Published: October 31st, 2011 at 1:13 am ET
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KORIYAMA, Oct. 31 — “Japan still is struggling to figure out how to clean up the mess, exacerbating fears about health risks and fanning mistrust of the government,” reports Yumiko Ono in today’s Wall Street Journal.
In fact, government policies may be increasing the spread of radioactive particles: According to the article, “Some experts say some ad hoc cleanup efforts risk spreading radiation further.”
For example, Ono says schools “are temporarily storing contaminated soil in holes dug within the school compounds and lined with plastic sheets.”
Of this ‘storage’ method, Kimberlee Kearfott, a University of Michigan nuclear-engineering professor who has served on U.S. government panels for nuclear cleanups, says:
- Plastic isn’t a long-lasting seal against radioactive substances leaking.
- If radioactive materials get into the ground water and are concentrated there that could be worse than soil contamination because it could spread rapidly.
- “This type of shallow-pit burial has not been used in the U.S. since the 1960s.”
- “This is definitely not a good idea.”
Officials at Japan’s environment ministry “concede the task is daunting,” according to the Journal article.
During an interview, Vice Minister Hideki Minamikawa said:
- “We don’t have experience in this field.”
- “We’re talking about such a vast area.”
- “Currently, there are no clear signs yet on what needs to be done to make decontamination a success.”
Read More: Cleanup of Fukushima Radiation Confounds Japan
Published: October 31st, 2011 at 1:13 am ET
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No experience – don’t do it. Simple.
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but thats too easy!
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Got to love how these people want to build these things even with tremendous knowledge of their threats in regions must just say, We’ll deal with that if it happens !
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they choose to go into it blind. they never plan on a nuclear reactor melting down or going out of control because its not supposed to happen because of how “safe” they are when theyre built. they dont plan in once in 10000 year events as they call it. japan had never expected a 9.0 to hit their area any time soon. even if they had it in the back of their heads when building these plants years ago they probably had the same thought in their heads “if an event like that happens it wont be for a while and we should have the technology to clean it up or protect against it” just like how they said now theyre hoping that in 10 years theyll have the technology to remove the cores. its wishful thinking and choosing to turn a blind eye to what could really happen with shit like this. we are really dumb as a human race to not learn from these mistakes. i dont know who said it but there’s a quote that goes something like “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”
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“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”
Albert Einstein
Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.
Albert Einstein
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One big difference between Chernobyl and Fukushima. Japan has way less land then Russia. Evacuation way more difficult and less politically appealing with Tokyo so close. Decontamination efforts either sign of desperation or wallpaper to bolster the spin. We’ve all seen pictures of the decontamination efforts of power wash crews. Personally, I don’t need the Wall St. Journal to tell me it is a big waste of time. Looks pretty obvious.
I think decontamination efforts are window dressing to make Japanese public think authorities can do something for them. They aren’t and won’t. Mandate is to avoid panic, not disease.
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All true, except I believe the concern to avoid panic is itself secondary to the desire not to damage the economy (including the nuclear industry) any more than it already is. They care about money even more than they care about public order/safety, but they hide behind the alleged concern to not cause panic because that sounds more acceptable coming from the mouth of supposed public servants. The only people they are fooling are themselves, however. They should open their eyes and see what they are allowing to continue happening to their own people. But if they do that, they will also have to acknowledge their own shame and complicity, and they prefer to continue deluding themselves.
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> “concede the task is daunting”
You mean, impossible. It is literally impossible to clean up this mess. How can they possibly do so. Japan can never be the same. Congratulations Japan, thanks to your ties to the US and the nuclear industry you have been nuked again. Only this time it is MUCH worse than WW2. You have literally destroyed your country in slow motion and most of you do not even know it.
> “We don’t have experience in this field.”
Then you should not have built nuclear reactors on fault lines without adequate safety measures in place (Power generators up behind the nuclear reactors away from the shore with adequate wiring and backup connectors. Also the Tsunami retaining wall should have been made high enough.
I will say that I feel, much to my personal dismay, that Japan will never be able to recover from this and that it is the end in slow motion. This will, of course, mean a domino effect around the world for the economy.
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“> “We don’t have experience in this field.”
Then you should not have built nuclear reactors on fault lines without adequate safety measures in place (Power generators up behind the nuclear reactors away from the shore with adequate wiring and backup connectors. Also the Tsunami retaining wall should have been made high enough.”
They should’ve built it as safe as San Onofre, you mean? Safe from earthquakes, with a sufficient tsunami wall and first class technical equipment?
*peace
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“. Also the Tsunami retaining wall should have been made high enough.””
Better yet, they shouldn’t have lowered the fucking cliff 25 meters to begin with!
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in a few years will not be a global player JP more
The world economy will gradually withdraw
every day without panic and with new bad news,
it seems to shrink further
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Quote: “We don’t have experience in this field.”
No one is experience in this. This is just one of the small reasons why we should not have Nuclear Power Plants
Quote: “We’re talking about such a vast area.”
Vast area, how far is that exactly?
Did he mean : vast economic losses.
BTW…Radiation accumulates
Quote: “Currently, there are no clear signs yet on what needs to be done to make decontamination a success.”
To my knowledge, there hasn’t been a successful decontamination.
I don’t believe this stuff can’t be totally decontaminated.
It Lives~~~Grows~~~Blows~~~In The Wind
Looks like no one learned from Chernobyl, or Fukushima disaster would never have happened.
Please Close Nuclear Power Plants, Thank You
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Where is my edit button..lol..
I don’t believe this stuff can totally be decontaminated.
It~~~Lives~~~Grows~~~Blows~~~In The Wind
Not sure why anyone thinks, all this can be decontaminated??
It’s still spewing, they can’t even stop that.
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Putting the Genie back in the bottle !
Where’s that Time Machine ?
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I wish I knew, but if you find that time machime let us know.
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Because they WANT to believe it! They DESPERATELY WANT it to be so. Do they really THINK it is so? NO,…they do not! Any body language expert,…from about the time Hill had that ‘TRADE AGREEMENT meeting’,…knew something EVIL this way comes!
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I also desperately want this to go away, but the facts are this won’t be going away.
You are so right about the body language, they all know the damage.
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Japan is now a side order of toast.
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I agree that Japan is now a side order of toast.
I’m afraid our bread is in the toaster, and we’re next
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I haven’t read all the posts; so I apologize if this has already been said, but this article is just propaganda to limit legal liability for the Japanese government. They know what’s happening, have known, and know in specific detail what is happening to everyone. Never let the government or nuclear power corporations or associations tell you they do not know.
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Sure, they think, they know. At least they have a lot more information and hide it! What they miss, is the simple fact, that they share the same air, as everyone else! If they stop this idiotic burning of radioactive waste, they will increase their own chances a lot, together with the chances for many more people.
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DEAR LEADERSHIP OF JAPAN Japan Gov’t on Containing Radiation
WHY DON’T YOU ASK FOR HELP FROM
CHRIS BUSBY
ARNIE GUNDERSEN
NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS
EMERGENCY TRAINED FIRST RESPONDERS AND OTHERS WHO COULD PUT A PANEL TOGETHER
MARKWW IN HOUSTON, TEXAS
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And the Russians have wantedd to help fromn the begining…THEY have experience in this area!!!!
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Yes, the Russians have had experience in this. They would have been the first on my speed dial. Then I would gather all the other professionals who is “not” trying to save their profits or themselves.
There is no room for pride, in a situation like this.
The honor thing to do is honesty and doing your best for the people and the earth.
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Kaku, Hawkins….
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They asked IAEA, received their report full of admirations, and now what?! Did not those experts give some advices?!
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@pure water….the IAEA gave the same advice as they gave in kazakstan…..shhhhhhhh!
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sack and hang the japanese government. move them aside. move tepco aside. this is an international, no-borders catastrophe of armageddon proportions.
jap gov and tepco are evil beyond even that of the mythical satan. they need to be cast into the wells of fukushima – let someone else have the plant who can fix it (or, at least, begin some harm reduction and some truth expansion).
“‘dear’ leadership” – bollocks. stop sticking you’re tongue up the fascists’ cracks. don’t let the jap gov ask for anything.. it’s way beyond time to take over by force.
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Great comment, Mancer, even if it is ultra-violent.
The answer is never easy to realize that the violent ones must be faced with violence.
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That’s ..um, nice.
Stay classy, americans!
http://cdn.ientry.com/sites/webpronews/pictures/classy_america.jpg
Karma is really a bitch, isn’t it? enjoy your radiation!
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” it’s way beyond time to take over by force. ”
that would allow mahers mates (recently sacked in japan, recently employed in usa …quietly! shhh) to claim the rest of the uncontaminated lands in japan for the us military in my opinion!! bet they would do a better job except they are a big part of the reason for this disaster
heres the dirt on the maher/state department!!
http://enenews.com/book-govt-considering-plan-evacuate-all-90000-citizens-living-tokyo-knew-fuel-melted-early-global-hawk-data/comment-page-1#comment-120669
read that and decide if the us military should take over by force…..the us military has taken over already and decided to carry on with a disinformation policy…
just my take!
peace
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ooops just noticed…..
“on Mancer’s and jimbojamesiv’s locations”
thinking
us military purge lemming revolution from norway and internet
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dats roight now sir!!
tá súil agam nach bhfuil mo chuid MI5 cic bun
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Mancer – If the official position of the Japanese gov on it’s decontamination efforts is that it’s a daunting task in a field we have little experience in and that there are no signs to indicate what actions are necessary to make decontamination a success, as the news article leading this topic suggests, are they not, in effect, screaming for help? You may be pushing for the formation of an invading army with no one to fight.
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one simple tip:
stop new emissions before cleaning the old emissions
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Ya, seems kind of like a no brainer dosent it Cat
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Yes Cat,…that would be too simple. Think I’ll open my windows next time my neighbor starts up his leaf blower,….and dust my tabletops,…yes sir-e,….hummmm, wonder why they are dusty again 10 minutes later? Hummm, Oh well,….too much thinking for one day,…I’ll go back to watching ‘Dancing with the stars’!
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Belgium quits nuclear power!
YES! After finally setting up a new government after more than a year, the Belgians decided to abandon nuclear power starting in 2015 until 2025. Good news!!
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/10748445-belgium-will-close-its-nuclear-plants
*B&B off to buy some yummy Belgian chocolate
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nice post b and b
enjoy the chocolate! make sure you get plain not milk chocolate…after mercoule we have about another 5 weeks before the possible iodine 131 has cleared…dont want ya getting contaminated for no reason eh!?
peace
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It says everything when countries choose to deny nuclear development.
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Ground control to Major Tom….It’s time for Armageddon measures…. Bruce Willis and myself and the Red Adair drilling team are headed to FooKoo to blow that mother into the sea. Boris is meeting us there with a couple of neutron zingers and in 100 hours Fortune Island is going to be in Davy Jones locker. The biggest sea flotilla since Dunkirk is waiting over the horizon with enough borax loaded to bury Mount Fuji.
May Godspeed be with us, because Tepco ain’t.
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Nice, that’s the response we need
every mythical super hero can use their super powers and put smiley happy faces on everyone and the ‘issues’ are all saved.
Hmmm, what do the japanese do without Santa Claus ? And the Easter bunny ? How can people smile without an Easter bunny ? Doesn’t matter anymore, cause there’ll soon be no Japan. With, or without, super heroes.
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How did we do at 3 mile Island and the other accidents ???
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before the 2008 investment shift to nuclear power…george monibot used to do articles like this?? 12 September 2006
“If the perennial farce at the Dounreay nuclear site, on the north coast of Scotland, were any closer to the surface of public consciousness, we would be hounding and haranguing them wherever they go. A report in this weekend’s Sunday Times suggests that the agencies charged with cleaning the site up have, in effect, conceded defeat. Dounreay – or the area surrounding it – cannot be wholly decontaminated. Nuclear pollution from the site will last for as long as the fissile metals remain radioactive.
Perhaps we should not be surprised to discover that, when the experimental reactor at Dounreay was commissioned, no thought was given to the problem of how it might be dismantled. In 1954 the nuclear industry, shielded from public scrutiny by the Official Secrets Act, behaved as if it were based on an uninhabited planet. The cold war and the prospect of electricity too cheap to meter seemed to justify almost any kind of corner-cutting.
Nor, sadly, is there anything unusual about the plant’s later cock-ups. Last month, for example, Dounreay was fined £2m for spilling radioactive waste. Last year its regulators reported that 250 safety failures had taken place since 1999. Among them was Dounreay’s generous gift to the community of containers used to store low-level radioactive waste. They were to be turned into a Santa’s grotto for local children. Another report showed that fissile waste was being stored in paint tins or simply left where it had been found. One former employee claimed that samples from Dounreay’s radioactive effluent tanks were collected for analysis with a Wellington boot on a piece of string, as the proper equipment had rusted up.”
and there was a recent article claiming that they had to give up the cleanup…whats been happening since 2006 then??? they carried on the pointless cleanup anyway!!
i smell some nuclear…
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It strikes me the only way to accomplish a result *close* to decontaminated is to wait until the emissions have ceased, wait then for the airborne fallout to cease. Then scrub all above ground contaminated surfaces and rinse all contaminants to the ground.
COVER THE ENTIRE GROUND SURFACE HOWEVER MANY FEET WITH SOIL UNTIL YOU BELIEVE THE CONTAMINATION IS PROBABLY CONTAINED BELOW THE SURFACE. WHO KNOWS, IT MAY TAKE 50 FEET OF TOPSOIL TO OFFSET THE VOLUME OF CONTAMINANTS AT GROUND-LEVEL?
I’m not saying this is practical, realistic or even possible to complete. I just cant seem to figure any other way one could ‘decontaminate’ a whole country where it would actually be left with a lower contamination level once completed.
The time to wait for the air fallout to complete could be decades alone. Only then would any earnest ground level work even be practical. Otherwise you wipe and new deposits are back before you head home for dinner….
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Another equivalent way as far as the waiting time to heal goes is to see the whole thing played out or rather given an impression of something happening, because …the way things are going on it will be the end of life. Then 4.32 billion years later the beings will be recreated and the thing replayed. It is called waiting till the day of Brahma dawns. This comment is made after reading the excellent discussions of all above. Some people have expressed the view that when we close down the nuke shows right now, we will still be left with the forever in meltdown state sfps which must be safeguarded for at least 100 million years(neptunium 237 will be the dominant nuclide accounting for most of the radiation) and that may not be achieved successfully. This means the mobility of neptunium 237 will overtake our safeguards. And contaminate the biosphere sufficiently to cause the occurrence of the crash and extinction. One sees this to happen in cycles of life and fallow states. This is the essence of the interpretation of some scientific statements like which appears in the Gita.
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Eventually,….a ‘focus group’, or ‘think tank’ is going to come up with an IMPERATIVE dilemma to overcome. “We must stop the reactors,…one way or the other”.
Is there any other goal that matters, really? Besides, ‘get the kids out’?
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Right now the government would rather the kids die en masse with them than come here and say what has really happened. But Enenewsers you may have forgotten one thing:
The members of the IAEA that recently visited are now exposed. As well as the entertainers and visitors that have traveled there these past few months to declare that “everything is safe”.
Wait until the first big Japanese celebrities acknowledge that they are sick. Wait until the first prominent AMERICAN celebrity gets publicly sick.
It’s going to be full-on panic.
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