Published: July 26th, 2012 at 10:38 am ET
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Title: In Japan, a nuclear ghost town stirs to life
Source: NBC News
Author: Kyle Drubek
Date: July 26, 2012
Hiroaki Koide, a nuclear reactor specialist and an assistant professor at Kyoto University
- “The state of the reactors is still deteriorating … the incident is still progressing”
- “The current issues we are faced with is how to remove the radioactive material without releasing it”
- “All we can presently do is pray that there is not a large earthquake”
Odaka Hotel Owner
- Kobayashi also is highly suspicious of the assurances of the Japanese government and TEPCO about the Fukushima Daichi plant’s status.
- “If there is no radiation exposure danger here, then the only danger remaining is the reactors. I think that is why we are not being allowed to return”
- “We just want to know the truth, no matter how bad it is. If they hide one thing from us, how can we believe anything they say?”
Published: July 26th, 2012 at 10:38 am ET
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sending...
What a headline… "still NOT registering in the news"
All we can do is pray… OK?
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Dr. Koide's Testimony: "Nuclear Energy Is An Illusion" [Part 1/2]
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xr6bxw_dr-koide-s-testimony-nuclear-energy-is-an-illusion-part-1-2-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyy-y-may-23-2011_news
Part 2 "About Fukushima"： http://dai.ly/KAIzxI
Dr. Hiroaki Koide is a research associate at Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute. On May 23, 2011, he appeared as a witness to give testimony to the Administrative Oversight Committee in Japan's Upper House in the Diet.
He is in his sixties and still a research associate because he has been studying the "dangers" of nuclear energy all his career. Even before the 3.11 disaster, he had been well-known among pro-nuke people as one of their notable opponents.
But it was after 3.11 that he suddenly gained the spotlight and became quite widely known among the public, especially on the net. Some people almost worship him as a charismatic leader in the anti-nuclear world.
Translation and captioning by tokyobrowntabby.
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Dear Arclight,
Thank you for this powerful video and message.
Aloha.
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Dear Admin,
With permission I'd like to post:
"Politics without Principle," and other sins such as "Wealth without Work," "Pleasure without Conscience," "Knowlege without Character," and "Commerce without Morality" all go for electricity companies including TEPCO. Then, "Science without Humanity." -Dr. Hiroaki Koide quoting Mahatma Ghandi.
Dear Japanese Readers, thank you for reading and posting at ENENews. We care about and support you.(Babylon 9 translation)
「このような「働く」喜びをせずに「良心」と「知識なしで文字」と「コマースなしに道徳なしに豊富な原則」として、他の罪をせずに政治」はすべての東京電力など電力会社に行きます。 次に、「人間科学なし」 – 博士らは、 小出宏明マハトマガンディー報じた。親愛なる日本の読者を読んで、投稿の enenews ありがとうございました。 私たちは、気をサポート、バビロン 9.( 翻訳 )Babylon 9
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Dear Admin,
Thank you for all your dedicated hard work. You are our inspiration!
Aloha
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The fallout from the radioactive cloud is not evenly distributed, and the radiation levels remain high in some pockets, especially on foothills around the town, said two volunteer citizen patrolmen, Morio Matsumoto, 65, and Yasumi Murohara, 71, who are taking part in the survey. “Our dosimeter only goes up to 20 microsieverts per hour and it was at maximum,” said Matsumoto, discussing one foray into the hills.
Questions also are being raised on the efficacy of decontamination efforts.
the norwegians amassed a huge volunteer army and utilised laboratories to discover where the contamination..
these guys dont even have decent equipment and obviously no order to take samples .. how can you decontaminate if you cant measure with spectrometers?? and no real manpower being put into this.. grrr!
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@ arclight…I think that the efficacy of decontamination efforts is a little less than O….
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I pray every night that every person involved in this technology dies and like the dark ages this technology is lost forever.
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@ weeman…In the distant past,it may have happened before.
Natural background radiation ???
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Be careful how you word those prayers. If we lose all the "experts" (even the ones who know better now), it may take us too long to figure out how to keep the damn things cooled. And we'll have a much bigger problem, that will probably kill nearly everything on the planet.
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If fukushima hasn't changed the attitude of those who wish to gain from nuclear reactions…then nothing will…our fate is carved in stone….if we don't fight, which it appears we won't…then the nuclear industry will continue until the world is polluted with radiation….that is VERY clear….fighting, protesting, is our only hope….
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@weeman: though many will sympathize with your outrage (including myself), such statements as "I pray every night that every person involved in this technology dies…" does not represent my position and hopefully, many others out here. We may be outraged by arrogance and stupidity, but such rage can never be justification for wishing death upon those we may differ with.
I don't know how long you've been on this particular planet; nor do I know the extent of your knowledge on these issues, so I will only suggest that you become more disciplined in your words. Always remember, it is such unconstrained self-righteousness as was shown in your words that brought about the ongoing nightmare we're in right now.
Finally. When you pray to the goddess, pray that she fills the hearts of all with respect for the dream of life…
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Wise words 10-4 frustration setting in, should have said setilized.
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@weeman: understood. I, too, become extremely frustrated and have been known to lose it on more than a few occasions.
We must remember: we're not just participants on this site. We're also representative of this site. We need to be encouraging, as well as correct in our positions. Equally important, we need to be true to those positions. If we're about preservation and protection of life, then those (presumptive) beliefs must be applied to all…including the so-called 'enemy'.
Love and power to you weeman…
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"..at maximum,"
''The fallout from the radioactive cloud is not evenly distributed, and the radiation levels remain high in some pockets, especially on foothills around the town, said two volunteer citizen patrolmen, Morio Matsumoto, 65, and Yasumi Murohara, 71, who are taking part in the survey. “Our dosimeter only goes up to 20 microsieverts per hour and it was at maximum,” said Matsumoto, discussing one foray into the hills.'' – from article
Go back… to what, why…?
Excessively risky for several reasons! (in my opinion)
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Prayer? Where are the religion police?
Is it now OK to say that Gundersen and Koide are on their knees praying for a miracle?
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Well, on a literal level, you could say that if there isn't any 'divine' intervention with this mess, all the atheists were right.
Might be why no leading religious figures have said anything. Like the pastor that predicted the rapture. Lost a lot of followers (and revenue) on that one.
I believe there is a higher reason for all this, but that's for another forum.
Peace.
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At the outset, I should like to thank all ene newsers for their continued efforts to warn the world of the perils associated with nuclear power. Your handle, Time is Short, in particular, has attracted my attention, not only for its truth, but also for your postings. In any event, you are all easing the burden placed upon my person to warn humanity of its impending doom. Thanks. Thanks a lot.
As to whether or not the atheists will be proven 'right', I can assure you this will not occur. The falsity of the atheists position remains obscured to many people: false pride, arrogance and other weaknesses have blinded them from the truth. Simply stated, no human being, bearing limited intelligence and mortality is capable of determining the existance of an 'all-knowlng, immortal force of being.' This is equivalent to the ant, who having found his home on the elephant's back, declares to the ant world that elephants do not exist. While it may be true that the ant is incapable of comprehending the elephant's size and majesty with its senses, the elephant does, indeed, exist.
If a tree falls in the forest, and no one witnesses the felling, did the tree fall?
If a major nuclear catastrophe occurs, and no one witnesses the event and/or covers the story, did the nuclear catastrophe occur?
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Bobby1, articles citing experts make up a large portion of the links on ENE and since the experts are bringing up the topic of prayer it's most definitely ok/on-topic.
There just aren't that many media reports about nuclear power that bring up these type of topics related to religion/spirituality. Send the links in if and when you find them everyone.
PS… and the police showed up. Got quite a few reports from this thread today. Hopefully they will stop with that now?
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i just want to point out i'm not one of any thought police sending reports to admin.
all things can certainly be taken in context.
and as b&b quoted, "All we can presently do is pray that there is not a large earthquake” is really the context.
when i've quibbled about religous commentary it has been usually relating to discriminatory statements, often couched within dogma, often not recognised by the people who use it.
just sayin', i'm not doing any background attempts at censoring.
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ENENews, thanks. We had the report of 51 pastors and Buddhist priests in Japan calling for the end of nuclear power. I think what we don't want is religious intolerance and hate, which is similar to racial hate.
The stuff that is coming down in the next few years is going to try people's souls. There has to be some allowance for this.
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@admin
well this covers that.. and i did send it in?
Japan’s religious leaders call for an end to nuclear power
by Christina MacPherson
"Japan Buddhist Federation (JBF) and a reverend of the Anglican
Episcopal Church in Japan, met in Kyoto City to seek broader support
to the statement from other religious leaders.
Kono Taitsu, the former JBF president and now the chief priest of the Myoshinn-ji branch of the Rinzai Zen Denomination, said, “As a religious leader who speaks to the value of life, I came to feel obliged to say something” about the nuclear energy issue.
The statement asserts that the Fukushima accident has proven that all beings and creatures cannot coexist with atomic energy, and points out that as nuclear power plants “inevitably accumulate radioactive wastes, they will endanger ‘all living things’ and pass on a negative legacy to future generations.”
The statement requests that the government and nuclear establishment complete the earliest possible decontamination, provide long-term healthcare for victims, and sincerely fulfill compensation obligations…."
http://nuclear-news.net/2012/07/25/japans-religious-leaders-call-for-an-end-to-nuclear-power/
now thats worth getting pithy over surely?? hmm?
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There is nothing left to do but pray?
US Presidential election in full swing, an ELE occurring in front of our eyes, and NOT A WORD about any of this from either candidate.
People say 'The silence is deafening'. I hear it loud and clear – none of our leaders give a damn at all. What they don't know, is that their kids will read about the government's failure to deal with this disaster, and know their parents have condemned them – and the world – to death.
Sad.
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Hi Time Is Short
I agree with you, the worse disaster is not being mentioned.
I was just in Jury duty and on our break the young man started talking about Nuclear Power and how they were going to make it safer. I started talking about Fukushima, the devastation, and the waste this will still cause, even if they make it so called safer.
Nuclear and the word safer in the same sentence, make me choke.
I talked about other ways to create power..EVERYONE had no clue how bad Fukushima is and how it is polluting the ocean or North America. I doubt they believed me or will take the time to look at this site, I saw the rolling eyes. The public is either dumb about this or they don't care as long as they don't see it personally?
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Silence is a weapon, violence is the message…
check out this sibling, Navajo band if you havenʻt already:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALzdbn3mWuE
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"…and not a word was spoken…the church bells all were broken…."
Don Mcclean's American Pie seems a premonition to this whole situation.
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"All we can do now is pray…" And my own question is intended to be taken very seriously… and on topic. Has the actual situation on the ground with these 4 reactors reached the point where there literally is nothing mankind can do other that seek for a Divine Intervention… which the idea of prayer implies? Is this what the big picture is? Is this so dire… that it would drive an atheist to his/her knees to pray for Divine Intervention? I mean… can you imagine the global religious hysteria if the MSM all united with one voice and declared, "START PRAYING!"? There would be plenty of people who would make the declaration that this was Armageddon… doom & gloom, etc. Is this truly the situation at Fukushima… are we there NOW? Hopefully the Admin will allow on-topic discussion of Prayer… with plunging into an off topic religious discussion of "whose God" do we pray to, etc. Can Bruce Willis save the day this time? Or will we be needing the real Higher Power?
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I meant "without plunging into off topic religous discussion…"
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"All we can presently do is pray that there is not a large earthquake”.
that's what he said.
Earthquake.
Not Fuku in general….
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Point well taken!
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There is nothing anyone can do to fix, let alone undo, what has occurred in Fukushima.
The radiation levels are too high to allow workers to work safely, they're running out of workers anyway, and soon there won't be anyone left to keep the salt-water pumps running to prevent combustion and re-fissioning.
In combination with the ongoing earthquakes – regardless of size – and salt-water corrosion, the entire facility is crumbling upon itself, as the ground underneath slowly slides into the sea through liquifaction.
It's all going into either the air or the ocean, mostly the air. Somewhere between 250,000 and almost 1,000,000 nuclear bombs worth of radiation released yearly, not including what hasn't fissioned yet. That will more than double the rad output.
All that is left is prayer, to whatever/whoever one prays to.
Hug your children and loved ones. Time is short.
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There was a 9.0 earthquake in Japan 16 months ago. There is a high probability of an aftershock of 7.8 within 2 years. A 7.8 earthquake will very likely topple SFP #4 over (and maybe #1 and #2 also). If it topples over, it will wipe out the northern hemisphere.
This is not a situation where there is a teeny-weeny likelihood that a huge catastrophe will happen. It is a situation where there is a teeny-weeny likelihood that it WON'T happen.
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I agree fully. The chance of another large EQ before the technology exists to decontaminate these reactors is pressumably 100%.
The chance a large (7.0+) EQ won't happen in the next 5 years is virtually <1%
We don't pray! We take action!
Eliminate Nukes!!!!!
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Prayer isn't necessarily religious. I'm not religious, but I still pray sometimes, because it's a method of communication that gets results. So we could stop using terms with religious connotations, to get around the "no religion" rule. Or move the "religious" part of the conversation to another forum.
I once joined a grief support group, when my fiance passed away. And they had a rule about no religious discussion. They didn't understand that the real issue most of us were dealing with was "where did they go"? Which tends to get into things that they considered "religious". Instead they wanted to teach us techniques for letting go. So I said screw this, and talked about it anyway, until I got kicked out. Then I found other groups that allowed discussing whatever was necessary to solve the problem. I'm not a religious person. I never "let go". But with the freedom to discuss without being censored, I was able to understand "where she went". And that's what got me through. Problem solved. Grief gone. Important stuff learned. But the people who ran the group will probably never understand that, unless they have some kind of epiphany that opens their minds to things they don't understand yet. They probably thought they were helping people by steering them toward practical solutions. But they were actually making it more difficult for some of us to find solutions that really worked. Anyway, end of rant.
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+10. Nuance. We needn't be rigid defining words.
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The most important thing in grief counseling is to find out what questions the participants have, then find answers that mean something to them, or at least avenues to follow to find their own answers.
Learning coping skills is not the same as soothing someone's soul.
There will be more and more need for grief counseling as time goes on. It won't be just about losing loved ones, but the growing awareness of oncoming global extinction. A great psychological trauma the likes of which we can't imagine.
We help where we can, and if we need a time out, that's OK, too.
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Some of these obvious headlines are really getting tiring.
The state of reactors 1-3 will continue to melt and emit radioactive materials for a long long time=nothing is going to get better.
Japan will continue to get more contaminated over time.
Decontamination is mostly impossible. in the plant area and in the country itself. Remember the video with the children's slide.They couldn't even decontaminate a slide.
There will never be anything close to decommissioning at any of the plants. Inspectors can not even enter most of the plant areas. And no human will ever be able to enter the drywell's or torus'.
Unit #4 spent fuel pool will continue to threaten worldwide health until it is all offloaded.
The media will never catch on and really report what is happening, and Tepco will do everything to hide the truth.
Tell me when anything changes.
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this comment is right on – same thing over and over with little to no action – the reason for this is simply because nobody knows what to do – evacuating Japan is not an option as is abandoning the West Coast of America – shutting down the Pacific Fisheries would bring financial ruin to an already fragile world economy – what is clear from monitoring enews discussion is, each of the nuke reactors worldwide have a useful life cycle of 40-50 years, after that they transform into massive instruments of death – in other words time is up – we are now waiting for the other shoe to fall and the suspense is reaching epic proportion
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Obvious to who.. .0001% of population? Nearly everyone thinks its over. Then this article says the complete opposite of that. Isnt that the opposite of obvious?
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@timebomb – please excuse my ignorance but do not understand your reference to "Obvious"
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"each of the nuke reactors worldwide have a useful life cycle of 40-50 years"
If I remember correctly, the original plants were only designed for a 20-year life cycle. At the time, there was no definitive plan for disposing of the contaminated reactor parts, or the waste products. It was hoped science would advance in those 20 years and provide solutions to these issues.
20 years later, there were no solutions. NPP operating extensions were granted, for all the wrong reasons, and here we are, 40+ years later, with no solutions in sight, other than throw all the crap into the ocean.
None of the BWR designs were conceived to last this long. They all need to be shut down and scrapped, simply from the standpoint that they are well past the design point of failure.
I have no idea of the MTBF on the newer NPP designs, but there are enough older unit designs still working that it is just about impossible that there won't be another massive failure.
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List of GE Boiling Water Reactors worldwide:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_BWRs
78 BWRs worldwide. 35 in the US. 19 in Japan.
Almost double the number here in the US. The oldest, most dangerous design of the NPPs, all far beyond their operating design lifespan.
Just about every one of them 30-40 years old. Every one a ticking time bomb.
Anyone think there might be a problem with this?
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+1
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Chrisk9. +311
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What changed everything was the launch of Occupy on Sept 17 in NY, and the Indignantés'uprising in Spain and the Arab Spring that inspired it, all showing that youth KNOW and CARE and are ready to ACT with elders, outside the box, in community. Are you ready to launch anniversary "parties"?
http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-capitalism's-'sacrifice-zones'/
Re chrisK9 "Tell me when anything changes."
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@ demo. Thanks for the link. Please everyone, watch the Bill Moyers — Chris Hedges program linked above by demo.
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World governments and their news media won't open dialog on this catastrophe. It is "that bad".
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The old saying is, you take care of something and it will last longer.
I don't think the people in charge took good care of this world. I believe it is a waiting game now.
Listen to their silence of the disaster, it's hard on my ears and heart to hear nothing about this.
Instead, they talk about restarting, building newer and safer plants, and fixing the older ones.
They don't hear our cry's of ending nuclear plants, they never did.
Turning back time is not an option. Greed has already won.
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WSP, we got 5 nuclear plants in the process of being built in the 80's shutdown and torn down in the Pacific Northwest US. We got another one that was operating shutdown, decommissioned and torn down, too. It can be done.
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Dear VicFromOregon,
Yes Sir!!
Aloha.
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Hi VicFromOregon
Five is great, I call it a token. There is many more out there..
They are still talking about fixing old ones and building new safer ones.
This battle over Nuclear Power is not over. They want more, and they would rather not listen to the people. This battle has been going on as long as I can remember.
They want nuclear power and nuclear weapons. It's a money making thing.
Will Nuclear Power ever end, I don't believe in my life time.
Don't get me wrong..This does not mean, we the people should stop trying to end it.
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Correction…
Six is great..It's six less than before..However I still call it a token. There is so many more out there.
Now is not the time to expect they will realize that Nuclear Power needs to end. They have no intention of that happening. There is to much money to be made from this.
Out of this disaster hopefully more and more people will gather together realizing what others in the past have tried to do. END NUCLEAR POWER..
This is a battle with people in high places, don't expect to win this over night or after a disaster, like this.
Remember they are still drilling in the deep after that disaster, this is no different.
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We CAN turn this mess around! Massive uprisings can get nukes shut so there won't be more Fukus. Regular (starting w/ weekly?) protests, sit-ins, boycotts, pickets, creative pranks and street theater like mock trials, and STRIKES–all escalating globally–will do the trick…doable! How to start? Take your pick. Ideas: Join others or organize your own weekly–even one person at 1st–picket in a highly visible space/time like near rush hour traffic. Support Beyond Nuclear etc and/or infiltrate Greenpeace (for USers, the Coffee Party and 350.org. USers-help get the laws changed that gave corporations the power to run/ruin the world by joining your nearest http://www.MoveToAmend.org and attend a regional Convergence:
http://movetoamend.org/search/node/regional%20convergences
Come to D.C. Sept 20-22: http://coalitionagainstnukes.org/
or organize a local sympathy rally if too far.
While there may be nothing we can do to "fix" Fuku, health consequences of continuing w/ nukes will shut down the world economy (an understatement?) so off the screen and into the streets! "Failure is not an option," S.B.Anthony. "Don't grieve. Organize!" Mother Jones. "Grieve, yes, while organizing or supporting organizers' efforts!" demo.
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@demo…It is impossible to get the Japanese people to gather for a massive uprising. They trust and believe in their government. You cannot change their mindset overnight. The youth of Japan know this is so but I do not think they can turn the tide alone. We must have other countries take control of the mess the government of Japan and Tepko caused. It may be to late already…
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rj, the Hydrangea Revolution HAS already turned the tide in Japan. They ARE massively protesting. Each week, the protests become larger. But, yes, we all must join together because no one can turn the tide alone.
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All…This next weekend (August 5, 6 through 9th) are the 67th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. Go on line to find rallies and demos near your area, join up with them and start building coalitions.
Not sure I agree with you, rambojim. I think many of them have become more awake than we U.S. folks. Also, I've known a number of Hibakusha through the years and was one of the main organizers for the 40th anniversary tour (1985) in the SW U.S.
Perhaps we can communicate by saying that we are all Hibakusha now. Because we all are.
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Yes we are, ds!
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How do you remove radioactive materials without releasing it.?
YOU GET SOME HUMAN BEINGS IN THERE WHO KNOW WHAT THEIR DOING !
Swallow your pride dear Japaneses people before you kill us all…
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Hi rambojim
At this point, I don't believe anyone knows what to do with this disaster, or else they would have already stepped in.
They have built things that they can't control if something goes wrong.
~END NUCLEAR POWER~
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I always thought of nuclear power as a match you can't put out.
Apparently, a lot of the original physicists thought the same thing. After the fact, of course.
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Hi Time Is Short
Some like to do experiments, some can only think of profits, not worrying about the consequences and the what if's. Some just like to play God, at our expense.
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@WindorSolorPlease…You may be right…
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rambojim I don't want to be right. I want this fixed and everything contaminated cleaned up. I want the end of Nuclear Power.
I want healthy peaceful generations from every Country. I want the world/environment to be healthy. I guess it's too much to ask for.
I don't understand destructive greedy power hungry prideful people.
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The major problem no one talks about is the spent fuel pools, in those plants we all assume to be operating safely and efficiently. These pools were never designed for permanent storage, nor for the amount of spent fuel we are storing in them. In the good our USA, we can't even talk about the concept of siting a permanent safe, guarded site. If such a site were available, we would not allow the shipment of the materials to the location. The plants are being operated beyond their design life… do we imagine that spent fuel pools, have unlimited capacity? The more fuel, the less time before it turns critical and out of control should their be an interruption in power or water supply. We dare not let the crisis of this accident blind us to the dangers of ignoring and denying an expanding problem, worldwide.
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Pray always need, but also work the same..
Please dobudować to each of the new reactors, but the walls in such a way that you can then fill the measure of water. On the bottom you should build new pools for fuel, or new airtight reactors only for storing fuel. May be combined with pools at the reactors. They also are linked already with the reactors.Flood then all the water and slowly move the fuel and reactor with swimming pools and to new places.Just as it does in the normal working power stations yourselves, so with this new swimming pool (reactor) will be 40 metres list below.
Here's an animation
http://www.new4stroke.com/nuclear.gif
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We should pray that we go in peace and they die a slow death…
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@true2U…I for one will never go in peace. I love life to much to sit back and watch as a nation to proud to ask for help, is killing me..
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Maybe they did ask. There's no way anyone can help, other than send in bodies to die.
The world's militaries knew within minutes, after their supercomputers ran the numbers, that this was an ELE. All the decisions made to date came from this information.
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@Time Is Short…The US offered to send experts to Japan to assess the situation. Tepko refused the offer, probably because the damage was so bad and probably because they are to proud a nation to ask for help..
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Time is Short
Robert Alvarez:
"The total spent reactor fuel inventory at the Fukushima-Daichi site contains nearly half of the total amount of Cs-137 estimated by the NCRP to have been released by all atmospheric nuclear weapons testing, Chernobyl, and world-wide reprocessing plants (~270 million curies or ~9.9 E+18 Becquerel). (cited at Akio Matsumura http://akiomatsumura.com/2012/04/682.html
Is that enough for an ELE?
Are there more plants involved?
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No. But, it adds to the human caused ELE that has been going on for the past 45,000 years. The sixth ELE recognized by biologists. So, we are already having an ELE. We may stop all nuclear production and find a way to store it safety or send it to the sun, but, we will continue in the present ELE. The question is – to what extent? From climate destabilization alone, we will lose 35% to 45% of all species. Another 25% or greater from habitat and environmental destruction. The poisons, radiations, and toxins will account for another chunk. So, anywhere between 65% to 85% or higher species extinction on a planetary scale. We've already lost close to 40% species so far, and we lose more species each and every day, so the unanswered questions is – how many more? We must stop nuclear power as we must stop all misuses of technology if we are to survive.
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Once the reactors exploded and melted there was no longer anything anyone could do.
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A conservative estimate for an ELE event
If Fukushima Daiichi catches fire and explodes into a radiological firestorm, according to one nuclear expert Fujioka Atsush (Professor of Economics, Ritsumeikan University and Planning Director, Kyoto Museum for World Peace. Specialist on the US nuclear economy, space and intelligence strategy, and economic conversion from military to civilian-oriented industry); and, doing the math using Atsush's radiation estimates
[ http://www.japanfocus.org/-Fujioka-Atsushi/3599 ], the amount of nuclear radiation that will be introduced into earth’s atmosphere will be the equivalent of over 1500 Hiroshima bombs.
Fujioka Atsush states, “The 2,000 tons of nuclear fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi Plant is estimated to contain about
20,000,000 tb of radiation.”
He also says about the radioactivity released in/on Hiroshima, “the total release of radioactivity was limited to 13,000 tb.”
Therefore, the math should look like this…20,000,000 tb divided 13,000 tb equals 1538 Hiroshima bombs.
Sayonara!
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Or this:
“A recent study was prepared for Greenpeace Germany by international nuclear safety expert Dr. Helmut Hirsch. Dr. Hirsch’s assessment, based on data published by the French government’s radiation protection agency (IRSN) and the Austrian government’s Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) found that the total amount of unstable radionuclides Iodine-131 and Caesium-137 released between March 11 and March 23 has been so high that the Fukushima crisis already equates to three INES 7 incidents.
Release of radiation from the stricken reactors has reached 10,000 teraBequerels (10,000 trillion Bequerels) per hour, measured for radioactive Iodine-131.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24292
“The uranium bomb which the United States dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II released 89 tera becquerels. It killed 140,000 people – many instantly, others within weeks of the blast as they succumbed to severe radiation burns.”
http://voices.yahoo.com/fukushimas-nuclear-disaster-radiation-released-was-9025493.html
So, a rough estimate is that Fukushima is spewing the equivalent of 112 Hiroshima-type nuclear bombs worth of radiation every hour, of every day.
That’s 981,120 atomic bombs a year going off worth of radiation into our biosphere.
Even if Dr. Hirsch and his supercomputers are only half right, that's still 490,560 nuclear bomb's worth of radiation yearly.
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Now, the French are controlled by AREVA, so it's entirely possible that Dr. Hirsch's numbers are severely undercounted, and that the true total may be 50% higher. That would mean 1,471,680 nuclear bomb's worth of radiation released yearly.
I think we're pretty f$%&ed either way. No wonder the earth's food crops are disappearing. Along with the children.
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Thank you for the explanation, Time. Read your earlier post about 250K to 1ML nuclear bombs' worth per year and wondered where you found that – now I see.
Those numbers are pretty hopeless.
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Sorry
I missed these posts when I responded to your comment below…
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"So, a rough estimate is that Fukushima is spewing the equivalent of 112 Hiroshima-type nuclear bombs worth of radiation every hour, of every day."
Are you sure that's still ongoing, or was that the average between March 11 – 23, when all the reactors blew up?
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Think the number was from Feb 2012 to now. So that much,hourly, into air and sea–or maybe just AIR RADIATION(thats what they measured from the crane held device or helicopters/drones), so ocean contamination–is to be added to the number (when they figure out how much is leaking)….If they do, when they can, or if they can…
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According to the report, these numbers are ongoing.
The truly scary part is, that all this rad release is accumulative. So, the first year is roughly 1,000,000 nuclear bombs worth of radiation in the biosphere. Next year, 2,000,000 nuclear bombs worth of radiation in the biosphere. In ten years, 10,000,000 nuke bombs worth of radiation.
And that's only if the SPFs stay intact, or we don't have another meltdown somewhere else.
The enormity of this problem almost defies comprehension.
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Lest we forget the Hiroshima bomb was like a hand grenade compared to the massive hydrogen bombs exploded by the Big Three (US, Russia, and China). Their nasty open air tests lasting for decades dwarfed Hiroshima's effects by a factor of many thousands to one conservatively.
Numerous exoatmospheric bomb tests in the 1960s spread the first massive fallout era with high concentrations of strontium and tritium in the upper stratosphere.
In 1962 one of the biggest bombs damaged electronic 1,400 miles away in Hawaii:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Starfish_Prime_aurora_from_Honolulu_1.jpg
Full history of that test: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime#section_2
Tests almost doubled the concentration of Carbon-14 in the atmosphere of the Northern Hemisphere.
As they blew up more bombs in outer space the US tests in the Van Allen Belt led to the unintended loss of important communication satellites. Along with concerns over human ingestion of fallout, It was probably that fear of ruining our spy satellites that led to the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in August of 1963. Gromyko represented the Russians, Lord Home for the UK and Dean Rusk for the Americans. China, France, and North Korea (all nuclear nations) refused to sign.
Other treaties followed in 1966 and 1996 with notable non-participants being India, Pakistan, and North Korea.
Comparing Hiroshima is worthwhile, but all the combined open air tests is a better comparison to Fukushima…
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I think Sickputer's observation is important
Fukushima total cesium radiation at plant = 1/2 of cesium from everything that went before according to Alvarez
Robert Alvarez:
"The total spent reactor fuel inventory at the Fukushima-Daichi site contains nearly half of the total amount of Cs-137 estimated by the NCRP to have been released by all atmospheric nuclear weapons testing, Chernobyl, and world-wide reprocessing plants (~270 million curies or ~9.9 E+18 Becquerel). (cited at Akio Matsumura http://akiomatsumura.com/2012/04/682.html
HOWEVER,
Time is Short and Cisco still may be right because we do NOT KNOW HOW MUCH PLUTONIUM AND URANIUM were released
My understanding is the bombs released very small amounts of those in comparison to nuclear fuel – new or "spent."
Here are some sources on those radioisotopes
The amount of Mox fuel stored at the plant has not been reported.
One source suggests that unit 3’s reactor core contained a range of 164 to 32 mox assemblies. The low-end estimate of 32 mox assemblies is from France’s Areva, which provided the fuel for unit 3. As the French Fukushima 3/11 Watchdog group points out, the low-end estimate of 32 mox assemblies translates into 5.5 tons of fuel containing more than 300 kg of plutonium: “300 kg is therefore equivalent to 300 billion lethal doses.”
Source:Fukushima 311 Watchdogs. MOX fuel-Corium-Plutonium in Fukushima Daiichi, http://www.fukushima311watchdogs…
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I think Nuke Professional's links are helpful on this subject
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2012/03/uranium-and-plutonium-launched-into.html
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2012/03/plutonium-admission-by-epa.html
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"As the French Fukushima 3/11 Watchdog group points out, the low-end estimate of 32 mox assemblies translates into 5.5 tons of fuel containing more than 300 kg of plutonium: “300 kg is therefore equivalent to 300 billion lethal doses.”
Say we look at the high-end estimate. 164 MOX assemblies translates to 28.18 tons of fuel containing 1,537 kg of plutonium, therefore the equivalent to 1,537 billion lethal doses. Not taking into consideration the amount of uranium aerosolized. That would increase this by a factor of 1,000 or more.
It only takes one.
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Good find, majia.
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Yes, majia, your point is a good one. We don't know how much has been released. And i would add, or will be released. That's the point of staying active to get good and accurate information out, good questions raised, and hope stirred. I'm hopeful that the collection and testing of air filters, for example, will give us all a clearer idea of how much radiation was released and when and where. Maybe most of the corium really is a pancake shape offering little opportunity for refissioning, or maybe large quantities of corium found its way into multiple cracks and crevices and is busily churning out mega doses of radiation that will soon be seen in the groundwater. It is a huge, terrible "unknown".
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Quote: All we can do now is pray
I see nothing wrong in praying to who or what you believe in. We all have different beliefs or not.
However, this does not mean people with knowledge should stop working on a solution for this disaster.
For some reason there are people out there that have a high intelligence, please use it to stop this monster.
Then we have the brave people who go in and fight this, knowing that it is a death sentence.
We also have the people who take the profits and run.
There are those who are still trying to end Nuclear Power.
People will continue as long as they can.
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Something VERY BAD is happening ! if this disaster was in the 90's in Japan the scientists of the world and environmentalists would have GOT TOGETHER! The CHILDREN in new reports are getting Thyroid Cancer in Japan at an alarming rate, Japanese diet use to prevent thyroid cancer by eating seafood and iodine rich foods like kelp but now with the burning of nuclear debris in Tokyo Bay the Daiichi Nuclear plants continous spewing and Billions of tons of water dumped on the nuclear fuel then dumped INTO the Pacific Ocean is not only the Pacific Ocean but the CHILDREN of JAPAN ! Forget about the other Plants, Daiichi workers are dying nobody who knows how to take care of that Plants' situation will be working there when their DEAD, yes they can get homeless people do DO WHAT ? WE HAVE SEEN THERE IS NO CHAIN OF ACTION ! THAT 1 fuel rod they brought out was a complete fake the worker was wiping it with no protective gear and using a cloth that thing must have been very HOT sitting with the rest that was a test of using their crane and empty fuel rod to train, it could not have been taken out of the spent fuel rods even if they say that it was a new rod ! THE CHILDREN ARE DYING PPL the Gov'ts of the world don't care cause they know the Big Economies of US and EU are ready to fall and JP is 3rd largest what doesn't makes sense is why not help JP IT'S REGARDLESS of what they FEAR THE MOST – WORLD ECONOMIES FALLING, THEIR PRINTING MONEY IN US LIKE PAPER IT COULD HELP JP AND…
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… CHILDREN. IT made me sad like all of you but now it makes me extremly angry. All the Gov't leaders know exactly what's happening in JP and what could happen and they do nothing. Forget about this Tepco refused help, JP refused help, when it comes to destroying the Pacific Ocean that alone would be a CALL TO ACTION BY ALL GOV'Ts BUT NOTHING. I am not going to sit and watch this planet go to hell cause there is too much good in this blue rock to allow that, it was never OUR job as citizens to do the jobs of Politicians but we're obviously living in the Twilight Zone and it looks like it is our job. My thinking is i used to have a Twitter acct and Twitter is the best for getting info out. I advise everybody to get a Twitter acct but NOT to ADD EACH OTHER at first. Open your account with a normal name not something like FUKUSHIMASOMETHING, then the most important thing is RETWEET others who are in Natural Healing and Foods and any scientists you see that are talking about Fuku (you can search Twitter on Google for 'Fukushima') and even celevrities you like but RETWEETING is the most important thing because the thing about Twitter is ppl like ppl who don't talk about their own views all the time but rather retweet others, yeah i figured it out the hard way lol
Then start Tweeting about Fuku and remember this can happen with in a couple days of opening your acct, what i mean is start your acct add cool ppl, retweet a crap load of guys like Tony Robbins etc then TWEET…
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"All we can do now is pray"
The moment..I saw the first explosion..I fell to my knees.
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Hi Heart of the Rose
I started to pray about this when I was little at school during the drills, as I had to fall to my knees under my desk.
Even then I knew that desk would not protect me.
It took a long time for something like this to happen. As long as there is Nuclear Power it can happen again and again.
~END NUCLEAR POWER~
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