2 Jun 2012

BYOG: Bring Your Own Geiger counter and Hazmat gear


By Christina Consolo host of Nuked Radio
It has been 6 weeks since I wrote my first piece for End the Lie about the potential Fukushima reactor number four end of the world scenario. Numerous nuclear experts, ambassadors, former Fukushima Daiichi workers, and senator Ron Wyden of Oregon have warned about as well. And still, no progress to report.
If TEPCO looked at what we learned from the example of Chernobyl, they should have had hundreds if not thousands of workers fortifying the structure and removing the spent fuel 24/7 for the past 14 months. But no, there does not seem to be any sense of urgency whatsoever.
Editor’s note: as I previously reported, TEPCO will not even start moving the spent fuel rods from this endangered pool into a joint pool for all six reactors next to the crumbling reactor four building until late next year. I would love to know why exactly this is the case but unfortunately I have yet to receive any explanation whatsoever.
Even the UN received an urgent request to enact international help from numerous nuke experts, since the demise of reactor four would have global effects. But still, nothing.

It has been difficult, if not nearly impossible, to get people to realize the extent of Fukushima and its effect on our lives. Part of that reason is because radiation is invisible. Another reason is because the media isn’t talking about it.
Editor’s note: I would like to put forth another possibility as well: a combination of normalcy bias and cognitive dissonance. If you are unfamiliar with these concepts, please listen to the below embedded recent episode of End the Lie Radio wherein Curt Williams of Room 101 and I discuss these concepts and just how they are manifesting in today’s world.
But this ignorance of the danger of Fukushima is about to change in a very big way.
The change, or “Mass Awakening to Fukushima” as I like to call it, began a week ago when Stanford University released its bluefin tuna radiation test results and lo and behold, it was radioactive. In fact, every single fish they tested showed contamination from Fukushima. And they were all caught off the coast in California.
This came as no surprise to the Fukushima experts that I talked about in a previous article, everyday people who have been following this story since March 11th and know how extensive this radiation threat is. Most of us haven’t touched pacific seafood for a year.
This is because just 2 weeks after the Fukushima disaster, North American kelp was already showing contamination. And so were the salmon being tested by the Canadians. Radiation works fast, due to bio accumulation, and bio magnification. And it gets stronger as it moves up the food chain.
In fact, in the 60′s Russia detonated the largest bomb ever, the 100 megaton Tsar Bombe, or “King of Bombs.” Without getting overly technical, the yield of this bomb was actually reduced by 97% due to the addition of lead for its second and third stages, to reduce fallout potential across the northern hemisphere. Still, within a week, researchers in the US found radioactive iodine in the thyroids of mammals in the US, before it was even detected in water or plants. Yes, it happens that quickly.
So when Stanford published its data from the tuna testing, which was actually tested from tuna caught in August 2011 they were surprised, even “shocked” were their words and they also speculated (correctly I might add) that the numbers are probably much higher now, 9 months later.
What is so ironic though about the results of these tests is not that the fish were radioactive, it’s that the Stanford researchers were so surprised and shocked.
I mean, seriously? Did not a single one of these research scientists ever study Chernobyl? Radiation? Nuclear energy? Or even pay attention to what has been going on in Fukushima for the past year? Sounds like a few people have had their heads buried deep in the sand.
In fact, while the research scientists have been hitting the snooze button repeatedly the Fukushima Experts I previously mentioned have been trying to warn people this was coming, because they took their own initiative to pay attention. And we are doing all this for free. On our own dime. On our own time. Meanwhile, researchers at NOAA, the EPA, FDA, and USDA sit back and pretend everything is okay and collect a handsome paycheck courtesy of the US taxpayer in the process.
Well, the tuna results started the ball rolling. And pretty soon we should start seeing real numbers as far as the sick seals and polar bears go. And if it’s in the tuna, it’s in everything. Tuna are a large, deep water fish that should have been contaminated last.
But it’s starting to show itself in another big way too, and that is the tsunami debris. No one will be able to ignore that. It will be a catalyst for a mass awakening of gigantic proportions.
And here’s why: approximately 200,000 houses and businesses were washed out to sea during the tsunami that hit Japan. The debris field is estimated to be about roughly the size of Texas or California. That’s big. It just started to hit Alaskan shores a few weeks ago. This was just the first wave, just the leading edge. There is much, much more behind it, and it’s going to be horrendous to manage.
It will be so difficult to manage because it’s not just going to be wood and pieces of houses. It’s not just fishnets and the occasional stray fishing boat.
We are talking whole cities: gas stations, propane refueling centers, fertilizer production plants, oil refineries, biological and disease research centers, furniturestorage containers, military facilities, cars, motorcycles, and garbage.We are talking Hazmat stuff here, biological and environmental waste. And of course, body parts. Thousands of Japanese were washed out to sea with the tsunami, and are still unaccounted for.
We are talking enough contaminated rubble to make sushi inedible for centuries from a biological standpoint alone. Which it already is, from a radioactive standpoint. And the bulk of the debris hasn’t even arrived yet.
And the next question on everyone’s minds of course is, will this tsunami debris be radioactive? I posed this question to one of the leading researchers on the Fukushima disaster, former Livermore Labs employee turned whistle-blower, Leuren Moret, and she exclaimed: “Of course it will be! It’s been floating in radioactive water with hot particles raining out over it for over a year!” I might add, she is also an atmospheric expert in fallout research.
Chris Pallister, president of Gulf of Alaska Keeper, told Alaska’s KTUU TV that “It’s a staggering mess [...] the magnitude of this is just hard to comprehend and I’ve been looking at this stuff a long time.”
He also said:
“In my opinion, this is the single greatest environmental pollution event that has ever hit the west coast of North America. The slow-motion aspects of it have fooled an unwitting public. It far exceeds the Santa Barbara or Exxon Valdez oil spills in gross tonnage and also geographic scope.”
A few months after 9/11, I went to the World Trade Center site in New York City. The debris field was confined to a few city blocks in size. Dump trucks went in and out of the site 24 hours a day for months carting away the debris.
Later, we learned this debris was loaded with substances detremental to human health. I won’t even begin to describe the biological effects this had on volunteers working on the site. They weren’t given appropriate protection. A lot of them now are very sick, or dead. In fact, if you look at films of the cleanup effort, the volunteers were all given paper masks, while EPA representatives are wearing full-on nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) masks.
Oregon has put out a request for volunteers now to help in the tsunami debris clean up. They haven’t said yet what kind of Hazmat protection or equipment these volunteers will be given.
Who will sort through and test the debris? Will Geiger counters be provided? NBC masks? Hazmat suits and gloves? Dump trucks? Cranes? What happens to the beach where this stuff lands on? Will it be contaminated, and with what exactly? And how do we decontaminate, if the tsunami debris is ongoing for years? Will the beaches be closed?
Who will collect, photograph, test and store body parts? How will they be returned to Japan? What about mementos from the thousands of deceased Japanese? How will these mementos be cataloged and returned to the rightful owners?
It doesn’t appear at this point that the Federal government is going to assist in the effort, monetarily or otherwise. In fact, they are doing everything they can to wash their hands of the matter. It will be up to the surrounding communities to deal with it and make all these decisions. And like us Fukushima Experts, they will probably be doing it on their own time and dime. To me, it sounds like a job for FEMA, but they apparently have their hands full building camps around the country.
At least this debris field won’t be invisible. In fact, it will be impossible to ignore, unlike the ongoing radiation threat in our air, rain, and food supply. The tsunami debris will be a huge biological and radioactive nightmare that has the potential for ruining the west coast of North America for years to come. That means beaches, tourism, and recreation. To say it will severely impact every seaside community from Alaska to Mexico and Hawaii is probably an understatement.
We have big problems headed our way, and no solutions. No money. No help. We are on our own. And this is just the tsunami debris side of things. At the very least, it will undoubtedly wake a few people up. I assume some of these people are also going to be very pissed off.
Welcome to the multifaceted Fukushima disaster. We’ve been waiting for you to join us. And by the way, where have you been for the past 14 months?
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