JAPAN RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION IMPACT ON THE US

JAPAN RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION IMPACT ON THE US

Impact on North America:

http://en.m4.cn/archives/5789.html

FROM: The 4th Media's emergency special reports on Japan's earthquake & tsunami continue I – IV

By Kiyul Chung | 2:08 BeiJing Time,Saturday, March 12, 2011

Author: Yoichi Shimatsu, former editor of the Japan Times Weekly, has covered the earthquakes in San Francisco and Kobe, participated in the rescue operation immediately after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and led the field research for an architectural report on structural design flaws that led to the tsunami death toll in Thailand

The Pacific jetstream is currently flowing due east directly toward the United States. In the event of a major meltdown and continuous large-volume radioactive release, airborne particles will be carried across the ocean in band that will cross over the southern halves of Oregon, Montana and Idaho, all of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, the Dakotas, northern Nebraska and Iowa and ending in Wisconsin and Illinois, with possible further eastward drift depending on surface wind direction.

Most of the particles can be expected to travel high in the atmosphere, with fallout dependent on low pressure zones, rainfall and temperatures over the US. If a meltdown can be contained in Fukushima, a small amount of particles would be dispersed in the atmosphere with little immediate effect on human and animal health.

Another climate factor to be taken into account is the potential for an El Nino Variable bulging the jetstream further northward, causing fallout over western Canada and a larger number of U.S.. states.

Seasonal rainfall over Japan does not normally begin until mid-April and does not become significant until early June.

If very high radiation releases are detected at some point, a potential tactic to lessen contamination of North America is for the US,.Canadian and Russian air forces to seed clouds over the northwest Pacific to create a low pressure front and precipitation to minimize particle mass reaching North America.



========================

Alert of emergency declared at another nuclear plant in Japan: IAEA
English.news.cn 2011-03-14

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-03/14/c_13776527.htm

VIENNA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The first (lowest) state of emergency has been declared at Japan's Onagawa nuclear power plant, theInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Sunday.

The UN nuclear watchdog, however, said the three reactor units at the power plant are now under control, quoting information from the Japanese government.

The alert was declared "as a consequence of radioactivity readings exceeding allowed levels in the area surrounding the plant," IAEA said in a statement, adding Japanese authorities are investigating the source of radiation.

Japanese authorities also informed the IAEA that venting of the containment of the Unit 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant started at 9:20 a.m. Sunday local time, through a controlled release of vapor. The operation is intended to lower pressure inside the reactor containment.

Following the failure of the high pressure injection system and other attempts of cooling the plant, injection of water first and sea water afterwards started, the statement said. Japanese authorities have informed the IAEA that "accumulation of hydrogen is possible," heightening concerns about a possible explosion. Unit 1 of the nuclear power plant has exploded after the devastating 9-magnitude earthquake that struck Friday


================================

19 more people exposed to radiation at Fukushima No. 1 nuke plant
English.news.cn 2011-03-13 10:35:36

TOKYO, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Nineteen more people were found to have been exposed to radioactivity, in addition to three cases of exposure recorded Saturday, the Kyodo News reported Sunday.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. has notified Japan's nuclear safety agency that the radiation level at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has exceeded the legal limit.

Hourly radiation at the site was measured at 882 micro sievert, in excess of the allowable level of 500.

The agency also said the company acknowledged that the No. 3 reactor of the quake-hit Fukushima plant had lost its cooling functions.

====================

Japan's nuclear crisis: the causes and the risks

How did the explosion at the Fukushima No 1 power station in Japan happen? what are the consequences?
Ian Sample, science correspondent guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 March 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/13/japan-fukushima-nuclear-power-station-explosion

EXTRACTS

What is the radiation risk?

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (Nisa) reported higher levels of radiation around the power station over the weekend and the presence of caesium-137 and iodine-131 in the air. These are radioactive isotopes produced in fission reactions. The isotopes were released when steam was vented from the reactor.

Monitors around the site recorded a radiation level of 500 microSieverts per hour on Saturday afternoon, a quarter of the annual dose the general population is exposed to due to natural background radiation. The level of radiation at the power station's main gate fell on Sunday to a very low level of 3.2 microSieverts.

Have people been exposed to radiation?

At least nine people have tested positive for radiation exposure near Fukushima, but a Nisa official said that number could rise to between 70 and 160. Radioactivity can cause a variety of health problems, from a reddening of the skin and increased cancer risk to fatal radiation sickness. Health officials distributed potassium iodide pills, which protect against thyroid cancers, to residents near the power station. Those unable to leave were advised to limit their exposure by staying indoors and switching off air conditioning or wearing a protective mask if outside.


Are the other reactors safe?

On Sunday, engineers vented steam from reactor 3 and began pumping in sea water after its cooling system failed.Authorities said there was a risk of an explosion similar to that in reactor 1. Sea water was being readied to pump into reactor 2.

A separate state of emergency was announced at the nearby Onagawa nuclear power station amid increased levels of radiation, but Japanese officials said this had been carried on the wind from Fukushima.


When will the power station be safe?

The strategy of pumping sea water into nuclear reactors is untested. It could take several days to bring the temperature and pressure of the reactor cores down to within safe limits.

If the cooling fails, the reactors could overheat and cause a total meltdown of the radioactive fuel rods in the core. This would only lead to a major release of radiation if the reactor's containment vessel was breached.

The Japanese authorities have classified the situation as a level 4 "accident with local consequences" on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.The scale runs from zero for a deviation in normal operations to seven for a major accident. The Three Mile Island incident in 1979 was a five and Chernobyl in 1986 was a seven on the scale.