been removed. Chernobyl lacked containment (these plants do have containment basins to collect most of any reactor that were to melt down), and had different materials, so when the pressure explosion occurred, the radioactive particles could travel much more effectively / much farther.

So.. no, this plant isn't going to "leak" or expose the entire world to deadly radiation for thousands or millions of years. If it does completely melt down, they will clean up after. The oceans are not going to all die because of it. Nature is pretty resilient, if we don't interfere.

And this is assuming it will fully fail. I don't think it will, I think it will continue to have recovery, and they will bring it under control.

Yahoo story says Radiation spike is a mistake


move along nothing to see here