Japan detects radioactivity 30 km off coast-IAEA

[jpak]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/japan-nuclear-iaea-water-idUSLDE72N28420110324

VIENNA, March 24 (Reuters) - Japanese scientists have found measurable concentrations of radioactive iodine-131 and caesium-137 in seawater samples taken 30 km (18 miles) from land, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday.

"The iodine concentrations were at or above Japanese regulatory limits, and the caesium levels were well below those limits," the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

Japanese authorities had given the Vienna-based agency data on samples collected on March 22-23, after detecting iodine and caesium in the water near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, it said in a statement.

"The IAEA's Marine Environmental Laboratory in Monaco has received the data for review," the IAEA said.

<more>

[Journeyman]

1. Two weeks tomorrow. . .

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. See also…

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=283054&mesg_id=283054

[flamingdem]

3. Goodbye Japanese seafood industry nt

[AndyTiedye]

4. Their veggies are radioactive too

[flamingdem]

5. Looks like they'll have to import food for a while

and the perception of radiation might endure a long time just like it did with the Gulf. I don't know how sushi restaurants will survive this either.

[kristopher]

7. That might be a good thing if sushi restaurants take an underserved hit. Tuna are in danger. nt

BTW, I love it, but limit my consumption to vegetable rolls.

Sushi|寿司, 鮨, or 鮓 is cooked vinegar rice which is commonly topped with other ingredients, such as fish, or put into rolls. Sliced raw fish alone is called sashimi, as distinct from sushi. Sushi served rolled inside or around dried and pressed layer sheets of seaweed (or nori) is makizushi (巻き). ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushi

[flamingdem]

8. True that, there is controversy

around these issues for sure. In LA a sushi place had to close after it was discovered they were serving whale! The waiter wrote "whale" on the bill..

[FBaggins]

9. Did you read the levels they reported?

Cs below their safety standards and Iodine just a bit above? A week from now there will be about half as much and then half again a week after that.

The bigger impact on the Japanese fishing industry is the fact that part of the fishing fleet is sitting on top of apartment buildings a mile inland.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

10. unless the plant keeps leaking, which it will

[FBaggins]

11. Actually no, it isn't an issue of whether it keeps leaking.

For the Cesium it would be, but the iodine is a product of nuclear fission, so the reactors aren't making any more of it... and the amount declines by half every eight days or so.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

14. unless fission is still occurring as evidenced by the neutron beam, right?

[FBaggins]

15. No. The neutron "beam" (sic) does not imply ongoing fission.

A fission chain reaction is not the only source of neutron emission. The amount they've reported it too small to be anything but a form of decay. My guess was plutonium, but there are other possibilities.

"Fission still ocurring" isn't one of them unless you're talking about the very infrequent "spontaneous fission", but:

1) That happens everywhere... not just in reactors.
2) It doesn't create radioiodine.

[ReturnoftheDjedi]

16. so, it's ok for plutonium to be floating around? what is the half-life on that?

[FBaggins]

17. Goodness no. It's not "ok".

what is the half-life on that?

Depends on the isotope. There's a pretty big range.

[jpak]

18. "neutron beam" means 2 things; meltdown, fuel cladding failure & containment failure

and/or

re-establishment of sub- or full-on criticality.

either scenario is NOT good

yup

[FBaggins]

19. No.. it doesn't. Why do you have to let your imagination run away?

meltdown, fuel cladding failure & containment failure

If neutrons couldn't get through fuel cladding, reactors wouldn't work. We've seen more than one meltdown here (along with plenty of fuel cladding failure), but containment failure is hardly necessary for neutron emission.

or re-establishment of sub- or full-on criticality.

You don't think that the levels would be 1,000 times as high in that event?

And "sub-criticality" is just silly. The only way to sustain a sub-critical chain reaction is by adding neutrons from outside. Don't you think we would have noticed if someone had carted in a linear accelerator?

[jpak]

20. Breach at Reactor No. 3 with cladding on the "basement" floor seen by workers

that got radiation burns

yup

[FBaggins]

21. You're kidding, right?

Somehow cladding got into the basement of the building next door to the reactor?

And it isn't even the reactor with the problem torus.

Or do you just mean elemental zirconium and not really "seen" on the floor?

[flamingdem]

6. Ship that was 250 miles from Fukushima had radiation

This is going to get worse with ships avoiding Japan.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/27292399/detail.html
more at link

Low Levels Of Radiation Found On Ship At Port Of Tacoma


The container ship that had higher than normal levels of radiation on board has been moved from Tacoma to Seattle.

The Hyundai Oakland from Shanghai arrived early Tuesday morning in Tacoma. Overnight, the ship was moved up to the Port of Seattle to continue offloading its cargo.

The Coast Guard boarded the ship on Tuesday as a routine security measure, and found increased levels of radiation in the engine's air filter.

Oh crap I just read this:
The Coast Guard said the closest the ship came to Japan was 250 miles.

[AndyTiedye]

12. It's Spewing a Lot More Than They're Telling Us

:nuke: :hide:

[flamingdem]

13. Widespread tap water contamination - Chiba and Saitama

If it's 250 now then after another week of spewing... plus there's the water supply.


http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110324x1.html

The scope of radiation-contaminated tap water expanded Thursday, with radioactive iodine detected in tap water in Chiba and Saitama prefectures, while the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which said the day before its drinking water was contaminated, scurried to distribute 240,000 bottles of water to households with babies.

Chiba authorities urged parents not to give tap water to infants less than 1 year old. Saitama refrained, at least initially, from taking similar measures after the level of iodine fell below the regulated limit later Thursday.

The moves followed the Tokyo government's finding Wednesday that the level of radioactive iodine in tap water from samples taken Tuesday exceeded the central government's recommended limit for infants.

On Thursday, however, the metropolitan government lifted the alert after radioactive iodine in tap water at the purification plant in Katsushika Ward dropped below the alert level for infants, officials said. Depending on the course of events, however, the alert could be reinstated, they said.