Tag: radioactive

The Country’s Most Radioactive Site is Leaking “deadliest substance on earth”

by nootkabear, posted in 10-15 million people, Alert, California, contamination, Danger, dead, death, deaths, disaster, DNA, DNA Damage, DOE, Hanford, Hanford worker, hazard, Radiation, radiation poisoning, radioactive, radioactive concentration, radiocesium, RADIONUCLIDES, Raidoanalytical

TV: Alarm over “Catastrophic Leak” at US nuclear site — “Emergency response underway” — Surge in radioactive leakage after “essentially blowing a hole” in massive tank containing “deadliest substance on earth” — Former Worker: “I was very shocked to hear it breached that significantly” (VIDEOS)

 http://enenews.com/alarm-catastrophic-event-nuclear-site-emergency-response-underway-surge-radioactive-leakage-after-essentially-blowing-hole-massive-tank-containing-deadliest-substance-earth-former-worker-very?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Published: April 20th, 2016 at 5:19 pm ET
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KING 5 News, Apr 18, 2016 (emphasis added): Leak worsens in massive Hanford tank holding nuclear waste; An emergency response is underway at Hanford, where a tank is leaking radioactive waste — A leak in a massive nuclear waste storage tank at the Hanford Site has expanded significantly, KING 5 learned this weekend… one former tank farm worker said the leak should be considered a major problem. “This is catastrophic. This is probably the biggest event to ever happen in tank farm history…” said former Hanford worker Mike Geffre… Until now, the leak found by Geffre was very slow. The liquid would almost immediately dry up… Sources told KING the disturbance caused by the pumping must have exacerbated the leak: essentially blowing a hole in the aging tank allowing the material to leak more quickly… “The hazards to workers just went up by a factor of 10,” said Geffre… [A current worker said,] “There’s always the question, ‘Are the outer shells compromised’”? The accumulation of waste in the outer shell also means the deadliest substance on earth is that much closer to the ground…

KING 5 News transcript, Apr 18, 2016: No one knows if the waste has already leaked into the soil… (Mike Geffre, former Hanford worker): “I was very shocked to hear that the tank had breached that significantly and that much waste had been [leaked?] in that short of time.”

KREM, Apr 18, 2016: ‘Catastrophic’ event at Hanford prompts emergency response; Over the weekend, a leak in a massive nuclear waste storage tank expanded significantly

KREM transcript, Apr 18, 2016: It’s being called a catastrophic leak at the Hanford nuclear site… Mike Geffre a former Hanford employee… told KING 5 that a leak of this magnitude is quote catastrophic… (Official:) “It’s just one more ‘Yes, the tanks are failing.’”

KIRO, Apr 18, 2016: Significant amount of waste leaks within Hanford double-shell tank… So far, no waste has leaked from the tank into the soil beneath it, but checks are ongoing… The DOE says the increased rate of leakage may have occurred because of work inside the tank dislodged material that was partially blocking leak sites.

KVEW, Apr 18, 2016: An alarm activated yesterday while crews were pumping waste from tank AY-102… The Department of Energy notified the state Department of Ecology that a leak detector alarm went off… The alarm indicated an increase in waste seeping from the primary tank into the space between the primary and secondary tank, known as the annulus.

KPLU, Apr 19, 2016: Increased Leakage From Huge Tank of Radioactive Waste At Hanford Sets Off Alarms — An apparent surge in leakage from a huge tank of radioactive waste set off alarms at the Hanford nuclear site… instruments detected a sharp rise of toxic brew in the space between the inner and outer tank walls.

Weather Channel, Apr 19, 2016: ‘Catastrophic’ Leak Found in Nuclear Waste Tank at Washington State Storage Site — An ongoing nuclear waste leak in Washington State has rapidly intensified over the past weekend, leaving workers scrambling.

Tri City Herald, Apr 18, 2016: Significant amount of waste leaks within Hanford tank; Leak estimates surge from 70 gallons to 3,000-3,500 gallons… An alarm for a level detector in the annulus sounded about 3:30 a.m. Sunday… It dropped by about three-quarters of an inch… raising the possibility that it might be leaking from the outer shell.

AP, Apr 19, 2016: “We’re continuing our checks of the tank to determine whether any material might be escaping from the tank itself,” said Jerry Holloway of Washington River Protection Solutions, which manages the underground tanks for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Broadcasts: KREM | KPLU | KING 5 News

ENENews: Mutations in nearly every fir tree by Fukushima plant — Insects with missing legs or crooked — Abnormalities also found in monkeys, fish and frogs

by nootkabear, posted in 10-15 million people, americium, analysis, beaches, brains eaten away, California, Canada, Caution, Censorship, cesium, cobalt 60, contaminated, contamination, corruption, cytotoxic agent, Danger, dead, death, deaths, decommissioning, degenerative brain disorder, disaster, DNA, DNA Damage, fallout, Fish, food chain, Fukushima, Hanford, hazard, Health, inonizing radiation, Iodine 131, Japan, Japan's National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Mortality Event, Nuclear, nuclear catastrophe, nuked, Pacific Ocean, plutonium, Radiation, radiation poisoning, radioactive, radioactive concentration, radiocesium, RADIONUCLIDES, Raidoanalytical, Strontium, thyroid, Toxic

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Major Japan Newspaper: Mutations in nearly every fir tree by Fukushima plant — Insects with missing legs or crooked — Abnormalities also found in monkeys, fish and frogs

http://enenews.com/major-japan-newspaper-mutations-every-fir-tree-fukushima-plant-insects-missing-crooked-legs-abnormalities-found-monkeys-carp-frogs

Published: December 23rd, 2015 at 7:09 pm ET
By ENENews

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201512220004
Asahi Shimbun, Dec 22, 2015 (emphasis added): More than 90 percent of the fir trees in forests close to the site of Japan’s 2011 nuclear disaster are showing signs of abnormality, and plant lice specimens collected in a town more than 30 kilometers from the crippled facility are missing legs or crooked. But it remains unclear whether the mutations in plants and animals are definitively connected to the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. All that scientists in Japan are prepared to say is they are trying to figure out the effects of radioactive cesium caused by the release of huge amounts of radioactive materials from the triple meltdown at the Fukushima plant… Scientists are seeking… signs of mutation in plants and animals in areas close to the stricken nuclear plant… Scientists have reported on mutations and abnormalities among species varying from fir trees and plant lice to Japanese monkeys, carp and frogs. The National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS), a government-affiliated entity, said in late August that the trunks of fir trees are not growing vertically. Fir trees are among the 44 species that the Environment Ministry asked the NIRS and other research organizations to study in trying to determine the effects of radiation on living creatures. The NIRS reported that the frequency of these mutations corresponds to a rise in natural background radiation. More than 90 percent of fir trees in the town of Okuma, just 3.5 kilometers from the crippled plant, showed signs of abnormal growth… Among other changes reported: the legs of plant lice collected in Kawamata, a town more than 30 km from the plant, were found to be missing or crooked and the white blood cell count of Japanese monkeys was lower in Fukushima, the prefectural capital, which is about 60 km from the plant… There is also a possibility that some animals, even if they exhibited signs of radiation’s effect, may no longer be alive for analysis.

See also: Japan Reporter: Mutations increasing in Fukushima — TV: “Strange things are happening to the plants and animals” — Gov’t News Agency: “Long list of mutated life forms reported” (VIDEO)
http://enenews.com/reporter-mutations-started-increasing-fukushima-locals-reporting-insect-populations-decline-tv-strange-happening-plants-animals-living-fukushima-video

And: Former Japan TV News Anchor: The mutations have begun in Fukushima; Birds found blind, unable to fly — Magazine: “Birds in tailspin 4 years after Fukushima… the proverbial canary in a coalmine” — Professor: Birds with mutations popping up all over in contaminated areas (VIDEO)
http://enenews.com/former-japan-tv-news-anchor-mutations-begun-fukushima-birds-found-fly-magazine-birds-tailspin-4-years-after-fukushima-proverbial-canary-coalmine-professor-partial-albinos-popping-all-place-conta

And: Professor: “It’s really a dead zone” in areas of Fukushima — “Huge impacts… there are no butterflies, no birds… many dramatically fewer species” — “Why does it matter to you (in the U.S.)? The reason is, it’s coming, it is coming” (VIDEO)
http://enenews.com/professor-really-dead-zone-areas-fukushima-huge-impacts-butterflies-birds-many-dramatically-fewer-species-matter-reason-coming-coming-video

ENENews: “Cement not stopping highly contaminated nuclear waste from flowing out of reactor buildings”; IAEA: Radioactive releases from plant into ocean “a challenging issue”; Tepco officials say “they’re already 2 weeks to a month behind schedule on that work.” I Say Tepco, and All Nuclear Regulatory Agencies World Wide, Are Close to 4 Years Behind!!!

by nootkabear, posted in cement, decommissioning, Fukushima, IAEA, radioactive, too little too late

Japan TV: Failure at Fukushima — Cement not stopping highly contaminated nuclear waste from flowing out of reactor buildings — IAEA: Radioactive releases from plant into ocean “a challenging issue” — Officials: Don’t know what to do next, or how this will affect whole ‘decommissioning’ project (VIDEO)
Published: February 11th, 2015 at 1:14 am ET
By ENENews
http://enenews.com/japan-tv-failure-fukushima-cement-stopping-highly-contaminated-nuclear-waste-flowing-reactor-buildings-iaea-radioactive-releases-plant-ocean-challenging-issue-officials-dont-next-will-affect

NHK World transcript excerpts, Feb. 9, 2015: Managers of Japan’s damaged nuclear plant are facing another delay in dealing with a major source of contamination. They’re working on blocking the flow of radioactive water from reactor buildings to underground tunnels. TEPCO officials met with members of the Nuclear Regulation Authority [which] approved a plan to delay the project… Workers were supposed to remove the highly radioactive water… and after that they would have filled in the tunnels with cement. However, efforts to block the flow of water failed. Engineers need to fill in some gaps that may be left in the area where the tunnels and reactor buildings meet. The setback will likely affect a second project to build an ice wall around the 4 damaged reactor buildings. Tepco officials say they’re already 2 weeks to a month behind schedule on that work.

NHK, Feb. 9, 2015: The workers poured cement into the tunnels while draining contaminated water. But blocking the water was not successful as it continued to flow through the buildings… They say they do not yet know how the latest delay will affect the whole decommissioning project. They are still studying the next steps they need to take.

Kyodo News, Feb 2, 2015: … the project to build a huge underground ice wall — a key measure to prevent radioactive water from further building up at the site — and other operations will likely be delayed by up to a month, it added… TEPCO initially planned to finish constructing the 1.5-kilometer frozen wall around the buildings housing the Nos. 1 to 4 reactors…by the end of next month.

Al Jazeera, Feb 9, 2015: The UN’s nuclear watchdog* says contaminated water leaking from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant is still “a challenging issue”. The IAEA is reviewing work to decommission the plant… Tepco is criticized with its handling of radioactive water leaks into the Pacific Ocean.

* IAEA the “UN’s nuclear watchdog”? CNN, ABC, Harvard researchers, and even the UN itself, say yes. Perhaps they should consult with the head of the IAEA on the matter: “I have tried to address some widespread misconceptions in the media about the IAEA’s role in nuclear safety… we are not a ‘nuclear safety watchdog’.” A Bloomberg report on the IAEA notes, “The agency’s safety division garnered little respect in US diplomatic cables that described the department as a marketing channel for countries seeking to sell atomic technology… The IAEA’s own mission [is] to promote atomic power.”