Arigato from Japan

Tohoku update

The Power of Story

By Chami,on November 7th,2011

I realized I haven’t shared at all from the last 4 weeks of working in the disaster zone. It has become daily routine to drive through the unbelievable sight of destruction:rubbles,bare foundations,twisted railings and poles,bridges swept away. I was driving home after a winter relief item distribution the other day,and passed some high school kids going home. They were picking their way across the empty lot with just the bare foundation. What is it like to continue your ordinary life in what has now become completely un-ordinary? I can’t fathom. There’s also burdens in places we don’t see. The frustration and anger from people who are in their own homes,and are getting nothing in regards to winter items unlike the temporary housing residents. One woman had tears in her eyes,as she said:“We’ve worked so hard on our own,we’ve chosen to not use the temporary housing facility,and what we get in return is no help?”People who are displaced into temporary housing also face challenges,as they are now removed from grocery stores or kindergarten,making their routine of work and raising kids difficult and straining. Each story is different. Each story unique. The incredible thing is how people open up their hearts and share their stories. I don’t even ask. A man tells me of how he saw his house wash away,never to see it again. Another of climbing up a hill while pulling the hand of the elderly mother-in-law. Another of seeing people swept away,unable to do anything. All of them,left with gratitude for life and yet uncertainty for the future. When I hear those stories,my heart quivers. With compassion. And aches. For hope.
Pray for hope. Because hope gives life. Even in the midst of destruction. I believe that,though at times I feel like I see it not.

Up to 20 million tons of debris from Japan’s tsunami moving toward Hawaii

Click here (yahoo.com)

Please re-read my post on April 8:  Operation Restoration: An Appeal to American Beachcombers

Fukushima population flees from fallout

This is not old news; it's happening right now--
CLICK HERE

Six months since Japan's 3/11

THE GOOD NEWS

     Soon after March 11, the Japanese government ordered an evacuation of the area within 12 miles of the nuclear power plants damaged by the tsunami, three of which had suffered meltdowns. In spite of the evacuation order, some residents of Iwaki chose not to leave. One church congregation decided to stay put. City and government workers weren't willing to expose themselves to radiation by entering the area to help the people and there is no government financial help for individuals so members of the church are pitching in to help those who remained in the city. 
     The church has formed a group called Global Mission Center and their vision is "a restored city which will be a new community based on the foundation of Christ." They have accepted volunteer relief workers from around Japan and other countries. Here are updates about the center:

"Most of the officials and leaders in this city of 350,000 have fled with whatever they had. Many of the business owners and wealthy have left leaving many of the stores, gas stations, restaurants and businesses abandoned. Unfortunately, about half the pastors fled as well, but those who stayed are burning with passion for this city to know Jesus and are uniting together to serve and fill in where the elite and those in power had abandoned. The church we are staying at is called the 'Global Mission Center.'” The Radiant Church (March 25)

". . . The Global Mission Center is set up in such a way that individuals and groups alike can come, have a place to stay and meals to eat, and serve in whatever area they feel called. . ." Journey with us (May 15) 

"Days 2 and 3 were spent removing debris at a seaweed factory... We had the honor of working alongside the owner of the seaweed factory and his wife. They were such incredibly gracious and grateful people, radiating joy despite their tremendous loss. In Japan the government does not offer any financial assistance to individuals, only to public aid (roads, schools, etc...). The people who lost their homes or businesses are left to try to financially and physically rebuild their lives on their own. So humbling..." Journey with us (Part 2)

". . . The Global Mission Chapel team is providing relief in other ways. For example, church members wash the feet of the evacuation center survivors, using relaxing hot onsen water that helps the victims begin talking and telling their stories. “This is the example we get from Jesus, who washed the feet of his disciples. Once we begin soaking and washing their feet, they begin to open up and talk about their experiences. That is very important for their emotional recovery,” said Pastor Mori. . . ." iwakis-global-mission-chapel-is-helping-the-helpless  (August 29)

"Here are some images from the first day of work at the Global Missions Center at Iwaki Fukushima. They say that pictures are worth a thousand words but I can’t seem to capture the sweat, the filthy, the mold and the ruin that the team experienced today. Nor can pictures capture the gratitude of Mr. Sato. . . " 2011/09/05/day-1-global-missions-center-iwaki/ (Sept. 5)

THE BAD NEWS

Residents in Iwaki may be very naive about radiation there. One blog above refers to "radiation overreaction." Another reads, "There has been a lot of talk about radiation here in Japan and many people warned us not to come. It is true, we have encountered more radiation than I have ever encountered in my life… but not the kind you are thinking of. The nuclear radiation levels here (18 miles from nuclear reactor) are reading .38 us/hr (45 us/hr is considered dangerous) on our hand held detectors, so we have a long way to go till that becomes a threat to anyone… The radiation I am talking about is of far greater power and far greater significance. The only real radiation here is the love of Christ burning into this community with a ferocity that can only be explained by the power of the Holy Spirit moving through the people of God." The Radiant Church (March 25)

A Japanese woman who visited us (His Scribbler) last month assured us the government tested the evacuation zone around Fukushima and found "zero radiation." But Japanese residents using their own dosimeters are finding this isn't true:

IWAKI, JAPAN — Kiyoko Okoshi had a simple goal when she spent about $625 for a dosimeter: she missed her daughter and grandsons and wanted them to come home. 

     Local officials kept telling her that their remote village was safe, even though it was less than 20 miles from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. But her daughter remained dubious, especially since no one from the government had taken radiation readings near their home.

      So starting in April, Mrs. Okoshi began using her dosimeter to check nearby forest roads and rice paddies. What she found was startling. Near one sewage ditch, the meter beeped wildly, and the screen read 67 microsieverts per hour, a potentially harmful level. . . (New York Times: Japanese find radiation on their own)


More updates on the worst nuclear disaster in human history:

Reader Supported News: Fukushima-sea-radiation-three-times-higher-than-estimated-and-increasing

Here are two of many articles summarized on FukushimaCatastrophe:


     TEPCO announced August 30, that a man in his 40s who had worked to help contain the radiation crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has died of acute leukemia. The man worked at the Fukushima plant for seven days from early August. His jobs included radiation exposure management, the officials said. A medical checkup prior to his work at the plant showed no problems in his health. Of 10 nuclear power plant workers who have developed cancer, despite radiation exposure below legal limit, and received workers’ compensation in the past, nine had been exposed to less than 100 millisieverts of radiation. According to Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry statistics, of the 10 nuclear power plant workers, six had leukemia, two multiple myeloma and another two lymphatic malignancy. Only one had been exposed to 129.8 millisieverts but the remaining nine were less than 100 millisieverts, including one who had been exposed to about 5 millisieverts.


     The amount of radioactive cesium that has leaked from a tsunami-hit nuclear plant is about equal to 168 of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II, Japan’s nuclear agency said Friday August 26th. While the remaining radiation from atomic bombs decreases to one-thousandth of the original level after a year,radioactive materials from the nuclear power plant only decrease to one-tenth the original level. That’s like dropping one nuclear weapon a day since the beginning of this disaster and this is what they have been calling safe, no problem, don’t worry about it, go home and go to sleep. The damaged plant has released 15,000 tera becquerels of cesium-137, which lingers for decades and could cause cancer, compared with the 89 tera becquerels released by the U.S. uranium bomb. (Emphasis in original)

FUKUSHIMA: Stabilized

     Japan's crippled nuclear plant reaches stability. If you read this article closely this does not mean radiation is not still affecting the environment. (In fact, at this very moment Fukushima beef is being recalled because cows ate cesium-contaminated straw.) It just means the situation has stopped getting worse. Japan is now denying the three meltdowns, which they had before admitted and which have been confirmed by other countries. They are now calling them "partial meltdowns."
     Thank God they are shutting the plants down. They anticipate achieving a "cold shutdown" by January. "A reactor reaches cold shutdown when the temperature at the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel drops below 100 degrees Celsius, and when the release of radioactive materials is 'under control.'"
     Note: This means the release of radioactive materials is not yet 'under control' and is not expected to be under control for six more months. 

New photo posted on June 20

Mao and Setsu Shimizu's wedding photo is now posted on this blog, June 20. They are Christians working with organizations cleaning up the disaster area in North East Japan. Omedetou gozaimasu, Mao to Setsu-san!

FUKUSHIMA: "A hell of a way to boil water."

     I know what you have read and heard about radiation from Japan: "Radiation is all around us in our daily lives, and these findings are a miniscule amount compared to what people experience every day. For example, a person would be exposed to low levels of radiation on a round trip cross country flight, watching television, and even from construction materials.”
     Even experts, who should be ashamed of themselves, are telling us that. This particular quote came from FDA senior scientist Patricia Hansen when informed that radioactive iodine-131 had been found in milk in Washington state on March 30. (Note: Here's the powerful response of five watchdog groups and a former senior adviser in the U.S. Department of Energy to the statement above.)
     When you read reports or hear individuals discounting radiation coming from Japan as equivalent to a single X-ray or mammogram, imagine that you go in for an X-ray and instead of pushing the button to release radiation for a fraction of a second, the tech tapes the button down, leaving it on and aimed at you, while s/he wanders off for coffee--or for a month's cruise. These discounters are comparing something that lasts for a fraction of a second with something that is lasting second after second, minute after minute, day after day, month after month for nearly 4 months now.  

     Ironically, because of the prevailing jet stream and ocean currents, we are getting more radiation from Japan here in the U.S. than in most of Japan. It was safer for Jerry and me to be in Hiroshima recently than at home in California.

     As Albert Einstein, who certainly should know, put it, "Nuclear energy is a hell of a way to boil water."   


P.S. Tonight Jerry and I watched The China Syndrome. Halfway through the movie, I realized I was shaking.

Fukushima: "Worse than Chernobyl"

     I'm going to research the latest information on the continuing nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan and its effects here in the States. In the meantime, please watch this easy-to-understand but sobering update by medical expert Dr. Helen Caldicott. She declares Fukushima to be "by many orders of magnitude, worse than Chernobyl--" the effects of which, over the past 25 years, have taken a million lives.
     You can read her credentials at wikipedia/Helen_Caldicott

Postponing fun anecdotes about Mum

     Too much serious stuff happening in the world. Can't think fun anecdotes right now.
     Latest in Japan: the Prime Minister, who has only served one year and is facing a no confidence vote, is offering to resign when things get stabilized with the triple disaster. At the three nuclear reactors which had at least partial meltdowns, clean-up crews are so exhausted they're making a lot of errors. Too much work, too little food, too little sleep--not to mention the continued radiation exposure. The Japanese government, using their military, should just stop futzing around, cap and seal the reactors and turn to safer sources of energy.
     In a political move typical of every government, the Japanese government arbitraily announced an extension of "safe" limits for radiation exposure to children from 1 milliservert per year to 20-- so children could go outside and play on radioactive playgrounds. One key nuclear adviser quit in disgust and parents were incensed. At a public meeting, one mother cut off a spokesman with, "'In the playground, in the sandbox, children put dirt into their mouths! They breathe in the dust! You should do the same! Lick the dirt! You wouldn't do this to your own kids!'" Applause met her shouts.
    In response, surprisingly, Japan's Education Ministry did an about-face, re-established the limits set by scientific experts and promised to cover the cost of removing the surface soil from schoolyards where the limit has been exceeded. ("Anger helps reverse Japan radiation limit," From A3, Los Angeles Times, May 29.)

Beyond the news blackout

You won't read/hear about it in this country. Both the Japanese and American governments seem to have agreed to downplay the continuing effects of the nuclear disaster in Japan, as the cloud of radioactivity spreads across the Pacific, the United States, and the rest of the world, lest knowledge of  the truth create panic.

(NEW:) As soon as their instruments started showing increased levels of radiation in milk in this country, our EPA did two things: 1) announced they would be testing fallout in the United States LESS frequently and 2) stopped reported their findings to the public.

But you can find out the continuing dangers of radiation to all of us at these two sites:

Effects on Japan: Continuing coverage of disaster in Japan

Effects on the United States: blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/05/12

From now on, for updates on Japan go to The Japan Times

Daily hits to this blog have gone from a peak of 164 exactly one month ago to four. I assume most of you are no longer interested in updates on Japan, or at least not in those exclusively. So if you do want them, I refer you to The Japan Times and specifically their section "Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake News" (i.e. Sendai), plus the various blogs and other sites I have linked to in previous posts.

Please don't stop praying for the Japanese people to find His "great Light" in all their darkness. (Bible: Book of Isaiah chapter 9, verse 2) Thank you.

SENDAI TSUNAMI VIDEO: THIS IS THE WAY IT WAS!

Video: Tsunami engulfing Minami Sanriku

     This graphic 5-1/2 minute long video captures the Sendai tsunami of March 11, 2011 from beginning to end. As appalling as it is, this is the only way those of us who weren't there can ever understand what it was like to experience an inexorably oncoming wave 60 feet high eventually spreading five miles inland.
     The people on the hill from which this was taken start out making comments like, "It's awful! Look! Oh, no! Houses are being swept away!" Watch what happens. . .
     By the way, this is the devastated town our missionaries to Japan Ralph and Joan Justiniano made two relief trips to. (See their updates on March 25, April 6, and April 15.

There are more tsunami videos of other towns posted at hyotenka.blogspot.com/.

FINALLY: Fukushima 101 -- Dr. Kaku makes it crystal clear

      "Think of driving a car, and the car all of a sudden lunges out of control. You hit the brakes. The brakes don’t work. That’s because the earthquake wiped out the safety systems in the first minute of the earthquake and tsunami. Then your radiator starts to heat up and explodes. That’s the hydrogen gas explosion. And then, to make it worse, the gas tank is heating up, and all of a sudden your whole car is going to be in flames. That’s the full-scale meltdown.
     "So what do you do? You drive the car into a river. That’s what the utility did by putting seawater, seawater from the Pacific Ocean, in a desperate attempt to keep water on top of the core. But then, seawater has salt in it, and that gums up your radiator. And so, what do you do? You call out the local firemen. And so, now you have these Japanese samurai warriors. They know that this is potentially a suicide mission. They’re coming in with hose water—hose water—trying to keep water over the melted nuclear reactor cores. So that’s the situation now. So, when the utility says that things are stable, it’s only stable in the sense that you’re dangling from a cliff hanging by your fingernails. And as the time goes by, each fingernail starts to crack. That’s the situation now."  (From Despite Japanese Gov't Claims of Decreasing Radiation, Fukushima a "Ticking Time Bomb," on DemocracyNow.org)

     This is the partial transcript of an interview with Dr. Michio Kaku, a Japanese American physicist, a bestselling author, professor of theoretical physics at City University of New York and the City College of New York. His brand new book is Physics of the Future: How Science Will Change Daily Life by 2100.  

AMY GOODMAN: So, talk about this raising of the category level to 7, on a par with Chernobyl.

DR. MICHIO KAKU: Well, Tokyo Electric has been in denial, trying to downplay the full impact of this nuclear accident. However, there’s a formula, a mathematical formula, by which you can determine what level this accident is. This accident has already released something on the order of 50,000 trillion becquerels of radiation. You do the math. That puts it right smack in the middle of a level 7 nuclear accident. Still, less than Chernobyl. However, radiation is continuing to leak out of the reactors. The situation is not stable at all. So, you’re looking at basically a ticking time bomb. It appears stable, but the slightest disturbance—a secondary earthquake, a pipe break, evacuation of the crew at Fukushima—could set off a full-scale meltdown at three nuclear power stations, far beyond what we saw at Chernobyl.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about exactly—I mean, as a physicist, to explain to people—exactly what has taken place in Japan at these nuclear power plants.

DR. MICHIO KAKU: (See quote at top of page)


AMY GOODMAN: What do you think has to be done now?. . .

DR. MICHIO KAKU: Well, TEPCO is like the little Dutch boy. All of a sudden we have cracks in the dike. You put a finger here, you put a finger there. And all of a sudden, new leaks start to occur, and they’re overwhelmed.

I suggest that they be removed from leadership entirely and be put as consultants. An international team of top physicists and engineers should take over, with the authority to use the Japanese military. I think the Japanese military is the only organization capable of bringing this raging accident under control. And that’s what Gorbachev did in 1986. He saw this flaming nuclear power station in Chernobyl. He called out the Red Air Force. He called out helicopters, tanks, armored personnel carriers, and buried the Chernobyl reactor in 5,000 tons of cement, sand and boric acid. That’s, of course, a last ditch effort. But I think the Japanese military should be called out. 

AMY GOODMAN: To do...?

 DR. MICHIO KAKU: Because of the fact that the radiation levels are so great, workers can only go in for perhaps 10 minutes, 15 minutes at a time, and they get their year’s dose of radiation. You’re there for one hour, and you have radiation sickness. You vomit. Your white corpuscle count goes down. Your hair falls out. You’re there for a day, and you get a lethal amount of radiation. At Chernobyl, there were 600,000 people mobilized, each one going in for just a few minutes, dumping sand, concrete, boric acid onto the reactor site. Each one got a medal. That’s what it took to bring one raging nuclear accident under control. And I think the utility here is simply outclassed and overwhelmed.

AMY GOODMAN: And yet, these workers are in for much longer periods of time.

DR. MICHIO KAKU: That’s right. And we don’t even know how much radiation levels they’re getting, because many areas around the site have no monitors. So we don’t even know how much radiation many of these workers are getting. And that’s why I’m saying, if you have access to the military, you can have the option of sandbagging the reactor, encasing it in concrete, or at least have a reserve of troops that can go in for brief periods of times and bring this monster under control.

AMY GOODMAN: What about the evacuation zone? Is it big enough?

DR. MICHIO KAKU: It’s pathetic. The United States government has already stated 50 miles for evacuating U.S. personnel. The French government has stated that all French people should consider leaving the entire islands. And here we are with a government talking about six miles, 10 miles, 12 miles. And the people there are wondering, "What’s going on with the government? I mean, why aren’t they telling us the truth?" Radiation levels are now rising 25 miles from the site, far beyond the evacuation zone. And remember that we could see an increase in leukemia. We could see an increase in thyroid cancers. That’s the inevitable consequence of releasing enormous quantities of iodine into the environment.

AMY GOODMAN: What has to happen to the plant ultimately?

DR. MICHIO KAKU: Well, in the best-case scenario—this is the scenario devised by the utility itself—they hope to bring it under control by the end of this year. By the end of this year, they hope to have the pumps working, and the reaction is finally stabilized by the end of this year. . .
They’re literally making it up as they go along. We’re in totally uncharted territories. You get any nuclear engineering book, look at the last chapter, and this scenario is not contained in the last chapter of any nuclear engineering textbook on the planet earth. So they’re making it up as they go along. And we are the guinea pigs for this science experiment that’s taking place. Then it could take up to 10 years, up to 10 years to finally dismantle the reactor. The last stage is entombment. This is now the official recommendation of Toshiba, that they entomb the reactor over a period of many years, similar to what happened in Chernobyl.

AMY GOODMAN: Entomb it in...?

DR. MICHIO KAKU: In a gigantic slab of concrete. You’re going to have to drill underneath to make sure that the core does not melt right into the ground table. And you’re going to put 5,000 tons of concrete and sand on top of the flaming reactor. . .

AMY GOODMAN: . . . Japan was the target of the dawn of the Nuclear Age, right?. . .  The U.S. dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima, Nagasaki. Your own family mirrors the history of the Nuclear Age. Can you talk just briefly about that, before we talk about current U.S. policy?. . .



DR. MICHIO KAKU: That’s right. In California, my parents were interned in the relocation camps from 1942 to 1946, four years where they were put essentially behind barbed wire and machine guns, under the supervision of the United States military. 

AMY GOODMAN: And yet, you became a nuclear physicist, interestingly enough, and you worked with the people who made the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan.

DR. MICHIO KAKU: Yeah. In fact, my high school adviser was Edward Teller, the father of the hydrogen bomb. And he arranged for me to get a scholarship to Harvard, in fact, and that began my career as a nuclear scientist. And Edward Teller, of course, wanted me to work on the Star Wars program. He put a lot of pressure and said, "Look, we’ll give you fellowships, scholarships. Go to Los Alamos National Laboratory, Livermore National Laboratory. Design hydrogen bombs." But I said no. I said, "I cannot see my expertise being used to advance the cause of war."

AMY GOODMAN: And you’ve been very outspoken when it comes to nuclear power in the United States. . . President Obama is taking the opposite position. He really is very much the nuclear renaissance man. He is talking about a nuclear renaissance and has not backed off, in fact reiterated, saying this will not stop us from building the first nuclear power plants in, what, decades.

DR. MICHIO KAKU: . . . [I]n the United States, we’re now poised, at this key juncture in history, where the government has to decide whether to go to the next generation of reactors. These are the so-called gas-cooled pebble bed reactors, which are safer than the current design, but they still melt down. The proponents of this new renaissance say that you can go out to dinner and basically have a leisurely conversation even as your reactor melts down. But it still melts. That’s the bottom line.

AMY GOODMAN: And so, what do you think should happen? Do you think nuclear power plants should be built in this country?

DR. MICHIO KAKU: I think there should be a national debate, a national debate about a potential moratorium. The American people have not been given the full truth, because, for example, right north of New York City, roughly 30 miles north of where we are right now, we have the Indian Point nuclear power plant, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has now admitted that of all the reactors prone to earthquakes, the one right next to New York City is number one on that list. And the government itself, back in 1980, estimated that property damage would be on the order of about $200 billion in case of an accident, in 1980 dollars, at the Indian Point nuclear power station. 

AMY GOODMAN: No private corporation could even build a nuclear power plant: you have to have the taxpayers footing the bill.

 DR. MICHIO KAKU: You have to have what is called the Price-Anderson Act, having the United States government guarantee the insurance. Nobody will guarantee—nobody will sell an insurance policy for a nuclear power plant, because who can afford a $200 billion accident? That’s why the United States government has underwritten the insurance for every nuclear power plant. So the Price-Anderson Act is an act of Congress that mandates the U.S. government, the taxpayers, will underwrite the insurance, because nuclear power stations are not insurable.

You can watch the whole interview at DemocracyNow.org/2011/4/13/

Aftershocks/afterthoughts

     (New draft)
     One month today. As of this writing, there have been 966 aftershocks in Japan since March 11, an average of 32 per day.
    Between "the Japan thing" (as I have been calling it with friends) and other stressors closer to home, I'm running down, hitting a wall. I find it hard to concentrate or feel motivated. I have periods of anxiety, physical tension, knots in the stomach, others of listlessness and isolation, an inability or unwillingness to talk to or engage with anyone, or make the effort to care about one more prayer request.
     When it seemed that the next major quake might be here in California, Jerry and I talked about leaving the state for awhile. Jerry wanted to stay so if it hit we could help survivors. I said if we stayed we might be among those who needed help, whereas if we left we could come back afterward and help. On the other hand, to get out of the state we would have had to drive toward and eventually across the most ominous fault line in California. That didn't seem wise. And where would we go? What would we take? How long would we stay away? So we let it go.
     The earthquake didn't materialize (God is apparently not through with Japan yet) but even now I keep a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, tennies, 2 bottles of water, a battery-powered radio, a Bible, and a thick candle and matches in the "triangle of life" next to my side of the bed.
     I realize that 3/11/11 is my 9/11/01. From the age of 7 until 23, when I married my first husband, my home address--whether I was living in Hiroshima with my family, sailing around the world with them and three Hiroshima yachtsmen, attending high school in Honolulu, college on Maui, university in Tokyo, or Bible college in Portland, Oregon--was Yacht Phoenix, Eba, Hiroshima, Japan.
     Since March 11, hits to this blog gradually increased from eight per day to way over one hundred. Now they are thinning out again. I have no idea who most of you were. I wish I did. Hardly anyone left a comment. I wish I knew why you came, what you thought. I know why you are leaving and it's understandable. So many other, more recent concerns in the world are pushing Japan to the background, even though the needs, as one survivor pointed out, are greater than ever.  
     On April 14 it will have been one year since I started blogging, first His Scribe, then His Scribbler. Maybe I'll take a break.
     Life is short. Love each other.

P.S. All the Navigators staff members who were missing on March 15 were found alive, thanks be to God.
     
RELATED POSTS BELOW

RADIATION: The good news?

     Found an interesting juxtaposition of facts on the Nuclear Energy Institute: Radiation in perspective website: 

--Americans receive about 310 millirem of radiation per year from natural background radiation.

--NRC has established that the dose limit for protecting public health is 100 millirem per year.

Excuse me? The maximum safe dose per year is 100 millirem and we're already getting more than three times that dose from our environment? Just reinforces the truth that any more is too much!  

Heart-rending news story: 
From Nuclear Energy Institute, April 10:
     "The Japan education ministry is expected this week to release radiation exposure safety guidelines for school children in areas outside the evacuation zone surrounding the power plant, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum reported. The guidelines will require schools to suspend classes, stop outdoor lessons, or ensure students wear face masks if radiation surpasses certain levels." 
     I'm sure those little paper masks will keep out radiation as well as the lead aprons at the dentist and lead barriers in X-ray rooms at hospitals, don't you think? At least as well as the pathetic little paper caps mortally-exposed workers at Chernobyl wore as they battled radiation gushing from their wounded reactor.

But here's "good" news (good being relative, of course):
IODINE-131
     On April 6 the level of radioactive iodine (iodine-131) around the Fukushima nuclear plant was 7.5 million times the legal limit, according to the Los Angeles Times. Iodine-131 has a halflife of 8 days. Now that the leak seems to be stopped we have the happy prospect that 8 days from April 6, the radiation levels will be down to only 3.75 million times the legal limit. Eight days after that it will be halved again--so that (help me here, Jerry) if you bought milk in Tokyo four days ago, it should be safe to drink sometime this coming October. 

CESIUM-137
     On the same date, radioactive cesium (caesium-137) emitted from the plant was 11 million times the legal limit. At a halflife of 30 years, the radioactivity in the cesium will gradually decay (as it spreads, albeit diluted, around the whole earth through wind and water currents) until by 2043 it will finally be only 5.5 million times the level safe for human beings. 
     If there are NO MORE releases of cesium-137 into the sea or atmosphere from any source between now and then, we will get back to normal background levels of cesium-137 by the year 2701.    


Is there anyone out there--anyone sane--who still thinks trying to harness nuclear power to run our electric lights and computers is worth our global health?  

FALLEN HEROES: Kazuhiko Kokubo and Yoshiki Terashima

RELATED POSTS BELOW

     Bodies of Kazuhiko Kokubo, 24, and Yoshiki Terashima, 21, were found at the Fukushima nuclear plant. They were conducting regular tests when overtaken by the 9.0 earthquake on March 11 and the tsunami which followed. Discovered last week, the bodies had to be decontaminated from radiation before they could be returned to their families.
 
RELATED POSTS BELOW

"A few more carcinogens won't hurt you"

RELATED POSTS BELOW

     For "radiation," think "carcinogens." Seriously. That's what it is. Can you imagine an oncologist telling a major newspaper--or a patient--" a few more carcinogens won't hurt you"?

     From Sunday's LA Times a wise editorial: "As delighted as we would be if nuclear power were the clean, safe answer to this country's need for oil independence and a stable energy supply, our position is that the dangers outweigh the benefits. The nation's future lies in sustainable energy sources, not in nuclear."

     In the same edition of the same paper, a stupid quote from a professor of radiation oncology at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, William McBride: "We live in a world that is radioactive." He cites natural radiation--from radon and cosmic rays, for instance--that surrounds us on a daily basis."There's not enough [coming from Japan] to worry about." 

     This same argument is coming from those who claim more radiation is okay because we get it from flying in airplanes, from bricks, (). The fact that we are exposed to radiation from so many other sources should show us that the less additional radiation we get the better. Even the definition I found for "background radiation" on the net adds,

"The deleterious effects of background radiation, estimated as causing 1-6% of spontaneous genetic mutation, rise with dose."     
     My brother Ted, whose youngest daughter Laria is 12, and whose son Vyron is 8, may have listened to an interview with this same naive spokesman when he emailed me: "When I see them bringing in 'experts' to give the public evasions and reassurances that we've know for decades are lies, I want to cry.  Want to?  I do cry.
     The California doctor I just saw aired assured us that the radioactive iodine in the milk in our refrigerator will decrease to half in 8 days.  (How many people keep milk 8 days before drinking it?)  He never mentioned the other elements, like caesium and strontium, which get into the bones and radiate from there for the rest of one's life.  He pushed the exploded idea that there is a level beneath which radiation is not harmful.  Etc blah blah etc.  And then said 'Don't worry.  I gave my kids milk this morning!'
     I cried.

Love,
ted

RELATED POSTS BELOW

RADIATION: It's carcinogenic--and it's cumulative!

RELATED POSTS BELOW

Dear friends, 
Here's the latest EPA update on radiation in our air, water, and milk. Bold-ing is mine--why does the amount of radiation we are exposed to in our water have to equal natural background radiation before it becomes a problem? Read my lips: IT'S CARCINOGENIC AND IT'S CUMULATIVE!

From: U.S. EPA [mailto:usaepa@govdelivery.com]
Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 5:34 PM
To: jessica.renshaw@verizon.net
Subject: EPA News Release (HQ): EPA STATEMENT: Update on Ongoing Monitoring

CONTACT: EPA Press Office press@epa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 4, 2011
EPA STATEMENT: Update on Ongoing Monitoring

WASHINGTON – As a result of the incident with the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, several EPA air monitors have detected very low levels of radioactive material in the United States consistent with estimated releases from the damaged nuclear reactors. EPA has stepped up monitoring of precipitation, milk, and drinking water in response to the Fukushima events. The detections in air, precipitation, and milk were expected, and the levels detected have been far below levels of public-health concern.

Today, EPA released its latest RadNet results, which include the first results for drinking water. Drinking water samples from two locations, Boise, Idaho and Richland, Washington, showed trace amounts of Iodine-131 – about 0.2 picocuries per liter in each case. An infant would have to drink almost 7,000 liters of this water to receive a radiation dose equivalent to a day’s worth of the natural background radiation exposure we experience continuously from natural sources of radioactivity in our environment. Earlier precipitation samples collected by EPA have shown trace amounts of radioactivity, so EPA has expected to find results such as these in some drinking water samples. Similar findings are to be expected in the coming weeks.

To see results from these samples, please visit:
 http://www.epa.gov\japan2011\docs\rert\RadNet-Drinking-Water-Data-Public-Release-4-2-2011.pdf

In addition, results of EPA’s precipitation sampling and air filter analyses continue to detect very low levels of radioactive material consistent with estimated releases from the damaged nuclear reactors. These detections were expected and the levels detected are far below levels of public-health concern. For the latest sample results please visit:

For the latest air monitoring filter data: http://epa.gov/japan2011/docs/rert/radnet-cart-filter-final.pdf

For the latest milk sampling data: http://epa.gov/japan2011/docs/rert/radnet-milk-final.pdf

For the latest precipitation sampling data: http://epa.gov/japan2011/docs/rert/radnet-precipitation-final.pdf


R116 
 

RELATED POSTS BELOW.

HEROES: Inside story of the Fukushima 50

FUKUSHIMA 50 (more than 1,000 actually): "We expect to die,""There is nobody but us to do this job, and we cannot go home until we finish the work."

Here are extracts from three different sources: personal interviews with a Fukushima nuclear plant worker, an interview with the mother of a worker (they're anonymous so we don't know if it is the same worker) and a description of the living conditions for the pool of workers as they take turns going into the plant. 

1. From interview with a worker's mother in Fukushima 50: We expect to die 
on FoxNews via matzav.com

     Speaking tearfully through an interpreter by phone, the mother of a 32-year-old worker said: “My son and his colleagues have discussed it at length and they have committed themselves to die if necessary to save the nation. . . He told me they have accepted they will all probably die from radiation sickness in the short term or cancer in the long-term.”
     The woman spoke to Fox News on the condition of anonymity because, she said, plant workers had been asked by management not to communicate with the media or share details with family members in order to minimize public panic.
     She could not confirm if her son or other workers were already suffering from radiation sickness. But she added: “They have concluded between themselves that it is inevitable some of them may die within weeks or months. They know it is impossible for them not to have been exposed to lethal doses of radiation.”



2. From Interview with Fukushima worker 
on Yahoo.com

     One worker told national Mainichi newspaper said when he was called in mid-March to help restore power at the plant, he did not tell his family because he did not want them to worry. But he did tell a friend to notify his parents if he did not return in two weeks.
     "I feel very strongly that there is nobody but us to do this job, and we cannot go home until we finish the work," he said.
     Early on, the company ran out of full radiation suits, forcing workers to create improvised versions of items such as nylon booties they were supposed to pull over their shoes.
"But we only put something like plastic garbage bags you can buy at a convenience store and sealed them with masking tape," he said.
     He said the tsunami littered the area around the plant with dead fish and sharks, and the quake opened holes in the ground that tripped up some workers who could not see through large gas masks. They had to yell at one another to be heard through the masks.
     "It's hard to move while wearing a gas mask," he said. "While working, the gas mask came off several times. Maybe I must have inhaled much radiation." 


3. From Fukushima famine by Jamie Dean
on worldmag.com

     . . . [C]onditions are grueling for the hundreds of workers [later article at yahoo.org cited "more than 1,000 engineers working around the clock since the incident began"] battling radiation leaks and contaminated water at the badly damaged [Fukushima nuclear] plant . .. As many as 580 workers at a time pack the halls and offices of a two-story, earthquake-resistant building serving as emergency headquarters at the nuclear power plant. (The building stands about a half mile from Reactor No. 1.)  The workers pull three-day shifts, returning after one day off-site.. .
     Breakfast is a package or two of cookies and a small carton of vegetable juice. Dinner is usually rice with vegetables and a can of meat. No lunch. Fresh water is also scarce: Since workers are limited to 1.5 liters of water a day. . . they wash their hands with alcohol and usually don't bathe. . .
     Christian relief group CRASH (Christian Relief, Assistance, Support and Hope) sent an assessment team to Fukushima to assess relief needs. CRASH worker Scott Eaton formerly worked as a teacher in the region, and was a member of Fukushima Daiichi Seisho Baptist Church. He reported that seven of the church's members work at the power plant. (JR: It is my understanding that Team Leader Naoyoshi Sato is one of these 7 members.)
      Eaton also reported that a church in an area beyond the evacuation zone had offered to host all of the displaced members of the Fukushima church. And a Christian campground in Okutama had invited all the church members to move into the group's facilities. Eaton said he was relieved to see Japanese churches offering support: "This is the body of Christ.” 

 
MORE RELATED POSTS BELOW