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Thu, 2011-03-24 12:57 — mdmcdonald
The Environment and Public Health Working Group is focused on minimizing negative health impacts from the Tohoku earthquake and cascading effects.

The mission of the Environment and Public Health Working Group is to minimize negative health impacts from the Tohoku earthquake,tsunami, safety problems with Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant and cascading effects on Japanese society.

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

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Jason Jackson Kathy Gilbeaux Katie Rast mdmcdonald Patrick Young Yuki Karakawa
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environment-and-public-health@m.resiliencesystem.org

Cesium Fallout Map Illustrates Kanto Levels

Wed, 2011-10-05 00:11 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Mizuho Aoki - The Japan Times - October 1, 2011

                    

The science ministry's latest aerial monitoring over Chiba and Saitama prefectures in September confirmed that radioactive cesium released from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant has contaminated parts of the Kanto region.

A ministry report released Thursday revealed that contamination was found in northern Chiba, including the cities of Kashiwa, Matsudo and Abiko, and in the mountainous areas of Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture's west and Misato in the prefecture's east.

The highest contaminated areas contained between 60,000 to 100,000 becquerels of cesium-134 and -137 per square meter, it showed. Cesium-134 has a half-life of two years and the one for -137 is 30 years.

Radiation levels in the area were between 0.2 to 0.5 microsieverts per hour, the report said.

Plutonium Traces Found in Iitate Soil

Tue, 2011-10-04 23:58 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Japan Times - October 1, 2011

Plutonium has been detected at six locations in Fukushima Prefecture, including Iitate village around 45 km northwest of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, which suffered three reactor meltdowns after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, science ministry officials said.

It is the first time the government has confirmed the spread of plutonium outside Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s stricken plant. The plutonium turned up in soil samples.

The detected amounts of plutonium were small and posed no danger to health, the officials said.

Plutonium has an extremely long half-life and is associated with a high risk of cancer if it enters the human body via breathing or other means.

"Because the fuels (in the reactors) melted down, plutonium may have been emitted with steam or other small particles and sent airborne," a Tepco official said. "(Judging by the amount of plutonium) it is believed to be from the accident."

The science ministry has also looked into radioactive strontium and detected the isotope at several dozen observation sites out of 100 it inspected, including a location about 80 km from the Fukushima plant.

Youths of Fukushima Wonder Whether to Stay or Leave

Tue, 2011-10-04 23:42 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Christopher Johnson - The Washington Times - September 25, 2011

FUKUSHIMA, Japan — Ko Saito is in his final year of high school in Fukushima and sees a bleak future for his native province.

“I am very scared of the radiation,” the 18-year-old said while waiting with friends near the city’s train station. They discussed whether to stay or leave a region devastated by the meltdown of a nuclear power plant that was crippled by a killer tsunami six months ago.

“I want to be tested [for radiation levels] to know more about my true physical condition, but they are not doing that yet,” he said. “I want to go to Sendai, because I fear radiation levels in Fukushima are higher than they are saying.”

Mr. Saito reflects the fears of teenagers throughout Fukushima. They want to know more about the real risks of radiation in their home province and don’t always believe official statements about the situation at the reactors.

Lancet Special Series - Restructuring Japan's Healthcare System—Beyond the March 11 Disaster

Thu, 2011-09-29 18:48 — Kathy Gilbeaux
From: "James Miller, Oxford International Development Group" <redacted>
Date: September 29, 2011 11:26:39 AM EDT
To: Michael.D.McDonald <redacted>
Subject: Re: OPUSA Available in Sendai After 12 noon on Friday
- Show quoted text -

Radioactivity in Japan Rice Raises Worries

Sat, 2011-09-24 20:48 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Hiroko Tabuchi - The New York Times - September 24, 2011

     

In this photo taken Friday, Aug. 19, 2011, Naoto Matsumura's dog Aki runs to meet him while he checks on his rice paddy in Tomioka town, Fukushima, northeastern Japan. (AP / Hiro Komae)

TOKYO — Government officials on Saturday ordered more tests after detecting elevated levels of radiation in rice crops near the crippled nuclear power plant at Fukushima.

Radioactive substances have already been discovered in beef, milk, spinach and tea leaves, leading to recalls and bans on shipments. But officials have been especially worried about rice, a staple that makes up a significant part of the Japanese diet. Japan grows most of the rice that it consumes.

Explosion at French Nuclear Waste Plant

Mon, 2011-09-12 16:35 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Guardian - September 12, 2011

      

Rescue workers and medics land by helicopter at the Marcoule nuclear site, in France. Photograph: Claude Paris/AP

An explosion at a French nuclear waste processing plant that killed one person and injured four others sparked fears of a radioactive leak on Monday.

An emergency safety cordon was thrown around the Marcoule nuclear site near Nimes in the south of France immediately after a furnace used to melt nuclear waste exploded and caused a fire. It was lifted later in the day after France's nuclear safety agency, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN), said there was no danger to the public.

Reports said the body of one male worker at the plant had been "found carbonised", but there was no evidence that the explosion had caused any radioactive leak, though the ASN admitted there was the "possibility of a leak of low-level radioactivity, but no shooting of radioactivity in the air". There was no information as to the cause of the explosion.

The accident came just a week after the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, bucked the anti-nuclear trend following Japan's Fukushima disaster and pledged €1bn (£860m) of new investment in atomic power.

Effect of Contaminated Soil on Food Chain Sparks Fears

Sun, 2011-09-11 13:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Mizuho Aoki - The Japan Times - September 11, 2011

Cesium absorption through roots may have long-term effect on farming

Six months after the nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima Prefecture, the public's awareness of the threat posed by radiation is entering a new phase: the realization that the biggest danger now and in the future is from contaminated soil.

The iodine-131 ejected into the sky by the Fukushima No. 1 power station disaster was quickly detected in vegetables and tap water — even as far away as Tokyo, 220 km south of the plant.

But contamination levels are now so low they are virtually undetectable, thanks to the short half-life of iodine-131 — eight days — and stepped up filtering by water companies.

But cesium is proving to be a tougher foe. The element's various isotopes have half-lives ranging from two to 30 years, generating concern about the food chain in Fukushima Prefecture, a predominantly agricultural region, as the elements wash fallout into the ground.

The root of the problem is, well — roots.

Microbes Generate Electricity While Cleaning Up Nuclear Waste

Wed, 2011-09-07 16:17 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Michigan State University - September 6, 2011

Homeland Security Newswire - September 7, 2011

     

MSU microbiologist Gemma Reguera (right) and her team of researchers have unraveled the mystery of how microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste. Photo by Michael Steger.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Researchers at Michigan State University have unraveled the mystery of how microbes generate electricity while cleaning up nuclear waste and other toxic metals.

Details of the process, which can be improved and patented, are published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The implications could eventually benefit sites forever changed by nuclear contamination, said Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist.

“Geobacter bacteria are tiny micro-organisms that can play a major role in cleaning up polluted sites around the world,” said Reguera, who is an MSU AgBioResearch scientist. “Uranium contamination can be produced at any step in the production of nuclear fuel, and this process safely prevents its mobility and the hazard for exposure.”

5ivePlanets ISH Market and Concert !

Tue, 2011-08-30 18:45 — Kathy Gilbeaux

                         

submitted by Lloyd Helferty

Dear Biochar Ontario members and friends (in Japan),

  Please refer to the attached Flyer ("Tirashi.PDF").

This flyer contains information about an upcoming event in Japan that is being held in celebration of the launch of the 5ivePlanets ISH, a registered NFP Japanese initiative (Headquartered in Yokohama), whose goal is to leverage both education and technologies that work in balance with the natural cycles of the earth to increase our capacity to provide for our collective children on the one and only planet we actually have.

The mission of 5ivePlanets is to ensure sustainable food and resource supplies for the Children of the Future through effective use of appropriate technologies and education.

Japan Faces Costly, Unprecedented Radiation Cleanup

Fri, 2011-08-26 00:08 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Yoko Kubota - Tokyo - Reuters - August 25, 2011

     

(Reuters) - Nearly six months after the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years at the Fukushima nuclear plant, Japan faces the task of cleaning up a sprawling area of radioactivity that could cost tens of billions of dollars, and thousands may not be able to return home for years, if ever.

Fuel core meltdowns at the facility in March, triggered by a huge earthquake and tsunami, released radioactive material into the air which mixed with rain and snow and covered dozens of towns as well as farmland and woods, mainly along the northeast coast of Honshu.

Tokyo has been slow to provide a plan for rehabilitation, leading some residents near the plant exposed to high levels of radioactive caesium in homes and food, have started their own cleanup instead of waiting for the government to act.

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