The Full Enchilada

It is tragic that the Japanese people may be exposed to more long lasting radiation from their own nuclear crisis than from the atomic bombs dropped on them in World War II at Nagasaki and Hiroshima. A nuclear reactor leak can give off 1000 times the radiation of an atomic bomb explosion.

Nuclear experts from the United States are en-route to Japan (as of Wednesday). Satellite images show the tremendous damage to the reactors. A helicopter attempt to drop water in one of the reactors did not work or was averted due to dangerously high radiation levels. They plan to even attempt to use water cannons used for riots to try and get some water into the reactor. It appears that heat has been rising in the other two reactors meaning perhaps all 6 Fukushima reactors are at risk. Workers had to be completely evacuated from the site for some time due to rising radiation levels. The winds have helped somewhat by blowing a lot of the radiation plumes eastward into the Pacific ocean, yes toward the North American continent, Canada and the United States where people are already buying KI/iodine tablets in mass fearing nuclear fallout from Japan may hit the West Coast of the US and Canada.

Radiation first affects the intestinal system causing nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, and even death. The thyroid is also affected soon after and is the reason people are given iodine tablets, so as to lessen the impact and provide the thyroid clean iodine to absorb versus the radiation laden iodine from the nuclear fallout. (Wine supposedly helps somewhat also due to the tannins, but then any strong anti-oxidants should help.)

Other symptoms include loss of appetite, red itchy skin, sore mouth and throat, anemia, hair loss, bleeding, recurrent infections, and of course all kinds of cancers if not exposed to high enough levels to cause death in days or weeks.

Everyone seems to be downplaying the seriousness of the nuclear disaster in Japan, yet there is no mistaking that allowing ocean water to rush in to cool reactors is a ‘desperate’ move. When they knew very well that this would very likely lead to an explosion as the hydrogen released would react with the oxygen and explode, it shows that they had no other choice, it was desperation to try and avoid a quick devastating meltdown.

The presence of radioactive cesium in the atmosphere after the plant was vented following the first explosion which broke the outer wall of the reactor indicated that a partial meltdown was underway. (Likely water level dropped, fuel rods were exposed and started to burn releasing cesium.)

The situation could still become worse than the Three Mile Island partial meltdown and turn into a max scale 7 Chernobyl type complete disaster. If much radiation is leaked into the atmosphere how does this affect surrounding countries or the rest of the world?

Many organizations would like to pretend that the threat of this nuclear radiation is low because it will greatly dissipate such that it will not be that much more than normal environmental radiation measurements. Even if that were true, this radiation falling from the skies would still be much more dangerous then radiation well embedded in the ground/environment.

This is because such particles could be breathed in or ingested such as was noticed before when radiation that fell on grass killed or made many sick as they drank milk from cows feeding on that grass. It is difficult/impossible to collect these highly radioactive particles once they have dispersed.

The Japanese have already evacuated areas dozens of miles around the nuclear facilities most affected. Citizens complain they are very scared, they are told to stay indoors to avoid nuclear fallout but they have no house anymore, the tsunami wiped out everything. (Japan has about 50 nuclear reactors, how many are really affected?)

In fact Japan’s meteorological agency said the prevailing wind in the area of the stricken plant was heading east into the Pacific, which experts said would help carry away any radiation. Does this carried away radiation magically become inert posing no threat?

From wikipedia -

The balloon campaign was the fourth attack the Japanese had made on the American mainland. The f?sen bakudan campaign was, however, the most earnest of the attacks. The concept was the brainchild of the Imperial Japanese Army’s Ninth Army’s Number Nine Research Laboratory, under Major General Sueyoshi Kusaba, with work performed by Technical Major Teiji Takada and his colleagues. The balloons were intended to make use of a strong current of winter air that the Japanese had discovered flowing at high altitude and speed over their country, which later became known as the jet stream.[3]

The jet stream blew at altitudes above 9.15 km (30,000 ft) and could carry a large balloon across the Pacific in three days, over a distance of more than 8,000 km (5,000 miles). Such balloons could carry incendiary and high-explosive bombs to the United States and drop them there to kill people, destroy buildings, and start forest fires.[3]

It doesn’t take long (two or 3 days?) for radiation particles to reach long distances traveling at 200mph inside the Pacific Jet Stream current.

Have other nuclear nations begun to thoroughly review their own safety precautions? Has the US? Have they immediately started work on making sure what happened in Japan will not happen?

Do not be so sure of your government’s or private nuclear companies’ proactiveness. Knowing very well about coming heatwaves did NOT prevent tens of thousands of people from dying needlessly in Europe. Do you know the location of all nuclear facilities around you? (Or are some kept secret and you’ll find out when you get evacuation notices due to a disaster?)