Fukushima: High levels of radioactivity found extensively

[robdogbucky]

High levels of radioactivity found extensively

Japan's science ministry says air above the ground about 150 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is as radioactive as areas 50 kilometers from the source of radioactivity.

The ministry on Wednesday released a map showing radiation levels at locations one meter above the ground in Miyagi Prefecture, north of Fukushima, based on the results of an aerial survey from June 22nd through 30th. Radioactivity levels are highlighted in different colors.

Some parts of Kurihara City, about 150 kilometers north of the plant are light blue, indicating that the air there was 0.2 to 0.5 microsieverts per hour. That's similar to areas close to the crippled plant, such as Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture, about 50 kilometers from the radioactive source.

Radioactive cesium far above the government standard was detected in rice straw for cattle feed collected by a supplier in Kurihara City.

Thursday, July 21, 2011 07:31 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/21_06.html




Contaminated rice straw found in 10 prefectures

The Japanese government says rice straw used for cattle feed contaminated with radioactive cesium has been found in 10 prefectures across the country. Beef produced from cattle fed the contaminated straw and shipped out from farms has already been distributed to almost all prefectures.

Inspectors on Wednesday detected 7 times the government-set maximum standard level of radioactive cesium in rice straw used by a farm in Shizuoka Prefecture. This pushes the number of prefectures where cattle were fed with contaminated straw to 10.

Most of the rice straw in question was shipped from companies in Miyagi Prefecture, north of Fukushima, where the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, responsible for the contamination, is located.

On Tuesday, the government suspended shipments of beef cattle from Fukushima Prefecture after high levels of radioactive cesium were detected in beef shipped from the prefecture. One beef sample contained radioactive cesium in amounts 9 times the government standard.

Thursday, July 21, 2011 07:31 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/21_05.html




Typhoon continues moving slowly eastward off Japan's Pacific coast

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A large, slow-moving typhoon moved eastward Wednesday after passing near the southern tip of Japan's Wakayama Prefecture on the main island of Honshu, and is expected to reach south of the Kanto region overnight.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said Typhoon Ma-on was located roughly 140 kilometers west of Hachijo Island, nearly 300 km south of central Tokyo, as of 1 a.m. Thursday and was traveling east-southeast at a speed of 20 km per hour.

The agency warned residents in wide swaths of the Pacific coast from the Tokai region to the Tohoku region, which was struck by a massive tsunami in March, to remain on alert for heavy rain and strong winds.

In Shimanto, Kochi Prefecture, an 84-year-old man who had gone missing since Tuesday was found dead, while in Fukui Prefecture a 68-year-old male angler died in the swollen Kuzuryu River. More than 50 people have been injured in the rain and winds...

(Mainichi Japan) July 21, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110721p2g00m0dm008000c.html




Over 1,300 cattle suspected of radiation contamination shipped

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A total of 1,349 cattle suspected of being fed rice straw containing radioactive cesium have been shipped to 45 of Japan's 47 prefectures, a Kyodo News tally showed Wednesday.

On Wednesday, prefectural surveys revealed 699 cattle suspected of such contamination were shipped from farms in Iwate, Akita, Gunma, Niigata, Gifu and Shizuoka prefectures, adding to another herd of such cattle found to have been shipped from farms in Niigata, Fukushima, Yamagata and Saitama prefectures.

In Iwate, up to 57,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram -- far above the government-set limit of 300 becquerels -- was detected in rice straw given to cattle at five farms in Ichinoseki and Fujisawa, according to the prefectural government. It was the first time that such cesium has been detected from rice straw produced in the prefecture.

Farms in Shizuoka, Akita, Gunma and Gifu had been feeding their cattle with rice straw produced in the city of Tome, Miyagi Prefecture, bringing the total number of prefectures that have received shipments of Miyagi-produced rice straw to eight...

(Mainichi Japan) July 21, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110721p2g00m0dm009000c.html




Great East Japan Earthquake estimated as most expensive natural disaster on record

Economic damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake in the first half of 2011 alone has been estimated at around 210 billion dollars by a German reinsurance company, the most economic damage from a natural disaster on the company's records and much more than Hurricane Katrina, the previous record holder.

According to Munich Re, which has kept records of natural disasters since the 1979 eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy, the total economic damage worldwide from natural disasters is estimated at around 265 billion dollars (21 trillion yen) in the first half of 2011, with the Great East Japan Earthquake accounting for around 80 percent of that value. The company estimates damage from 2005's Hurricane Katrina at 125 billion dollars.

Munich Re says that economic damage globally from natural disasters in the first half of 2011 was over five times the average for the previous 10 years. Although the number of natural disasters worldwide in that period was 355, less than the 10-year average of 390, the amount of losses was ballooned by the Great East Japan Earthquake, as well as the New Zealand earthquake in February.

Normally, damage from natural disasters is higher in the latter half of the year, when more hurricanes and typhoons strike the Northern Hemisphere. Until now, the greatest estimated economic damage worldwide across a year was 220 billion dollars in 2005.


(Mainichi Japan) July 20, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110720p2a00m0na021000c.html

[gateley]

1. Truly a wold tragedy. Regardless of those who jumped all over

those of us who were saying this would be HUGE, this is huge! I don't buy the "it's in this area, you don't have to worry in that area" crap. It's everywhere. To varying degrees, to be sure, but I really believe it's everywhere. Poor Japan! :cry:

The other day Norman Goldman directed people to his site because he'd posted several links about the radiation found in the Pacific NW, but I couldn't even bear to check it out.

And yet approval for new plants continues. :grr:

[Poll_Blind]

2. Here's a link to an article I posted about a month ago about the unpredictable nature of fallout:

The secret (of Fukushima fallout) is in the tea leaves. Or, more accurately, where the tea is grown:

I hope this helps people understand a bit more that an often unconsidered danger of fallout is the unpredictable ways in which it lands and secretes itself among the landscape and soil.

Thank you for the post! :thumbsup:

PB

[bananas]

3. Good post, I missed it the first time. nt