Published: October 29th, 2011 at 12:34 pm ET
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Japan’s leaders must face country’s ‘latent’ possession of nuclear weapons, Mainichi Daily News by Taro Maki, Expert Senior Writer, October 28, 2011:
[...] There’s a little “secret” to the reprocessing plant [at Rokkasho in Aomori Prefecture], however.
On July 17, 1988, Japan implemented revisions to the Japan-U.S. Nuclear Agreement that would allow Japan to construct nuclear fuel reprocessing plants, despite strong opposition from the U.S. Congress. Using its own enrichment technology, it was now possible for Japan, in theory, to produce the raw materials necessary to build nuclear bombs.
By 2005, the year I last visited Rokkasho, the facility had been subject to 11 routine inspections and 14 unannounced inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose aim was to ensure that the plant was not producing any such materials. Despite being a nonnuclear weapons state, Japan was now a “latent” nuclear weapons state. Japan claims it is protected against threats from other countries by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, but the rest of the world sees Japan as a state that would not hesitate to possess nuclear arms, if the circumstances called for it.
The call to eliminate our dependence on nuclear power has become widespread since the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant began. And yet, our leaders have failed to make any mention of the country’s latent nuclear weapons capacity.
The true elimination of our dependence on nuclear power, however, must include our abandonment of nuclear weapons possession. The decisions we face now hold the key to the security of our country.
Read More: Japan’s leaders must face country’s ‘latent’ possession of nuclear weapons
Published: October 29th, 2011 at 12:34 pm ET
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Nuclear Weapons Program
“In the fall of 1940, the Japanese army concluded that constructing an atomic bomb was indeed feasible. The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, or Rikken, was assigned the project under the direction of Yoshio Nishina. The Japanese Navy was also diligently working to create its own “superbomb” under a project was dubbed F-Go, headed by Bunsaku Arakatsu at the end of World War II. The F-Go program [or No. F, for fission] began at Kyoto in 1942. However, the military commitment wasn’t backed with adequate resources, and the Japanese effort to an atomic bomb had made little progress by the end of the war.”
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/japan/nuke/
Secret Weapons Program Inside Fukushima Nuclear Plant?
U.S.-Japan security treaty fatally delayed nuclear workers’ fight against meltdown
by Yoichi Shimatsu April 12, 2011
“The smoke and mirrors at Fukushima 1 seem to obscure a steady purpose, an iron will and a grim task unknown to outsiders. The most logical explanation: The nuclear industry and government agencies are scrambling to prevent the discovery of atomic-bomb research facilities hidden inside Japan’s civilian nuclear power plants.
A secret nuclear weapons program is a ghost in the machine, detectable only when the system of information control momentarily lapses or breaks down. A close look must be taken at the gap between the official account and unexpected events.”
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24275
no surprise there then!!
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a little surprised to see it in Mainichi though?
and how about the last paragraph
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surprised indeed! well done mainchi…looks like they might loose some revenue this year….people could donate directly to their site for being honest ?? people power!!
if they loose their energy funding contact them direct to add a donate button and its happy journalists….positively radiation proof!! heres the contact page
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/info/etc/contact.html
see mainchi…you could break the “buisness model”…calls for a bit of lateral thinking perhaps1
gotta go now love the work you do admin!!
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“The true elimination of our dependence on nuclear power, however, must include our abandonment of nuclear weapons possession. The decisions we face now hold the key to the security of our country.”
It’s like a person holding onto a big stick he thinks will protect him from enemies where as the whole time the stick is crawling with 100′s of blackwidows.
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There is no surprise in:
“The true elimination of our dependence on nuclear power, however, must include our abandonment of nuclear weapons possession.
The decisions we face now hold the key to the security of our country.”
I read it in that Way that we should keep our Plants on-line not only because of the Power/ Energy but also, maybe even more important- because of the ability to produce Nuclear Bombs!
Some People still believe in nuclear Deterrence
and every Nuclear Power Plant is a potential place for a production of “Little Boys”,
there is only one country not allowed to do so and this is the beautiful Iran!
PS: i don”t believe that the Japanese Government already produced such Bombs in F’Shima,
everyone who find out that they done so were kind of a Hero because this Information would be lethal for the political Establishment here in Nippon!
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From Wiki…
Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant
he Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (六ヶ所村核燃料再処理施設 Rokkasho Kakunenryō Saishori Shisetsu?) is a nuclear reprocessing plant with an annual capacity of 800 tons of uranium or 8 tons of plutonium,[1] owned by Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited located in the village of Rokkasho in northeast Aomori Prefecture, Japan approximately 17 miles (27 kilometers) north of the US Air Force’s Misawa Air Base. Since 1993 there has been US$ 20 billion invested in the project, nearly triple the original cost estimate.[2] It is currently[when?] undergoing test operations, separating a small amount of used nuclear fuel. It is the successor to a smaller reprocessing plant located in Tōkai, Ibaraki.
At the same site there will also be:
A high level nuclear waste monitoring facility
A MOX fuel fabrication plant
A uranium enrichment plant
A low level radioactive waste landfill
In 2010, the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant consisted of 38 buildings on an area of 3,800,000 m².
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokkasho_Reprocessing_Plant
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+100. Thanx Jeebs, I was looking for that smoking gun info also, but got tied up reading all the technical issues on MOX, reprocessing techniques, Generation IV reactors, depleted uranium. It was heavy slogging for a non-scientist, but all the pieces make sense to me now
Now I know why Chisso had the nearly 2 tons of DU in the building that burned up in Tokyo in March. That was a pittance though of what the reprocessing plant has produced. Probably selling tons to aircraft manufacturers across the globe as wing counterweights (a single airliner may have more than the entire Chisso factory inventory). Boeing denies they still use DU on planes, but radiation evidence at the Pentagon suicide bombing makes me wonder:
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/depleted_uranium.html
This could also mean Chisso was lying about how much depleted uranium burned up. It burned for days and since we know how many lies have been told perhaps there was much, much more.
But the DU is not the main issue nor is the proliferation issue… That is a smokescreen. There was no intent to sell plutonium to weapons merchants. The US helped fund the plant because Congress would not let them build their own at the time (we will see how the Savannah site fares politically as the Fuku continues to hit the fan).
So here’s the deal… You have a country like Japan looking for their junkie fix for their reactors and uranium prices were skyrocketing because of high demand and declining supplies. So they hear that MOX fuel will allow them to essentially create their own fuel forever from their reprocessing plant. And with Generation IV plants scheduled to come online in 20 years the fuel would be ready and waiting.
But something unfortunate happened and its name was the Great East Japan Earthquake that set off the worst man-made pollution disaster in the history of mankind. The MOX fuel reactor at Unit 3 in Fukushima Daiichi exploded and sprayed toxic isotopes essentially…
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…essentially destroying Japan. Honshu island is ground zero and a ticking timebomb for human death and suffering. The rest of the world is collateral damage.
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It is worse than you think!
Keep reading down to this:
http://enenews.com/mainichi-reveals-secret-japan-nuke-plant-country-latent-possession-nuclear-weapons/comment-page-1#comment-148341
Mox was supposed to be proliferation safe, till they modified what it is…
UREX+ = 50% Plutonium + 50% Uranium + other nasties…
IIRC:
That way they can say it is not plutonium being stockpiled!
And they can seperate very quickly if needed…
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Rokkasho and Japan’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle Policy
This is CNIC’s access point to English information about nuclear activities at Rokkasho Village, located in Aomori Prefecture. There are also links to a few other closely related topics.
http://cnic.jp/english/topics/cycle/rokkasho/index.html
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First Committee Hears Introduction of Eight Drafts on Range of Topics, from Threat
of Outer Space Arms Race to Terrorist Acquisition of Mass Destruction Weapons
“The delegate of Canada’s statement during the nuclear weapons debate was void of reference to the real danger of his region: Israeli nuclear weapons. It proved Canada’s support for nuclear proliferation. He called on the representative of Canada to stop the hypocrisy, since her country was part of the Manhattan Project, which had led to the first nuclear bomb used in Japan. Did her country make an official apology to the people of Japan, who were still suffering from the consequences of the use of nuclear bombs, and to provide compensation?”
“Syria’s delegate said the German representative had turned a blind eye to the real danger of Israeli’s nuclear weapons and instead was critical of Syria. Germany was non‑compliant with the NPT, due to its cooperation with Israel to develop a means to launch nuclear weapons. Germany was exercising double standards concerning his “house of glass”.
The Netherlands was in flagrant non‑compliance with NPT provisions, due to nuclear weapons stationed on its territory and supplying nuclear technology and materials to Israel. The attempt by the Netherlands’ delegate to criticize Syria could not detract from the Netherlands’ non‑compliance issues.
France’s delegate’s statement was not surprising, said Syria’s delegate, in that it also had not criticized Israel. It must be remembered that France had committed crimes against Algerians during nuclear tests. Syria would hold France responsible for any damage inflicted in his region from the Dimona nuclear reactor, which France had given to Israel, he said.”
And finally, back on topic.. this
…cont
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“The delegate of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, exercising his right of reply, said concerning the delegate of Japan’s statement of 14 October that Japan had no moral authority to talk about nuclear issues, as it was under the “nuclear umbrella” of the United States. Japan had signed a secret agreement with the United States, had its own weapons‑grade plutonium, and had succeeded in launching a rocket. Japan was also conducting joint research on delivery systems with the United States. Yet, Japan had asked for the denuclearization of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
He said his country had declared that it possessed a nuclear deterrent, as a result of being under a nuclear threat since 1957. The six‑party talks stipulated that all the parties were to honour their rights and obligations.
Japan’s delegate asked for the immediate abandonment of enriching uranium, but this was a right of all States, he said.”
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/gadis3439.doc.htm
interesting read!! lol
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The Nuclear Disaster That Could Destroy Japan
….Is the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant Safe?
There are large seismic faults, capable of producing earthquakes at the 7 or 8 magnitude level, near each of Japan’s nuclear plants, including the reprocessing plant at Rokkasho. It is hard to believe that there is any nuclear plant that would not be damaged by a magnitude 8 earthquake.
A representative case is the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant itself, where it has become clear that the fault under the sea nearby also extends inland. The Rokkasho plant, where the nuclear waste (death ash) from all the nuclear plants in Japan is collected, is located on land under which the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate meet. That is, the plate that is the greatest danger to the Rokkasho plant, is now in motion deep beneath Japan.
The Rokkasho plant was originally built with the very low earthquake resistance factor of 375 gals. (Translator’s note: The gal, or galileo, is a unit used to measure peak ground acceleration during earthquakes. Unlike the scales measuring an earthquake’s general intensity, it measures actual ground motion in particular locations.) Today its resistance factor has been raised to only 450 gals, despite the fact that recently in Japan earthquakes registering over 2000 gals have been occurring one after another. Worse, the Shimokita Peninsula is an extremely fragile geologic formation that was at the bottom of the sea as recently as the sea rise of the Jomon period (the Flandrian Transgression) 5000 years ago; if an earthquake occurred there it could be completely destroyed.
The Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant is where expended nuclear fuel from all of Japan’s nuclear power plants is collected, and then reprocessed so as to separate out the plutonium, the uranium, and the remaining highly radioactive liquid waste. In short, it is the most dangerous factory in the world…..
http://www.japanfocus.org/-Hirose-Takashi/3534
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go get um fido!
c u later!
peace
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Funny how the “Conspiracy Theorists” were talking about secret bomb factories hidden in basements under Fukushima and people laughed. ( well I did ). Now a mainstream Japan paper has explained the lie. The re-processing plant which is supposed to be making fuel for reactors is re-processing PLUTONIUM, a key ingredient for nuclear weapons. Nobody will know what secret deals have been spun between US and Japan. But here we have mainstream evidence supporting Conspiricy theory of secret Japan nuclear weapons programmes. Happy thought. In my conversations with average people more and more lack confidence in anything any government says. Sadly they react to this by withdrawing from the political system.
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“Those who own the country” – George Carlin
Conspiracy Theorists:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO0-u900OG4&feature=channel_video_title
hmmm…???
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When the MOX reactor blew up, the sociopaths must have been teary-eyed that they were losing so much of their precious plutonium. What a waste, they thought, that it’s now in human tissues.
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why when?
nr 3 is a blew’n melting mox reactor.
and only tpc knows in how many spent fuels and drk corners the “chilln mox” is in trouble too.
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Too funny… probably true!
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Another foretelling read….
Proliferation-resistant Reprocessing
Submitted by wise on Mon, 2007-03-19 12:00
From last paragraph…
There is no sign that DOE is willing to actually do anything to address the current proliferation risk associated with existing plutonium stockpiles. Soon after GNEP was rolled out in February 2006, the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (Japan) began active testing with spent fuel, which will ultimately result in the separation of about four metric tons of plutonium. When the plant reaches full-scale operation, it will produce about eight metric tons per year. But Japan has already accumulated a plutonium stockpile in excess of forty tons, in contradiction to its 1997 pledge that its nuclear fuel cycle was based on the principle of “no surplus plutonium”. There is every indication that countries that now utilize PUREX, including France, Japan, the U.K., Russia and India, regard GNEP as an endorsement, not a rejection, of their current practices.
http://www.klimaatkeuze.nl/wise/monitor/653/5789
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Does anyone know if it’s possible to conclude that the snow hitting Northeast USA is nuclear snow?
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I heard there is snow tonight on US East Coast… calling it ‘Snowtober’ on the News. Emissions have been sky high – and ratcheted upwards lately which you KNOW is NOT a good sign… we are only being told what *they* believe *we* can handle. This is really quite fucked up but we have to move forward out of it somehow. How ridiculous we have to worry about a goddamn snowfall now in this lifetime. I know how to think about this new chaos, but am finding it hard to know how to feel many days.
The jet stream has to be thick with whats happening organically.
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Hello climate change.
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*This is going to be a bumpy ride* really fits our times more than ever doesn’t it?
You could never trade me for my own memories of times like Mae West when the world was a lot simple and A LOT better then.
I was lucky to have lived the larger time of my life knowing the difference.
The changes a coming are not going to be easy at all. Earth will again be on a path to a re-purification of her major systems. This kind of *destruction* should be expected. There is a much bigger picture we are a tiny piece and part of. Radiation flowing copiously and freely was never a part of the recipe either. We own that mistake collectively.
I only wonder what Mae West would have to say about Fukushima really.
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Unfortunately, there is no way to purify radiation. Not in the air, not in the ocean, not in fresh water, not in the soil, not in plants or animals. We will be literally consumed by the fire of radiation and nuclear destruction.
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Yes progress has led us to wonder if “it’s safe to eat a peach” I think before long we will be wondering about everything from bring in the house plants for winter to if that cheap beef is a black market import from Kobe. Too many balls in the air!
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I hope someone in the hit areas can test the snow. I have a sense Taco is right about the risks and this freak snowstorm, otherwise way too early, will be of significant benefit and advance our quest for knowledge, especially if the results are radioactive. We’d gain months (maybe!) in protecting ourselves for this winter as recommended. This problem is an opportunity.
Scientists should want to know this, n’est pas?
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could be.
but then more by catch some nuks up on the way down
’cause snow-core aerosols are bigger then heavy metall aerosols can fly.
the govs weather-actions try to wash the stuff out of the air into the ground.and if the ground is frozen, …
but in reallife it will gives harder and lower days.better take care.
no kiddys and no pets in the snow.
new found of toxc mushrooms in bavaria:
500% of the limits from japan.
“they” say it comes from chernobyl, but evil like “they” are-
nothing about what kind of nuk they found
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We made a “nice” mushroom video from Bavaria (especially MARONEN dont know the english word), its absolutly frighening, find mushrooms with a geiger counter, even the earth below is contaminated. We put in youtube very soon.
After this video, price of mushrooms might drop after this!
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The mushrooms are radioactive BECAUSE the soil underneath is contaminated.
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yes of course, and they are collecting it first in the mycel (english word ?) below in the ground, thats what we can also measure and of course the “fruit” were all goes up. Then the mushrooms are also consumed by wild pigs (wildschwein) and concentrated – finally get on our dishes.
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Definition: mycelium
Part of Speech Definition
Noun 1. The vegetative part of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching threadlike hyphae.[Wordnet]
2. The white threads or filamentous growth from which a mushroom or fungus is developed; the so-called mushroom spawn.[Websters].
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/mycelium
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Maronen are chestnuts.
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Hi anne, here in Ger we have mushrooms called Marone. The chestnuts we call Maroni…. the world is full of confusion, lol
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B&B, thanks for the help.
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Radioactive boars in Germany a legacy of Chernobyl
“Germany’s experience shows what could await Japan — if the problems at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant get any worse….
“Cesium also accumulates over time in the soil, which makes boars most susceptible They snuffle through forest soil with their snouts and feed on the kinds of mushroom that tend to store radioactivity, Environment Ministry spokesman Thomas Hagbeck said….”
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2011/0401/Radioactive-boars-in-Germany-a-legacy-of-Chernobyl
Of course this article was written on April 1, and we know that the radiation from Fukushima is more than 30 times than what was reported back in March and that melt through wasn’t reported until months later than it actually occurred.
Also what is not mentioned in the article is that the radioactive cesium has not been decreasing from Chernobyl as originally thought would happen after 25 years.
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yes boars = wildschwein what I was searching for.
Good appetite – boars with some chestnuts.
Also Steinpilze and Pfifferlinge though not that much in chestnuts.
http://www.bfs.de/de/bfs/druck/strahlenthemen/STTH_Lebensmittel.pdf
Sorry in german but there you can see the pictures.
How about Shushi ?! Currently the alges mostly come not from Japan but… Very bad things happen to us all.
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I hope that Germany can spread their anti-nuke philosphy. I admire your response to the obviuos absurdity of nuclear power. There are 2 reactors pwr here in Brasil and it would be wonderful to see them shutdown!
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Our video as promised on Maronen mushrooms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAWQ-YT8BvE
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Errrrmmm…thanks for posting. Is there a reason why you don’t protect your measuring devices with a plastic bag or similar?
I don’t see why you would risk to contaminate it.
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Indeed we spent some hours in decontamining the equipment, and our mobile phones and especially the shoes. We now got a waterproof mobile phone Sony Ericson Acive which we will us in future.
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“Germans love ‘Pilze’ (mushrooms) or ‘Schwammerl’ as they are called in the south. ‘Steinpilze’ (ceps/porcini), ‘Pfifferlinge’ (chanterelles), and ‘Maronen’ (bay bolete) are seen as very special, either gathered privately or bought in the market, where they are often imported from eastern European countries. They are incorporated into many dishes, especially in autumn. ‘Champignons’ (button mushrooms) are very common and commercially cultivated, as are relatively new varieties as ‘Austerpilze’ (oyster mushrooms), ‘Shitake’, and, very recently, various new kinds of ‘Seitlinge’ (Pleutotus/oyster mushrooms).”
http://books.google.com/books?id=ULLygtLOI-kC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=maronen+type+of+mushroom+germany&source=bl&ots=AsAAPDiTZr&sig=tuxkZNslTJ9a3cbdvA48J7Hm6a4&hl=en&ei=awytToTnA8Wftges4oDsDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Hey, why would any country be so stupid as to construct a breeder reactor (Monju) if they weren’t interested in proliferation?
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There is definitely a piece to all of this we are missing. I think the mentality of the ProNukes is that yes, radiation *changes* things but, as the survivors in nuclear chapters maddeningly and numerically appear to prove, is that radiation is survivable and NOT as bad as your mind thinks it is or should be. An illusion on some levels but I can see how they have run with it.
I bet the missing piece behind this apparently arrogant industry posture, is that they HAVE dine extensive research and they know there are consequences, but I really think lately they also believe that survivors carry a resistance of sorts to the naggingly harmful effects that the *weaker* victims succumbed to sitting beside them. Now go to Japan, the only Nuked country, the Original Nuke survivor, they got over being bombed ages ago, built a paradise of a country and a world force to reckon with to be sure. My point is survivors there surely aren’t as afraid of radiation as someone like me is. They know they have survived the unsurvivable and maybe the doctors or research suggested to them along the way of benefits they received due to exposure.
I get the impression most Japanese think we are WAY overreacting about Fukushima. And I wonder why they think that considering they are closer to the shitpile than we are.
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Many and probably 99% of Japanese believe in reincarnation.
For others who compare the past to the present, they don’t realize that you can never get rid of radiation. It just keeps accumulating until there is so much radiation whoever is left will die instantly.
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I saw today how a radiated boulder is Geigered-harmless level at three feet away from it yet it would be a fatal mistake for anyone to sit on the same boulder for any matter of minutes.
Fukushima is many times worse, I believe, than this place.
I wouldn’t have given a second thought of sitting on a boulder in a park. Like the guy intimated, it is a life and death flavored reality check.
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molten metal cooled breeder, what a cutieeeeeeee
and with a history, 1 hour of producing electricity against 15 years daycare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monju_Nuclear_Power_Plant
better to switch it off
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