Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Iodine-131 Still Detected in Sewage Sludge in Tokyo

The chart below is created by me from the data provided by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Sewerage regarding radioactive iodine and cesium at the 12 sewage treatment plants in Tokyo. The chart only shows iodine-131, in the dehydrated sewage sludge. The unit is becquerels/kg.

After nearly 4 months since the last known large discharge of radioactive materials from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant (March 21), you would think radioactive iodine would be undetectable by now.

On checking Japanese Twitter on the subject, I've found an interesting theory. Some people think that maybe there are hospitals in those areas where iodine-131 increased, and they are dumping radioactive iodine in the sewage that they use for treatment for thyroid problems; or that it's from the urine of the patients treated for thyroid problems.

Anything's possible. Probable though would be a continuing discharge from Fukushima I Nuke Plant, but who knows?

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

It says it all really, if there is Iodine 131 still kicking about then the radiation is still coming out of Fukushima thick and fast.... bearing in mind Iodine 131 has a half life of 8 days ... we are being sold grand lies and the delusion is monstrous in Japan...

http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/51098-david-icke-the-end-of-the-schism-moving-out-of-mind-into-consciousness-letting-go-of-fear-

Anonymous said...

That must be a lot of patients being treated and a lot of careless hospitals dumping radioactive waste products of treatments down the drains. Likelihood?

Viola said...

Here's a german graph concerning 131Iodine measurements around the world. Unfortunately, it's only until end of June.
http://www.bfs.de/de/ion/imis/ctbto_aktivitaetskonzentrationen_jod.gif

The pink one is from Takasaki (Station 38),Japan, situated about 200km SW of Fukushima. As you can see, there have always been peaks from time to time.

And here comes the caesium chart:
http://www.bfs.de/de/ion/imis/ctbto_aktivitaetskonzentrationen_caesium.gif

All of this is airbourne, they explain the decreasing values around the world with rain washing out the particles to the ground. So - guess for yourself...
Why should a hole not release anything?

Anonymous said...

Robbie001 sez:

I'm not sure what the baseline levels found in Japan are but here is some evidence that medical waste is a vector for radioiodine contamination of municipal sludge in the US. These numbers have probably increased due to the proliferation radiation therapy in the last decade. Don't worry everything is "safe" .......look a squirrel!

CDC Iodine Primer: (pg 259)

"Radioiodine is released into surface waters through the effluent of municipal sewage treatment plants. an average working day, approximately 24 mCi (0.89 GBq) of 131I is released into the Ohio River, resulting in a concentration of 0.3 pCi (11 mBq) 131I/L downstream from the treatment plant (Sodd 1975). The concentration of 131I in water downstream from other municipal treatment plants throughout the United States has also been determined, ranging from 0 to 83 pCi (0 –3.1 Bq) 131I/L (Prichard 1981). The 131I that has been measured in these waters is due to the introduction of 131I into the sewer systems of cities from the excrement of patients undergoing treatments with this radioisotope."

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ToxProfiles/tp158-c6.pdf

"Low level radioactive wastes can be burned in hospital incinerators in accordance with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission policy, if such wastes are fully depleted. This policy may not always be properly followed. Radioactive Iodine, a widely used medical radioisotope, maybe an index of this problem".

www.p2pays.org/ref/19/18543.pdf

"Approximately 1.1% of the radioactive 131I administered therapeutically to patients was measured in the primary sludge. Radiation doses from incineration of sludge were calculated to be 0.048 millirem (mrem) for a worker during a period in which the incinerator filtration system failed, a condition that could be considered to represent maximum exposure conditions, for two nine-hour days. Calculated results for a more typically exposed worker (with the filtration system in operation and a 22-week period of incineration) yielded a committed effective dose equivalent of 0.066 mrem. If a worker were exposed to both conditions during the period of incineration, the dose was calculated to be 0.11 mrem. For a member of the public, the committed effective dose equivalent was calculated as 0.003 mrem for a 22-week incineration period. Exposures to both workers and the public were a very small fraction of a typical annual dose (about 100 mrem excluding radon, or 300 mrem with radon) due to natural background radiation. Transport time to the treatment plant for radioiodine was found to be much longer than that of a normal sewage, possibly due to absorption of iodine by organic material in the sewer lines. The residence time of radioiodine in the sewer also appears to be longer than expected."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9258296

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9228168

"I established a continuous gamma radiation monitoring program at Wilkes with a grant from the Pennsylvania Power & Light Co.; conducted monitoring of the Susquehanna River and Hanover Sewage Treatment Plant for the presence of radio-iodine under a research contract with Pennsylvania Power & Light by analyzing sewage samples for radioiodine and collecting diatoms from the Susquehanna River for radioiodine analysis. The Hanover Sewage Treatment Plant was shown to be a major source of radioiodine to the river although radioiodine levels were never high enough to be a danger to the public. Local hospitals were shown to be the ultimate source of the radioiodine; assessed safety of a damaged cobalt-60 concrete testing device and of a radium-226 source."

http://www.wilkes.edu/pages/2325.asp

P.S. One thing to keep in mind is a lot of dose calculation are done assuming the amount of contamination is equally dispersed among the population. (how likely is that?)

Anonymous said...

Robbie001 sez:

@ Areva

Please check the spam filter it seems my comments with relevant links are being selectively blocked. I just posted a comment here and it seems to be lost.

selfsovereign said...

It's been 4 months and not one mention of I-129. This stuff is released everytime a reactor is refueled and lasts for a MINIMUM of 157 million years!!! I-129 can remain deadly to all of us for a maximum of 314 MILLION YEARS. "nrc.gov". The reality of this situation is a bit ridiculous. So 25 years after chernobyl - I-129 is the reason why the Russians may ALWAYS be faced with childhood thyroid cancers. The chernobyl necklace (thyroid removal scar) may forever more become the "scarlet letter" of the INSANE nuclear industry.

J€$\/$ said...

http://picload.org/image/lprair/fukushima_praefe.png
we are all f***ed up!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dccszCEKFdY&feature=player_embedded
CRMT- connectingdots1 finds Dangerous Radioactive rain in Lake Louise,BC (1.66 microSievert/h)

Anonymous said...

it's pretty obvious, those destroyed reactors are still spewing alot of radiation.

stuntman mike said...

It will be f'd up in the future when all the damage starts to show in humans and "they" will have some BS cover story and the guilty will be rich, fat and laughing.
I can't help but wonder what will become of Japan?

DD said...

Negligence is one word to describe the lack of willingness to set up a monitoring programme, but it is not the strongest word I would have chosen, nor is there any sanction - in my view - strong enough to be applied with justice to those responsible for the Duty of Care of the industry concerned.

Anonymous said...

"It says it all really, if there is Iodine 131 still kicking about then the radiation is still coming out of Fukushima thick and fast.... "

Nitrogen injection costs money, right? and TEPCO is all about the money.

Reactor 1, since April 7th they have been injecting nitrogen gas into the Primary Containment Vessel

Reactor 2, since June 28 they have been injecting nitrogen gas into the Primary
Containment Vessel.

Reactor 3, since July 14 have been injecting nitrogen gas into the Primary Containment Vessel

Hydrogen is only produced by fuel rod damage, so TEPCO may not be telling you directly but they must be detecting hydrogen and iodine in the steam gases, probably sampled by the drones remotely.

They have yet to observe the exact location of the corium or photographed inside of the RPVs, so they must be using tests of the steaming to figure things out.

There must still be chances of hydrogen explosions if injecting nitrogen.

Hydrogen and short halflife iodine are connected.

Stock said...

Hey SKF, of course there are continuing emissions of I131 and other stuff. They have continuing out of control nuclear reactions going on. The blob is outside the box. It is steaming off and going into the water table/ocean.

Anonymous said...

When they added the ocean water after meltdown to cool the corium the corium was so hot it boiled ocean water steadily, salt precipitated and encrusted the corium evidently to a quite considerable extent.

They stopped adding ocean water, used freshwater. That would begin a dissolving of the salt crust back into the water, creating conditions again where hydrogen is most likely produced, as the NRC stated.

Nitrogen injection was probably not needed for a while after the salt crust became thick enough, acting as a thick enough heat sink that freshwater did not boil in contact with it. After enough freshwater had been added over time the salt dissolved sufficiently to allow boiling of salted water to produce hydrogen again? A theory.

Iodine 131 speaks for itself, as Steveo said there must be ongoing reactions to produce it.

The fact that they add the nitrogen to the Primary Containment Vessel really only tells you that the Vessel is the escape path from the corium, nitrogen serving only to dilute.

As arevamirpal said, what significance does 'cold shutdown' have for compromised containments? They may as well call it Any Containment Vessel, at this point.

Anonymous said...

There has been a rise in yokosuka's water sewage also, not as high as Tokyo but we went from "not detected to 27bq/kg" since mid-june. http://www.water.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp/odei/06.html
Perhaps it is in all the things we are consuming and it is on our bodies when we shower. Everyone here is in denial, eating and living as if there is no radiation and if you you are being careful of what you eat or don't take part in certain activities, people think you are crazy and will even laugh at you or mock you. Everything needs to be considered for contamination and should be screened before sold.
And here is another thought, people are buying rice that was harvested last year and think it is safe. The date on the package of rice tells you when it was shelled and packed, most of the dates are may and june for the rice that is being sold today. Until that time the rice is kept in storage houses on the farm usually with a roof but not necessarily with doors. My friend's family from Miyagi grows rice and she told me there are no doors on the storage house. The mushrooms from that area that tested positive for cesium is more evidence that the rice, even if kept indoors, could be contaminated. If I talk about this here people get mad because I am not sensitive or thinking about the poor farmers...What about the children? Oh I am so SORRY, HOW HORRIBLE OF ME TO WANT TO PROTECT MY 3 DAUghTERS WHO DREAM OF BEING GOOD MOMS SOMEDAY YOU FREAKIN IDIOTS GET A BRAIN!!!!!!!!!! sorry , I lost it for a minute

Anonymous said...

".. if .. you are being careful of what you eat or don't take part in certain activities, people think you are crazy and will even laugh at you or mock you."

And to think, this behavior is what the nuke industry Desires to see.

"If I talk about this here people get mad because I am not sensitive or thinking about the poor farmers...What about the children?"

So why does the nuke industry desire you to, what is it?, hate upon the children ?!?

Such ill-composed regard .. for children? Why, because they are carefree, because they do not have malice for others?

The nuke industry sits in its boardrooms, rubbing their hands together, saying, "This is how we knew they were all along. They are cooperating wonderfully."

Anonymous said...

Once people eat heavy contaminated meat once, the second time is easier, and the third time even more easy to eat it. The Japanese will get use to this has they were used to be Kami Kaze or mass suicidal during the 2nd world war. I don't expect a wake up call. Just more people becoming really sick and some complain here and there, but no, no revolution. Free Japanese people fighting the gouvernment do no stand much chance in the court room. Japan inherited its justice practices from the ealy 20th century mentality. Almost fascist legal system. This prevents many from even thinking to behave freely. 99% of peo@le arrested in Japan are convicted. Worst among all democracies in the world. If the police think you did something wrong, well, here, you did, that's it. No way out.

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