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Risk Communication - Japan

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Fri, 2011-03-18 04:29 — mdmcdonald
The Risk Communication Working Group is focused on providing risk communication to decision-makers and the public

The mission of the Risk Communication Working Group is to provide risk communication to decision-makers and the public.

Working Group email address:  ***@***.***

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AlMac99 bevcorwin Kathy Gilbeaux mdmcdonald
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risk-communication-japan@m.resiliencesystem.org

JAPAN CRISIS SHOWCASES SOCIAL MEDIA'S MUSCLE

Tue, 2011-04-12 08:44 — mdmcdonald

 

 

High Radiation Levels Found Beyond 30-km Radius

Sat, 2011-04-09 20:56 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Asahi.com - April 9, 2011
A study of soil samples has revealed that as much as 400 times the normal levels of radiation could remain in communities beyond a 30-kilometer radius from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, where explosions spewed radioactive materials into the atmosphere.

The study was conducted by a team of experts from Kyoto University and Hiroshima University.

According to the study, the accumulated amount of radiation in the soil at Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture--which is located outside of the 30-km radius--calculated over a three-month period would exceed the annual accumulated amount of 20 millisieverts that the central government is considering as a guideline for evacuating residents.

The government has asked residents living within a 20-km radius of the Fukushima No. 1 plant to evacuate and those living between a 20- to 30-km radius to remain indoors as much as possible.

Government studies have also found evidence of radiation contamination beyond the 30-km radius. The results show that radiation has not been spreading from the nuclear power plant in a concentric manner.

Fukushima Isotope Data - by Global Dirt Assessment Team

Fri, 2011-04-08 02:23 — Kathy Gilbeaux

This data was taken by a Global DIRT assessment team within 2km (1.2 miles) of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Data was collected using a Berkeley Nucleonics Corporation SAM 940 Defender / Revealer. The map below represents only readings which contained isotope levels (about 451 of the 1654 current readings). Be sure to check back as this page will be constantly updated.

http://www.globaldirt.org/map/ 

U.S. Sees Array of New Threats at Japan’s Nuclear Plant

Wed, 2011-04-06 22:50 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The New York Times - By JAMES GLANZ and WILLIAM J. BROAD - Published: April 5, 2011
United States government engineers sent to help with the crisis in Japan are warning that the troubled nuclear plant there is facing a wide array of fresh threats that could persist indefinitely, and that in some cases are expected to increase as a result of the very measures being taken to keep the plant stable, according to a confidential assessment prepared by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Radioactivity in Sea Up 7.5 Million Times - Marine Life Contamination Well Beyond Japan Feared

Wed, 2011-04-06 15:53 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Japan Times - by Kanako Takahara - April 5, 2011

Radioactive iodine-131 readings taken from seawater near the water intake of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant's No. 2 reactor reached 7.5 million times the legal limit, Tokyo Electric Power Co. admitted Tuesday.

The sample that yielded the high reading was taken Saturday, before Tepco announced Monday it would start releasing radioactive water into the sea, and experts fear the contamination may spread well beyond Japan's shores to affect seafood overseas.

The unstoppable radioactive discharge into the Pacific has prompted experts to sound the alarm, as cesium, which has a much longer half-life than iodine, is expected to concentrate in the upper food chain.

According to Tepco, some 300,000 becquerels per sq. centimeter of radioactive iodine-131 was detected Saturday, while the amount of cesium-134 was 2 million times the maximum amount permitted and cesium-137 was 1.3 million times the amount allowable.

The amount of iodine-131 dropped to 79,000 becquerels per sq. centimeter Sunday but shot up again Monday to 200,000 becquerels, 5 million times the permissible amount.

Maps - Crowd-Sourced Realtime Radiation Monitoring

Sun, 2011-04-03 22:27 — Kathy Gilbeaux

There are now hundreds of radiation-related feeds from Japan on Pachube, monitoring conditions in realtime and underpinning more than half a dozen incredibly valuable applications built by people around the world. They combine 'official' data, 'unofficial' official data, and, most importantly to us, realtime networked geiger counter measurements contributed by concerned citizens.   Now we're even seeing some tracking radiation measurements of tap water.

Google Earth powered by Pachube.com

rdtn.org

Japan Geigermap


Japan Nuclear Crisis: Radiation Spike Detected Outside Evacuation Zone

Thu, 2011-03-31 09:19 — Katie Rast

March 31, 2011

Japanese officials are testing the soil contaminated by radiation from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to try to determine whether spring farming can begin as alarmingly high radiation levels were detected outside the evacuation zone today.

"As a ratio, it was about two times higher" than levels at which the agency recommends evacuations," International Atomic Energy Agency Official Elena Buglova said at a news conference.

Separately, the amount of iodine found in seawater near the plant has reached a new high; 4,385 times the legal limit. Officials said earlier this week that dangerous plutonium was found in soil near the reactors.

Residents within 12 miles of the nuclear plant were evacuated after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami knocked out the reactor's cooling system March 11.

Read more...

AP IMPACT: Nuclear Plant Downplayed Tsunami Risk

Sun, 2011-03-27 21:44 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by YURI KAGEYAMA and JUSTIN PRITCHARD - Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) -- In planning their defense against a killer tsunami, the people running Japan's now-hobbled nuclear power plant dismissed important scientific evidence and all but disregarded 3,000 years of geological history, an Associated Press investigation shows.

The misplaced confidence displayed by Tokyo Electric Power Co. was prompted by a series of overly optimistic assumptions that concluded the Earth couldn't possibly release the level of fury it did two weeks ago, pushing the six-reactor Fukushima Dai-ichi complex to the brink of multiple meltdowns.

Instead of the reactors staying dry, as contemplated under the power company's worst-case scenario, the plant was overrun by a torrent of water much higher and stronger than the utility argued could occur, according to an AP analysis of records, documents and statements from researchers, the utility and the Japan's national nuclear safety agency.

(Full story in the link below)

IAEA - Fukushima Nuclear Accident Update Log

Thu, 2011-03-24 23:42 — Kathy Gilbeaux

IAEA - most recent update, and links to all updates

http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

News Media declared war against truth and against the victims of disaster

Thu, 2011-03-24 16:02 — AlMac99

People's lives are on the line, as there are efforts to rush aid to vulnerable members of society. Some aid is seriously delayed due to bogus stories about the radiation risks.

Public policy is expensive, especially when it comes to figuring out how to be better prepared against similar disasters.  I am also seeing how Japanese imports are being blocked at foreign borders, thanks to misinformation about radiation.

News media should endeavor to report the truth, to help the helpers who seek to get relief aid to the vulnerable.

But instead, the news media is on a science fiction fantasy trip, describing their worst nightmares as pure speculation. People on the USA west coast are tooling up to protect against radiation coming across the Pacific from Japan, and I have seen lots of lovely maps speculating the path of this radiation, but it is all a fiction.  The only radiation risk so far, is inside the evacuation zone, and trivial rainfall contamination, where Japan tracing where that happening.

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