Radiation Levels in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday July 28, 2011 at 8:38 am

It's Thursday July 28, 2011 at 8:37 in the morning.  A slight rain has hit the Kanto area. Here is a map from Yahoo Japan:

I wanted to use this rainy day chance to measure the background radiation levels here in Tokyo. As you can see from the video, I measured the air and near a drainage spot in the road.

Radiation Levels in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday July 28, 2011 at 8:38 am

The levels were well within safe ranges between 0.11 ~ 0.12 microsiverts per hour. The levels are usually between 0.09 ~ 0.12.

For more up to the minute readings on the air and water with comparisons and simple, easy to understand instructions on how to read and understand them, see

here. If that link doesn't work, use this: http://bit.ly/eESfcx

Propaganda and the Fukushima Nuclear Reactor Accident

"I have the greatest admiration for your propaganda. Propaganda in the West is carried out by experts who have had the best training in the world -- in the field of advertising -- and have mastered the techniques with exceptional proficiency ... Yours are subtle and persuasive; ours are crude and obvious ... I think that the fundamental difference between our worlds, with respect to propaganda, is quite simple. You tend to believe yours ... and we tend to disbelieve ours." -- a Soviet correspondent based five years in the U.S.


I have been accused of many things during the short life of this blog. Most recently I have been called "propagandist for the nuclear industry" besides a lot of four letter words and anal orifices. On top of that, also in my life, I have been called many bad names and, unfortunately, done many bad things more times than I care to, or could possibly, remember. Yes. I have done many bad things in my life and I've lied before and tricked people. I have been a sh*thead many more times than I care to recall.


I want to brag, here, though, that I think I am a big enough man to admit it. I'm sorry about those things. I am trying to live right now and to make up for my past wrongs whenever and where ever I can.

No matter what I do or write on this blog, though, I keep getting attacked for being an apologist for the nuclear industry or accused of being "pro-nuclear power." That is patently false. I am not pro-nuclear power excepting for the fact that I believe, in this day and age, we have no viable cheap alternative for energy. I certainly do not like the pollution that coal and oil cause and the illnesses that come with (not to mention the wars).


This article is for those of you who are on the fence and still haven't made up your mind if the situation at Fukushima is safe for you and your family or not.


First, my disclaimer: I've said it over and over that I believe the worst thing that could happen to us is to lose a cheap and clean source of energy. Our other alternatives for energy are not clean (oil, coal) and neither are the remainders cheap or even conceivably efficient until, most probably, the next century. It has been proven that the claims by the IPCC that "80% of our energy needs could be met by renewables by 2050" is pure science fiction; so where does that leave us?


I know of one acquaintance who tells me that he has a friend who said he wishes Japan would abolish nuclear power forever and hoped we could go back to living like the days of the Edo period." You know, the days of old Japan when Samurai and Geisha were running around?.... Really! This guy said this. My only retort to that is, "You mean the Edo period like when Japan was a desperately poor country and most people were starving? Gee, that sounds like a fun and realistic vision for the future! I'm sure today's youth in Japan will be into that big time! Sweet!"


Sounds like paradise to me. I wonder what this hippie dreamer would do without his iPod and Nike hiking shoes as some Samurai chased him down wanting to whack off his blond locks for a trophy? Seriously folks, there are foreigners who have very weird ideas like this running around Japan. I've met one before! Anyhow....


I'm not anti-nuclear power nor am I pro-nuclear power. I just want to cut through the propaganda and BS and get to the truth. Regular readers of mine will know from this blog or Lew Rockwell that I am definitely anti-government in any way shape or form and am always very skeptical of what those clowns in the government say. I am also very skeptical of what passes for "news" in the media today.


Recently, I have been railing on both the government, the media and a sensationalist named Arnie Gundersen. It seems to me that you have here different entities that are all saying various things about the Fukushima disaster and, if you bother to investigate, (which I have) you'll find that they all have an agenda.


I don't have any agenda except wanting to get the truth out. As an ex-news person, I know how to check information - which is something that it seems that 97% of the people are incapable of doing by themselves - I do this because it is the field that I am expert in.


Everyone has a motivation for everything they do.


Here is what I can srumise Arnie Gundersen's motivations are. You check these things by examining a person's critics. Asking fans or followers is like asking a hard-core Rolling Stones fan what they think of Mick Jagger. I found this on Atomic Insights by a guy who works in the nuclear industry named Rod Adams. He wrote:



Gundersen is not dumb; you cannot earn an MS in nuclear engineering and be dumb. He is devious and carefully selective of the facts and opinions that he offers, perhaps that is why he is no longer employed in the industry proper and has to try to make his living on the fringes of the technology.


It is my opinion that Arnie Gundersen must be terribly disappointed with the fact that the decommissioning business has been slow ever since nuclear plant owners determined that existing nuclear plants are valuable assets that should be kept running – and producing revenue – for as long as possible. He is probably bitter about the NRC license extension process; I would bet that he entered into the decommissioning business under the assumption that there would be few, if any license extensions. He must have expected that there would be a lot of work for years to come in plant decommissioning. That was a common perception in the mid 1990s, though it was one with which I strenuously disagreed.


Finally, since the decommissioning business has not worked out, I think that he and his wife are now professional fear-mongers (aka “expert witnesses”) who are willing to testify under oath that plant operators should be forced to shut down plants producing a million dollars worth of electricity per day any time someone measures a concentration of a weak beta particle emitter at a level of about 0.0000000000075 grams/liter in a well that is not even used for drinking water. The Fairewinds Associates, Inc. clients pay them to help establish a legal basis for shutting down valuable electricity production facilities AND they take the money!


That would be enough to make me angry even if I did not know that shutting down the plant would simply require expanded operation of coal or methane burning plants.


If you bother to check, you will see that Gundersen has many issues that could be construed as a conflict of interest hence his testimony is suspect.


I don't think it is necessary that I mention how we must be very suspicious and skeptical of whatever the government says about anything. Never trust the government at face value. That's a given, unless you are brain dead. I criticize the government constantly. Of course, TEPCO's announcements about Fukushima are to be taken with a huge grain of salt too.


So take people like Gundersen who are claiming the worst industrial calamity in history, the inept and totally incompetently government and TEPCO, and what have you got?... Different entities all pushing a certain agenda. Who to believe?


There must be, of course, some middle ground. I suspect that, in that middle ground, somewhere lies the truth.


This blog has consistently and repeatedly stated that the situation near and in the nuclear power plant at Fukushima is an extremely serious problem. It is a crisis of epic proportions for the people living near or within the exclusion zone. But for those of us living in Tokyo, upwind and over 230 kilometers away (or farther), it is, as I've said many times, merely an inconvenience - no matter how much some people love having a victim complex.


Like I've stated over and over, I want to get at the truth. Sensationalism and media hype help no one. Nor does lies or cover ups. 


I live in Tokyo, I check the levels of radiation daily. They are safe. We don't drink tap water - never have - (even though those levels are very safe too) and always check where our groceries and produce are from. We don't eat processed foods and over 70% of our diet is raw fruits and vegetables. I suggest that you do the same. I have deemed that our situation here is safe. If the facts change on the ground, I might alter my opinion. Only a fool doesn't alter an opinion once different facts become available.


People making wild claims are guessing. Wild claims are not facts. They are meaningless conjecture.


Now, if I lived in Fukushima, near the nuclear power plants, that would be another story. The radiation levels there are too high. That's a fact. They are so high that even the government has ordered an evacuation. That's a fact. If I lived there, I would have left long ago. The facts insist upon that course of action.


But I don't live there. That's a fact too.


I will say here that, since we have a small child, if we lived in Fukushima, near the damaged nuclear power plants, I would have moved away long ago. Job and work be damned. But in Tokyo, so far away, even with trace elements of radioactive materials being found in tea in some areas (probably you can find traces anywhere in the world anytime of the day), we'll take the risks.... Especially when you weigh the risks intelligently against the benefits.


Toward that end, here is the best, most balanced recent article that I've found on the situation here at Fukushima. This is an article about one of Japan's top radiation treatment specialists who is extremely critical of TEPCO and the Japanese government's handling of the situation at Fukushima (join the crowd, eh?). I quote his article as it is from a critic of the situation. Let's use this to judge our risk here in Tokyo. This radiation treatment specialist is the main focus in an article entitled: Nuclear Workers and Fukushima Residents at Risk: Cancer Expert on the Fukushima Situation: 

Japan's leading business journal Toyo Keizai has published an article by Hokkaido Cancer Center director Nishio Masamichi, a radiation treatment specialist.

Nishio originally called for “calm” in the days after the accident. Now, he argues, that as the gravity of the situation at the plant has become more clear, the specter of long-term radiation exposure must be reckoned with.

Lamenting the poor state of public knowledge of radiation, Nishio writes, “Japan, with its history of having suffered radiation exposure from the atomic bombs, should have the most [direct] knowledge of radiation, but in fact, in the approach to the nuclear accident, has simply fallen into confusion.” He places blame on a number of groups:

1. TEPCO executives, who he accuses of having hidden the truth and prioritized the survival of the company over public health.
2. Bureaucrats who were unable to put together an accurate body of information about radiation effects from which to formulate policy.
3. A prime minister and cabinet lacking both leadership and an appropriate sense of urgency.
4. Politicians who sought to use the crisis in intra- or inter-party struggles.
5. Nuclear industry lobbyists and “academic flunkies” (goyo gakusha) of the government who built up the myth of nuclear safety in the first place.

Looking at these groups, he writes, “I just cannot feel any hope for Japan’s future. These circumstances are simply tragic.”

This sounds terrible, and it is... For the people near the reactors and in Fukushima. But before we go off soiling our pants, we need to read more. He starts to delve into specifics:

Nishio provides a blunt and hard-hitting specialist perspective on major government decisions. Here is a summary of some of his major points:

Workers:

1. He accuses the authorities of prioritizing their own convenience over the lives of nuclear workers. Nishio argues that raising the exposure limit from 100 mSv to 250 mSv can have serious health effects. He also states that reports of poor food and sleeping conditions for workers show that “… they are not even being treated like human beings.”
2. The JSDF helicopters that dropped water on the Fukushima Daiichi reactors and spent fuel pools in the days after March 11 were outfitted with the types of radiation shields used in hospital x-ray rooms. Nisho says that this  was akin to “putting on a lead helmet in order to protect yourself from radiation from space”. The planners, he argues, did not even understand the difference between airborne radiation from a nuclear accident and radiation used in the controlled environment of hospital treatment.
3. Referring to “protective” suits is a misnomer bordering on fraud in Nishio’s view since nothing can offer total protection from radiation exposure.
4. A lack of nutrition and rest can make workers more susceptible to radiation symptoms. Nishio speculates that having the workers sleep together in gymnasium-like barracks with no privacy is simply designed to keep them from running away. Just 30 minutes from the site, he points out, there are empty hotels which could offer those on the front line a quiet, secure place to rest and recuperate.
5. He accuses TEPCO of being up to the old tricks of the nuclear industry: giving dispatch and temporary workers broken radiation monitors, only giving them monitoring devices when they are working despite high levels of radiation throughout the site, and so on.
6. Without accurate assessment of internal radiation exposure through “whole body monitoring”, there is no way to tell how much exposure workers are actually suffering.
7. Measures must also be taken to gauge different types of exposure (i.e. alpha rays from plutonium and beta rays from strontium).
8. Around 5000 workers have worked at the site since March. This number is high, but if radiation release continues, 100 or even 1000 times that number may be needed over time.
9. The MOX fuel in reactor number 3 is particularly dangerous but Nishio doubts that special measures to protect workers are being taken. 
10. “Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Harvest” treatment has been put forward by doctors as a way to minimize the chances of bone marrow deterioration among workers, but this was turned down by the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan. Nishio asserts that this is evidence that they simply do not grasp the severity of the situation.
11. Apart from the iodine that they are being given, workers should also be taking Radiogardase (Prussian blue insoluble capsules). Not working to bring together the best preventative medicine, Nishio asserts angrily, is an example of “graveyard governance”.

You'll notice that not once, even though highly critical of the handling of the entire situation at Fukushima, does this specialist talk about dangers to, say, Tokyo residents or dangers to people outside of the exclusion zone. He talks specifically about the dangers to workers and people living near the damaged reactors or near or in the exclusion zones. Well, hell yes, it is a clusterf*ck for the people working at the reactor or the people living in the area!!!... Like I said, if I lived around that reactor, I'd have uprooted my family long ago and left... But I can't really say that. Why? I wouldn't live near a nuclear reactor in the first place. 

The doctor then goes on to criticize the situation and handling of that mess for the poor people of Fukushima. He says:

Fukushima Residents:

1. The threat to public health is not simply a matter of distance from Fukushima. Wind patterns and topography are even more important. (The good man is completely right about that see my post about that here). 
2. The release of data from the expensive SPEEDI system, was delayed until March 23. This delay resulted in unnecessary radiation exposure. “It is only conceivable that the high rate of radiation released was not reported because of fears of a panic.”
3. Former Minister for Internal Affairs Haraguchi Kazuhiro has alleged that radiation monitoring station data was actually three decimal places greater than the numbers released to the public. If this is true, it constitutes a “national crime”, in Nishio’s words. He follows with, “Giving us the truth once is much more important than saying ‘hang in there Japan!’ a million times.”
4. According to Japanese law, the rate of radiation exposure permitted for ordinary citizens is 1 mSv / year. This has been raised to 20 mSv / year in a “time of crisis”. Such a dramatic increase in permitted exposure is akin to “taking the lives of the people lightly”. Nishio believes that 20 mSv is too high, especially for children who are far more susceptible to the effects of radiation.
5. Even more important than a permitted 20 mSv exposure rate, however, is the lack of adequate provision for measuring internal radiation exposure among the Fukushima population.
6. The American Academy of Sciences 2008 “Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation” report claims that there is no safe level of radiation exposure. Despite this and other examples of leading research, however, the Japanese government has moved on the assumption that there is no evidence for increased cancer risk at under 100 mSv of exposure. The European Committee on Radiation Risk argues that existing risk models do not take internal exposure into account. High rates of internal exposure will mean a dramatic increase in cancer risk for Fukushima residents, with as many as 400,000 cases predicted by 2061. Nishio argues, however, that these calculations rest on some shaky assumptions and that the number is too high. He believes strongly, however, that internal radiation exposure must be taken seriously by the Japanese government.
7. Comparing the 6.9 mSv exposure from a CT scan to a similar amount of radiation exposure outside of a controlled environment is misleading. Long term exposure and internal exposure can have unpredictable effects on the human body. Comparisons with radiation used in cancer treatment are also scientifically shaky.
8. The large amounts of radioactive waste water at the Fukushima Daiichi site will contaminate the soil and water supplies, significantly increasing the risk of internal radiation exposure.

Once again, I direct you to the fact that, while he is extremely critical of the way this has been handled, he is specifically speaking of a localized area. More proof of this is evidenced in #1 below where he states, "...it is important that every resident in at risk areas be given a device to monitor personal radiation exposure."

Necessary Countermeasures:

1. Among people living in the same area, rates of exposure can vary greatly based on lifestyle and movement patterns. As a result, it is important that every resident in at risk areas be given a device to monitor personal radiation exposure. Apart from protecting individuals and allowing them to make informed decisions about their safety, the data gathered can be used in future medical research and in court cases that will no doubt originate from the Fukushima Daiichi accident.
2. There is little conclusive scientific data on the risks of low level radiation exposure. The government, however, must not let this turn into a case of “we don’t know so we can assume it is safe”. On the contrary, Nishio argues that it is necessary to proceed under the assumption “we don’t know so we must assume that it is dangerous”.
3. Residents must be given real time radiation data as well as the best possible advice about how to decrease their exposure.

I totally agree with this specialist. Now, how does this very critical attack against the japanese government and TEPCO stack up against people like Arnie Gundersen who claim things like dangerous radiation that can't be detected by Geiger counters being found all over Tokyo?

Once again, to repeat, I am not pro-nuclear power and I am not anti-nuclear power. But, one thing for sure is that I am very anti-sensationalist hype and pushing hidden agenda types and will attack them whenever I see the need to.

There's two sides to every story. The truth usually lies somewhere in between. It takes a diligent and fair person to find that truth. Blind acceptance is a fools game.

Don't be a fool. Check the facts. Do the research. Get the truth.


Thanks to What Really Happened.com for the quote from the Soviet correspondent

Fukushima Nuclear Disaster News - Debunking Arnie Gundersen

It's really getting tiring debunking everything that clowns like Arnie Gundersen say about Fukushima. It doesn't matter how many facts or data that I link to or how much I try to fact check what this guy says, people still write really stupid (and childishly rude) stuff to me and challenge me on it. 


Of course, I can tell the rude stuff comes from ill-educated hysterical Americans. It's pretty obvious.


What's even more tiring is getting mail from fools who actually believe that out of control reports that "the top 1/3 of Japan is uninhabitable," and things like that. I think Fukushima is a serious situation and should be considered so... How much that has to do with (some) reports that claim "we must evacuate the Northern hemisphere" etc...Is beyond me. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. Tepco has an agenda; the government has an agenda; anti-nuclear power people have an agenda (actually it's pro-fossil fuels and big oil -  but they don't realize it... Everyone has an agenda. In my experience, the only ones who come out of these things well are the skeptics... I am one.

It really reminds me of the early days of the Global Warming idiocy. People were foaming at the mouth believing that too because they believed the crap they were told. What was their rationale?


1) It was a government cover up and conspiracy 
2) "They" were lying to us


Why do people think this way?


3) Most people are illogical and cannot have an original thought if it were the last thing they ever did


It's a victory for the public education system that it churns out so many people with such a poor level of education. 


I don't really mind being challenged on what's written here, but let's stick to the points, if we can, shall we? The lunatic fringe writing stuff to me like what I received yesterday was so totally out of whack that I deleted his comments. (Note: I do enjoy every one's comments and appreciate that they take the time to write them, but please do read the rules on commenting before you write. It is foolish to take ten minutes writing something that gets immediately deleted when you could read the rules in two seconds and make sure that doesn't happen).


Some of these guys actually write comments like this:


"Mike, you are full of sh*t... Care to debate me?"


Hmm.... What an intelligent, polite and marvelous argument this guy puts forth. What a fantastic invitation to debate the points. I can tell, by the quality of his writing, it would be like debating Neanderthal man. I don't know how I can counter such an excellently structured argument... 


Perhaps by hitting the table with a crude wooden bat and saying, "Korg no like!"...


Could he possibly mean that he wants to, "debate me on the point of the contents of my body?" If so, no. I do not... If he means that - judging by the excellent logic of his argument shown in his comment - should I debate him on the same level of childish insults as he does by, say, calling his mother various unsavory names? Then, no to that one too. 


I'm sure that his mother is a wonderful woman. Most moms are like that.


So, without further ado, here's another article debunking Gundersen. I hope it will be the last, but, alas, suspect it won't. First up, let's be fair. I will show you both anti-atomic power (Gundersen's comments) and "pro"-nuclear power comments. You be the judge.


From Atomic Insights: 

Arnie Gundersen has been making money by spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt about nuclear energy for more than a decade. His career has received a measurable boost since March 11, when a large earthquake and powerful tsunami successfully peeled off most of the many layers of protection at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.

Ever since that day, Gundersen has been giving scary interviews in a variety of media outlets that include a number of dire predictions. He claimed that the spent fuel pool for unit 4 had gone dry and that he had the video to prove it. That claim remains available on his web site, so he is apparently standing by his early evaluation despite all evidence that contradicts his claim.

(snip) 

He has been making the rounds of the advertiser supported media recently with stories about the dangers of “hot particles” that are so tiny they cannot be picked up by normal radiation detectors. (Note: Radiation can be measured at extremely low levels, far below the levels that can cause human health effects. There is a reason why doctors inject small amounts radioactive materials into their patients as tracers to assist them in diagnosing organ function – those tracers make bodily systems visible without endangering the patient. If the hot particles are so tiny and dispersed that they cannot be detected, they are nothing to worry about.)

You can read more about Gundersen here at Atomic Insights.

Of course, I also blasted Gundersen for these same ridiculous remarks on the very blog in "Wind Patterns and Rainy Season in Japan" where I derailed his ignorant and completely false claims that "the wind was turning and now blowing radiation towards Tokyo." I also dismantled his absurd claims of "anecdotal evidence" of people having a metallic taste in their mouths was proof of Iodine in the air as a byproduct of radiation in "Metallic Tastes in Mouths Proves Nuclear Disaster! Or Does it?"

Finally, and as an aside, one other reader complained that I bashed Gundersen for his foolish claims of radioactive air filters in cars. The reader claimed that he searched for third-party evidence of this claim by Gundersen and could find nothing. This reader then somehow concluded that this fact was proof that I was making up evidence against Gundersen and trying to discredit him (well, that's what he said. Yeah, I know. The logic is quite convuluted...) But I don't want to keep railing on the educational system of the USA. In that post about car air filters I even showed the results of a search in Japanese for what Gundersen was claiming and found nothing excepting links to his absurd claims. See it here in "Radioactive Air Filters in Cars?" 

For today here's more about what Gundersen claimed that is totally disproven by facts on the ground. Gundersen claimed in an article on Al Jazeera:

"So ten to 15 years from now maybe we can say the reactors have been dismantled, and in the meantime you wind up contaminating the water," Gundersen said. 

Is this true? You be the judge. Here's today's news from the Nuclear Energy Institute:

Contaminated Water Levels Beginning to Drop at Fukushima Daiichi

TEPCO is making headway in reducing the volume of contaminated water on site. In the last week, the new water filtration system has treated more than 13,000 tons of water. Recycling the treated water into the plant cooling systems also began last week, and the rate of water accumulation is now being reversed. The company says water levels in the basements of the reactor buildings could drop by more than three feet by next month. About 120,000 tons of water have accumulated in basements at the facility and in storage facilities. 

This seems to quite directly contradict Gundersen's claims, no? I think it is also ridiculous that TEPCO insists that there will be no water leaks... How could there be no water leaks? But I digress...

The article continues:

Also, the company has installed steel plates at the seawater intake structures for Fukushima reactors 1 through 4, closing off a path for leakage of contaminated water from the reactors to the ocean.

So, judging from the news these last two days, here are the facts and the timetable settled so far:

1) Radiation levels at the crippled plants are expected to be within safe limits so that human engineers can reenter the plants on July 17, 2011. That's eight days from today.

2) The contaminated water is being cleaned and contaminated water levels are dropping.

3) Radioactive water leaks have reportedly been stopped.

Of course this disaster at Fukushima is bad and serious. But considering the claims of just a few shorts months, even weeks ago, when Gundersen was claiming:

"Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind. Fukushima has three nuclear reactors exposed and four fuel cores exposed. You probably have the equivalent of 20 nuclear reactor cores because of the fuel cores, and they are all in desperate need of being cooled, and there is no means to cool them effectively."

Gundersen likes to use words like "maybe" (see above) and words like "probably." That means that he is just guessing. Also, don't look now, but the reactors were being cooled months ago.

As far as being the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind, I'm sure that is debatable. I'm sure people near the BP oil disaster that has already killed at least eleven men and sickened hundreds, if not thousands, of people; as well as killing wildlife in the hundreds of millions if not more, would strongly disagree with you Gundersen. Or the over 130 dead from Chernobyl in the first 90 days...

So far the death tally from Fukushima nearly four months later: Zero. 

These are facts indelibly etched into history...

Note: In my next post, I blow this, "Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind" claim to pieces. That claim is pure and total nonsense. How can people be so arrogant and ignorant of history to even entertain such a thought? Read it here.

Latest Disaster News About Fukushima Accident - Media Coverup?

The foaming at the mouth panic and fear mongering about Fukushima is dying down. The peanut gallery is taking their toys and heading home. The reason why you don't hear much about Fukushima is not because there is a coverup, it's because things are predictable and getting under control.


Now, the worst thing that is going to happen is how people from that area will most likely be discriminated against. I received a few excellent comments from some long time Japan expert friends who are quite knowledgable about Japan, her history and society. I'd like to share their wisdom with you.


The first is from my friend Graham Carpenter who writes:  

The big and real damage to Fukushima from this nuclear accident is how Fukushima will now be known as the radioactive prefecture, and its citizens will be discriminated around the country as if they are mutants. Sort of like how Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims were initially treated. And, of course, this is further accelerated with all the doomsday reports and predictions. 

The second is from Michael Di Stacio who runs the Rock Challenge Japan Charity who adds:

Speaking with children in Fukushima recently. Their fear of being "labelled" like lepers if they come to Tokyo is very real. The Mayor of Tsukuba a few months ago fed the ignorance. But me thinks that the past Hiroshima/Nagasaki mentality of stigma will smear Fukushima for some time ... due to an archaic education system and small, uniformed minds - both the products of an infantile media system and self-serving politicians.

THE FORTUNES - YOU'VE GOT YOUR TROUBLES, I'VE GOT MINE

So thanks to all those morons who were scaremongering and claiming doom. As if these people in Fukushima and Tohoku don't have enough problems of their own without having you clowns (who live hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers away) scaring people by writing and talking about BS.


The good news is these jerks are starting to fade away. Thank god for that.


Also, my hate mail is also decreasing.

The last mail I got (along the lines of claiming that I was a paid agent for the nuclear industry) was from a guy who was several weeks late to a party where I was blasting a guy named Arnie Gundersen for scare mongering and stating ridiculous things about Fukushima and the nuclear accident problem in Japan. The last article that I had written bashing Gundersen, entitled, "Radioactive Air Filters in Cars?" was written on June 16th, 2011 about Arnie's nonsense claims of car air filters in Tokyo being found with dangerous levels of "Hot Spot" radiation that will surely kill us all but couldn't be detected with a Geiger counter. That post was penned in mid-June.... 

The anonymous reader finally got around to reading that story (at least three weeks late) and wrote to me yesterday on July 6, 2011. His letter is funny in a conspiratorial sort of way. I laughed. I hope you get a chuckle out of it too. The guy jumps right into it when he comments:

"At this point, calling Gundersen names puts you in good company...every other nuclear official/scientist (all bought off by the industry) that said nuclear containment issues were a zero percent probability."

Ha! Ha! laughable. "Every other nuclear official/scientist"!? Oh really? EVERY!? All of them? This guy sounds just like Gundersen. They're both just like the child who begs mom for a new toy "because everyone has one!" They are also like the rest of these people (like Global warming alarmists, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, etc.) who always say the end of the world is upon us. They make these wild claims and yet fail to back them up with names or links (remember when "they" said that "2,500 of the word's top scientist agree about man-made Global Warming"? Ha!). 

OK, anonymous reader, name one of these "Every other nuclear official/scientist" (who aren't in the pocket of the nuclear industry) please. It's heartening to know that Gundersen stands like the rock of Gibraltar, alone, against the elements of evil.


Guffaw! 

Then, on top of that, he goes and make the even more idiotic claim that these unnamed nuclear official/scientist(s) were "bought off by the industry"? Oh, please.... Got any receipts?

Folks, it is truly embarrassing that our public education system graduates people who write this poorly and have such low critical thinking skills. How in the hell did the west ever win the Cold War? Seriously, this is embarrassing, no?

This argument is pure fiction out of Alice in Wonderland. 

Once again, if a writer can't name names or show links to back up claims, then it's all bullsh*t just like the "anecdotal" crap Gundersen says. Then the writer continues trying to be "cute" or "intelligent" of which he is not either...

"Oooppsy-Doopsy! Granted, a metallic taste in the mouth is NOT scientific."

"Oooppsy- Doopsy!" indeed. I think someone watches way too much American TV sitcoms. People in the real world don't talk this way. They only do on the I Love Lucy Show or Mary Tyler Moore or whatever dribble people watch these days.

"...but if all things remained consistent, and I tasted something "metallic", and I lived in Seattle during the disaster, I'd be at least mildly concerned."

You would be concerned if you "lived in Seattle during the disaster"? Oh man, I know Americans are bad at geography, but this is ridiculous. It's almost 5,000 miles from Tokyo to Seattle! You would be worried about that!? You have a 5,000 times higher chance of dying from coal or oil industry emissions and you don't worry about those, but you'd be worried if you had a metallic taste in your mouth if you lived 5,000 miles away? Seriously, you should never drink the tap water anyway either. The crap in the tap water will probably kill you much sooner than something going on 5,000 miles away.

Dude. You need help. Really.

"Especially given the government's consistent under reporting of the actual radiation releases."

Once again, proof, please. Links?

"Bad mouth him all you want, I suspect you were bad mouthing him BEFORE the accident too."

Wrong! Never heard of the guy before.  

"I guess it becomes an issue of credibility at that point, and the my money is on Gundersen." (sic)

Your money is on Gundersen? Well, you lost. Gundersen, like Michio Kaku (excepting his Saturday night Sci-Fi TV show), is no where to be seen recently. They've lost all credibility and have quietly gone back to hiding under their rocks.

But I am still here. If you bet on guys like me, you won. Here is what is really going on at Fukushima. Trust that this is boring stuff and is never anywhere near as exciting as Gundersen making up nonsense like deadly radiation that will kill you but is undetectable or Michio Kaku saying stuff like "the Yellowstone National Park was a "super volcano" that was going to"wipe out the United States as we know it."

Instead of betting on Micho Kaku or Arnie Gundersen, I'd say it's a better bet to put your money on Uncle Fester from the Addams Family.... At least he is funny.

Uncle Fester gets a charge

But enough of my complaining. Here's what's going on at Fukushima that you need to know.... Actually a lot is going on, but it is not sensational, so you won't hear about it.... 

Fukushima Reactors on Target for Stabilization Next Week (July 17, 2011)

http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1309166580P.pdf

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has started injecting decontaminated wastewater as a coolant. This is considered an important step to stabilize the damaged reactors. Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, says it began recycling the water around the reactors on Monday afternoon. The utility has been operating a water treatment system since June 14th and processed about 1,850 tons of radioactive water that had been accumulated at the plant. TEPCO says it will continue injecting 16 tons of water per hour into the No.1, 2 and 3 reactors. 13 tons of this will be the decontaminated water. Workers had been pouring pure water to cool the damaged reactors, but some of this ended up contaminated with radioactive substances and was leaking outside of the reactors. Cooling the reactors without increasing the volume of wastewater is the biggest challenge. With the water circulation in operation, TEPCO has made progress toward achieving its target of stabilizing the reactors by mid-July. 

Get that? Even though guys like Gundersen and many others claimed that it would take decades to get Fukushima under control or that we needed to bomb the reactors from the air with concrete and cover them up, they are on schedule to be stabilized with 10 days of this post.

That doesn't strike me as the end of the world or the apocalypse like some writers were claiming. Does it to you?

Robot Tests Radiation in Fukushima Reactor Building

http://safetyfirst.nei.org/japan/robot-tests-radiation-in-fukushima-reactor-building/

Work is continuing to reduce radiation levels at Fukushima Daiichi’s reactor 3 building. Tokyo Electric Power Co. has used robots to vacuum radioactive debris and place steel sheets on the floor to decrease the potential for radiation exposure. Pending a reduction in radiation levels, workers are scheduled to enter the building housing the reactor on July 17 to begin installing new piping to inject nitrogen gas into the reactor containment vessel. The inert gas will reduce the possibility of a hydrogen explosion in the containment building. The company already is injecting nitrogen into the containments for reactors 1 and 2.

Catch that? "Workers are scheduled to enter the building housing the reactor on July 17th." There is a second article on the same page that talks about how Japan has cleared up the contaminated water issue.

TEPCO said debris may have clogged a hose, temporarily reducing the flow of cooling water into reactor 1 at Fukushima Daiichi by about one-quarter of normal volume. Normally, the cooling system injects 3.7 metric tons of water an hour into the reactors, but the flow was reduced Monday to about 3 metric tons per hour, setting off an alarm. Workers began injecting more water, restoring normal flow in less than an hour. 

The last part of this non-news is "Workers began injecting more water, restoring normal flow in less than an hour." That's "normal" as in "nothing special," "OK," "regular," "not newsworthy." That's why recent news shows things like the Yahoo News top stories for this very moment:

 Let me close up on the top news stories that I highlighted in blue for you:

• Court orders immediate halt to gay military service ban
• CNN cancels Eliot Spitzer's show, promotes Anderson Cooper
• Grizzly bear kills man hiking with wife in Yellowstone
• Jail prepares secret exit for possible Casey Anthony release
• Doctor for A-Rod, Tiger brought unapproved drugs to U.S.
• 24-year-old congressional candidate raises $420,000
• Final Defendant Acquitted in Deutsche Bank Fire- N.Y. Times
• Cops accused of rape also accused of…- New York Dai…
• Hip hop mogul hit with new charges- New York Post

"Court orders immediate halt to gay military service ban"? CNN cancels some TV show? Grizzly bear kills man? Jail prepares secret exit? Wow! That's some news! From reading in between the lines and knowing about the government cover up, one can definitely conclude from these news stories that the world is ending soon and Fukushima is at the cause. (HEAVY SARCASM AGAIN!) 


As Fukushima fades the prophets of doom become more and more discredited.  These clowns who prophesied total disaster and idiocy like "the entire 1/3 of Japan will be depopulated" will go back and crawl into their holes in the ground from whence they came (I've always wanted to use the word, "whence"!)


Of course, they will also conveniently claim that they knew it all along and try to change the subject whenever the BS they said or wrote about Fukushima comes up.


There is a Chinese curse that goes like this: "May you live in interesting times." This year has been very interesting so far. 


I hope it doesn't become more interesting... I don't expect that it will.