Zero Hedge: February 4, 2017

With just 3 years left until the 2020 Olympics, Japan is likely desperate to reassure the world’s athletes that all is well, but an admission from TEPCO – the Fukushima nuclear plant operator – that they discovered a hole at least one square meter in size beneath the reactor’s pressure vessel, and lethal record-high radiation levels have been detected, will not likely reassure anyone.

Radiation levels of up to 530 Sieverts per hour were detected inside an inactive Reactor 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex damaged during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami catastrophe, Japanese media reported on Thursday citing the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). A dose of about 8 Sieverts is considered incurable and fatal.

As RT reports, a hole of no less than one square meter in size has also been discovered beneath the reactor’s pressure vessel, TEPCO said. According to researchers, the apparent opening in the metal grating of one of three reactors that had melted down in 2011, is believed to be have been caused by melted nuclear fuel that fell through the vessel.

The iron scaffolding has a melting point of 1500 degrees, TEPCO said, explaining that there is a possibility the fuel debris has fallen onto it and burnt the hole. Such fuel debris have been discovered on equipment at the bottom of the pressure vessel just above the hole, it added.

The latest findings were released after a recent camera probe inside the reactor, TEPCO said. Using a remote-controlled camera fitted on a long pipe, scientists managed to get images of hard-to-reach places where residual nuclear material remained. The substance there is so toxic that even specially-made robots designed to probe the underwater depths beneath the power plant have previously crumbled and shut down.

However, TEPCO still plans to launch further more detailed assessments at the damaged nuclear facility with the help of self-propelled robots.

TEPCO confirmed a black lump in the space beneath the pressure vessel. There is a possibility of nuclear fuel melting down (fuel debris).

(read the full article at zero hedge)

RELATED:
Fukushima cover-up admitted by TEPCO president (July 2016)

Elevated Radiation Consistently Found in Fukushima Areas Authorities Claim Decontaminated (April 2016)

Peer Reviewed Research Exposes Fukushima Cover-up By Japan’s Nuclear Safety Authority (January 2016)

TEPCO Admits Fukushima Radiation Leaks Have Spiked Sharply (December 2015)

Declassified Documents Show US Government Misled Public About Severity Of Fukushima Radiation (December 2015)

Fukushima scientists say radiation continues to wash into Pacific Ocean (November 2015)

Radiation Impact Studies – Chernobyl and Fukushima (September 2015)

Report says 70 to 100 percent of nuclear fuel in Fukushima No. 2 has melted (September 2015)

Fukushima Report Dangerously Downplays Ongoing Health Risks (September 2015)

Radioactive cesium from Fukushima detected in North America at highest levels yet (August 2015)

Fukushima Fallout? Whales are dying in Pacific Ocean (August 2015)

Radioactive isotope Strontium-90 spikes at Fukushima; highest reading ever(July 2015)

Japan delays nuclear fuel removal schedule for Fukushima plant(June 2015)

Fukushima: Record Levels of Radioactivity Detected in Seawater — Spiked “More than 200 Times” at Sampling Location(June 2015)

Fukushima’s “Caldrons of Hell”: More than 300 Tons of Highly Radioactive Water Generated Daily(May 2015)

TEPCO Admits Fukushima Is Leaking Again – Over 600x ‘Safe’ Radiation Levels(May 2015)

Fresh leak at Fukushima nuclear plant sees 70-fold radiation spike(February 2015)

CTVNews.ca : November 21, 2016

A large earthquake has struck off the coast of Japan’s troubled Fukushima prefecture.

Registered at a magnitude of 7.4 by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), tsunami warnings have been issued for Fukushima and neighbouring Miyagi prefectures, with the JMA urging residents to immediately evacuate coastal areas and reach higher ground.

Waves of up to three metres are expected to repeatedly strike the area. According to the JMA, other parts of northeastern Japan should expect waves between 0.2 and one metre. Waves measuring 1.4 metres have already been reported by the JMA.

(full article at CTV News)

Japan earthquake: 7.4 magnitude quake prompts tsunami warning

The Guardian: November 21, 2016

What we know so far

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake has struck off the coast of Fukushima – the site of 2011’s devastating 8.9 quake and resulting tsunami – at Tuesday 5.59am local time (Monday 8.59pm GMT).
Tsunami warnings were issued for the Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, with waves at Sendai port recorded at 1.4m high. The warnings have since been downgraded, although residents are still advised to move to high ground and avoid the shore.
At the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant, reactor number 3 spent fuel pool pump stopped operating at 6.10am as a result of the quake. Operation resumed at 7.49am and the plant is reported to be safe and “intact”.
So far, five people are reported to have suffered minor injuries in the quake.
Nissan is suspending work at its Fukushima factory, while flights to and from Sendai airport have been disrupted.
Decommissioning work at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, destroyed in the 2011 quake, has been temporarily suspended.

(full article with updates at The Guardian)

Previous articles about Fukushima

Daniel Otis
CTVNews.ca : November 5, 2016

Although doctors maintain that flu shots are life-savers that everyone should receive, some researchers are uncovering hints that “serial vaccination” — that is, consistently receiving annual flu shots — may in fact limit one’s ability to fight the virus in the future.

“Nothing surprises me anymore with influenza,” Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an epidemiologist at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, told CTV News. “It’s such a changeable virus.”

Although flu season typically starts in late November and peaks towards the end of December, influenza cases have already been reported across Canada, with spikes occurring over the past month in southern British Columbia, western Manitoba and southwestern Ontario though numbers remain low.

New evidence, however, is raising the spectre that the more influenza vaccinations you receive in your lifetime, the less protection you have from the virus in subsequent seasons.

Skowronski published a study earlier this year showing that people who were vaccinated consecutively in 2012, 2013 and 2014 appeared to have a higher risk of being infected with new strains of the flu.

“If we’re seeing some signals of declining vaccine protection, we want to respond to that — but we don’t want to overreact,” Skowronski cautiously says.

Skowronski’s study, however, is one of several that suggest a similar troubling pattern.

In the aftermath of 2009’s H1N1 flu epidemic, the Canadian flu surveillance network reported that Canadians who had received a flu shot in late 2008 were between 1.4 and 2.5 times more likely to contract an H1N1 infection that required medical attention, compared with those who didn’t get a shot.

A more recent report even states that during the 2014-2015 flu season, those who had not been vaccinated the previous year were more likely to benefit from flu shots than those who received them two years in a row.

To discuss these troubling findings, Skowronski convened a meeting in Vancouver in mid-October with 40 scientists from around the world.

“The actual implications of current findings are unclear — but important enough to warrant investigation — to differentiate signal from noise,” Dr. Mark Loeb, a scientist with McMaster University who is conducting research into the question, said in an email to CTV News.

The flu vaccine works by producing antibodies that can repel only a particular strain of influenza. Scientists alter the vaccine on an annual basis to better combat the ever-changing virus. The 2014-2015 flu season, however, was particularly bad in terms of the vaccine’s usefulness. In Canada, its effectiveness was rated at a meagre nine per cent that season.

Although more research is needed, it’s now believed that annual flu shots may make it harder for the immune system to fight off new strains of the virus that show up after immunization. More studies are underway in Canada, the U.S. and Europe to determine this. Quebec, however, has already put its multi-million dollar flu vaccination program under the microscope.

“The Ministry wants to know what were the findings and how can we optimize the program for the province,” Dr. Gaston De Serres of Quebec’s public health institute told CTV News in an email.

(read the full article at CTV)

Mari Yamaguchi
The Associated Press : June 21, 2016

Japanese utility admits to ‘coverup’ during Fukushima nuclear meltdown

The utility that ran the Fukushima nuclear plant acknowledged Tuesday its delayed disclosure of the meltdowns at three reactors was tantamount to a coverup and apologized for it.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) president Naomi Hirose’s apology followed the revelation last week that an investigation had found Hirose’s predecessor instructed officials during the 2011 disaster to avoid using the word “meltdown.”

“I would say it was a coverup,” Hirose told a news conference. “It’s extremely regrettable.”

TEPCO instead described the reactors’ condition as less serious “core damage” for two months after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, wrecked the plant, even though utility officials knew and computer simulations suggested meltdowns had occurred.

An investigative report released last Thursday by three company-appointed lawyers said TEPCO’s then-President Masataka Shimizu instructed officials not to use the specific description under alleged pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office, though the investigators found no proof of such pressure.

The report said TEPCO officials, who had suggested possible meltdowns, stopped using the description after March 14, 2011, when Shimizu’s instruction was delivered to vice-president at the time, Sakae Muto in a memo at a televised news conference. Shimizu had a company official show Muto his memo and tell him the Prime Minister’s Office has banned the specific words.

Government officials also softened their language on the reactor conditions around the same time, the report said.

(read the full article at Toronto Star)

Previous articles about Fukushima

AlternativeFreePress.com

Greg McNevin, a photographer working with Greenpeace, explored areas of Russia and Japan that have been “decontaminated” and are apparently supposed to be safe for people to live and grow food. His work visualizes the radiation that persists in these so-called decontaminated areas. McNevin juxtaposes radiation data onto long exposure photographs.

“Using this tool in areas affected by Chernobyl and Fukushima,” McNevin states that, “we found that places decontaminated by the authorities consistently exhibit radiation levels elevated above official guidelines.”

“The reality is,” he continued, “resolution of the problem is no closer for many impacted communities in Chernobyl and this does not bode well for the people of Fukushima.”

(view the images and source article at Mashable)

RELATED:
Peer Reviewed Research Exposes Fukushima Cover-up By Japan’s Nuclear Safety Authority (January 2016)

TEPCO Admits Fukushima Radiation Leaks Have Spiked Sharply (December 2015)

Declassified Documents Show US Government Misled Public About Severity Of Fukushima Radiation (December 2015)

Fukushima scientists say radiation continues to wash into Pacific Ocean (November 2015)

Radiation Impact Studies – Chernobyl and Fukushima (September 2015)

Report says 70 to 100 percent of nuclear fuel in Fukushima No. 2 has melted (September 2015)

Fukushima Report Dangerously Downplays Ongoing Health Risks (September 2015)

Radioactive cesium from Fukushima detected in North America at highest levels yet (August 2015)

Fukushima Fallout? Whales are dying in Pacific Ocean (August 2015)

Radioactive isotope Strontium-90 spikes at Fukushima; highest reading ever(July 2015)

Japan delays nuclear fuel removal schedule for Fukushima plant(June 2015)

Fukushima: Record Levels of Radioactivity Detected in Seawater — Spiked “More than 200 Times” at Sampling Location(June 2015)

Fukushima’s “Caldrons of Hell”: More than 300 Tons of Highly Radioactive Water Generated Daily(May 2015)

TEPCO Admits Fukushima Is Leaking Again – Over 600x ‘Safe’ Radiation Levels(May 2015)

Fresh leak at Fukushima nuclear plant sees 70-fold radiation spike(February 2015)