Risk assessment of radioisotope contamination for aquatic living resources in and around Japan

via PNAS / April 2016 Significance Quantification of contamination risk caused by radioisotopes released from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is useful for excluding or reducing groundless rumors about food safety. Our new statistical approach made it possible to evaluate the risk for aquatic food and showed that the present contamination levels of radiocesiums are low overall. However, some freshwater species still have relatively high risks. We also suggest … Continue reading

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Virtual Reality To Be Used To Help Decommission Fukushima Plant

By Takuya Isayama / Asahi Shimbun / January 7, 2016 / A virtual reality system here that will assist in the decommissioning of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is preparing for full-scale operations this spring. Located at the Naraha Remote Technology Development Center, the system features a 3.6-meter-high display that simulates 3-D images of the interiors of the reactor buildings at the Fukushima plant. The research and … Continue reading

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Video: Fukushima West Coast Impact

via Goddard’s Journal / Published February 17, 2015 / What will be the impact of Fukushima on the North American coast? This video covers the key science you need to know to reasonably answer that question. Studies cited in order presented… – Behrens et al (2012). Model simulations on the long-term dispersal of 137Cs released into the Pacific Ocean off Fukushima. Environ Res Lett 7:034004. – Folsom & Mohanrao (1962). … Continue reading

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Video: How Citizen Scientist Seawater Samples Are Processed

In case you’re interested. A brief explanation of how seawater samples to monitor for Fukushima contamination are processed when they arrive at the University of Victoria. More details about sample analysis can be found at our partner organization’s website Our Radioactive Ocean. The project website is http://fukushimainform.ca. source: Daily Kos

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An ‘Octopus’ Robot Developed To Clear Rubble In Fukushima

via phys.org / March 20, 2015 / Researchers in Japan have jointly developed a robot with four arms and four crawlers which can perform multiple tasks simultaneously to help clean up the rubble left after the 2011 quake-tsunami disasters in Minamisoma, Fukushima. On March 13th, a remote controlled four-armed, four-wheeled crawler robot designed to clear rubble and save lives in areas with complex terrain was unveiled at the Kikuchi plant … Continue reading

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Fukushima Radioactivity Monitoring in the North Pacific Ocean

via pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca / A paper published in December 2014 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) details the arrival and concentration of radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima nuclear reactor in the North Pacific Ocean. This paper, by Fisheries and Oceans scientist Dr. John Smith, documents the first and only systematic study of its kind validating ocean circulation models while tracking the eastward movement of radioactive isotopes. On … Continue reading

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Ingestion of radioactively contaminated diets for two generations in the pale grass blue butterfly

Chiyo Nohara1, Wataru Taira1, Atsuki Hiyama1, Akira Tanahara2, Toshihiro Takatsuji3 and Joji M Otaki1* * Corresponding author: Joji M Otaki otaki@sci.u-ryukyu.ac.jp Author Affiliations 1 BCPH Unit of Molecular Physiology, Department of Chemistry, Biology and Marine Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan 2 Instrumental Research Center, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan 3 Graduate School of Fisheries Science and Environmental Studies, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 852-8521, Japan For all … Continue reading

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Fukushima Damage Finally to Be Probed

via guardianlv.com / June 25, 2014 / Three years ago, on March 11, 2011, a catastrophic failure at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant occurred. Three out of the six nuclear reactors in the plant melted down when the area was hit by a tsunami, which occurred as an after-effect of an earthquake. The 2011 catastrophe was the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in April 1986. It is one of only a … Continue reading

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Fukushima: A View From The Ocean

via Daily Kos / June 6, 2014 / The lecture shown below is a great resource that summarizes the most recent results from a crowd-funded program Our Radioactive Ocean dedicated to monitoring Fukushima sourced radionuclides off the US and Canadian Pacific coasts and measurements made by the international scientific community in the Pacific. Probable impacts of the Fukushima disaster on the health of the North Pacific ecosystem and human inhabitants … Continue reading

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New Study Examines U236 and PU Isotopes in Fukushima Fallout

Isotopic Compositions of 236U and Pu Isotopes in “Black Substances” Collected from Roadsides in Fukushima Prefecture: Fallout from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident ACS ActiveView PDFHi-Res Print, Annotate, Reference QuickView PDF [1735 KB] PDF w/ Links[312 KB] Full Text HTML Abstract Figures Reference QuickView Add to ACS ChemWorx Aya Sakaguchi*†, Peter Steier‡, Yoshio Takahashi†, and Masayoshi Yamamoto§ † Graduate School of Science, Hiroshima University, 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima … Continue reading

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Mobilizing Nuclear Bias: The Fukushima Nuclear Crisis and the Politics of Uncertainty

Kyle Cleveland Temple University Japan Abstract The nuclear disaster in Fukushima which followed in the wake of the 3/11 Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami has been one of the most significant public health crises in modern history, with profound implications for how nuclear energy is perceived. This paper analyzes the nature of risk assessment in the nuclear crisis, examining how the Japanese government and its constituent institutions in the nuclear industry, foreign governments … Continue reading

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Radiation dose rates now and in the future for residents neighboring restricted areas of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Kouji H. Haradaa, Tamon Niisoeb, Mie Imanakac, Tomoyuki Takahashid, Katsumi Amakoe, Yukiko Fujiia, Masatoshi Kanameishia, Kenji Ohsef, Yasumichi Nakaif, Tamami Nishikawaf, Yuuichi Saitof, Hiroko Sakamotog, Keiko Ueyamah, Kumiko Hisakii, Eiji Oharai, Tokiko Inouej, Kanako Yamamotok, Yukiyo Matsuokal, Hitomi Ohatae, Kazue Toshimam, Ayumi Okadan, Hitomi Satoo, Toyomi Kuwamorip, Hiroko Tanip, Reiko Suzukiq, Mai Kashikuraq, Michiko Nezur, Yoko Miyachis, Fusako Arait, Masanori Kuwamoriu, Sumiko Haradav, Akira Ohmoriv, Hirohiko Ishikawab, and Akio Koizumia,1 … Continue reading

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Our Radioactive Ocean: First Results Show #Fukushima Radiation Has Not Reached US Coast

via Our Radioactive Ocean / January 28, 2014 /The first results from seawater samples come from La Jolla and Point Reyes, Calif., and Grayland and Squium, Wash. Four samples from these three locations show no detectable Fukushima cesium. We know this because Fukushima released equal amounts of two isotopes of cesium: the shorter-lived cesium-134 isotope (half-life of 2 years) and the longer-lived cesium-137 (half-life of 30 years). Cesium-137 was found … Continue reading

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2011 Fukushima Fall Out : Aerial Deposition On To Sea Ice Scenario And Wildlife Health Implications To Ice-Associated Seals

via ENEnews.com / January 25, 2014 / Alaska Marine Science Symposium (pdf), Jan. 20-24, 2014 (emphasis added): 2011 Fukushima Fall Out: Aerial Deposition On To Sea Ice Scenario And Wildlife Health Implications To Ice-Associated Seals (Dr. Doug Dasher, John Kelley, Gay Sheffield,  Raphaela Stimmelmayr) — On March 11, 2011 off Japan’s west coast, an earthquake-generated tsunami struck the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant resulting in a major nuclear accident that … Continue reading

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Preventing Fuel Damage in Nuclear Reactors

from allthingsnuclear.org / January 21, 2014 / Lots of people have lots of reasons for preventing damage to nuclear fuel inside the core of nuclear power reactors. But what is done to help meet this goal? The nuclear fuel for boiling water reactors (BWRs) consists of uranium pellets loaded inside hollow metal tubes called fuel rods. Metal caps are welded on the ends of fully loaded fuel rods to seal … Continue reading

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Fukushima and Ocean Radioactivity

via tos.org / EARLY ONLINE RELEASE | Posted January 5, 2014 2014, Oceanography 27(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2014.02 Fukushima and Ocean Radioactivity Author | Abstract | Full Article | Citation | References Author Ken O. Buesseler | Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA Top Abstract The triple disaster of the March 11, 2011, earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent radiation releases from Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant were … Continue reading

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Fukushima Radionuclides in North Pacific

via DailyKos / January 4, 2014 / There have been a number of popular press articles that have summarized the results of this program as reported in a presentation at the PICES – North Pacific Marine Sciences Consortium meeting held in Nanaimo, BC Canada in October 2013.  Most of these report the timing of the arrival of the radionuclides but offer no perspective on the actual levels and the associated … Continue reading

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High thyroid cancer rates detected in Fukushima children (audio)

by Mark Willacy / ABC / November 5, 2013 / CLICK HERE FOR MP3 AUDIO REPORT TRANSCRIPT TONY EASTLEY: One of the terrible legacies of the radioactive fallout from the Russian disaster at Chernobyl is now being visited upon people in Japan. Researchers in Fukushima are uncovering higher than expected rates of thyroid cancer in children. One prominent former thyroid surgeon – a veteran of the Chernobyl disaster – has … Continue reading

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West Coast of North America to Be Hit Hard by #Fukushima Radiation

via  Washington’s blog / Aug. 20, 2013 / Radiation levels will concentrate in pockets in Baja California and other West Coast locations. While many people assume that the ocean will dilute the Fukushima radiation, a previously-secret 1955 U.S. government report concluded that the ocean may not adequately dilute radiation from nuclear accidents, and there could be “pockets” and “streams” of highly-concentrated radiation. The University of Hawaii’s International Pacific Research Center … Continue reading

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