Radiation ‘hotspots’ hinder Japan response to nuclear crisis – ‘I want to dig a hole in the ground and scream’

By Kevin Krolicki and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Linda Sieg and Nick Macfie14 Jun 2011 KANAGAWA, Japan (Reuters) – Hisao Nakamura still can’t accept that his crisply cut field of deep green tea bushes south of Tokyo has been turned into a radioactive hazard by a crisis far beyond the horizon. “I was more than […]

‘Hundreds of thousands’ of lead-poisoned Chinese children denied care: Human Rights Watch

Hong Kong (AFP) June 14, 2011 – Chinese officials in provinces with heavy industrial pollution are restricting access to lead testing or even falsifying test results, and denying children treatment, a US rights group said Wednesday. Human Rights Watch accused officials in four provinces — Henan, Yunnan, Shaanxi and Hunan — of trying to cover […]

Fukushima City to give radiation counters to 34,000 children

TOKYO, June 14 (AFP) — Japan’s Fukushima city said on Tuesday it would hand radiation dosimeters to 34,000 children to gauge their exposure from the crippled nuclear power plant about 60 kilometres (40 miles) away. The city will hand the measuring devices to all children aged between four and 15 for three months from September […]

Japan finds radioactive cesium in slaughtered minke whales

TOKYO, June 15 (AFP) — Japanese whale hunters have found traces of radioactive caesium in two of the ocean giants recently harpooned off its shores in the Pacific Ocean, a fisheries agency official said Wednesday. Two minke whales culled off the northern island of Hokkaido showed readings of 31 becquerels and 24.3 becquerels of caesium […]

Video: Plume of smoke or steam enveloping Fukushima Units 3 and 4, 14 June 2011 [Update: Probably fog]

  [Update: Readers have suggested that the “plume” is merely fog rolling in from the ocean. Desdemona agrees and slaps forehead.] Things start cooking around 1:30, and the big plume starts at about 2:10. Here’s what Google translate says about the caption: Unit 3, white smoke from the No. 4 (black and white, so clear […]

Additional 23 workers exposed to high radiation at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant

June 14 (NHK) – The health ministry says that another 23 workers at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant may have been exposed internally to over 100 millisieverts of radiation. The ministry on Tuesday told plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company to immediately release the workers from duty. The ministry said keeping the employees at […]

Video: Radiation 1000 times over safe limit found outside Fukushima exclusion zone

  At :45 in Rain and winds bringing radiation into Fukushima City [60 km from plant]. We were at a spot with 1,000 times safe dosage. These are very, very dangerous levels. These area are considered safe by authorities. There are hot spots where radiation is off the charts. RT in Fukushima: Radiation 1000 times […]

Graph of the Day: Earth Movement by Humans and Rivers in the U.S.

Earth movement by humans and rivers. Maps of the United States showing, by variations in peak height, the rates at which earth is moved in gigatonnes per annum in a grid cell measuring 1° (latitude and longitude) on a side, by (A) humans and (B) rivers. Hooke (1999) / EPA Surface mining and reclamation have […]

Growing radiation exposure problems for Fukushima workers

June 13 (NHK) – The health and labor ministry says six other workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may have received radiation doses above the allowable emergency level. Tokyo Electric Power Company reported to the health ministry on Monday on the results of the latest checks of workers at the power plant. The […]

In Japan nuclear crisis, crippling mistrust – ‘We found ourselves in a downward spiral’

By NORIMITSU ONISHI and MARTIN FACKLER12 June 2011 TOKYO — On the evening of March 12, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant’s oldest reactor had suffered a hydrogen explosion and risked a complete meltdown. Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked aides to weigh the risks of injecting seawater into the reactor to cool it down. At this […]

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