Re: [Biofuel] Fukushima Decontamination Measures Are Making Things Worse

2013-01-09 Thread Jo Simoes
Hello Keith,

Is the US government taking extra steps to inspect for radiation  food and 
other goods being imported from Japan or is it each man for himself as usual ?

Thanks for your emails, I appreciate them.

Jo Simoes


On Jan 8, 2013, at 5:17 PM, Keith Addison ke...@journeytoforever.org wrote:

 http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-decontamination-measures-are-making-things-worse/5318105
 
 Fukushima Decontamination Measures Are Making Things Worse
 
 Corruption and Cover-Up Lead to SPREAD - Rather than Containment - of 
 Radiation from Fukushima Disaster
 
 By Washington's Blog
 
 Global Research, January 08, 2013
 
 We've previously noted:
 
 Japan has severely underplayed the amount of radiation from Fukushima, 
 putting Japanese residents and U.S. navy sailors in jeopardy
 
 Experts call Japan cleanup effort meaningless Š an endless task that's simply 
 spreading around radiation.
 
 Tepco has taken extraordinary steps to hide radiation by blocking radiation 
 monitors with thick metal and other foreign objects. And see this
 
 In a series of essays called Crooked Cleanup, leading Japanese news source 
 Asahi shows the level of corruption and incompetence.
 
 For example:
 
 Cleanup crews in Fukushima Prefecture have dumped soil and leaves 
 contaminated with radioactive fallout into rivers. Water sprayed on 
 contaminated buildings has been allowed to drain back into the environment. 
 And supervisors have instructed workers to ignore rules on proper collection 
 and disposal of the radioactive waste.
 
 ***
 
 The decontamination work witnessed by a team of Asahi Shimbun reporters shows 
 that contractual rules with the Environment Ministry have been regularly and 
 blatantly ignored, and in some cases, could violate environmental laws.
 
 ***
 
 In signing the contracts, the Environment Ministry established work rules 
 requiring the companies to place all collected soil and leaves into bags to 
 ensure the radioactive materials would not spread further. The roofs and 
 walls of homes must be wiped by hand or brushes. The use of pressurized 
 sprayers is limited to gutters to avoid the spread of contaminated water. The 
 water used in such cleaning must be properly collected under the ministry's 
 rules.
 
 ***
 
 From Dec. 11 to 18, four Asahi reporters spent 130 hours observing work at 
 various locations in Fukushima Prefecture.
 
 At 13 locations in Naraha, Iitate and Tamura, workers were seen simply 
 dumping collected soil and leaves as well as water used for cleaning rather 
 than securing them for proper disposal.
 
 Photographs were taken at 11 of those locations.
 
 The reporters also talked to about 20 workers who said they were following 
 the instructions of employees of the contracted companies or their 
 subcontractors in dumping the materials. A common response of the workers was 
 that the decontamination work could never be completed if they adhered to the 
 strict rules.
 
 Asahi reporters obtained a recording of a supervisor at a site in Naraha 
 instructing a worker to dump cut grass over the side of the road.
 
 Moreover:
 
 Workers involved in cleaning up the radioactive fallout from the Fukushima 
 No. 1 nuclear plant disaster expressed concerns. One even apologized for what 
 he did.
 
 But they were on the bottom employment levels in the decontamination process, 
 and their words apparently meant nothing to their supervisors.
 
 ***
 
 The supervisor from Dai Nippon Construction told the 30 or so workers under 
 his watch to dump whatever would not fit into the bags or to throw materials 
 down the slope outside of the line marked by the pink tape. Whenever the 
 supervisor was not present, the person taking his place gave similar 
 instructions.
 
 The man questioned if the work could actually be called decontamination. He 
 confronted the supervisor about his instructions on Nov. 27 and recorded the 
 conversation.
 
 The man can be heard asking, Is it all right to just dump the stuff?
 
 The supervisor replied: Yeah, yeah, it's OK. It can't be helped.
 
 ***
 
 Even though I was following an order, I am sorry for polluting the river, 
 the man said.
 
 Indeed, clean-up measures often make the radiation ariborne Š making it 
 more dangerous:
 
 The airborne radiation level near the gutter before the cleaning water flowed 
 in was 0.8 microsievert per hour. The radiation level near the cleaning water 
 hovered between 1.9 and 2.9 microsieverts. The larger figure is close to the 
 cutoff point in determining if residents should evacuate.
 
 ***
 
 In some cases, radiation levels at homes have even increased after 
 decontamination, leading some workers to suspect that radioactive materials 
 were blown into the area by wind.
 
 The only actual decontamination work which was done appears to have been 
 right around radiation monitors, to create false low readings:
 
 We were told to clean up only those areas around a measurement site.
 
 Even worse, Japan is 

Re: [Biofuel] Fukushima Decontamination Measures Are Making Things Worse

2013-01-09 Thread Keith Addison

Hello Jo


Hello Keith,

Is the US government taking extra steps to inspect for radiation 
food and other goods being imported from Japan or is it each man for 
himself as usual ?


I don't really know. I suppose they are, and the Japanese government 
too, and their impeccable track-record so far for sheer effectiveness 
in all such issues leaves no cause for concern, so that's alright 
then. :-/



Thanks for your emails, I appreciate them.


You're welcome, thanks for saying so.

All best

Keith


Jo Simoes


On Jan 8, 2013, at 5:17 PM, Keith Addison ke...@journeytoforever.org wrote:



http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-decontamination-measures-are-making-things-worse/5318105

 Fukushima Decontamination Measures Are Making Things Worse

 Corruption and Cover-Up Lead to SPREAD - Rather than Containment - 
of Radiation from Fukushima Disaster


 By Washington's Blog


  Global Research, January 08, 2013
 


snip
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[Biofuel] Fukushima Decontamination Measures Are Making Things Worse

2013-01-08 Thread Keith Addison

http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-decontamination-measures-are-making-things-worse/5318105

Fukushima Decontamination Measures Are Making Things Worse

Corruption and Cover-Up Lead to SPREAD - Rather than Containment - of 
Radiation from Fukushima Disaster


By Washington's Blog

Global Research, January 08, 2013

We've previously noted:

Japan has severely underplayed the amount of radiation from 
Fukushima, putting Japanese residents and U.S. navy sailors in 
jeopardy


Experts call Japan cleanup effort meaningless Š an endless task 
that's simply spreading around radiation.


Tepco has taken extraordinary steps to hide radiation by blocking 
radiation monitors with thick metal and other foreign objects. And 
see this


In a series of essays called Crooked Cleanup, leading Japanese news 
source Asahi shows the level of corruption and incompetence.


For example:

Cleanup crews in Fukushima Prefecture have dumped soil and leaves 
contaminated with radioactive fallout into rivers. Water sprayed on 
contaminated buildings has been allowed to drain back into the 
environment. And supervisors have instructed workers to ignore rules 
on proper collection and disposal of the radioactive waste.


***

The decontamination work witnessed by a team of Asahi Shimbun 
reporters shows that contractual rules with the Environment Ministry 
have been regularly and blatantly ignored, and in some cases, could 
violate environmental laws.


***

In signing the contracts, the Environment Ministry established work 
rules requiring the companies to place all collected soil and leaves 
into bags to ensure the radioactive materials would not spread 
further. The roofs and walls of homes must be wiped by hand or 
brushes. The use of pressurized sprayers is limited to gutters to 
avoid the spread of contaminated water. The water used in such 
cleaning must be properly collected under the ministry's rules.


***

From Dec. 11 to 18, four Asahi reporters spent 130 hours observing 
work at various locations in Fukushima Prefecture.


At 13 locations in Naraha, Iitate and Tamura, workers were seen 
simply dumping collected soil and leaves as well as water used for 
cleaning rather than securing them for proper disposal.


Photographs were taken at 11 of those locations.

The reporters also talked to about 20 workers who said they were 
following the instructions of employees of the contracted companies 
or their subcontractors in dumping the materials. A common response 
of the workers was that the decontamination work could never be 
completed if they adhered to the strict rules.


Asahi reporters obtained a recording of a supervisor at a site in 
Naraha instructing a worker to dump cut grass over the side of the 
road.


Moreover:

Workers involved in cleaning up the radioactive fallout from the 
Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant disaster expressed concerns. One even 
apologized for what he did.


But they were on the bottom employment levels in the decontamination 
process, and their words apparently meant nothing to their 
supervisors.


***

The supervisor from Dai Nippon Construction told the 30 or so workers 
under his watch to dump whatever would not fit into the bags or to 
throw materials down the slope outside of the line marked by the pink 
tape. Whenever the supervisor was not present, the person taking his 
place gave similar instructions.


The man questioned if the work could actually be called 
decontamination. He confronted the supervisor about his instructions 
on Nov. 27 and recorded the conversation.


The man can be heard asking, Is it all right to just dump the stuff?

The supervisor replied: Yeah, yeah, it's OK. It can't be helped.

***

Even though I was following an order, I am sorry for polluting the 
river, the man said.


Indeed, clean-up measures often make the radiation ariborne Š 
making it more dangerous:


The airborne radiation level near the gutter before the cleaning 
water flowed in was 0.8 microsievert per hour. The radiation level 
near the cleaning water hovered between 1.9 and 2.9 microsieverts. 
The larger figure is close to the cutoff point in determining if 
residents should evacuate.


***

In some cases, radiation levels at homes have even increased after 
decontamination, leading some workers to suspect that radioactive 
materials were blown into the area by wind.


The only actual decontamination work which was done appears to have 
been right around radiation monitors, to create false low readings:


We were told to clean up only those areas around a measurement site.

Even worse, Japan is spreading radioactivity throughout Japan - and 
other countries - by burning radioactive waste in incinerators not 
built to handle such toxic substances.


One of our main themes is that trying to cover up problems only makes 
them worse. Japan is once again proving that this is a bad strategy Š


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