Beyond Nuclear statement on Fukushima, Japan
Subject: Beyond Nuclear monitoring Japan's struggle to prevent meltdown
From: "Beyond Nuclear" <cindy@beyondnuclear.org> Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.
Beyond Nuclear monitoring struggle to prevent meltdown in Japan The staff at Beyond Nuclear continues to maintain its round-the-clock vigil, monitoring the situation at Japan’s nuclear reactors after the giant earthquake, and providing the press with information and interviews. The past 24+ hours have witnessed the unfolding nightmare of a potential nuclear reactor meltdown after unit 1 at Fukushima Daiichi was crippled due to loss of power after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake. Workers are flooding the core with seawater and boric acid in an unprecedented attempt to cool the reactor and thereby prevent a meltdown. Beyond Nuclear spokespeople, Paul Gunter and Kevin Kamps have been in constant touch with reporters and have made appearances on ABC News, CNN, RT, FOX News and CBC (Canada) to date as well as in running stories in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and elsewhere. Beyond Nuclear is providing constant updates on the home page of its website.The evacuation boundary continues to be extended, reaching 20 km (13 miles) at the time of this bulletin. Japanese officials have told the U.N.'s atomic watchdog they are making preparations to distribute iodine, which can be used to protect people from radioactive exposure to the thyroid. Iodine would not prevent other types of radiation exposure and damage, however. The Australian Radiation Service released a map showing the potential radioactive plume pathway and fallout should the Fukushima reactor melt down. The map shows the plume affecting the western United States but Beyond Nuclear has not been able to verify the radiation levels given or to understand how they are derived. This map does not mean that a catastrophic radiation leak has occurred. It represents what would happen to a large radiation release if it were to occur. Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund has already called the accident “one of the three worst accidents we have ever had at a nuclear power plant in the history of nuclear power,” recalling the 1979 Three Mile Island, PA meltdown and the 1986 Chernobyl reactor explosion in Ukraine. Commentator, Keith Olbermann has called for a complete and permanent shutdown of U.S. reactors.
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From: "Mary Olson" <maryo@nirs.org>
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2011 14:17:32 -0500
Subject: [N3Yall] FW: Resources on Nuclear Accidents + Gordon's expert opinion
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----_=_NextPart_001_01CBE0EA.20E7E8F6" All – Gordon Edwards is one of our technical resources outside the lies of government and industry. His views in the second half of the message below should be forwarded on and out and reach the decision makers if we can get them there! Mary Mary Olson maryo@nirs.org NIRS Southeast 828-252-8409 / cell 828-242-5621
From: Gordon Edwards [mailto:ccnr@web.ca]
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 1:42 PM
To: Gordon Edwards
Subject: Resources on Nuclear Accidents Friends: At the suggestion of one of our long-time board members, I have moved some Resources about Nuclear Accidents to the top of the CCNR web page. See http://ccnr.org For some technical information regarding the 3 reactors (out of 6 total) that are in a state of emergency at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Generating Station, and the 4 reactors at the Fukushima Da-ini Generation Station that are also in a state of emergency, see the World Nuclear News report which was posted about noon today (Montreal time) http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_reactors_... According to this report, the biggest problem in all these affected reactors is the limited ability to condense steam and therefore the buildup of pressure inside the building which can only be relieved by condensation or release to the atmosphere. The steam is radioactive but not like the intensely radioactive-laden releases from Chernobyl. How- ever there is radioactive iodine, cesium, strontium, and a couple of dozen other radioactive elements in this steam (that's my comment). According to the same report, the only two reactors where the actual water level in the core is down is units 1 and 2 of the Da-ichi generating station. Of these unit 1 is in a worse condition; in unit 2 the water level is said to be down but stabilized. Unit 1 is the reactor that had an explosion which destroyed much of the reactor building but according to the authorities did not compromise the actual airtight containment of the reactor itself. They are using sea water to try and cool things down inside these reactors. I believe that Japanese authorities should be urging children and pregnant women to evacuate much further away from these damaged reactors because radioactive iodine is avidly taken up by into the thyroid gland of fetuses and children, even more so than adults. In addition to thyroid cancer there is a host of developmental problems that can be caused by inhibited thyroid functioning such as mental retardation, stunted growth, and a number of abnomalities in developing organs. WHO admits that over 5000 children in Bellarusse had to have their thyroid glands surgically removed because of the Chernobyl accident but I have seen nothing published by them about other thyroid disorders and related developmental problems. In particular people should be warned about fresh milk, including mother's breast milk, which is one of the most important vectors for delivering radioactive iodine to the fetus/infant/child. Better to use powdered milk that was prepared before the radioactive releases started than to use fresh milk which will incorporate and concentrate the radioactive iodine. Gordon Edwards.
From: "Beyond Nuclear" <cindy@beyondnuclear.org> Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.
Beyond Nuclear monitoring struggle to prevent meltdown in Japan The staff at Beyond Nuclear continues to maintain its round-the-clock vigil, monitoring the situation at Japan’s nuclear reactors after the giant earthquake, and providing the press with information and interviews. The past 24+ hours have witnessed the unfolding nightmare of a potential nuclear reactor meltdown after unit 1 at Fukushima Daiichi was crippled due to loss of power after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake. Workers are flooding the core with seawater and boric acid in an unprecedented attempt to cool the reactor and thereby prevent a meltdown. Beyond Nuclear spokespeople, Paul Gunter and Kevin Kamps have been in constant touch with reporters and have made appearances on ABC News, CNN, RT, FOX News and CBC (Canada) to date as well as in running stories in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and elsewhere. Beyond Nuclear is providing constant updates on the home page of its website.The evacuation boundary continues to be extended, reaching 20 km (13 miles) at the time of this bulletin. Japanese officials have told the U.N.'s atomic watchdog they are making preparations to distribute iodine, which can be used to protect people from radioactive exposure to the thyroid. Iodine would not prevent other types of radiation exposure and damage, however. The Australian Radiation Service released a map showing the potential radioactive plume pathway and fallout should the Fukushima reactor melt down. The map shows the plume affecting the western United States but Beyond Nuclear has not been able to verify the radiation levels given or to understand how they are derived. This map does not mean that a catastrophic radiation leak has occurred. It represents what would happen to a large radiation release if it were to occur. Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund has already called the accident “one of the three worst accidents we have ever had at a nuclear power plant in the history of nuclear power,” recalling the 1979 Three Mile Island, PA meltdown and the 1986 Chernobyl reactor explosion in Ukraine. Commentator, Keith Olbermann has called for a complete and permanent shutdown of U.S. reactors.
Share the Bulletin!
Please consider posting any or all of the contents of the Beyond Nuclear Bulletin to your websites, blogs, Facebook pages etc and forwarding it to your email lists. You have our full permission to reproduce the Beyond Nuclear Bulletin in full or in part. We so much appreciate your helping us further inform ever wider audiences about our work and the issues we cover. Thank you!
Join our network
Donate Beyond Nuclear
6930 Carroll Avenue #400
Takoma Park, MD 20912
From: "Mary Olson" <maryo@nirs.org>
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2011 14:17:32 -0500
Subject: [N3Yall] FW: Resources on Nuclear Accidents + Gordon's expert opinion
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----_=_NextPart_001_01CBE0EA.20E7E8F6" All – Gordon Edwards is one of our technical resources outside the lies of government and industry. His views in the second half of the message below should be forwarded on and out and reach the decision makers if we can get them there! Mary Mary Olson maryo@nirs.org NIRS Southeast 828-252-8409 / cell 828-242-5621
From: Gordon Edwards [mailto:ccnr@web.ca]
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 1:42 PM
To: Gordon Edwards
Subject: Resources on Nuclear Accidents Friends: At the suggestion of one of our long-time board members, I have moved some Resources about Nuclear Accidents to the top of the CCNR web page. See http://ccnr.org For some technical information regarding the 3 reactors (out of 6 total) that are in a state of emergency at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Generating Station, and the 4 reactors at the Fukushima Da-ini Generation Station that are also in a state of emergency, see the World Nuclear News report which was posted about noon today (Montreal time) http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_reactors_... According to this report, the biggest problem in all these affected reactors is the limited ability to condense steam and therefore the buildup of pressure inside the building which can only be relieved by condensation or release to the atmosphere. The steam is radioactive but not like the intensely radioactive-laden releases from Chernobyl. How- ever there is radioactive iodine, cesium, strontium, and a couple of dozen other radioactive elements in this steam (that's my comment). According to the same report, the only two reactors where the actual water level in the core is down is units 1 and 2 of the Da-ichi generating station. Of these unit 1 is in a worse condition; in unit 2 the water level is said to be down but stabilized. Unit 1 is the reactor that had an explosion which destroyed much of the reactor building but according to the authorities did not compromise the actual airtight containment of the reactor itself. They are using sea water to try and cool things down inside these reactors. I believe that Japanese authorities should be urging children and pregnant women to evacuate much further away from these damaged reactors because radioactive iodine is avidly taken up by into the thyroid gland of fetuses and children, even more so than adults. In addition to thyroid cancer there is a host of developmental problems that can be caused by inhibited thyroid functioning such as mental retardation, stunted growth, and a number of abnomalities in developing organs. WHO admits that over 5000 children in Bellarusse had to have their thyroid glands surgically removed because of the Chernobyl accident but I have seen nothing published by them about other thyroid disorders and related developmental problems. In particular people should be warned about fresh milk, including mother's breast milk, which is one of the most important vectors for delivering radioactive iodine to the fetus/infant/child. Better to use powdered milk that was prepared before the radioactive releases started than to use fresh milk which will incorporate and concentrate the radioactive iodine. Gordon Edwards.
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