Ea O Ka Aina: Meltdown

Showing posts with label Meltdown. Show all posts

Tepco robot finds melted core

SOURCE: Norman Leuter (normandlaurie@gmail.com)
SUBHEAD: The melted fuel debris at Fukushima Daiichi Reactor #3 found on floor of containment.

By AP Staff on 22 July 2017 in The Guardian -
(https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/23/fukushima-images-show-massive-deposits-thought-to-be-melted-nuclear-fuel)

Image above: Still from robot video. What appears to be bolted caps on corroding pipe valves amidst melted core debris. From original article.

Robot spots suspected debris of melted fuel for first time since 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant.

Images captured by an underwater robot on Saturday showed massive deposits believed to be melted nuclear fuel covering the floor of a damaged reactor at Japan’s destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant.

The robot found large amounts of solidified lava-like rocks and lumps in layers as thick as 1m on the bottom inside a main structure called the pedestal that sits underneath the core inside the primary containment vessel of Fukushima’s Unit 3 reactor, said the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.

On Friday, the robot spotted suspected debris of melted fuel for the first time since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused multiple meltdowns and destroyed the plant. The three-day investigation of Unit 3 ended on Saturday.

Solar power for Chenobyl

SUBHEAD: Chinese to build world's largest PV array at site of nuclear meltdown in the Ukraine.

By Kieren Cooke on 12 January 2017 for Climate News Network -
(http://climatenewsnetwork.net/solar-power-rise-nuclear-ashes/)

Image above: Memorial statue in front of the sarcophagus over the remains of the abandoned nuclear reactor building at Chernobyl. From (http://inhabitat.com/china-is-building-a-giant-solar-plant-at-chernobyl/).

It was the worst nuclear accident in history, directly causing the deaths of 50 people, with at least an additional 4,000 fatalities believed to be caused by exposure to radiation.

The 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine also resulted in vast areas of land being contaminated by nuclear fallout, with a 30-kilometre exclusion zone, which encompassed the town of Pripyat, being declared in the area round the facility.

Solar power plant
Now two companies from China plan to build a one-gigawatt solar power plant on 2,500 hectares of land in the exclusion zone to the south of the Chernobyl plant.

Ukrainian officials say the companies estimate they will spend up to $1 billion on the project over the next two years.

A subsidiary of Golden Concord Holdings (GLC), one of China’s biggest renewable energy concerns, will supply and install solar panels at the site, while a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Machinery Corporation (SINOMACH) will build and run the plant.

“It is cheap land, and abundant sunlight constitutes a solid foundation for the project,” says Ostap Semerak, Ukraine’s minister of environment and natural resources.

“In addition, the remaining electric transmission facilities are ready for reuse.”

In a press release, GLC state work on the solar plant will probably start this year and talk of the advantages of building the facility.

“There will be remarkable social benefits and economical ones as we try to renovate the once-damaged area with green and renewable energy,” says Shu Hua, chairman of the GLC subsidiary.

“We are glad that we are making joint efforts with Ukraine to rebuild the community for the local people.”

Radiation that escaped as a result of the explosion at Chernobyl reached as far away as the mountains and hills of Wales in the UK, and a substantial portion of the radioactive dust released fell on farmlands in Belarus, north of Ukraine.

Till now the exclusion zone, including the town of Pripyat, has been out of bounds for most people, with only limited farming activity permitted on lands that are still regarded as contaminated.
Many former residents of the area are allowed back only once or twice a year for visits – to their old homes or to tend their relatives’ graves. However, a growing number of tourists have been visiting the Chernobyl area recently.

There has also been renewed interest in Chernobyl due to recent major engineering work at the plant, with a new steel-clad sarcophagus – described as the largest movable land-based structure ever built – being wheeled into position over much of the structure, to prevent any further leaks of radiation.
As yet, neither the Ukrainians nor the Chinese have disclosed the safety measures that will be adopted during the construction of the solar plant.

Chernobyl wildlife
Ecologists who have visited the exclusion zone around Chernobyl say that there is an abundance of wildlife in the area, with substantial populations of elk, deer, wild boar and wolves.

Other researchers say there is still evidence of contamination, with limited insect activity, and disease in many smaller mammals.

• Kieran Cooke, a founding editor of Climate News Network, is a former foreign correspondent for the BBC and Financial Times. He now focuses on environmental issues

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Nuclear Blinders

SUBHEAD: Less than a month to go until World Nuclear Association’s annual Symposium.

By David Hess on 18 August 2016 for World Nuclear Association -
(http://world-nuclear.org/our-association/publications/online-reports/world-nuclear-performance-report-2016.aspx)

Image above: Rusting nuclear reactor core at abandoned Phipps Bend Station in Surgoinsville, Tennessee. Project was abandoned in the 1970s. From (https://squattheplanet.com/threads/abandoned-nuclear-power-plants-in-tennessee.3961/).

[IB Publisher's Note: I guess we got on the mailing list for the World Nuclear Association because we have published so much about Fukushima (see listing below). I suppose David Hess is making this invitation thinking I might fly from Hawaii to England and stay in a hotel in London for three nights to rub elbows with the assholes supporting the expansion of the nuclear industry after Chernobyl and Fukushima proved that nuclear is not an option. But that doesn't mean you can't go!]

WHAT:
World Nuclear Association’s annual Symposium

WHERE:
Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London, UK
Hashtag: #NuclearSympo

WHEN:
14th – 16th September 2016

Don’t miss your chance to hear from the global nuclear industry’s movers and shakers about what the future holds. Did you know that Russia has just started up the world’s first VVER 1200, and that China is exploring potential sites for a reprocessing plant?

The past 12 months has seen profound events take place such as the signing of a new climate deal in Paris and the UK vote to leave the European Union. How these events will influence the energy sector is an open question.

The international energy landscape continues to evolve and while the nuclear industry faces challenges in certain markets there are also many opportunities. Find out what this means by attending our conference and hearing from expert delegates and speakers close to the action. Come along and

Hear from a record number of CEO level presenters
See experts quizzed in our hot seat interviews
Find out the latest that is planned for nuclear energy in Iran
Learn about nuclear new build prospects and fuel cycle developments

Over 600 delegates from 30 countries will be represented, offering you a unique opportunity for insight. Symposium is the global nuclear industry’s premier event, giving you the chance to access industry CEOs and influencers and ask them about all the latest sector developments.

Entry for the press is free. Please register via the website, selecting ‘press’.

And if you can’t wait to learn more about the state of the global nuclear industry, then make sure to check out the World Nuclear Performance Report at World-nuclear.org

"At the start of 2015 there were 436 operable reactors around the world and by year-end there were 439. This increase in reactor numbers came despite the retirement of seven units during the year. A larger number of nuclear power units are under construction than at any other time in the last 25 years, and with another ten new reactors coming online – also a 25-year record for the industry – 2015 demonstrated improving new build performance all round. The existing global fleet generated roughly 10% of the world’s electricity, making up around one-third of the world’s low-carbon electricity supply."

Fukushima's Nuclear Nightmare

SOURCE: Ray Songtree (rayupdates@hushmail.com)
SUBHEAD: International Atomic Energy Agency has taken over from the World Health Organization as the authority for radiation and health.

By Christopher Busby on 12 March 2016 for Aletho News -
(https://alethonews.wordpress.com/2016/03/12/is-fukushimas-nuclear-nightmare-over-dont-count-on-it/)

Image above: Illustration of Japanese manga cartoon characters ready for radioactive rain. From (https://www.pinterest.com/krollesque/historique-fukushima/).

On the 5th Anniversary of the catastrophe, Prof Geraldine Thomas, the nuclear industry’s new public relations star, walked through the abandoned town of Ohkuma inside the Fukushima exclusion zone with BBC reporter Rupert Wingfield-Hayes.

Thomas was described as “one of Britain’s leading experts on the health effects of radiation”. She is of the opinion that there is no danger and the Japanese refugees can come back and live there in the “zone”. Her main concern seemed to be how untidy it all was: “Left to rack and ruin,” she complained, sadly.

At one point, Rupert pulled out his Geiger counter and read the dose: 3 microSieverts per hour. “How much radiation would it give in a year to people who came back here,” he asked.

Thomas replied: “About an extra milliSievert a year, which is not much considering you get 2mSv a year from natural background”.

“The long term impact on your health would be absolutely nothing.”

Now anyone with a calculator can easily multiply 3 microSieverts (3 x 10-6 Sv) by 24 hours and 365 days. The answer comes out to be 26 mSv (0.026Sv), not “about 1mSv” as the “leading expert on the health effects of radiation” reported.

I must personally ask if Gerry Thomas is a reliable expert; her CV shows she has published almost nothing in the way of original research, so we must ask how it is the BBC has taken her seriously.
This recalled the day the first reactor exploded in 2011. I was in London, and the BBC asked me to come into the studio and comment.

Also present was a nuclear industry apologist, Dr Ian Fells. Like Geraldine Thomas he seemed unconcerned about the radiation: the main problem for him was that the lifts would not work. People would have to climb stairs, he complained.

I said then on that first day that this was a serious accident like Chernobyl, but he and everybody who followed him told the viewers that it was no problem, nothing like Chernobyl.

Some months later, looking back, it became clear I was correct on every point, but I never was invited back to the BBC. I visited Japan, took sophisticated measuring equipment, obtained vehicle air filters, spoke to the Japanese people and advised them to take Calcium tablets to block the Strontium-90.

My vehicle air filter measurements showed clearly that large areas of north east Japan were seriously contaminated – including Tokyo.

This was too much for the nuclear industry: I was attacked in the Guardian newspaper by pro-nuclear George Monbiot in an attempt to destroy my credibility. One other attacker was Geraldine Thomas. What she said then was as madly incorrect then as what she is saying now. But the Guardian would not let me respond.

The important evidence for me in the recent BBC clip is the measurement of dose given by Rupert’s Geiger counter: 3microSieverts per hour (3Sv/h). Normal background in Japan (I know, I measured it there) is about 0.1Sv/h. So in terms of external radiation, Ruperts’s measurement gave 30 times normal background.

Is this a problem for human health? You bet it is. The question no-one asked is what is causing the excess dose? The answer is easy: radioactive contamination, principally of Caesium-137. On the basis of well-known physics relationships we can say that 3Sv/h at 1m above ground represents a surface contamination of about 900,000Bq per square metre of Cs-137.

That is, 900,000 disintegrations per second in one square metre of surface: and note that they were standing on a tarmac road which appeared to be clean. And this is 5 years after the explosions. The material is everywhere, and it is in the form of dust particles which can be inhaled; invisible sparkling fairy-dust that kills hang in the air above such measurements.

The particles are not just of Caesium-137. They contain other long lived radioactivity, Strontium-90, Plutonium 239, Uranium-235, Uranium 238, Radium-226, Polonium-210, Lead-210, Tritium, isotopes of Rhodium, Ruthenium, Iodine, Cerium, Cobalt 60. The list is long.

The UN definition of ‘radioactively contaminated land’ is 37,000Bq/square meter, and so, on the basis of the measurement made by the BBC reporter, the town of Ohkuma in the Fukushima zone (and we assume everywhere else in the zone) is still, five years after the incident, more than 20 times the level where the UN would, and the Soviets did, step in and control the population.

But the Japanese government wants to send the people back there. It is bribing them with money and housing assistance. It is saying, like Gerry Thomas, there is no danger. And the BBC is giving this misdirection a credible platform. The argument is based on the current radiation risk model of the International Commission on Radiological Protection the ICRP.

Last month, my German colleagues and I published a scientific paper [2] in the peer reviewed journal Environmental Health and Toxicology. It uses real-world data from those exposed to the same substances that were released by Fukushima to show that the ICRP model is wrong by 1,000 times or more.

This is a game-changing piece of research. But were we asked to appear on the BBC, or anywhere else? No. What do our findings and calculations suggest will have happened in the five years since the explosions and into the future?

Let’s take a look at what has happened since 2011.

The reactors are still uncontrolled five years after the explosions and continue to release their radioactive contents to the environment despite all attempts to prevent this. Concerning the melted fuel, there is no way to assess the condition or specific whereabouts of the fuel though it is clearly out of the box and in the ground.

Meanwhile, robots fail at the extremely high radiation levels found; ground water flowing through the plant is becoming contaminated and is being pumped into storage tanks for treatment; high radiation levels and debris have delayed the removal of spent fuel from numbers 1, 2 and 3 reactor buildings. TEPCO plans to remove debris from reactor 3 and this work has begun. Then they are hoping to remove the fuel rods out of reactors 1 and 2 by 2020 and the work on removing debris from these 2 reactors has not begun yet.

Much of the radioactivity goes into the sea, where it travels several hundreds of km. up and down the coast, destroying sea life and contaminating intertidal sediment. The radionuclides bind to fine sediment and concentrate in river estuaries and tidal areas like Tokyo Bay. Here the particles are re-suspended and brought ashore to be inhaled by those living within 1km of the coast.

From work done by my group for the Irish government on the contaminated Irish Sea we know that this exposure will increase the rate of cancer in the coastal inhabitants by about 30 percent.
The releases have not been stopped despite huge amounts of work, thought and action. The treated water is still highly radioactive and cannot yet be released.

That is a real problem on site with three heavy spent fuel pools still full and largely inaccessible. Collapse of the buildings would lead to coolant loss and a fire or even an explosion releasing huge amounts of radioactivity. So this is one nightmare scenario: Son of Fukushima.

A solid wall at the port side may have slowed the water down but diverting the water may cause problems with the ground water pressure on site and thus also threaten subsidence. Space for storing the radioactive water is running out and it seems likely that this will have to be eventually spilled into the Pacific.

Only 10 percent of the plant has been cleaned up although there are 8,000 workers on site at any one time, mostly dealing with the contaminated water. Run-off from storms brings more contamination down the rivers from the mountains.

There are millions of 1-ton container bags full of radioactive debris and other waste which has been collected in decontamination efforts outside the plant and many of these bags are only likely to last a handful of years before degrading and spilling their contents. Typhoons will spread this highly contaminated contents far and wide.

Let’s look at the only real health data which has emerged to see if it gives any support to my original estimate of 400,000 extra cancers in the 200km radius. Prof Tsuda has recently published a paper in the peer review literature identifying 116 thyroid cancers detected over 3 years by ultrasound scanning of 380,000 0-18 year olds.

The background rate is about 0.3 per 100,000 per year, so in three years we can expect 3.42 thyroid cancers. But 116 were found, an excess of about 112 cases. Geraldine says that these were all found because they looked: but Tsuda’s paper reports that an ultrasound study in Nagasaki (no exposures) found zero cases, and also an early ultrasound study also found zero cases. So she is wrong. The thyroid doses were reported to be about 10mSv. On the basis of the ICRP model, that gives an error of about 2000 times.

From the results of our new genetic paper we can safely predict a 100 percent increase in congenital malformations in the population up to 200km radius.

In an advanced technological country like Japan these will be picked up early by ultrasound and aborted, so we will not actually see them, even if there were data we could trust. What we will see is a fall in the birth rate and an increase in the death rate because we know what has been happening and what will happen; we have seen it before in Chernobyl.

And just like Chernobyl, the (Western) authorities are influenced by or take their lead from the nuclear industry: the ICRP and the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA) which since 1959 has taken over from the World Health Organization as the responsible authority for radiation and health (Yes!).

They keep the lid on the truth using ill-informed individuals like Geraldine Thomas and, by analogy with New Labour: New BBC. Increasingly I could say “New Britain” as opposed the Great Britain of my childhood, a country I was proud of where you could trust the BBC. I wonder how the reporters like Rupert can live with themselves presenting such misguided information.

Fukushima is far from being over, and the deaths have only just begun.

Reference:
1. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35761141
2. Genetic Radiation Risks-A Neglected Topic in the Low Dose …
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26791091

• Christopher Busby is an expert on the health effects of ionizing radiation. He qualified in Chemical Physics at the Universities of London and Kent, and worked on the molecular physical chemistry of living cells for the Wellcome Foundation. Professor Busby is the Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk based in Brussels and has edited many of its publications since its founding in 1998. He has held a number of honorary University positions, including Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Health of the University of Ulster. Busby currently lives in Riga, Latvia. See also: http://www.chrisbusbyexposed.org, http://www.greenaudit.org and http://www.llrc.org.

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LA's Santa Susana meltdown

SUBHEAD: US coverup of major reactor meltdown in greater Los Angeles in 1959 that sickened thousands.

By By J. Grover & M. Glasser on 22 September 2015 for NBC4 -
(http://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/LA-Nuclear-Secret-327896591.html)

Image above: Rocket test at night in the Santa Susana Field Lab above San Fernando and Simi Valley. From (https://spoutingoff.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/oh-susana/).

The U.S. government secretly allowed radiation from a damaged reactor to be released into air over the San Fernando and Simi valleys in the wake of a major nuclear meltdown in Southern California more than 50 years ago — fallout that nearby residents contend continues to cause serious health consequences and, in some cases, death.

LA's Nuclear Secret: Timelines, Documents, FAQ
Those are the findings of a yearlong NBC4 I-Team investigation into "Area Four," which is part of the once-secret Santa Susana Field Lab. Founded in 1947 to test experimental nuclear reactors and rocket systems, the research facility was built in the hills above the two valleys.

In 1959, Area Four was the site of one of the worst nuclear accidents in U.S. history. But the federal government still hasn't told the public that radiation was released into the atmosphere as a result of the partial nuclear meltdown.

Now, whistleblowers interviewed on camera by NBC4 have recounted how during and after that accident they were ordered to release dangerous radioactive gases into the air above Los Angeles and Ventura counties, often under cover of night, and how their bosses swore them to secrecy.

In addition, the I-Team reviewed over 15,000 pages of studies and government documents, and interviewed other insiders, uncovering that for years starting in 1959, workers at Area Four were routinely instructed to release radioactive materials into the air above neighboring communities, through the exhaust stacks of nuclear reactors, open doors, and by burning radioactive waste.

How It Began
On July 13, 1959, the day of the meltdown, John Pace was working as a reactor operator for Atomics International at Area Four's largest reactor, under the watch of the U.S. government's Atomic Energy Commission.

"Nobody knows the truth of what actually happened," Pace told the I-Team.

In fact, Pace said, the meltdown was verging on a major radioactive explosion.

"The radiation in that building got so high, it went clear off the scale," he said.

To prevent a potentially devastating explosion, one that in hindsight the 76-year-old Pace believes would have been "just like Chernobyl," he and other workers were instructed to open the exhaust stacks and release massive amounts of radiation into the sky.

"This was very dangerous radioactive material," he said. "It went straight out into the atmosphere and went straight to Simi Valley, to Chatsworth, to Canoga Park."

Pace and his co-workers frantically tried to repair the damaged reactor. Instead, he said they realized, their efforts were only generating more radioactive gas. So for weeks, often in the dark of night, Pace and other workers were ordered to open the large door in the reactor building and vent the radiation into the air.

"It was getting out towards the public," he said. "The public would be bombarded by it."

Pace said he and his co-workers knew they were venting dangerous radiation over populated areas, but they were following orders.

"They felt terrible that it had to be done," he said. "They had to let it out over their own families."

Area Four workers "were sworn to secrecy that they would not tell anyone what they had done," Pace explained.

He remembered his boss getting right in his face and saying, "You will not say a word. Not one word."

That was more than five decades ago, but radioactive contamination didn't just vanish. It remains in the soil and water of Area Four and in some areas off-site, according to state and federal records obtained by the I-Team. And, evidence suggests that the fallout could be linked to illnesses, including cancer, among residents living nearby.

Arline Mathews lived with her family in Chatsworth, downwind of Area Four during some of the radiation releases. Her middle son, Bobby, was a champion runner on the Chatsworth High School track team for three years, running to the Santa Susana Field Lab and back to school every day.

Bobby died of glioblastoma, a rare brain cancer often linked to radiation exposure. Mathews said there is no known family history of cancer and she blames the radiation from Area Four for her son's illness.

"He was exposed to the chemical hazardous waste and radioactivity up there," Mathews said. "There's no getting over the loss of son."

The Government Cover-up
Six weeks after the meltdown, the Atomic Energy Commission issued a press release saying that there had been a minor "fuel element failure" at Area Four's largest reactor in July. But they said there had been "no release of radioactive materials" to the environment.

"What they had written in that report is not even close to what actually happened," Pace said. "To see our government talk that way and lie about those things that happened, it was very disappointing."

In 1979, NBC4 first broke the story that there was a partial meltdown at Area Four's largest reactor, called the Sodium Reactor Experiment. But at the time, the U.S. government was still saying no radiation was released into the air over LA.

But during its current yearlong investigation, the I-Team found a NASA report that confirmed "the 1959 meltdown... led to a release of radioactive contaminants."

For years, NASA used part of the site for rocket testing and research.

More Radioactive Releases
After filing a Freedom of Information request, the I-Team obtained more than 200 pages of government interviews with former Santa Susana workers. One of those workers, Dan Parks, was a health physicist at Area Four in the 1960s.

In the early 60s, Parks said, he often witnessed workers releasing radiation into the sky through the exhaust stacks of at least three of Area Four's ten nuclear reactors.

"They would vent it to the atmosphere," he said. "The release was done with the flick of a switch."

Radioactive Waste Up in Smoke
Parks said he often witnessed workers releasing radioactive smoke into the air when they disposed of barrels of radioactive waste from Area Four's 10 nuclear reactors.

"We were all workers," he said. "Just taking orders."

Workers would often take those barrels of waste to a pond called "the burn pits" and proceed to shoot the barrels with a high-powered rifle causing an explosion. The radioactive smoke would drift into the air over nearby suburbs and toward a summer camp for children.

"It was a volatile explosion, beyond belief," Parks said.

Whatever direction the wind was blowing, the radioactive smoke would travel that way.

"If the wind was blowing to the Valley, it would blow it in the Valley," he said.

Ralph Powell, who worked as a security officer at Area Four in the mid-60s, recalled being blanketed by that radioactive smoke.

"I saw clouds of smoke that was engulfing my friends, that are dying now," Powell said.

Powell believes it wasn't just his friends who suffered the consequences. He fears he may have exposed his own family to radiation, tracking it home on his clothes and car.

While Powell was working at Area Four, his son Michael was diagnosed with leukemia — a cancer linked to radiation exposure — and died at age 11.

"I suspect it caused the death of my son," he said. "I've never gotten that out of my mind."

Toxic Chemical Contamination
In addition to the radiation, dozens of toxic chemicals, including TCE and Perchlorate, were also released into the air and dumped on the soil and into ground and surface water from thousands of rocket tests conducted at the Santa Susana Field lab from the 1950s to 80s. The tests were conducted by NASA, and by Rocketdyne, a government aerospace contractor.

According to a federally funded study obtained by the I-Team, "emissions associated with rocket engine testing" could have been inhaled by residents of "West Hills, Bell Canyon, Dayton Canyon, Simi Valley, Canoga Park, Chatsworth, Woodland Hills, and Hidden Hills."

Contamination Moves into Neighborhoods
Radiation released at Area Four continues to contaminate the soil and water of the Santa Susana Field Lab.

In 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency completed a $40 million soil test of the site and found 423 hot spots — places contaminated with high levels of man-made radiation.

Other studies and government documents obtained by the I-Team show that radiation has moved off-site, and has been found in the ground and water in suburbs to the south, northeast and northwest of the Field Lab.

"Radiation doesn't know any boundaries," said Dr. Robert Dodge, a national board member of the Nobel Prize-winning nonprofit Physicians For Social Responsibility, which studies the health effects of radiation.

Dodge, who has reviewed numerous government and academic studies about the contamination at Santa Susana, said he believes the contamination has spread far beyond the facility's borders.

"If the wind is blowing and carrying radiation from Santa Susana, it doesn't stop because there's a fence," he said.

One of the places radiation has been found, in a 1995 study overseen by the U.S. EPA, was the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in Simi Valley. The Institute is a nationally-known center of Jewish learning, and the home to Camp Alonim, a beloved summer sleepaway camp that has hosted some 30,000 children.

In December 1995, The Brandeis-Bardin Institute filed a federal lawsuit against the present and past owners of the Santa Susana Field Lab, alleging that toxic chemicals and radiation from the field lab "have subsequently seeped into and come to be located in the soil and groundwater" of Brandeis "is injurious to the environment" and "will cause great and irreparable injury."

Brandeis settled the lawsuit in a confidential agreement in 1997.

A spokesman for the Brandeis-Bardin Institute, Rabbi Jay Strear, told NBC4 that the groundwater and soil is "tested routinely," and the results have shown the "the site is safe."

The I-Team asked Brandeis-Bardin to provide NBC4 with those test results showing the site is safe and free of hazardous substances. The Institute refused, and in an email said "we are not in a position to devote the required staff time to respond to your more detailed inquiries, nor do we see the necessity for doing so."

A government scientist who has studied the contamination at Santa Susana told the I-Team he thinks there's a continued threat of radiation and toxic chemicals flowing from the field lab to places like Brandeis-Bardin, via groundwater and airborne dust.

Clusters of Cancer
Researchers inside and out of government have contended that the radiation and toxic chemicals from Santa Susana might have caused many cancer cases.

"The radiation that was released in 1959 and thereafter from Santa Susana is still a danger today," Dr.Dodge said. "There is absolutely a link between radiation and cancer."

The I-Team tracked down dozens of people diagnosed with cancer and other illnesses who grew up in the shadow of Santa Susana — in Canoga Park, West Hills, Chatsworth, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley. Many of them believe their cancers were caused by radiation and chemicals from the field lab.

Kathryn Seltzer Carlson, 56, and her sisters, Judy and Jennifer, all grew up in Canoga Park around the time of the nuclear meltdown and for years after, and all have battled cancer.

"I played in the water, I swam in the water, I drank the water" that ran off the Santa Susana Field Lab, said Carlson, who finished treatment for ovarian cancer earlier this year and is now undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma. "I've had, I don't know how many cancers."

Bonnie Klea, a former Santa Susana employee who has lived in West Hills since the 60s, also battled bladder cancer, which is frequently linked to radiation exposure.

"Every single house on my street had cancer," Klea said.

A 2007 Centers for Disease Control study found that people living within two miles of the Santa Susana site had a 60 percent higher rate of some cancers.

"There's some provocative evidence," said Dr. Hal Morgenstern, an epidemiologist who oversaw the study. "It's like circumstantial evidence, suggesting there's a link" between the contamination from Santa Susana and the higher cancer rates.

Silence From the Government
For more than two months, the I-Team asked to speak with someone from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the federal agency that's responsible for all nuclear testing, to ask why workers were ordered to release dangerous radiation over Los Angeles, why the DOE has never publicly admitted this happened, and what it plans to do to help get the site cleaned up.

The DOE emailed the I-Team, "We will not have anyone available for this segment."

So the I-Team showed up at a public meeting this month about Santa Susana and asked the DOE's project manager for the site, Jon Jones, to speak with us. He walked away and wouldn't speak.

Will the Contamination Ever Be Cleaned Up?
Community residents, many stricken with cancer and other radiation-related illnesses, have been fighting for years to get the government and the private owners of the Santa Susana Field Lab to clean up the contamination that remains on the site.

But efforts in the state legislature and state agencies that oversee toxic sites have, so far, stalled.

But residents, with the support of some lawmakers, continue to fight for a full cleanup.

"People are continuing to breathe that (radiation) in and to die," Chatsworth resident Arline Mathews said.

"See that this is done immediately, before more lives are lost."

Video above: Warning - there may be advertising in video. NBC4 broadcast of Santa Susana Field Lab meltdown story. From original article.

Fir trees damaged by Fukushima

SUBHEAD: As many as 98% of fir trees are deformed in area downwind of Fukushima Daiichi meltdown.

Edited by Juan Wilson on August 2015 for Island Breath -
(http://www.nature.com/articles/srep13232#f7)

[IB Publsiher's note: This article is a rewrite of material sourced from here (http://www.nature.com/articles/srep13232#f7) and referred to by (http://fukushima-diary.com/2015/08/nirs-reported-98-percent-of-fir-trees-deformed-in-no-returning-zone-of-fukushima/).

Image above: Arrowheads indicate the position of deleted leader shoot on Pinus sylvestris (also known as Japanese fir). At left annual whorl of 2013 at site S1, and right the winter buds of 2015 at the top of the main axis at same site .From original article.

It has been observed that over a wide area of central eastern Japan that fir trees have been deformed by mutations likely caused of radioactive materials deposited by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1NPP) disaster in March of 2011.

In the areas most affected by the surface deposition of iodine-131 and cesium-134 and 137 due the meltdowns and explosions of three reactors at theF1NPP it has been observed that some Japanese fir trees, Pinus sylvestris, show morphological deformations.

Those deformed trees did not have leader shoots at there growing tips.

Image above: Needles and buds at the growing top of a normal healthy Pinus sylvestris, also known as Scots Pine) have a leader shoot between two side shoots. From (http://speciesofuk.blogspot.com/2013/03/week-10-scots-pine-pinus-sylvestris.html).

Image above: Red arrow indicate missing leader shoot on Pinus sylvestris in Japan in areas affected by heaviest radiation from Fukushima disaster. From original article.

The National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) published a report on Scientific Reports of Nature on 8/28/2015 (http://www.nature.com/articles/srep13232/figures/3).

This report was conducted in the restricted areas where the the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has prevented residents are prevented from returning to their homes.

The area affected include the towns of Namie, Futaba and Okuma. The averaged results of the nuclide analysis provide the basis for the surface deposition densities of iodine-131 and cesium-134 and 137 per unit area (Bq/m2) at each reading point, sites S1, S2, S3 and S4 (http://ramap.jmc.or.jp/map/engpdf/agreement.html).

At site S1, between the towns of Futaba and Okuma and nearest the F1NPP, 125 of 128 trees showed branching defects of the main axis. That represented over 97% of the trees.

In the area where the atmospheric dose was 19.6 μSv/h, the deformation rate was 43.5%, and in the area where the dose was 6.85 μSv/h, the rate was 27%.

This is showing the significant connection between the atmospheric dose and the deformation rate of Japanese fir.

The deformation of Pinus sylvestris was also seen in Chernobyl accident.

ABSTRACT
After the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1NPP) in March 2011, much attention has been paid to the biological consequences of the released radionuclides into the surrounding area.

We investigated the morphological changes in Japanese fir, a Japanese endemic native conifer, at locations near the F1NPP. Japanese fir populations near the F1NPP showed a significantly increased number of morphological defects, involving deletions of leader shoots of the main axis, compared to a control population far from the F1NPP.

The frequency of the defects corresponded to the radioactive contamination levels of the observation sites. A significant increase in deletions of the leader shoots became apparent in those that elongated after the spring of 2012, a year after the accident. These results suggest possibility that the contamination by radionuclides contributed to the morphological defects in Japanese fir trees in the area near the F1NPP.

INTRODUCTION
During the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1NPP) accident that occurred in March 2011, radionuclides that were released into the atmosphere contaminated the surrounding environment^1,2.

Since the accident, much attention has been paid to the biological consequences of contamination by radionuclides. To detect the biological changes in the environment, various wild organisms, such as Japanese monkeys³, lycaenid butterflies⁴, and gall-forming aphids⁵, inhabiting the surrounding area have been investigated as possible indicator organisms.

However, further studies using radiation-responsive indicator organisms help us to reach a consistent conclusion, whether radiological contamination from the F1NPP accident had a biological impact on the environment.

For the purpose of biomonitoring of the radiological contamination, nevertheless, coniferous plants have been demonstrated to be suitable indicator organisms because of their high radiosensitivity, which was revealed decades ago by field examination using gamma irradiation facilities^6,7,8,9.

Radiosensitive damages in conifers were reported after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986, where two local coniferous species, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Norway spruce (Picea abies), showed distinct biological damage in the radioactively contaminated areas^10,11,12.

Under experimental and accidental exposure, morphological changes, particularly in branching of the main axis, were shown to be the most frequently observed radiosensitive responses of coniferous plants^{6,7,8,9,10,11,12}.

Coniferous tree species are grown in the area highly radioactive contaminated by the F1NPP accident, where Japanese fir (Abies firma) is one of the most common naturally grown species. Different from other coniferous species, young-tree populations of Japanese fir are abundant, because this species has the characteristic ability to sprout even on the shaded forest floor.

The short height of young trees enables the easy observation of morphological changes in the whole tree. In addition, the regular annual branching of Japanese fir trees enables determination of the year that any morphological changes occurred through a number of past years (Fig. 1).

In this study, we used the Japanese fir tree as an indicator organism to detect the environmental impact of radiological contamination caused by the F1NPP accident. We examined the morphological changes in annual leader shoots for the past five years within the highly contaminated area around the F1NPP¹³. The investigation was carried out in January 2015 at 3 observation sites (S1, S2, and S3), at different distances from the F1NPP and with different contamination levels (Fig. 2, Table 1).

The three observation sites were situated in “Area 3” where it is expected that the residents have difficulties in returning for a long time (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry). Fir trees were also examined in a slightly contaminated control site (S4), southwest of the F1NPP.

RESULTS
Most of the naturally grown Japanese fir trees showed a typical monopodial branching pattern to form a trunk with one main axis (Fig. 3A), whereas some trees showed distinctive morphological defects on the main axis of the trunk (Fig. 3B,C).

Independently of the growing site, these defects were characterized by irregular branching at the whorls of the main axis with a distinct deletion of the leader shoot that normally elongates vertically to form the main axis. The space of the deleted leader shoot was filled in by the remaining lateral branches that either extended upwards (Fig. 3B) or retained their horizontal position (Fig. 3C).

Image above: Map of area to the east and north of the Fukushima showing areas of deposited radioctive elements from reactor meltdowns. From original article.

The overall frequency of the morphological defects of the main axis varied among observation sites, S1, S2, and S3, but it was significantly higher in each site compared to the control, S4 (chi-square test with df = 1, p = 2.1 × 10⁻⁵⁸, 3.7 × 10⁻¹⁷, and 8.1 × 10⁻⁷, respectively, Bonferroni-corrected; Fig. 4).

The frequency corresponded to the ambient dose rate at the observation sites that represented the local levels of radionuclide contamination (S1 > S2 > S3 > S4, Table 1). A high frequency of defects was observed in S1, where 125 out of 128 trees showed branching defects of the main axis.

Branching defects of the main axis were analyzed separately in each annual whorl (Fig. 5). Compared to the whorls of 2010, which had been generated before the F1NPP accident, the frequency of deleted leader shoots was significantly increased in the whorls after 2012 (sites S1 and S3), or those after 2013 (site S2).

The frequency peaked in the whorls of 2013 and tended to decrease in the whorls of 2014 in every observation site. The variation patterns in the series of annual whorls were similar among the sites, whereas no annual variation was observed in the control site, S4.

These results indicated that the deletion of leader shoots occurred most frequently in the whorls that elongated from terminal winter buds during the growing season of 2012–2013.

Despite the significant increase in the frequency of deleted leader shoots in annual whorls around 2013 in the observation sites S1–S3, the number of lateral branches that elongated from the same whorls did not show annual variation that corresponded to the deletion frequency of leader shoots (Fig. 6).

The number of lateral branches was not different among annual whorls even in S1 (one-way ANOVA, p = 0.84), in which the frequency of leader shoot deletions varied most intensely compared to the other observation sites (Fig. 5).

On the other hand, the number of lateral branches showed significant annual variation in S2, S3, and S4 (one-way ANOVA, p = 1.4 × 10⁻⁷, 6.3 × 10⁻³ and 1.5 × 10⁻⁸ for S2, S3, and S4, respectively); however, the annual variation patterns were independent from the frequency of leader shoot deletions.

In addition, the variation in lateral branch number among the sites did not correspond to the frequency variation of deleted leader shoots. This indicated that the deletion of leader shoots occurred independently of the change in lateral branch number that elongated from the whorls.

Differences in the development of the leader shoots and lateral branches were also observed from a close inspection of the defected whorls. At each site, the deleted leader shoots left no marks among normal lateral branches (Fig. 7A).

Similar structures were also observed in the winter buds of 2015 at the top of the main axis, where normal lateral buds with completely deleted apical buds were sometimes observed (Fig. 7B).

These observations demonstrated that the deletion of leader shoots probably resulted from the deletion of apical buds at an early stage of their development, independently of the formation of lateral buds.

DISCUSSION
In this study, significant increases in the morphological defects were shown in Japanese fir populations growing in areas near the F1NPP. The occurrence corresponded to the radioactive contamination level represented by the ambient dose rate in each site, suggesting that the defects could be due to the exposure to ionizing radiation from the radionuclides released after the accident.

On the other hand, deletion of leader shoots was also observed in the control site at a lower frequency, indicating that the defects were not radiation-specific, but universal. The deletion of leader shoots in the control site occurred randomly in the annual whorls and not specifically in a certain year.

Moreover, even in the highly contaminated sites, a low frequency of defects was observed before the F1NPP accident in 2011. These results suggested that the defects could also occur independently of radiation exposure.

Similar defects of the main axis have been reported in many coniferous species grown in plantations and involve the separation of trunk into two or more stems of similar size, which is called a forking defect^14,15,16,17.

Forking defects can be caused by breakage of the leader shoot due to an accidental damage, such as bird perching, animal attack, wind damage, and pathogenic disease, or due to environmental stress such as frost¹⁴.

Previous studies have shown that in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), the forking defects could also be caused by physiological control of apical dominance even in the absence of mechanical damage^14,15. In this study, the observed forking defects in Japanese fir were identical to those in other coniferous tree species.

In relation to radiation effects, deletion of the leader shoots has been reported in Scots pine trees chronically exposed to radiation in a contaminated area close to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant¹¹. The trees that showed forking defects with deletion of annual leader shoots eventually formed bushy canopies without a main axis.

Another study showed that Scots pine trees in Chernobyl were characterized by the disappearance of a single trunk and replacement with two or more trunks or branches, corresponding to the estimated dose rate during the development of apical buds¹².

Although the defects in pine trees close to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were not all identical to the defects observed in Japanese fir trees in the area close to the F1NPP, the information seems to support the relationship between the morphological changes in Japanese fir and the chronic exposure to radiation from released radionuclides.

Despite the correlation between the defects in Japanese fir and the radioactive contamination level, there is little biological information to support the contention that the increased frequencies of the morphological changes were due to radiation released after the F1NPP accident.

Even though the damage at the early stage of apical bud formation is suggested as the main cause of the deletion of leader shoots, there was an inexplicable 2-year time lag between 2011, the year with the highest radiation dose in the environment, and 2013, the year with the highest frequency of defects.

Consequently, processes at the cellular and tissue level involved in the deletion of leader shoots need to be elucidated in relation to the development of lateral and apical buds in coniferous plants.
As described above, there are several factors that are possibly responsible for increased frequencies of the morphological defect observed in Japanese fir populations near the F1NPP, and, at present, there is no decisive evidence that any single factor is causally related to these increased frequencies.

However, a positive correlation was observed between ambient dose rates and frequencies of the morphological defect, and these frequencies increased after the F1NPP accident while they were much lower before the accident, suggesting that, of several potential factors, ionizing radiation is most likely to have increased frequencies of the morphological defect.

To confirm this contention, dose rates to Japanese fir should be estimated in contaminated fields of Fukushima, and effects of long-term irradiation on this tree should be investigated in irradiation facilities.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Nuclear Wasteland 8/6/15
Ea O Ka Aina: The Fukushima disaster will continue 7/16/15

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