Thursday, May 1, 2014

Oregon State University Researchers on Albacore Tuna off Oregon: "you would have to consume more than 700,000 pounds of the fish" to match annual natural background radiation


Probably not what many people want to hear, who have been busy petitioning their local governments on the US west coast about the danger of "high levels" of Fukushima radiation.

According to the press release by Oregon State University, the researchers at Oregon State University and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tested Pacific albacore tuna caught off the coast of Oregon between 2008 and 2012 and compared radioactive cesium levels, the first study to compare "before and after". The study is also the first to compare different parts of the fish.

The study seems to be the continuation of the study they published on October 2012.

The result was that the amount of radioactive cesium in post-Fukushima fish was triple that of pre-Fukushima fish, "at the most extreme level".

From the paper's abstract, here are the numbers, in MILLIBECQUEREL/Kg (millibecquerel=1/1000 of 1 becquerel) in WET WEIGHT:

  • Cesium-134: 18.2–356 mBq/kg of wet weight

  • Cesium-137: 234–824 mBq/kg of wet weight

Expressed in more familiar Bq/kg,
  • Cesium-134: 0.0182 - 0.356 Bq/kg

  • Cesium-137: 0.234 - 0.824 Bq/kg


An unexpected side benefit of studying these fish was, according to the researchers, to better understand the albacore tuna migration, using radioactive cesium from Fukushima as a trace.

The press release by Oregon State University (4/28/2014; emphasis is mine):

Study finds only trace levels of radiation from Fukushima in albacore
04/28/2014

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Albacore tuna caught off the Oregon shore after the Fukushima Daiichi power station in Japan was destroyed in a 2011 earthquake had slightly elevated levels of radioactivity but the increase has been minute, according to a newly published study.

In fact, you would have to consume more than 700,000 pounds of the fish with the highest radioactive level – just to match the amount of radiation the average person is annually exposed to in everyday life through cosmic rays, the air, the ground, X-rays and other sources, the authors say.

Results of the study are being published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

You can’t say there is absolutely zero risk because any radiation is assumed to carry at least some small risk,” said Delvan Neville, a graduate research assistant in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics at Oregon State University and lead author on the study. “But these trace levels are too small to be a realistic concern.

“A year of eating albacore with these cesium traces is about the same dose of radiation as you get from spending 23 seconds in a stuffy basement from radon gas, or sleeping next to your spouse for 40 nights from the natural potassium-40 in their body,” he added. “It’s just not much at all.”

In their study, the researchers examined a total of 26 Pacific albacore caught off the coast between 2008 and 2012 to give them a comparison between pre-Fuskushima and post-Fukushima radiation levels. They discovered that levels of specific radioactive isotopes did increase, but at the most extreme level, they only tripled – a measurement that is only 0.1 percent of the radiocesium level set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for concern and intervention.

The researchers tested samples of the albacore from their loins, carcass and guts and found varying levels – all barely detectable. The findings are still important, however, since this is one of the first studies to look at different parts of the fish.

The loins, or muscle, is what people eat and the bioaccumulation was about the same there as in the carcass,” said Jason Phillips, a research associate in OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and co-author on the study.

The researchers next began looking at the radionuclide levels in different aged fish and found they were somewhat higher in 4-year-old albacore than in the younger fish. This suggests that the 3-year-old albacore may have only made one trans-Pacific migration, whereas the 4-year-old fish may have migrated through the Fukushima plume twice.

The majority of the 3-year-old fish had no traces of Fukushima at all.

Although it is possible that additional exposures to the plume could further increase radiation levels in the albacore, it would still be at a low level, the researchers pointed out. Additionally, as albacore mature at around age 5, they stop migrating long distances and move south to subtropical waters in the Central and West Pacific – and do not return to the West Coast of the United States.

The presence of these radioactive isotopes is actually helping us in an odd way – giving us information that will allow us to estimate how albacore tuna migrate between our West Coast and Japan,” Neville said.

Little is known about the migration patterns of young albacore before they enter the U.S. fishery at about three years of age, Phillips said.

“That’s kind of surprising, considering what a valuable food source they are,” Phillips said. “Fukushima provides the only known source for a specific isotope that shows up in the albacore, so it gives us an unexpected fingerprint that allows us to learn more about the migration.”

Other authors were Richard Brodeur of NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, and Kathryn Higley, of the OSU Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics. The study was supported by Oregon State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with continued support from Oregon Sea Grant.


The abstract of the paper "Trace Levels of Fukushima Disaster Radionuclides in East Pacific Albacore" (emphasis is mine):

The Fukushima Daiichi power station released several radionuclides into the Pacific following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. A total of 26 Pacific albacore (Thunnus alalunga) caught off the Pacific Northwest U.S. coast between 2008 and 2012 were analyzed for 137Cs and Fukushima-attributed 134Cs. Both 2011 (2 of 2) and several 2012 (10 of 17) edible tissue samples exhibited increased activity concentrations of 137Cs (234–824 mBq/kg of wet weight) and 134Cs (18.2–356 mBq/kg of wet weight). The remaining 2012 samples and all pre-Fukushima (2008–2009) samples possessed lower 137Cs activity concentrations (103–272 mBq/kg of wet weight) with no detectable 134Cs activity. Age, as indicated by fork length, was a strong predictor for both the presence and concentration of 134Cs (p < 0.001). Notably, many migration-aged fish did not exhibit any 134Cs, suggesting that they had not recently migrated near Japan. None of the tested samples would represent a significant change in annual radiation dose if consumed by humans.


Researchers at Stanford University and Stony Brook University published the study on Pacific bluefin tuna in June 2013, which revealed radiation exposure from natural radioactive potassium and polonium (alpha nuclide) is significantly greater than exposure from Fukushima-derived radioactive cesium.

51 comments:

Anonymous said...

26 fish, 2 years ago, sounds like a good study. Luckily the researchers aren't related to the fishing industry.

Anonymous said...

26 fish???? Unbelievable!

Anonymous said...

Anon at 5:30PM, how many do you want? Even in Fukushima, they test only few fish per kind of fish.

Anonymous said...

26 fish is all this study could afford to buy.

They obviously couldn't afford to do testing for Strontium or any of the heavy radionuclides.

Not to worry, this disaster will be debated, discussed, dissected, demonised etc for decades to come.

Meanwhile, I am not going to be eating any pacific seafood, questionably sourced, tested or not. I am not going to be eating any Japanese food products period. I'm not going to die from tuna deprivation!

Anonymous said...

When 'scientist' start to compare internal radiation with extenal, you know something serious is wrong...
And when they start to talk about the banana ( potassium )... It's very clear they have to hide something. What about Strontium, Plutonium and all those other isotopes?
As if only cesium is ( still) being released from Fukushima.
And why turn this story into something positive? As if we should be happy that all that cesium is spilled into the ocean, so we now know where that Albacore is swimming.
That really good news, I always wanted to know that. Life has new meaning, since we can trace the whereabouts of Albacore.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps Chris Busby could fund a study from all the income he's received from his anti-radiation medicine. Sheesh.

Nancy said...

The study is useless and is being used for political purposes in the US. Higley is a well known nuclear industry shill, hardly an unbiased researcher. She coordinated the study. Only 19 samples are post Fukushima but the study doesn't tell most of the story. 19 is way too small to make any conclusions. Albacore have a very limited migration pattern where only a subset of fish of a certain age actually migrate in a given year, the rest don't. They also have a diet that is mainly things like octopus and squid. These have been found to have almost no cesium uptake even the ones tested at Daiichi. Fukushima octopus has been back on the market since 2012 due to this inability to absorb cesium. So they studied a tiny group of fish that don't eat anything likely to be contaminated and only an even smaller number might have migrated through the contaminated waters. Yet from this pathetic bit of statistics the authors are trying to claim all Pacific fish are okey dokey. Um. No. If you actually read the entire study they have a section in the conclusions that is word for word nuclear industry PR excuses they use to try to explain away radiation risk.

Anonymous said...

With changes like Fuku and these on the West Coast that the ocean life is telling us are "unavoidable",

http://enenews.com/sf-chronicle-unbelievable-hordes-of-fish-along-california-coast-highest-number-of-marine-birds-sea-lions-dolphins-whales-expert-off-the-charts-pelican-population-highly-unusual-c

I say we take this occasion to declare our Embargo the Ocean Dumping, All Forms Various.
[cue the curious voiceful/voiceless seafood industry's bleating]

Imagine a bunch of special interests presenting a "new" dystopia where dumping any & everything in the ocean will Never be a cause for regret, a "new" Growth in Ocean Futures ..

Shortly, "atmospheric dumping" will be as acceptable as ocean dumping.
http://fukushima-diary.com/2014/04/fukushima-prefectural-gov-shrank-fallout-survey-still-10-million-bq-of-cs-134137-emitted-from-fukushima-every-hour/
Fallout, ever-unapprehension-able, becomes "good" for you .. in your new dystopia ..

Anonymous said...

Nancy, then what about "anti-nuclear shills" like Gundersen, Alvarez, Caldicott, and Busby? They are OK because they help anti-nuclear activists and fear-mongerers?

Anonymous said...

Anon@ 8:46

Your use of the word shill indicates that you don't have an understanding of its meaning.

Your use of the words 'fear-mongerers' (sic) indicates that you have no understanding of the gravity of this ongoing catastrophe.

You SHOULD be afraid....VERY AFRAID. Only a fool would parade his insouciance in the face of such crisis.

The Fukushima catastrophe will affect generation after generation of creatures (humans included) on this planet that we all share.

Where do you get off trying to downplay the severity? What money are you so afraid of losing that you are prepared to sacrifice your children's future for a heinous lie?

Anonymous said...

If "anti-nuclear shill" displeases you, I can rephrase it as "anti-nuke whore".

Anonymous said...

"where do you get off trying to downplay the severity?"
Do not make the mistake of assuming that looking at the facts is in any way downplaying the severity. A respected institution (several, in fact) have conducted a number of studies in which seawater and widely-consumed fish were found with extremely low levels of cesium. The religiously anti-nuclear crowd (should I say "faith-based" crowd) ignores the findings, labels the researchers as "shills" for the nuclear industry, or criticizes the findings because they didn't use enough fish, or because they didn't search for plutonium or strontium or whatever.
The situation in Fukushima was made worse by fear-mongers who claimed that babies in California were dying, that spent fuel pools exploded, that millions would die as a result of the catastrophes.
And always the trump card is The Children. What about the children? What about your children? What shall we feed our children? What about your children's children, etc...treating anyone who believes in the edibility of tuna as a child-murderer.
And the other trump card: bananas. The wonderful fruit with radioactive potassium in it. Mention it and you are mercilessly made fun of. Why? Because somehow the disintegrating atoms and beta emissions from bananas may be dismissed as comical, and worthy of ridicule, while the beta emissions from cesium are deadly. It is the height of irrationality, but when hidden behind the shield of "what about the children" all rationality is allowed to collapse, and we are besieged with an endless stream of anxieties. 26 tuna not enough? What about 27, 57, 207? No dangerous levels of cesium found - then what about plutonium or strontium? And who really cares, since the organizations doing the testing can all be tainted as "nuclear shills". In the end, the likelihood of Death by Fukushima becomes an article of faith, and looking at the facts will only invite scorn and derision from the faithful.

Anonymous said...

Someone is actually using the abundance of seal life in Monterey Bay as evidence of Fukushima creating havoc in the ocean?? Bloody hell, now it really has become silly.

Anonymous said...

3:35,

Exactly. As we and the seals meet in consensus that enuff is enuff, the Embargo is NOW.
See, the seals are clear-headed beasts and while some humans they "communicate" with do not Ever get the message, their message to most is rather evident: the currents are changing, so our feeding patterns must be, too.
(They've also been whispering that a strong el Nino is brewing. Prepare.)

Enjoy your reduced dividends, shareholder.

/sarc

VyseLegendaire said...

These studies are essentially worthless and you know it.

Anonymous said...

Is it necessary that anyone who doesn't toe the anti-nuclear line be labelled a shill or a shareholder? Makes the anti-nuclear crowd look a bit juvenile.

Anonymous said...

Anon@3:31pm

No apologies that the 'anti-nuclear whores' as you put it have touched a raw nerve with you,

You say 'death by Fukushima becomes an article of faith...'

Yet another example of your idiotic denial.

There are plenty of examples of nasty diseases skyrocketing post 3/11.

You deny the children their birthright to a healthy life. YES, the thousands of children who have thyroid nodules. Whilst treatable, many of these thyroid nodules might have been avoidable if the Japanese government and Tepco had acted promptly and with a shred of decency and honesty.

You go ahead and place your faith in the historically proven liars.

The rest of us might live longer and healthier lives by refusing to accept a status quo that is rotten to the core.

Shame on you for having no sense of social responsibility.

Mike said...

I thought it was generally accepted that the health consequences of internal exposure from consumed foodstuffs, water and inhalation are far more severe than those from external exposure to background environmental radiation, x-rays and so on. That the scientists quoted in the article seem to equate the two implicates their biases and competence.

Thank you, Nancy, for the information about the Albacore's diet and migratory behavior, and thank you arevamirpal, as always, for the time and effort you devote to gathering and sharing this information.

Mike

Anonymous said...

Diseases skyrocketing in Japan because of Fukushima?? I'd be curious to hear more. Do tell. I certainly wouldn't want to accuse you of drumming up fake statistics for the sake of spreading fear.

Anonymous said...

"Is it necessary that anyone who doesn't toe the anti-nuclear line be labelled a shill or a shareholder?"

Do, do forgive me: how COULD I have forgotten the labels "Navy"/"ex-Navy"??

Nah, don't forget, we only had the report of the Australian (?) saying the entire Pacific between Japan and the U.S. was deader than he'd ever seen in Decades of back and forth maritime.

And no, you guys don't celebrate "fake stats" in the lack of reporting, right?

Anonymous said...

Ok anon@ 5:49, you asked for more info about diseases skyrocketing as a result of the Fukushima catastrophe.

Firstly, let's start with Dr Helen Caldicott's presentation
http://www.helencaldicott.com/2013/07/the-medical-implications-of-fukushima/

Don't like Dr Caldicott?

Ok, how about

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201402080047

Read this?
http://cricket.biol.sc.edu/chernobyl/papers/Mousseau-Moller-JHP-2013.pdf

How about...
'A death toll [from Fukushima] of up to 600,000 is estimated in a study conducted for the Nordic Probabilistic Safety Assessment Group which is run by the nuclear utilities of Finland and Sweden.

Maybe this...
Changes in confirmed plus borderline cases of congenital hypothyroidism in California as a function of environmental fallout from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperDownload.aspx?paperID=40157

Etc, etc

Anonymous said...

Hahaha... I love the slander of "fake stats". Let's take a closer look at this claim of "skyrocketing diseases".

Helen Caldicott, once an Australian Pediatrician, and now world famous anti-nuclear protester. Her reputation as a hater of all things nuclear is impeccable, however her reputation in epidemiology and radiation has yet to be established. I note she makes a grand living from fear-mongering, so she does have motivation to "juice the numbers". I read the entire article you posted, and, while I would not have been surprised if Helen Caldicott had claimed that diseases were skyrocketing, there was no mention in the article of any skyrocketing disease. She does fan the flames of anxiety about unit 4, which has yet to fall down, run dry, or display any of the characteristics she dreads.

The Asahi article you linked to was a well-referenced story about the 75 children identified with thyroid cancer or suspected thyroid cancer. This story bears following as hundreds of thousands of kids are being tested, and thyroid cancer is known to increase four to five years after exposure. So either our knowledge of thyroid cancer needs to be rethought, or the mass screening is playing some role, or both. In any rate, if the 75 children are what you refer to as "plenty of examples of nasty diseases skyrocketing post 3/11" then it is noted, but the grammer of your statement needs to be changed.

The 6-page pdf you linked to was a ringing endorsement of the controversial paper by Yablokov, which makes astonishing claims for the death toll of Chernobyl - claims which are not shared by the scientific community, nor by the New York Academy of Sciences. In any event, it is not an account of any rise in disease in Fukushima.

The 45-page paper you linked to was created in the first months of the accident, and many of the assumption made in the paper are now known to be ridiculously false. In any event, the paper is an estimate of fatalities and pathologies (based on the highly controversial LNT theory, by the way). It does not mention any diseases skyrocketing in Fukushima - rather it is a highly speculative piece that predicts deaths will increase.

Your final link, a paper discussing hypothyroidism in babies in California, authoried by Chris Busby himself, needs no further discussion. If wild claims by Busby can be used as evidence of skyrocketing disease in Fukushima, then you will allow me to quote UNSCEAR which says

38. No radiation-related deaths or acute diseases have been observed
among the workers and general public exposed to radiation from the
accident.
39. The doses to the general public, both those incurred during the first
year and estimated for their lifetimes, are generally low or very low. No
discernible increased incidence of radiation-related health effects are
expected among exposed members of the public or their descendants.

So, the claim of diseases in Fukushima, much less "skyrocketing" diseases, is false, alarmist, fear-mongering nonsense. The papers used to support this fantastic claim are not supportive of skyrocketing diseases, and are highly controversial in that they are estimates based on now outdated information, or are estimates based on controversial epidemiological theories. Some studies by noted anti-nuclear activists claim that disease will skyrocket, but this is not a universally shared opinion, and is not supported by any evidence.

Truth will set you free. But I fully expect to be labelled a nuclear shill, shareholder, "bought-and-paid-for" spokesman, or some other irrelevant and juvenile name. This is what typically happens when you don't buy the story that Fukushima is armageddon. Happens to Primavera regularly. Has happened to me so many times I'm starting to wonder when my dividend check will arrive.

Anonymous said...

How could the Pacific be "deader than seen in decades", when the Monterey Bay is reporting a record abundance of sea life. If the Pacific were dead, how much would we be paying for a tuna sandwich?? Wouldn't Greenpeace let us know if there were a serious drop in sea life in the Pacific? Humpback and Bowhead whale populations are rebounding. Where is this nonsense about the dead Pacific coming from??

Anonymous said...

Anon@6:23

You can paint lipstick on a pig but it still remains a pig.

Meanwhile, I will abandon the attempt to teach a pig to sing, it's a waste of my time and clearly annoying you

Anonymous said...

It shouldn't take much imagination to determine why I find fear-mongering and spreading of false information annoying.

Anonymous said...

"How could the Pacific be "deader than seen in decades", .. "

The Australian was referring to the open ocean, the type of areas and life Heyerdahl described in Kon-Tiki.
Note: only YOU could refer to coastal waters after donning your mask of befuddledy.

In fact, the ducks did it,
“Fukushima farmer hopes that ducks will eat up the radiation”
Theme: it's been quacking, walkin', & talkin': Ignorance, billed and paid for, is doing its "cabaret" of Les Boys. Sailor boys, that is.

http://enenews.com/fukushima-farmer-hopes-ducks-will-eat-radiation-abc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mxoF2Q91cA

"Where is this nonsense about the dead Pacific coming from??" Why, at this site [ex-SKF], subtitled "Cabaret's Calling, Is It?".

http://news.mongabay.com/2013/1022-hance-macfadyen-dead-ocean.html

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/21/yachtsman-describes-horror-at-dead-rubbish-strewn-pacific-ocean

" .. for a tuna sandwich?? " If you're still eating Pacific tuna to this day I say begin a blog with daily measures of health, and of course, daily sur-mountings of anxiety. "Chow down".

Greenpeace? Heh, with the cost per day of these oceanographic ships?

http://enenews.com/marine-mystery-whats-behind-a-toxic-outbreak-threatening-marine-life-in-california-worst-they-have-ever-seen-birds-falling-out-of-sky-sea-lions-convulsing-sea-otters-really-affected/comment-page-1#comment-514544

Anonymous said...

Anon@12:59

Just face the reality of the situation, you'll feel much better.

Unless of course you insist on eating irradiated food washed down with tritiated water.

Pass the butter, Japan is toast.

Anonymous said...

Btw anon, your dividend cheque has arrived...unfortunately it's negative trillions of dollars that the Japanese taxpayer will be coughing up over the coming decades to clean up the Fukumess. Can you say screwed in the butt with a sandpaper reamer?

Stamp your feet all up you like, gnash your teeth and fulminate at your perceived injustice. The tide has turned against you, and you must recognise that despite your protestations, the groundswell of public outrage at the Fukumess is growing day by day, week by week until one morning you'll wake up and find yourself universally despised for your perspective.

I wouldn't walk in your shoes for all the rice in Japan.

Chow down on your tainted food and water, chow down!

Anonymous said...

Oh dear. It seems that I am the one who hit a raw nerve. You originally claimed that diseases were skyrocketing in Japan, and you linked to 5 or 6 articles, none of which supported your claim, and most of which referenced people of dubious credibility with an anti-nuclear axe to grind. Now, a propos of nothing in particular, you post an article by the equally and anti-nuclear "enenews" which describes a toxin (non-nuclear) which is appearing in Monterey Bay. This just after a well-known research facilities published articles indicating sea-life was abundant in Monterey Bay. In addition, you post an article by a canoeist who observed the Pacific was dead due to overfishing.

The juvenile name-calling and the anally-fixated reference is par for the course, and the tired claim that Japan is toast reminds me of the "broken clock being right at least twice a day" chestnut.

For some reason you wish to believe Japan is dying. You have made up your mind. No amount of logic will sway you from this article of faith. In your mind, stories of overfishing and toxins in Monterey Bay somehow serve to support your belief that Japan is "toast".

Fair enough. Have faith as you see fit. But don't call it evidence, and don't get upset when other people rightly claim it as fear-mongering.

Anonymous said...

Anon is probably happy that one school is forcing its 9-12 year old children to attend 'rice planting class' wading through 279bq/kg rice paddies.

What dastardly and unspeakable ignorance.

Shame on them!

https://mobile.twitter.com/eanas_y/status/462866618406555648

Anonymous said...

Thankfully the former residents of Miyakoji don't share Anton's bombastic hubris. Less than 10% chose to return to their former homes despite govt carrots (and sticks)

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/04/national/only-27-residents-return-to-miyakoji/#.U2fdy7K9KSO

Anonymous said...

Main reason why Miyakoji residents are not eager to go back is economic, not radiological. Their economy and economic activities relied on the towns nearby which are almost all in high-radiation "difficult to return" areas well inside 20-kilometer radius from the plant.

Cities in Nakadori like Fukushima and Koriyama has higher radiation levels than in Miyakoji from the beginning of the nuclear accident. Fukushima, Koriyama, etc. were never evacuated because of the sheer number of residents involved.

Anonymous said...

You said it. They were never evacuated simply because of the cost.

Still they can be totally immune from any radiological damage by following dr yamshita's disgusting advice that people who smile are unaffected by ionising radiation.

Such depravity, such callous inhumanity.

Anonymous said...

Shame on anyone who tells lies about dangers that don't exist, that try to impugn others' integrity to score imaginary moral outrage points on the internet, who perpetuate myths and claim they are doing it "for the children".

Anonymous said...

'Dangers that don't exist'?

The disaster has unbalanced your mind.

Anonymous said...

Tepco 'estimates' now 3.4 QUADRILLION Tritium now at Fukushima (and we all know how 'good' Tepco has been about reliably measuring radiation.

3.4 QUADRILLION up by 19 TRILLION Bq since January.

Yup nothing wrong here, no problemo.

It's only going to take over 900 years to release into the pacific at the maximum (currently) allowable rate. Any bets on how soon that rate is magically and conveniently raised by JP govt?

One has to ask WHY anyone would NOT feel OUTRAGED by what has happened.

Anonymous said...

The dangers of "skyrocketing disease" that don't exist. With a half-life of 12.33 years, all of that tritium that you are so anxious about will cease to exist long before your 900 years have come to pass.

Anonymous said...

If it weren't so sad, I'd laugh at your reply...

Tritium half life is 12.33 years so approx 120 years before it decays into insignificance.

Meanwhile Strontium 90 has a half life of 28 years so only 280 years to wait for that nasty to decay away. Strontium 90" the 'bone seeker' has a biological half life within the human body of approximately 18 years - thus if you ingest any, it'll be with you for the rest of your life.

I'm sure you know that Caesium 137 has a half life of approx 30 years so only 300 years before it decays away

Plutonium 238 half life is 87 years... That's 870 years of decay

And Americium 241 half life is 421 years...only four thousand two hundred years before it's gone. That's longer than the entire history of the human race!

And it gets worse..

Plutonium 240 Half life of 6,000 years, you can do the math

Plutonium 239 half life is 24,000 years, that's a staggering 240.000 years of decay.

All of these elements are present at Fukushima

Many have been found hundreds of km away from Fukushima and could only have come from one of the Fukushima Daichi reactor explosions (most likely R3)

At least the soviets acted promptly at Chernobyl.

Japan fiddles while the country burns

Anonymous said...

Anon @2:05am conveniently forgot to mention that the quantity of tritium at Fukushima is growing daily as more water comes into contact with the coriums

Anonymous said...

Quantity of tritium is not growing. There is a fixed amount of tritium in the melted fuel, and it has all been decaying since the reactors shut down on the 11th of March, 2011. It will all be gone before 900 years are up, but apparently its ok to lie and fear-monger as long as you are anti-nuclear.

"Japan fiddles while its country burns"... yet more drama-queen nonsense.

And, I never said there were no dangerous or long-lived isotopes released. I was pointing out another of your falsehoods; i.e. that it would take 900 years to release it into the ocean.

Anonymous said...

You are wrong, tritium is created by the neutron activation of Lithium-6. The reactors are not in cold shutdown - short lived isotopes have been continuously observed since March 11th confirming that a some fission activity has been 'continuously' taking place in the coriums.

Why are you standing on the shoulders of honest Japanese, pissing on their heads, and trying to persuade than that it is actually raining?

Anonymous said...

More lies. Every time a lie is exposed for what is, you ignore it and come back with an even more astonishing lie. Continuous fission!! How you can fabricate falsehoods and then claim the moral highground is beyond me. It is the definition of depravity. How many honest Japanese benefitted from your claims of skyrockettin disease, 900-year tritium lifetimes,and now "continuous criticality".

Anonymous said...

Intermittent criticality is a fact you better get used to.

So genius... How do you explain the continued detection over the past 2 years of iodine-131 which has a half life of only 8 days.

After 80 days it should all be gone...but it's not.

Do you really think that people believe your idiotic party line that the cores of 3 reactors MELTED, BURNED THEIR WAY THROUGH THE PRIMARY CONTAINMENT VESSEL, and that unmoderated fission suddenly ceased???


Intermittent ongoing criticality is a fact.

You should sell whatever it is you've been smoking.

Then, despite your macabre choice of wording, there is no 'benefit' from additional disease and premature death caused by ionising radiation. Nevertheless, I do believe everyone has the right to the facts that they may make fully informed decisions. The Japanese government however does not share this fundamental belief. Doubtless you would rather go down with the sinking ship, than recognise and act on the source of the leak.

Eventually you will either see the truth and act appropriately, or the effects of the truth will be imposed upon you whether you like it or not

Anonymous said...

As usual, you are lying about what I said, and continue to call names and ratchet up the emotional drama. The Japanese are by and large well-informed on this issue because they do not believe the snake-oil sold to them by the Chris Busbys and Arnie Gundersens of the world. They know (because they can observe and communicate) that there is no skyrocketing disease.

Anonymous said...

Great, you've avoided point. WHERE is all the Iodine-131 coming from?

Answer: It's coming from ongoing criticality events within the melted fuel,

The only PROVEN liars in this whole disaster have been Tepco and the Japanese government.

Anonymous said...

No. The point is, and always has been, your lie regarding skyrocketing disease. Or, do you have links to show how disease is skyrocketing in Japan? You also lied about it taking 900 years to release tritium contaminated water to the ocean. Did you not? Regarding the iodine you are constantly mentioning, would you posts some links to a credible source who believes there is continuous criticality going on?

You ought to be ashamed of yourself. If you held yourself to the same standard as you hold Tepco, I wonder what you would have to say concerning your own history of lies. But no matter, as long as I have no answer about iodine, who cares that you are fear-mongering about disease in Japan - right?

Anonymous said...

Did you watch the NHK documentary about 'the elders' in Okuma?

Radiation levels snide houses at 75 times safety limit.

Wild mushrooms at 627 times safety limit.

Why is there a safety limit if, according to you, radiation levels pose no threat?

You can point the finger at me all you like, but I wasn't the elected official who lied to the IOC by saying that all the radiation in the sea was confined to the harbour of Fukushima.

I didn't lie to the people of Japan for three months telling them that the reactors had not melted down, when it was known that all three had melted down within the first 48 hours of the disaster.

I wasn't the. Elected official(s) who refused to release SPEEDI data and thus evacuated people directly into the path of higher radiation fallout.

It wasn't me that falsified the test results of contamination at Fukushima, it was Tepco

It wasn't me that was found guilty of falsifying safety data at Fukushima, it was Tepco.

Etc etc


You know what SNAFU and FUBAR mean? They are apt.

Don't point your finger at me, start by taking a look around you, then take a good long hard look in the mirror.

Anonymous said...

Anon is dreaming if he thinks that the quadrillions of becquerels of radiation unleashed by Fukushima are not going to have an adverse effect on disease and mortality.

Anonymous said...

Contamination confined to Fuku's harbor, radiation like An Angel's Smile: Jesus, did they ever break out the DUMB with this event!!

Keep in mind, peoples, that the clowns who are downplaying the rad dangers do not seem to realize what they're really telling us about themselves: they believe they're exercising the function of "technical trolling", but they're unaware that it's exhibiting many signs of defection, many signs that the money spent on maintaining their efforts is truly wasted. That's their patron's real message: "We waste money.", see that 2nd sentence at the top.

Anonymous said...

I will point the finger at you as the person who lied about "skyrocketing diseases". I will also point the finger at anyone who claims I ever said radiation poses no threat. Shame on you who try to paint me as someone who denies any health risk from Fukushima. I never denied such. I never claimed the releases pose no threat. I asked you to verify your bold statement that diseases were skyrocketing. You have not, and you cannot, because diseases are simply not skyrocketing. You have fabricated this claim, and you put words in my mouth in an attempt to reclaim moral high ground. Absolutely despicable. But completely predictable. Diseases are not skyrocketing. That seems to upset you. I find that sad, pathetic, if you will. I don't care if that opinion bothers you. Things that can be disproven with facts, deserve to be disproven.

Anonymous said...

I I even if I concede (which I do not) that radiation induced disease is not skyrocketing (sorry about the double negative), you must admit that the vast amount of radiation released thus far will impact broadly on the well being of millions.

Or perhaps you subscribe to the Chernobyl story that less than a hundred people died as a result of that catastrophe, and that all the well documented evidence of a massive upswing in congenital disease is just a fiction.

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