Plutonium and Uranium Detected in the U.S.: The Highest Density in the Last 20 Years! California, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam

Plutonium and Uranium have been detected in abnormal density measuring from the end of March to the beginning of April in Guam, Hawaii, and the US west coast, according to my close examination on the RadNet database of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This proves that Plutonium and Uranium, some of the most toxic materials, had dispersed from the Fukushima Diichi Nuclear Plant (and it also means that these materials have contaminated the ocean). While the government, mainstream media, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company), and biased academia in Japan have closed their mouth tight about this fact (By the way, the US government also provides very limited information of radioactive substance in the main pages of the website that most of the people visit), it has already been spreading among net users, both ordinary people and specialists, by making it impossible to conceal the truth from us any more.

On this blog, I checked on concentration of the radioactive substance in the air detected by air-filter in California, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam, where Plutonium and Uranium were detected (there is information that Plutonium was also detected in Washington State and Saipan, but I excluded these two areas here). I also want to note that most of the places had observations only up to three times since March 11, 2011, and somehow there has not been any report on the nuclear substance observation since the beginning of April (this has been criticized in the US). The following charts are made based on the EPA data.

* I encourage you to retrieve the data by going to the EPA RadNet database so you can confirm our argument is accurate. The result comes out when you select "Air Filter", "CA (state name)" and "Plutonium-239 (nuclide name)," for instance, and then click the "Search Database" button below. Results are also downloadable. Please note the differences of the units being used in the database. Data after March 11, 2011 are described in a unit of pCi/m3, not in a unit of aCi/m3 that you will see in data prior to March 11, 2011. I am strongly hoping that many people will check and verify the data as I am not a specialist in the nuclear field. 

1pCi : 1,000,000aCi
1pCi : 0.037Bq
1km3 : 1,000,000,000m3
aCi/m3 : Atto-Curie per cubic meter

Bq/km3 : Becquerel per cubic kilometer
Pu : Plutonium
U : Uranium

Chronological Graph on Concentration in the Air [aCi/m3]

Plutonium 239 in California (past 20 years)

*click to expand the graph

Uranium 234 in Alaska (past 20 years)

*click to expand the graph

Uranium 238 in Hawaii (past 20 years)

*click to expand the graph

Average Density in Air Before and After 3.11 [Bq/km3]

Compared with the average density of the past 20 years from 1991 to February 2011, Plutonium 239 in California 18 times, Uranium 238 in Alaska 17 times, Uranium 234 in Hawaii 30 times, and Uranium 238 in also Hawaii 50 times were detected all after March 11, 2011. Also, in Guam, Plutonium 239, Uranium 234, 235 and 238 have been detected for the first time in the history of the observation. So-called “half-life” of each material is this: Plutonium 239 for 24,000 years, Uranium 234 for 240,000 years, Uranium 235 for 700 million years, and Uranium 238 for 4.47 billion years. As you could see easily, these isotopes have almost endless life spans from human perspective. Both Plutonium and Uranium are extremely toxic radioactive substances that omit strong alpha-ray radiation. 

There are two reasons why I conclude that these radioactive materials came from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. First, in the past 20 years, such sudden increase of radioactive materials, as indicated in the above graphs, has never been seen before March 11, 2011. Second, these regions where increased amount of Plutonium and Uranium were detected, are all closer to Japan. They are Guam, Hawaii, Alaska and California. Especially in Guam and Hawaii, the increases are even bigger than other States. For example, if you compare the numbers after the 3.11 between California (8700km=5400miles from Japan) and Guam (2500km=1550miles from Japan), Guam has detected 78 times higher Plutonium 239, 6 times higher Uranium 234, 16 times higher Uranium 235, and 13 times higher Uranium 238, than California. Plutonium and Uranium have yet not been detected along the East Coast (Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, etc.). Therefore, these two points of abnormal increase in radioactive materials and the locations of where these are detected can strongly indicate that this has been caused by the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.

Conclusion: Some of the most brutal radioactive materials, Plutonium and Uranium, have been spread in the air from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.

Plutonium and Uranium in Japan

Now, how about Japan? How much density of Plutonium and Uranium are in the air? Very unfortunately, we can do nothing but estimate it on our own as long as TEPCO, the Japanese government, mainstream media, and biased scholars continue to hide critical information in order to prevent public opinions from going more to anti-nuclear climate. Having said that, please understand that the calculations below are considerably rough due to very limited data that has been presented to the public.

As I have already blogged previously, according to the radioactive substance diffusion forecast by the Japan Metrological Agency (JMA), the lowest dilution-concentration in Japan’s adjacent sea was 1/100,000,000,000,000 density compared to the material density in the sky over the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant [this data is about Iodine 131]. It is most likely that the density value in Guam is much lower than 1/100,000,000,000,000 from geographic perspective. but here I am making an assumption that Guam’s density level was 1/100,000,000,000. By doing so [assuming the higher relative density in Guam] our calculation provides the very modest estimate on how much Plutonium and Uranium could be detected in Japan. According to JMA’s diffusion forecast of the radioactive materials in the air discharged from Fukushima plant on March 26, 2011, the density in Ibaraki prefecture [next to Fukushima prefecture] is 1/10,000,000,000 which roughly means 10,000 times more than that in Guam, and the density in Tokyo is 1/100,000,000,000 which roughly means 100 times more than that in Guam (the measurements in Guam were done from March 31, 2011 to April 1, 2011).

Estimated Concentration of Plutonium and Uranium in Japanese Air [Bq/km3]

* Dilution: density level compared to the air above Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant (B = billion)

It is safe to say that density of Plutonium and Uranium in the air of Japan is much higher than the density detected in the United States. The Japanese government admitted this disaster is Level 7 status [it took one month for them to admit it] due to the total amount of Iodine 131 and Cesium 137 dispersed, but it is also as serious as the Chernobyl disaster by considering the varieties of radioactive materials [and it probably is more serious considering the number of people who will suffer]. The damage to the human body caused by internal exposure from inhaled or ingested Plutonium and Uranium is enormous, while the alpha ray that is omitted from these substances can only fly very short distances, which makes it very difficult to detect them by simply monitoring radiation [radioactive ray] level in the air. A fatal risk can occur if these substances get inside our body not knowing that they are already everywhere around us, but the Japanese government has been rejecting to measure Plutonium and Uranium level in Japan. The unbelievable decision of the “tentative safety standard” for schoolyard by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology could unnecessarily make 1 in 1,000 children suffer from cancer in the future, and this controversial standard has not even taken account the damage of internal exposure by radioactive materials. I have previously blogged about the damages of internal exposure in 10 years and 20 years by comparing data from the Chernobyl accident.

Now, the truth is out. What do you do, TEPCO and Mr. Madarame (Chair of corrupt Nuclear Safety Commission, Japan)!!

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Note: I updated the post with some revises and additions because there are things that I had found since the first post. In the previous post, I made two versions of charts by being unsure about using whether "Result Amount" (below RA) or "Minimum Detection Concentration" (below MDC). In the RA results, I found there are negative numbers in the EPA data, and I was not sure what it meant to have negative numbers in detected value. Then, I found the definition of RA in the EPA site, which made me confident that RA is the one indicating detected values of materials. I, therefore, removed the all previous information resulted by the MDC calculation. This does NOT change my previous conclusion, "In the United States, there was a significant increase in Plutonium and Uranium in the air." Also, there are people in Japan who have commented that MDC means "detection limit" but the interpretation is not accurate. According to the EPA site, MDC means the minimum value below which error could occur more than 5%. Error could occur in any detected values so it is not a big deal to focus on whether it has a chance of over 5% error or less. The factor of MDC should be kept in mind, but this definitely does not mean we can ignore the RA values that is less than MDC. Why? Because RA that is less than MDC does not signify they detect zero value of material or this does not mean they cannot technically detect materials. In addition, I noticed since starting to sort my graphs in chronological analysis, the MDC values were added in the EPA database only since 1992. Finally, separated from some of you who have given me advises and suggestions with good faith, a few people, who are probably from the "Village of Nuclear Industry [industrial-academic-political complex of nuclear interests]" are desperately trying to get us confused by spreading hoax using a word “a big lie” about the fact here. One professor from University of Tokyo immediately denied our argument but it turned out he just got confused about two different measurement units [aCi and pCi] that are used in the EPA database. I trust our fellow, ordinary people's, better sense. 

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Postscript: Part of  EPA’s database Results Missing in an EPA's PDF document

It has been pointed out that the EPA has provided summaries of measured detected findings by a PDF document since March 11, 2011. And I found a gap between the PDF document and data we can obtain from their database. In more accurate words, some data is missing in the PDF document.

For instance, the PDF document contains two detection values of Uranium 238 in California (0.000014pCi/m3 and 0.000019pCi/m3), and these numbers are also found from the EPA database. The EPA database, however, has one more detection value of 0.0000186pCi/m3 from March 25, 2011 (MDC is consistent), and this is not included in the PDF document. Likewise I found many data missing in the PDF document. It is obvious that the PDF document was created for the public by excluding a part of data that can be obtained in the database. The same thing can be said about Plutonium as well. In the PDF document, detection values are ALL described as "ND" somehow, but if you look at the EPA’s Radnet database, you can find detection values of Plutonium. Please do not get tricked by this "ND," which does not mean zero detection, but it means their definition of "undetected" based upon uncertain criteria. It may be interesting to know what kind of political interest is working behind the use of "ND" in terms of Plutonium detection, but here I am just showing you raw data from EPA’s database. Needless to say. raw data is much more trustable than any summarized documents filtered by bureaucrats.

The points I focused when examining the database is when and where the detected values increased. It is irrelevant and missing the mark here if you want to say, "hey, the detected absolute values in the U.S. are so tiny so don't worry" or "hey, it's better now compared to the time that nuclear weapons testing has been done in Nevada and other States so don't worry" (according to Wikipedia, the U.S. nuclear weapons testings were conducted from 1945 to 1992). Let me emphasize this again: detected values of Plutonium and Uranium have abnormally increased after March 11, 2011 compared to the past 20 years of data and these increases happened in the regions closer to Japan. Therefore, these materials are considerably coming from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, and this indicates a really serious matter for Japanese people.

I hope that many people spread this critical fact so that more people understand the seriousness of what is happening in Japan and the vicious manipulation by nuclear interest.  

Jump to original blog [in Japanese] 

Cesium 134, Iodine 132, Tellurium 129, and Tellurium 132 Also Detected in the United States

I have been always wondering why only data of Cesium 137 and Iodine 131 have been released to the public in Japan, as if only these two materials are discharged from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. The reality is there are a lot more radionuclides coming out of it.

I checked the website of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that has reported some detected radioactive substances (Note: the US has measured quantity of radioactive materials in the air, which has not been done in Japan). There I found out that not only Cesium 137 and Iodine 131 but also Cesium 134, Cesium 136, Iodine 132, Tellurium 129, and Tellurium 132 have been detected in the U.S.

Note: I wrote this article initially not knowing that EPA does not reported all the detected values in the majority-oriented websites. Then I found by looking carefully at EPA database’s raw results that they have also detected Plutonium 238, Plutonium 239, Uranium 234, Uranium 235, Uranium 238, Thallium 208, Bismuth 212, Barium 140, Beryllium 7, Cobalt 60, Lead 212, and Strontium 89 in the air. I examined the cases of Plutonium and Uranium in this article.

- As of April 24, 2011, out of 229 detection points whose results have been released, Tellurium 132 has been detected at 46 points. The highest amount of 0.015Bq/m3 was recorded in Dutch Harbor, Alaska on March 19, 2011. The half-life span of Tellurium 132 is 3.26 days.

- Similarly, Cesium 134 has been detected at 44 points. The highest amount of 0.0096Bq/m3 was recorded in Anaheim, California on March 25, 2011. The half-life span of Cesium 134 is 2 years.

- Cesium 136 has been detected at 5points. The highest amount of 0.00045Bq/m3 was recorded in Nome, Alaska on March 24, 2011. The half-life span of Cesium 136 is 13 days.

- Iodine 132 has been detected at 32 points. The highest amount of 0.001Bq/m3 was recorded in Dutch Harbor in Alaska on March 19, 2011. The half-life of Iodine 132 is 2.3 hours.

- Tellurium 129 has been detected once at the amount of 0.0045Bq/m3 in Nome, Alaska on March 24, 2011.

It is very unlikely that the air in Japan does not contain these radioactive materials detected in the U.S. It is also unlikely that Japan technically cannot measure these radioactive materials. The amounts that have been detected in the U.S. may be little so far, but the important thing is its proportion. I checked the proportions of the above newly-found substances comparing with Cesium 137.

Cesium 134: 103% of Cesium 137

Cesium 136: 2% of Cesium 137

Iodine 132: 84% of Cesium 137

Tellurium 129: 8% of Cesium 137

Tellurium 129M: 13% of Cesium 137

Tellurium 132: 140% of Cesium 137

It is extremely important to look at Cesium 134 considering its long “half-life” span of 2 years. In Japan, the amounts of Cesium 134 have not been measured or the data itself has been hidden to the public. But, by using above information from the U.S., we can roughly estimate how much radioactive substances could be out in Japan. It seems Cesium 134 could have been emitted in the similar amount with Cesium 137 (reported in Japan) because you can see that both Cesium 134 and 137 have been found in the similar proportional amounts in the U.S. For instance, the total accumulation of Cesium 137 in Tokyo from March 18, 2011 to April 25, 2011 is about 7,000 MBq (megabecquerel)/km2 (Note: the hidden data of the precipitation between March 11 and 18 may be much more than ten times of it, though). This number could be doubled to 14,000 MegaBq/km2 if you put the unreported amount of Cesium 134 into the consideration.

Yes, it is certainly promiscuous and shady that the Japanese government has been only reporting the amounts of Cesium 137 and Iodine 131. How the government officials and biased academia have always proudly alleged perfect safety of the situation is absolutely nonsense as long as vital information and data are concealed as it is now.

We also need to be cautious about statistical hoax, such as unclear criteria of "undetected" values. “Undetected” does not mean nothing detected. Japanese government seems to report “undetected” Unless the government disclose every available data without any judgement, it is meaningless what they say about safety. TEPCO and the Japanese government!!! Before spending much time pretending to apologize us, release raw data you are hiding about emitted radioactive materials in order for us to come up with ways to protect ourselves better than what you guys have been doing (well, they seemingly are doing nothing but harming us).

PS- Right after finishing this blog, I also found that Plutonium and Uranium have been detected in the U.S. since March 11, 2011.

Wind Power Can Supply Energy Equivalent to 950 Nuclear Reactors in Japan: "Research on Potentials of Renewable Energies" by Japanese Department of Environment

I was confirmed that we do not need nuclear energy in order to maintain current level of daily lives. I can say that we have used tremendous amount of tax money, given too much power to these pro-nuke groups, been in this serious crisis due to the nuke, contaminated land and ocean, made our food products uneatable, allowed the government to create a safety standard that could kill 1 in 25 children by cancer, and left increasing amount of radioactive materials and waste that could remain on the earth for who-knows-how-long gazillion years irresponsibly, all by believing in what we actually do not need any…..nuclear power plants. If we do not decide to change what we believe in and what we will believe in after the 311, this country (or the World I should say) will follow a course of decline with uncontrollable amount of artificial radioactive materials surrounding us. But, let's still keep our hope because the change is on its way.

The Japanese Department of Environment released a report the other day that is called "Research on Potentials of Renewable Energies." The report says inn Japan wind energy itself can create electricity equivalent to 950 nuclear reactors. Japan has tremendous potential in yet-invested natural energies so we actually can maintain sufficient electricity without any nuclear plants. It is so clear by reading this report that "we must rely at least 30% of electricity on nuclear power" got no logic.

The report covers solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal energies though I believe that we should include wave-power energy by considering Japan's geographical characteristic. It talks about both "reserve" (amount of deposit) and "potential" (potential amount calculated by geographical and sociological factors) of natural energies. These "potentials" are estimated in realistic approach by the government officials, so it can be even more if we consider societal changes and technical investment/improvement in the field.

So the report indicates these amazing potentials by wind power.

Source: 104-108

Onshore Wind Power

Scenario3 (area of wind speed 5.5m/s or over • capacity operating rate 26%): 683.8 billion kWh/year (=133 nuclear reactors)

Scenario2 (area of wind speed 6.5m/s or over • capacity operating rate 31%): 458.8 billion kWh/year (=89 nuclear reactors)

Scenario1 (area of wind speed 7.5m/s or over • capacity operating rate 37%): 225.8 billion kWh/year (=44 nuclear reactors)

Bottom Mounted Offshore Wind Power

Scenario3 (area of wind speed 6.5m/s or over • capacity operating rate 30%): 800.9 billion kWh/year (=156 nuclear reactors)

Scenario2 (area of wind speed 7.5m/s or over • capacity operating rate 35%): 290.3 billion kWh/year (=57 nuclear reactors)

Scenario1 (area of wind speed 8.5m/s or over • capacity operating rate 41%): 18.3 billion kWh/year (=4 nuclear reactors)

Floating Offshore Wind Power

Scenario3 (area of wind speed 6.5m/s or over • capacity operating rate 31%): 3390.0 billion kWh/year (=661 nuclear reactors)

Scenario2 (area of wind speed 7.5m/s or over • capacity operating rate 36%): 1622.2 billion kWh/year (=316 nuclear reactors)

Scenario1 (area of wind speed 8.5m/s or over • capacity operating rate 41%): 201.3 billion kWh/year (=39 nuclear reactors)

Wind Power Total

Scenario3 Total: 4874.7 billion kWh/year (= 950 nuclear reactors)

Scenario2 Total: 2371.3 billion kWh/year (=462 nuclear reactors)

Scenario1 Total: 445.4 billion kWh/year (=87 nuclear reactors)

Comment: For example, "area of wind speed 5.5m/s or over" at the scenario3 of onshore wind power means the amount of electricity generated by wind power set up in the area where 5.5 meter or more in the velocity of the wind are expected in the high degree 80 meter point. So, the cases of scenario1 are areas where the high velocity of wind is expected (the red area in the below maps), scenario2 includes weaker velocity (the red and yellow areas in the below maps), and scenario 3 covers wider areas including much weaker velocity (the red, yellow, and green areas in the below maps). In sum, the scenario1 areas can create the most wind energy in a short-term period, and the scenario3 areas can be considered their potentials in total amounts of electricity produced in mid- and long-term period. Because wind does not blow consistently, we need to consider the capacity operating rates. The scenarios1 areas have very stable wind supplies, so it can usually have higher capacity operating rates. If we include the scenario2 and 3 areas in the scenario1, the capacity operating rates go down accordingly.

When making comparisons with nuclear power plants, I referred to this site and created the calculation below.

Total Energy Produced in Japan (2009) = 956.5 billion kWh/year

Of the total energy, 29% was from nuclear power = 277.4 billion kWh/year

Divide by 54 nuclear reactors = 5.1 billion kWh/year per nuclear reactor

So even only with the scenario1 areas, where the most stable velocity is expected (the red areas in the map), these wind generators can supply energy created by 44 nuclear reactors (= 25% of total energy supply in Japan). If we expand our investment in wind power much more, the scenario1 and 2 areas total can create energy equivalent of 89 nuclear reactors (= 50% of total energy supply in Japan). Let me remind you that I'm only talking about onshore wind power here. It is so clear how we can continue to live in the same manner without relying a bit on nuclear energy.

Let's go further. If you look at the total supplies of the scenario3, which are the combinations of all 3 types of wind generators, you can see that they potentially supply energy equivalent to 950 nuclear reactors that equals to 5 times of total energy supply in Japan!! This amazing finding well considers current technological level and capacity operating rates, and mind you, this is a conclusion made by bureaucrats who usually like to give only conservative estimates of anything. If we include latest inventions, such as the Spiral Magnus Wind Generator that can create 4 times more energy than current wind generators, the remarkable potential of wind power can even go much higher (and this Spiral Magnus is strong enough to stand still at 50 meters in the velocity and said to solve issues of birds tangling and audio frequency). "Natural renewable energies are weak, unstable, inefficient, and undeveloped," which frequently has been said by pro-nuke groups and scholars, is proven to be a big lie. The true economic cost of natural energies is also much cheaper than nuclear energy (again opposed to what the nuclear industry has said). The economic cost of nuclear power has long excluded vital numbers such as cost for radioactive wastes that remain for million years and compensations in frequent accidents. But the funny thing is that even with these intentional exclusions of vital costs for maintenance of nuclear plants, still nuclear power is more expensive than natural energies. We just have long been tricked by the nuclear industry so let's open up our eyes now and make advantage of natures surrounding us. If we really want, we can stop all the nuclear and thermal power generations, and shift our energies to wind generated power. We can still get more than enough energies with the change. (Dr. Helen Caldicott also talks a lot about how expensive the economic cost of nuclear power is in her book "Nuclear Power Is Not The Answer")

Of course, I'm not recommending to create excessive energies by relying only on wind power. It is better to have various ways, not depending on one source, in order to maximize our potential in sustainable and stable energies. We can definitely take advantage from Japan's geographic characteristic. Japan's surrounding ocean is 10 times bigger than its onshore land. So "hybrid" power generations by combining solar, wave, and wind power could be ideal and the most efficient. This is the way for Japan to coexist with natures by making the best out of its geographic characteristic. Moreover, we can invest more in geo-thermal generation considering its volcanic nature and in hydro generations considering surrounding ocean. (I decided not to include biomass power system into renewable and sustainable energy in this blog because it requires forestation.)

Maps of Areas with Potentialities for Wind Generations

* Velocity : Red> Yellow> Green; Scenario1= Red, Scenario2= Red and Yellow, Scenario3= Red, Yellow, and Green

* These colored areas indicate the most suitable places for wind power, but many uncolored places can also have wind generations.

*Click the images to expland

According to the maps, these potentials suitable for wind generations are less populated isolated areas. Especially, Tohoku and Hokkaido areas have historically been considered to store (or dump!) highly contaminated radioactive waste, and will be so if we continue to live in the nuclear-depended society. But if we shift to natural energies, these Tohoku and Hokkaido will be the most potential areas that can provide much truly clean energies to the country. Shizuoka Prefecture also has much potential in wind power and benefit of its proximity to the big cities like Tokyo and Nagoya. But if it continues with the current nuclear trend, be mind that the prefecture has the notorious Hamaoka Nuclear Plant which is located right above the earthquake fault and the area will surely get disastrous damage from soon-to-come Great Tokai Earthquake. It is not an option of whether we are pro or anti-nuke; it is whether we will flourish or all die. I understand that some isolated countryside areas have survived financially with tremendous subsidy by the nuclear industry for allowing plants in the villages because financial resources are generally unfairly distributed to these less populated areas by the government. If we shift to natural energies, these unfairly treated areas can create more employment opportunities with locally-sustainable energy industries. We also don't have to be afraid of earthquake and tsunami that are now proven to destroy nuclear plants so easily and don't have to pay extra cost to import resources needed to maintain nuclear plants. We, therefore, must nationalize all the power lines and make the energy shift as a priority of national policy. We can't afford paying some trillion yen in order to import finite resource of Uranium or paying 450 billion yen in annual budgets for nuclear plants. Let's use all the money and shift our investment to renewable natural energies.

Renewable energy can meet not only Japanese but also global demands of energies. European countries have already started energy shift to renewable power. The list below is from a newsletter by the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America in June 2009. It assessed the potential of wind power as a global source of electricity. As you can see clearly, all the countries listed here can meet its energy supplies solely with wind power. For example, in the United States wind power can supply 23 times more energies of what they currently consume everyday.

(billion kWh/yr)	Annual Electricity Consumption	Onshore Wind Power Potential	Offshore Wind Power Potential	Total Wind Power Potential	Total Wind Power/ Total Consumption
United States	3816	74000	14000	88000	23.1
China	2399	39000	4600	43600	18.2
Russia	780	120000	23000	143000	183.4
Japan	974	570	2700	3270	3.4
India	489	2900	1100	4000	8.2
Germany	546	3200	940	4140	7.6
Canada	541	78000	21000	99000	183.2
England	349	4400	6200	10600	30.4
Korea	352	130	990	1120	3.2
Italy	308	250	160	410	1.3

Let's all stop living against nature and misusing of science. We must start using the science so that we can harmoniously coexist with natures. Nuclear energy is only for a few people who want to be richer and that's it! Nuclear plants frequently have accidents, emit radioactive materials and gases, and leave poisonous waste that remains on the earth for million years, for which our descendants will be responsible. It is not too late yet. Let's stop all the nuclear plants NOW. Let's stop all the thermal-power generations that require fossil fuels so we can stop global warming NOW. Let's shift to truly clean, safe, cheap, infinite, renewable, natural, and sustainable energies that can also create employment opportunities and fair development to local economies NOW!!! 

Comparison of Safety Standards and Detected Values of Iodine 131 and Cesium 137

My sister passed me a similar list of comparison with safety standards and detected values of Iodine and Cesium. I thought the list was well made but needed a few corrections. So I created this version with updated information. But, you gotta be careful that there is NO THRESHFOLD on how much radioactive materials you can take in your body safely because these safety standards are made by the ideas that more or less people will die due to direct cause by radiation. Having said that, I think this list is still useful for you to know how JAPANESE SAFETY STANDARDS ARE SO OFF, and it's so clear to see it when you compare them with other international standards. 

(Bq/kg)	Iodine-131
5	U.S. Safety Standard (water)
10	WHO Safety Standard (water)
100	Singaporean Safety Standard (food)
100	CODEX Safety Standard (food)
100	Japanese Safety Standard for Infants (water and milk/milk products)
150	EU Safety Standard for children (food)
210	Amount of I-131 detected on 3/22/11 in water at Tokyo's Kanamachi water plant
300	Japanese Provisional Safety Standard set on 3/17/11 (water and milk/milk products)
336	Amount of I-131 detected on 3/22/11 in water at Chiba Prefecture's Kitachiba water plant
500	EU Safety Standard for adults (food)
540	Amount of I-131 detected on 4/2/11 in mizuna (potherb mustard) in Ibaraki Prefecture
648	Amount of I-131 detected on 3/31/11 in mizuna in Shizuoka Prefecture that was denied import in Singapore
1,000	WHO Limit that is to prevent starvation in emergency situation (food)
1,100	Amount of I-131 detected on 3/25/11 in spinach in Saitama Prefecture
1,700	Amount of I-131 in sanchu (Korean lettuce) that was sold in Tokyo from 3/29/11 to 4/4/11
2,000	Japanese Provisional Safety Standard (food)
2,700	Amount of I-131 detected on 4/7/11 in spinach in Ibaraki Prefecture
3,100	Amount of I-131 detected on 4/3/11 in shitake mushroom in Fukushima Prefecture
4,080	Amount of I-131 detected on 4/4/11 in lancefish in Ibaraki Prefecture
8,086	Estimated amount of I-131 in so-called "low contamination" water (named by TEPCO) intentionally drained in the ocean
15,000	Amount of I-131 detected on 3/19/11 in spinach in Ibaraki Prefecture
430,000	Amount of I-131 detected on 3/31/11 in groundwater nearby the #1 reactor building
1,170,000	Amount of I-131 detected on 3/20/11 in soil of Iidate Village, Fukushima Prefecture
2,540,000	Amount of I-131 detected on 3/20/11 in grass of Iidate Village, Fukushima Prefecture
3,900,000,000	Amount of I-131 detected in stagnant water in the #3 reactor where workers were found externally exposed to tremendous amount of radiation
6,879,400,000	Estimated amount of I-131 in so-called "high contamination" water (named by TEPCO) from the #2 reactor drained in the ocean from 4/2/11 to 4/7/11

(Bq/kg)	Cesium-137
4	Safety Standard that German Society for Radiation Protection recommends for infants, children, and adolescents (food and water in general)
8	Safety Standard that German Society for Radiation Protection recommends for adults (food and water in general)
8	U.S. Safety Standard (water)
10	WHO Safety Standard (water)
200	Japanese Provisional Safety Standard set on 3/17/11 (water and milk/milk products)
370	Japanese Provisional Safety Standard set on imported food after the Chernobyl accident in 1986 (food)
376	Amount of C-137 detected on 4/2/11 in mizuna in Ibaraki Prefecture
500	Japanese Provisional Safety Standard (food)
526	Amount of C-137 detected on 4/4/11 in lance fish in Ibaraki Prefecture
570	Amount of C-137 detected on 4/9/11 in lance fish in Fukushima Prefecture
813	Amount of C-137 in so-called "low contamination" water (named by TEPCO) intentionally drained in the ocean (estimation)
890	Amount of C-137 detected on 4/3/11 in shiitake mushroom in Fukushima Prefecture
5,000	Japanese Safety Standard set on 4/8/11 by the govn't for the rice field (soil)
13,000	Amount of C-137 detected on 4/10/11 in shiitake mushroom in Fukushima Prefecture
15,544	Amount of C-137 detected in grass in Dzerzhinsk City, Russia (200km outside of Chernobyl) in 1996 (grass)
29,000	Amount of C-137 detected on 4/12/11 in the rice field in Iidate Village, Prefecture (soil)
163,000	Amount of C-137 detected on 3/20/11 in soil (twice as high as the area in Chernobyl where residents were forced to evacuate)
2,650,000	Amount of C-137 detected on 3/20/11 in grass in Iidate Village, Fukushima Prefecture (grass)
699,600,000	Estimated amount of C-137 in so-called "high contamination" water (named by TEPCO) from the #2 reactor drained in the ocean from 4/2/11 to 4/7/11

*Iidate Village is located about 40km northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. Though high level of radioactive contamination has been found in the area for a while, the government only recently included the village as the planned evacuation area.

Let me also mention this article from Asahi Shinbun on April 30. It was on a local section of Shizuoka Prefecture, but I found that they making a total lie about the EU safety standard. I was shocked but it made me really angry!

This article talks about komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach) being refused to be imported in Singapore because it exceeded safety limit over there.

Here's a link to the article (in Japanese)

The article says,

"The safety standard in Singapore is stricter than that of Japan and the EU….."

and

"The amount of Iodine 131 that was detected in komatsuna there was 648 Bq/Kg. It surely exceeded the Singaporean safety standard of 100 Bq/Kg, but it is 2,000 Bq/kg than that of Japan and the EU."

Then, I got suspicious about the EU safety standard, but did not think Asahi Shinbun, the major newspaper, could so straight lie about other country's safety standard…..then, I learned that they did. As you can see in my list, the EU safety standard of Iodine 131 is 150 Bq/Kg for children (food) and 500 Bq/Kg for adults (food). I realized that Asahi Shinbun just wanted to make it like it was all Singapore's fault of making such a strict standard. It seems to be that the Singaporean standard is all so normal to me.

Whoever wrote this article, please explain to me that you are not making a lie on this. I still like to believe there is some true journalism left in the Japanese media. There is no way of making a lie when you are talking about something related to people's life….right?

Fallen Academia: Scholars Patronized by the Nuclear Power Industry and the University Reform that Buys Academia

I first like to introduce this quote by Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda. 

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

Since the 3.11, all these dirty practices that have been used for so many years in Japan have been revealed to us, and this is one of them.

Mr. Hiroaki Koide is an assistant professor at the Research Reactor Institute at Kyoto University, (whose comment was recently featured in the NY Times article "Japanese Officials Ignored or Concealed Dangers"), and I have relied on his great knowledge and expertise for a while in order to understand what is really going on in Japan. But, look at his title, "assistant professor." A title of assistant professor in Japan have somewhat different connotation, for example, in that of the United States. Assistant professor now in Japan has a term of 3 to 5 years that needs to be renewed if you want to continue with the position. And this position was created after the University Reform in the 1990's. Though Mr. Koide's position actually, I assume, is not termed since he has gotten the tile before the reform, the great professor, who has been fiercely consistent in his anti-nuclear messages as an expert in the field and who is so needed in what is going on in Japan now, is an assistant professor after long years of devoted and passionate researches and outreaches. And, amazingly, these "Goyo Gakusha" – patronized scholars – are all professors or even emeritus at famous universities, so many of which are from University of Tokyo!!

Mr. Koide's colleague, Mr. Tetsuji Imanaka, who is also working so hard conducting "accurate" researches on radioactive contaminations in Fukushima and elsewhere, is also an assistant professor. Mr. You Tanaka has been actively having seminars literally everyday all over Japan by teaching people how we can have the same level of living style without nuclear power, and his position has been an adjunct professor when he teaches classes in universities (though teaching is not his primary job).

You get my point. Why is that these most needed and most reliable scholars have all been excluded in having better positions in academia?

So here comes my list of "Goyo Gakusha" – scholars highly patronized by the government or business industries in order to gain grants and to be famous – and they have been so audacious in spreading how not to worry about radioactive contamination or how safe to even drink Plutonium (really, he should be sued) without a tiny bit of shame!!!

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Prof. Naoto Sekimura, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Quantum Engineering and Systems Science

He has been honorably considered as a leader of the Goyo Gakusha by anti-nuclear activists. My fav quote is "Plutonium is safe to drink." Please do so Mr.

Prof. Ken Nakajima, Kyoto University, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering

My fav quote is "Plutonium is heavy so it doesn't get spread out. Don't worry."

Prof. Muneo Morokazu, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Public Policy

He has said "I'm so glad that rain the other day all cleaned up radioactivity" and "Level of radioactivity was much worse at the time of nuclear testing so don't overreact."

Prof. Shunichi Yamashita, Nagasaki University, Graduate School of International Health Development

His best quotes are "Effect of radiation does not come to happy people. It only goes to sad people." "It's ONLY 1 in 100 people who gets cancer if you are exposed to 100milliSV per year" "We just don't know our future (after long-term exposure to radiation)…..only God knows." 

Prof. Tatsuro Miyasato, Former Provost of Kyushu Institute of Technology

He wrote in the Koriyama City local newspaper (Fukushima Prefecture), "(survivors of the Nagasaki atomic bomb) ate all the vegetables and fish without a bit of concern. It was a great idea! They became smarter and healthier for having done that. What's wrong with the current concerned public!??" And he continued "There are data that people suffer from radiation live longer." Is he a wannabe of some kind of cultfigure or something? It's very hard to understand this guy.

Prof. Hiroshi Niino, University of Tokyo, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, and Chair of the Meteorological Society of Japan

He is the one who prohibited its members of the Meteorological Society of Japan from publicizing their own forecast of radioactive contamination. The reason he said was, "It interferes nation's disaster intervention if our members disclose their uncertain information to the public", "What is most important for disaster measure is to rely on single source of information." Are you really a scientist??

Prof. Emeritus, Shunsuke Kondo, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Engineering, and Chair of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission

On April 12, 2011, he went on TV right after the level 7 was confirmed and said "Levels are just a measure to report the condition, and it does not change a direction of nuclear power politics."

Prof. Hirotada Ohashi, University of Tokyo, Department of System Innovation

He has been the big advocate of nuclear power and has been active at many seminars and discussions in the past. He always clearly looks down on audiences while he maintains chilly smile on his face. He has said, "there is no way that hydrogen explosions occur at nuclear plants" "it is technically impossible that reactor containers get destroyed by any chance" and "one can even drink Plutonium and be safe." He has been missing in action since the Fukushima accident began. I would like to find him at University of Tokyo and ask to drink Plutonium.

Asso Prof. Keiichi Nakagawa, University of Tokyo Hospital, Department of Radiation Oncology

He keeps saying, "there is no data of increasing cancer incidents after the Chernobyl accident." My fav quote is "it is ok that cancer rate increases 0.5% due to the Fukushima accident." He thinks it's unnecessary to evacuate residents 20km within the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. He also said, "You can think your life gets a deeper meaning when you develop cancer. Don't get scared. Cancers are not that bad." I guess he gets more jobs when more people get cancer.

Prof. Ryugo Hayano, University of Tokyo, Bio Physics Department Chair 

He is really a tricky guy. He is so good at spreading information that seems it's all not that bad by using twitter. He is so quick spreading it-doesn’t-seem-so-bad information, but really slow and cold about alarming data and information. He is damn so good at making himself look an ok guy. He is a type of a guy who can survive no matter what.

Prof. Blahblahblah, Osaka University

He has been using twitter and his blog to inform the public that nosebleeding is nothing to do with radiation exposures. There's a record of nosebleeding even at the Three Mile Island Acident, but he has decided to ignore these facts or he simply cannot read scientific articles? Plus, any clinical research on radiation exposure has not been conducted sufficiently anyways so how can he determine that nosebleeding is definitely not from radiation? Is he really a scientist??? Is he one of these who's receing "donation money" from the nuclear industry or does he just want to be famous…. from my observation in his aggressive attitudes, it looks more leaning towards the latter reason so I decided to conceal his name here. Watch out! He is online all the time. He'll come and get ya'll!

Kazuyo Katsuma, TV commentator, Visiting Professor of Chuo University Graduate School of Strategic Management

Agh, I personally can't stand this person for a long long time! Sorry but she is not a scholar but I guess she got a teaching position just being so famous on TV. She has said on TV, "It's abnormal to think radioactive materials are dangerous" "it's only a level of some kids getting thyroid cancer" and "radiation exposure has not caused any death compared to the tsunami"……… Well, get this. She was on a TEPCO TV advertisement in the past so let's figure how much she has been paid by the industry. Ha!

And the King of the Goyo Gakusha!!!

Haruki Madarame, Former Prof. University of Tokyo and Chair of Nuclear Safety Commission, Japan

He was also an employee at Toshiba – a nuke plant builder. He has amazing quotes, "You can't be too much in detail when you build a nuclear plant" "At the end, money all matters (when he was talking about giving increasing money to reluctant villages where the industry decides to build a nuke plant)." His last name has been replaced by DETARAME meaning bullshit in Japanese for quite some time. Congratulations, Mr. DETARAME, for being chosen for the King of Goyo Gakusha!!

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Too bad but there are more of these scholars. You can go to a special site on this.

But what's up with the University of Tokyo??? I thought the university has been ranked as a #1 school in Japan, but I guess it is #1 for hiring people who rely on a few, if not one, sources of information, that has been paid by the Nuclear Industry. I wonder what happened to the Japanese academia.

Much answer can be found in the University Reform that started in the 1990s.

Corporate companies started to step on the academic sanctuary by buying researches at universities. Japanese professors have to get grants for their researches on their own, and surely corporate companies are the ones who got the money. Then, scholars have to crate a research proposal that can be loved by these corporate industries. It's good for the corporate companies because there won't be any researches and studies that can damage their profits. Isn't it clear when you see a sparkling modern building of business school and a still-1950's-made ramshackle social science building at universities? Academic has been purchased by the business industry for some time, and many scholars who can kiss ass could go higher in the Japanese academia.

For example, it is now so famous that TEPCO has "donated" 600 million dollars to the University of Tokyo.

I don't think ALL of professors are these Goyo Gakusha, but even with these numbers of listed people above are pretty alarming. But, it gives me such an ill-feeling when I look at Mr. Koide and Mr. Imanaka who have devoted their life passionately by pursuing their academic interests in order to better our society, and they have been looked down and even ridiculed by the above named purchased scholars who had acted so arrogantly. It makes me want to puke (on the Goyo Gakusha)!!!

There was a purpose of using the quote by Joseph Goebbels at the beginning.

Most scholars that are on Japanese mainstream TV programs are all these purchased fallen scholars. I even want to refuse to call them scholars if I can. The industry's purpose of using them is so that audiences think, "Oh well, professor of University of Tokyo is saying it's ok to have my kids play outside and let's keep buying milk and veggies as usual." There are still many of these people who believe in these scholars. I personally have seen my friends with kids saying this, and it really breaks my heart.

Yes, it's true that people believe in lies if they are repeated enough.

I'm almost so certain that these fallen scholars don't care a bit about our lives and our children's lives. If we have increasing cases of infant thyroid cancer in 5 years, these professors will be living in their luxury houses with tightly closed doors and enjoying their retirement life without being responsible of what they are saying today. I promise this will happen.

This is pretty unacceptable to me.