Published: April 22nd, 2012 at 4:54 pm ET
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Title: Robert Alvarez: The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Is Far From Over
Source: Huffington Post
Author: Robert Alvarez*
Date: Apr 22, 2012
More than a year after the Fukushima nuclear power disaster began, the news media is just beginning to grasp that the dangers to Japan and the rest of the world are far from over. After repeated warnings by former senior Japanese officials, nuclear experts, and now a U.S. Senator, it’s sinking in that the irradiated nuclear fuel stored in spent fuel pools amidst the reactor ruins pose far greater dangers than the molten cores. This is why:• Nearly all of the 10,893 spent fuel assemblies sit in pools vulnerable to future earthquakes, with roughly 85 times more long-lived radioactivity than released at Chernobyl
• Several pools are 100 feet above the ground and are completely open to the atmosphere because the reactor buildings were demolished by explosions. The pools could possibly topple or collapse from structural damage coupled with another powerful earthquake.
• The loss of water exposing the spent fuel will result in overheating and can cause melting and ignite its zirconium metal cladding resulting in a fire that could deposit large amounts of radioactive materials over hundreds, if not thousands of miles. [...]
*Robert Alvarez, an Institute for Policy Studies senior scholar, served as senior policy adviser to the Energy Department’s secretary and deputy assistant secretary for national security and the environment from 1993 to 1999. He is an award winning author whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, the Nation, Technology Review, and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. He has also been featured on”60 Minutes”, Nova and All Things Considered.
Read the report here
Published: April 22nd, 2012 at 4:54 pm ET
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sending...
"..What both accidents have in common is widespread environmental contamination from cesium-137. With a half-life of 30, years, Cs-137 gives off penetrating radiation, as it decays and can remain dangerous for hundreds of years. Once in the environment, it mimics potassium as it accumulates in the food chain. When it enters the human body, about 75 percent lodges in muscle tissue, with, perhaps, the most important muscle being the heart…."
THE HEART!! hear that geraldine thomas.. cesium 137 and the heart!! havent heard from her recently, expected a happy nuke easter (everythings ok) show!!
goto the Chernobyl Heart website for more confermation of this statement.. how can imperial college university london get it so horribly wrong?? its cost people their lives and their health..!!/rant
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arclight,
This new incident will hasten so much death and make it much harder to pinpoint who's poisons killed who !
Lawyers have it made on both sides now, no one is going to see how horrific this is going to get nut many of the lawyers will die before they get paid !
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To paraphrase Henry:
Nuke all the lawyers first!!!
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Wow, breaking news!!! Not. I doubt this will even "wake" anyone up.
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Enenewsers figure this out (all the isotopes) in the first days, others were calling us doomsday crazies, … well !
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People have been pointing to the dangers presented by fuel pools requiring constant cooling for decades. It is one of the biggest open secrets of the nuclear industry that sfp cooling and core decay heat cooling after emergency shutdown are serious weak-links in their systems. Hopefully the horrible ongoing tragedies of Fukushima will at least help the public to see the danger in our midst… before we finish the job of killing entire future generations instead of merely killing and maiming millions of humans, animals, and plants.
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Just a few reasons why all nuclear power plants must be shut down and all fuel put in cold storage.
On 3/11; 15 Nuclear Reactors In Japan Were Damaged, Not 3 or 4
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/14-nuclear-reactors-at-4-japan-sites.html
Atucha Nuclear Reactor Taken Over By Terrorists; via A Green Road Blog
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/04/atucha-nuclear-reactor-taken-over-by.html
Fukushima Reactor 4; Global Life Extinction Event If It Collapses; via A Green Road Blog
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/04/fukushima-reactor-4-life-extinction.html
12 reasons why all nuclear power plants must be shut down; via A Green Road Blog http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/12-reasons-why-all-nuclear-power-plants.html
Super Solar Storm To Hit Earth In 2013 'Carrington Effect'; 400 Nuke Plants Will Melt Down/Explode; via A Green Road Blog
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/super-solar-storm-predicted-to-hit-2013.html
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More likely the media was silenced by direct order of the Federal Government. I do not like the silence of the main street media on this issue.
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Came from the top with all the world leaders !
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The media gag is irresponsible and dishonest.
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Cool! You just described the world's governments (except Iceland)
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The Art of Deception: The Cult of Nuclearists, Uranium Weapons and Fraudulent Science; via A Green Road Blog
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/primer-in-art-of-deception-cult-of.html
TEPCO Loses Insurance Coverage; Japanese Nuclear Plants; Via A Green Road Blog
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/tepco-loses-insurance-coverage-for-all.html
The Psychopathy Of Corporations; "I Am Fishhead"
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/04/psychopathy-of-corporations.html
How Do Corporations Dominate Elections With Money In the US? via a Green Road Blog
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-do-corporations-rule-in-us.html
Corporations Effect On Humanity: War by Other Means by Jon Pilger
http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/04/corporations-effect-on-humanity-war-by.html
Classified, Top Secret, Classified, Top Secret; via A Green Road Blog http://agreenroad.blogspot.com/2012/03/classified-top-secret-classified-top.html
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I think there's plenty of proof the U.S. government does not care about citizens at all.
Those who run it have only one concern, protecting the investments of the owners of the currency and the monetary system.
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Geiger Counter Interpretation Simplified
This pretty much kicks some serious butt, this little chart that I made. Chart in Japanese is at the Bottom
A super condensed table on how to interpret Geiger Readings
And seriously, if you take this radiation stuff at all seriously, then get a Geiger. All the rest is guesswork.
Radiation Alert Inspector, $530 to $600 Amazon
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2012/04/geiger-counter-interpretation.html
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I have my Russian Ekotect, it yellow, Russian labels.
But it does the job. Was $400 on e bay
Worth it.
I think of it as my 'give up the day job' meter.
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Nice chart, stock. Enough data to be useful yet condensed enough so that nobody can complain that it is hard to understand.
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excellent graph…
Would you mind if I use it with credit and link to your article?
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Please do
I made it to send with a Geiger that I sent to a Japanese family. And also translated it to Japanese if you scroll down the page.
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Thanks..
Every home should have a good quality Geiger Counter plugged into the wall, working 24 hours a day, with an automatic alarm setup, just like carbon monoxide, smoke and fire alarms.
Will plug in radon detectors work for other types of radiation?
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dont know about that, at $500 anyone who is not "poor" should have one.
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Thank you, Stock. Shared at Reality Check Geiger forum
http://realitycheck.no-ip.info/forum/index.php/topic,20.msg178.html#msg178
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ReTweet Please – Not my Tweet but anothers:
@enenews @FukushimaDiary deserves #Global applause 4sticking w/& exposing desperate #Fukushima situation #genpatsu #BBC #PBS @maddow #LAW #HumanRight
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Pia Christina from F311WDogs tweeted that. Good for her!!
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That IS WAY cool of her!
But, even cooler of YOU Whoop's,…for bringing her 'salutation' to such deeper corners than even her tweet!
I'm encouraged to read this–thanks friend!
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She's incredible, eh? I will TAKE HER LEAD every single day here on out!!
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The endgame of the Keynesian experiment started around 1980
Lots of infrastructure was built around that time. Money started flowing, taxes started increasing.
Lots of facilities work well for around 30 to 40 years.
All that stuff, the nuke plants, the electrical grid itself is reaching the point of being just too old.
Look at the amazing increase in severe power outages.
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2012/04/clunkers-everywhere.html
Nukers tell me how the power grid is "robust" and how that it could easily handle a Carrington event, and that things can and would be disconnected in time.
What a bunch of hogwash. Do you think that a corporation will shut down their grid pre-emptively on a "maybe" No way. Swing for the fence and if they strike out….well then the public pays the cost.
In the case of nukers, that means a good portion of 450 nuke plants will melt down on a massive grid failure. And that will be the end. The Mad Max days won't even last long, probably not even 6 months.
Review the Carrington here
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/p/carrington-event-and-astronomy.html”
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Stock, that comment is FULL OF HISTORY I did NOT KNOW! Wowzer! Posted on the Robert Alvarez thread. Normally, I love history but this history IS MESSED UP. Thank you so much!
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Oops! Meant your link is full of history. Thank you so much. Dang, CAN WE JUST SHUT THE SUCKERS DOWN NOW, PRETTY PLEASE?!?!?
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Sorry whoopie, i don't think 'pretty please' will work.
i think, start with a baseball bat, and work upward to atomic bomb from there. that's the only way to top them.
the nukers are too thick headed and foolhardy and up their own clackers to listen to any meaningful debate.
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Our research team talked with an engineer that is an expert with EMP pulses. He said there is no way to protect electrical circuits from EMP generated damage or destruction unless they are behind six inches of LEAD, even if they are DISCONNECTED and OFF.
If true, it does not bode well for what is coming.
Even if the pro nukers can do as they say and disconnect a nuke plant from power during a Carrington Effect, what happens to a nuke plant without ANY POWER?
What if this EMP PULSE/Solar Storm lasts for eight hours or longer?
We know that Fuku melted down within 8 hours of NOT HAVING ANY POWER..
None of the spent fuel pools will last much longer than that. They can no longer be passively cooled.
They all take electricity and pumps working to keep cool. Fuku again proved this fact by actual example.
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Fukushima revealed that every plant needs to have multiple layers of contingency plans in place for continued cooling.
Even if that means the plant owners and operators need to develop and implement batterypacks-a-plenty just-in-case then sobeit.
And the Govt has a duty in due diligence to enforce the additional layers of safety for its citizens, since 311, more than ever.
For any other troubled plant to lose their cooling ability post Fukushima is gross negligence.
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I wrapped an existing top secret SatCom center in stainless steel sheet to protect against EMP. We didn't "test it" LOL. 4 year, $10M project. The wrap was continous, inside, outside, underside, welded to the rebars too.
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Alternative media beats Huffpo again:
http://EndtheLie.com/2012/04/21/fukushima-is-falling-apart-are-you-ready/#axzz1skZJcAcz
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You mean Fluffpo. Good link – will post it at HP.
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+1 eyechix
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Yes thanks eyechix .. +++
This is recent editorial from Washingting Post today:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/phasing-out-nuclear/2012/04/22/gIQArSXbaT_story.html
Obviously pronuke lobby and protecting their investors .. I doubt the Washington Post has been too worried about greenhouse emissions or even recognized manmade global warming much at all .. except to laugh out Al Gore as the "inventor of the internet" ..
At least they recognize Fukushitty as scary .. but bury their heads in the sand otherwise. It is a lamo argument but is meant to divide the ignorant and. so called "greens" ..
Maybe they really are desperate which is a sign in itself. Greenhouse we have time to deal with .. Fukushitty as an ELE we do not.
I would say thanks for making my day .. well maybe I will anyway cause that's aboput as much time as we may be able to count on to mitigate.
Peace all.
Bako
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Your piece?
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Most excellent article eyechix!
Thanks,…I sent it on to the family in S. Cal.
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Women launch hunger strike in Tokyo's anti-nuke tent city
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/04/19/hunger-strike-launched-at-antinuclear-tent-city/
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QUICK SEARCH HP VIEWS
2010 Huffington Post Hits Record 26 Million
CAN YOU IMAGINE NOW? STOP WAITING, POST!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-alvarez/the-fukushima-nuclear-dis_b_1444146.html
HATE THESE THREADS THAT JUST DIE B'CAUSE NO ONE WEIGHS IN.
Not blaming YOU, just saying.
Alvarez has such a IMPORTANT ARTICLE at HP!
By the comments, HP musta buried it quick.
Pls write something, thanking him for his report!
(TY too Admin…as usual!)
TY
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Keep up work all. Let us keep faith until the final hour and bell tolls. It is the least we can do.
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Whoopie I left a messg on Alverez's story last night before bed. I will go back and leave some more this afternoon after work. If you have a chance fan me there(same screen name)I might reach more people if I have more than one fan. LOL
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We are way past danger. The jerks that set up Reactor 4 and the rest of the lot performed an act of hate and stupidity which surpasses any act previously carried out by a biped. Now we must work to stay away from radioactivity and try to help those already stricken. Danger now is manifested as woe and sickness and loss. To bad the American president is such a lame brained placebo.
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Hello dear souls,
I've finally made the leap from lurking to log in. My heart goes out to you who are trying to make sense of these tragedies, as well as to all who suffer (or will).
Altho it neglects to warn readers to avoid using products or foods from contaminated areas, this is the best advice I've found thusfar re mitigating radiation health risks:
http://www.radiationdetoxification.com/radiation-detox-articles.htm
I'm an activist, wondering if it's worth staying in the belly of the beast (usa) and keeping up the good fight, or if I'd be of more use to the world (ie alive) if I bail to the southern hemisphere.
What do you think?
East of San Francisco, yesterday I learned of a 7 year old who has a tumor on her kidney.
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Hi demo, a big WELCOME! It's great to "see new faces" around! Regarding your question: as you describe yourself as an activist, I'd guess you could do more important work "poking the belly of the beast from inside" than being abroad? Folks in the US need you!
*cheers
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The media has known the truth since the beginning, but they don't report it because if they do, they won't get any more bailouts from their government masters.
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Spent fuel is a danger… not just the damaged spent fuel pool #4, but our spent fuel pools all across the nation, and around the world. The design and plan was to be temporary storage, cooling recent spent fuel to a safer temperature, removing it to sealed isolated dry casks, in a guarded environment. The temporary storage has become permanent, the temperatures higher, the facilities over crowded, the pools themselves older, and many areas virtually impossible to maintain as the radioactive levels just continue to climb. We refuse even to debate possible solutions this problem we just deny it, make it worse and go forward. Help Japan? Certainly we need to be part of the process to help them through this crisis, but that is just the warning sign of the real dangers ahead.
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