MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

FOX News – “NEW ORLEANS – Eyeless shrimp, fish with oozing sores and other mutant creatures found in the Gulf of Mexico are raising concerns over lingering effects of the BP oil spill.

On April 20, 2010, an explosion aboard the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 people and spewed an estimated 4.9 million barrels into the Gulf, in the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Two years later, scientists and commercial fishers alike are fiyonding shrimp, crab and fish that they believe have been deformed by the chemicals unleashed in the spill, according to an extensive report by Al Jazeera English.

‘At the height of the last white shrimp season, in September, one of our friends caught 400 pounds of these,’ Tracy Kuhns, a commercial fisher from Barataria, La., told Al Jazeera, showing a sample of the eyeless shrimp.

Darla Rooks, another lifelong fisher from Port Sulfur, La., told the broadcaster she was seeing ‘eyeless fish, and fish lacking even eye sockets, and fish with lesions, fish without covers over their gills and others with large pink masses hanging off their eyes and gills.’

Rooks added that she had never seen such deformities in Gulf waters in her life — a refrain common to most fishers featured in the report — and said her seafood catch last year was ‘ten percent what it normally is.'” Read more.

Gulf of Mexico: Thousands of Dolphins Dying in Massive Die-Off, Symptoms Consistent With Those Seen in Animals Exposed to Oil – “The dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico are in the midst of a massive die-off. The reasons why remain a complicated and mysterious mix of oil, bacteria and the unknown… In the summer of 2011, NOAA tested 32 live dolphins in Barataria Bay, an area heavily impacted by the oil spill. The dolphins were underweight, anemic, and had low blood sugar and/or some symptoms of liver and lung disease. Nearly half had abnormally low levels of hormones that help with stress response, metabolism and immune function.” Read more.

Flashback: BP Disaster Still Unfolding: New Data Confirming Fears That Fish, Wildlife and Millions of Gulf Coast Residents May Be Seriously Impacted for Decades – “In the Gulf, new information is confirming fears that fish and wildlife — and millions of people on the Coast — are being seriously impacted by the 4.9 million barrels of BP oil spewed from the ocean deep last year. A new report from the Waterkeeper Alliance shows the BP disaster is still unfolding… According to the Waterkeeper State of the Gulf report, the effects are just beginning: ‘The oil is not gone, and long-term impacts are still unknown. If past oil spills are used as a barometer we can fully expect the Gulf Coast to suffer continued environmental degradation for decades.'” Read more.

Radiation, schmadiation.  Please keep buying milk and food found with radiation, schmadiation. According to some, it’s not all that harmful. Until enough of the right kind accumulates in your body and makes you sick …

By Jeff McMahon, Forbes – “Milk from Little Rock and drinking water from Philadelphia contained the highest levels of Iodine-131 from Japan yet detected by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to data released by EPA Saturday.

The Philadelphia sample is below the EPA’s maximum contaminant level (MCL) for iodine-131 in water, but the Little Rock sample is almost three times higher.

Nonetheless, the EPA does not consider the milk dangerous because the MCL is set for long-term exposure, and the iodine-131 from Japan’s Fukushima-Daichi nuclear accident is expected to be temporary and deteriorate rapidly.

The Little Rock milk sample contained 8.9 picoCuries per liter. It was collected on March 30. On Sunday, EPA released data showing milk in Hilo, Hawaii with 24 pCi/L of cesium-134, 19 of cesium-137, and 18 of Iodine-131.

Three drinking water samples collected in Philadelphia on April 4 contained Iodine-131, according to Saturday’s data release:” Read more.

By Alexander Higgins – “While the mainstream media long ago moved on from covering the nuclear disaster in Japan, a number of independent journalists and scientists have been warning that the disaster is far from over.

In fact, many experts are suggesting that dangerously high levels of nuclear fallout and radiation are still blanketing the western coast of the United States.

One year later and the problems just keep getting worse…

An independent reporter, EnviroReproter out of Los Angeles CA., has conducted over 1,500 tests in the Los Angeles area since the disaster occurred.

In his latest set of readings, he tested a sampling of rain water that was composed primarily of sea mist. The levels of radiation that he detected were over five times the normal background radiation levels in Santa Monica CA.

Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear power industry executive, is claiming that the Fukushima nuclear disaster is 10 times worse than the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown in the former Soviet Union.

He says that Chernobyl was a single reactor running at only 7 percent when it ruptured, while Fukushima had three reactors operating at 100 percent capacity. Fukushima also had seven other nuclear reactors with spent fuel pools that were damaged.

In an interview he gave to ChinaDaily.com, Gunderson warned that nuclear fallout was making its way into the food supply of the world.

“Large cesium deposits (are also being found) on the bottom of the river bed that gets picked up by weeds and seaweed in the ocean that then gets eaten by other fish and mollusks and work their way up the food chain,””

Read more.

Now they tell us: Radioactive Iodine from Fukushima Found in California Kelp – “Kelp off Southern California was contaminated with short-lived radioisotopes a month after Japan’s Fukushima accident, a sign that the spilled radiation reached the state’s urban coastline, according to a new scientific study. Scientists from California State University, Long Beach tested giant kelp collected in the ocean off Orange County and other locations after the March, 2011 accident, and detected radioactive iodine, which was released from the damaged nuclear reactor. The largest concentration was about 250-fold higher than levels found in kelp before the accident.” Read more.

Fukushima Has Potential to Destroy the World And Our Civilization – “Experts are now coming forward with their opinions on the real implications of the Fukushima disaster. More and more scientists continue to report that Fukushima has the potential to make Chernobyl look like a drop of water compared to a massive lake. For starters, experts are admitting that the nuclear fallout is already near or above Chernobyl levels. Then there is the acknowledgement that the levels of cesium at the plant is 85 time more than that contained at Chernobyl. On top of that, there is the major problem of the plutonium Mox fuel. Now, a former UN Adviser, has come forward to warn that Fukushima has the potential to ‘destroy the world, the environment, and our civilization.'” Read more.

“Japan’s former Ambassador to Switzerland, Mr. Mitsuhei Murata, was invited to speak at the Public Hearing of the Budgetary Committee of the House of Councilors on March 22, 2012, on the Fukushima nuclear power plants accident. Before the Committee, Ambassador Murata strongly stated that if the crippled building of reactor unit 4—with 1,535 fuel rods in the spent fuel pool 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground—collapses, not only will it cause a shutdown of all six reactors but will also affect the common spent fuel pool containing 6,375 fuel rods, located some 50 meters from reactor 4. In both cases the radioactive rods are not protected by a containment vessel; dangerously, they are open to the air. This would certainly cause a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced. He stressed that the responsibility of Japan to the rest of the world is immeasurable. Such a catastrophe would affect us all for centuries. Ambassador Murata informed us that the total numbers of the spent fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi site excluding the rods in the pressure vessel is 11,421 (396+615+566+1,535+994+940+6375).

I asked top spent-fuel pools expert Mr. Robert Alvarez, former Senior Policy Adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Security and the Environment at the U.S. Department of Energy, for an explanation of the potential impact of the 11,421 rods.

I received an astounding response from Mr. Alvarez [updated 4/5/12]:

In recent times, more information about the spent fuel situation at the Fukushima-Dai-Ichi site has become known.  It is my understanding that of the 1,532 spent fuel assemblies in reactor No. 304 assemblies are fresh and unirradiated. This then leaves 1,231 irradiated spent fuel rods in pool No. 4, which contain roughly 37 million curies (~1.4E+18 Becquerel) of long-lived radioactivity.  The No. 4 pool is about 100 feet above ground, is structurally damaged and is exposed to the open elements. If an earthquake or other event were to cause this pool to drain this could result in a catastrophic radiological fire involving nearly 10 times the amount of Cs-137 released by the Chernobyl accident.

The infrastructure to safely remove this material was destroyed as it was at the other three reactors.  Spent reactor fuel cannot be simply lifted into the air by a crane as if it were routine cargo.  In order to prevent severe radiation exposures, fires and possible explosions, it must be transferred at all times in water and heavily shielded structures into dry casks.. As this has never been done before, the removal of the spent fuel from the pools at the damaged Fukushima-Dai-Ichi reactors will require a major and time-consuming re-construction effort and will be charting in unknown waters. Despite the enormous destruction cased at the Da–Ichi site, dry casks holding a smaller amount of spent fuel  appear to be unscathed.

Based on U.S. Energy Department data, assuming a total of 11,138 spent fuel assemblies are being stored at the Dai-Ichi site, nearly all, which is in pools. They contain roughly 336 million curies (~1.2 E+19 Bq) of long-lived radioactivity. About 134 million curies is Cesium-137 — roughly 85 times the amount of Cs-137 released at the Chernobyl accident as estimated by the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP). The total spent reactor fuel inventory at the Fukushima-Daichi site contains nearly half of  the total amount of Cs-137 estimated by the NCRP to have been released by all atmospheric nuclear weapons testing, Chernobyl, and world-wide reprocessing plants (~270 million curies or ~9.9 E+18 Becquerel).

It is important for the public to understand that reactors that have been operating for decades, such as those at the Fukushima-Dai-Ichi site have generated some of the largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet.

Many of our readers might find it difficult to appreciate the actual meaning of the figure, yet we can grasp what 85 times more Cesium-137 than the Chernobyl would mean. It would destroy the world environment and our civilization.” Read more.

Finally, I agree with something that Rachel Maddow has reported on …

Host: “So think about this. How do you fix this problem? How do you repair what’s wrong in Reactor 2? It’s not gonna fix itself. Human beings cannot get near enough to this problem and live long enough to fix the problem. We cannot even send robot remote-control things in there  to fix the problem because either because it’s too radioactive even for electronics… An executive at the power company told the New York Times this week, ‘With levels of radiation extremely high we would need to develop equipment that can tolerate high radiation.’ … We’re gonna have to try to invent something [to fix the problem] while the problem gets worse and worse and worse. It is beyond human capability. And the really bad news is that this apparently is the good news. Reactor number 2, the one they went into, that’s in the best shape. They can’t even figure out how to determine what’s going on in Reactors 1 and 3 because the radiation levels there are reportedly even higher …”

“The Journal Environmental Science and Technology reports in a new study that the Fukushima radiation plume contacted North America at California ‘with greatest exposure in central and southern California’, and that Southern California’s seaweed tested over 500% higher for radioactive  iodine-131 than anywhere else in the U.S. and Canada:

Projected paths of the radioactive atmospheric plume emanating from the Fukushima reactors, best described as airborne particles or aerosols for 131I, 137Cs, and 35S, and subsequent atmospheric monitoring showed it coming in contact with the North American continent at California, with greatest exposure in central and southern California. Government monitoring sites in Anaheim (southern California) recorded peak airborne concentrations of 131I at 1.9 pCi m−3

Anaheim is where Disneyland is located.

EneNews summarizes the data:

Corona Del Mar (Highest in Southern California)

• 2.5 Bq/gdwt (gram dry weight)= 2,500 Bq/kg of dry seaweed

Santa Cruz (Highest in Central California)

• 2.0 Bq/gdwt = 2,000 Bq/kg of dry seaweed

Simon Fraser University in Canada also tested North American seaweed after Fukushima:

• “In samples of dehydrated seaweed taken on March 15 near the North Vancouver SeaBus terminal, the count was zero; on March 22 it was 310 Bq per kilogram; and by March 28 it was 380 Bq/kg.” –Vancouver Sun
• Seaweed in Seattle also tested positive for iodine-131; levels were not reported –KIRO
• No results after March 28 were reported

In addition, radioactive debris is starting to wash up on the Pacific Coast. And because the Japanese are burning radioactive materials instead of disposing of them, radioactive rain-outs will continue for some time … even on the Pacific Coast.” Read more.

Highest level of radioactive cesium to date found in freshwater fish in Fukushima village – “Radioactive cesium far exceeding the allowable limit and way higher than previously detected contamination levels in fish has been found in river trout here, the prefectural government said on March 28. The yamame, or landlocked masu salmon, caught in the Niida River in Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, measured 18,700 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram, a reading over 37 times more than the government-imposed provisional limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram.” Read more.

“Tokyo:  One of Japan’s crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and much less water to cool it than officials had estimated, according to an internal examination that renews doubts about the plant’s stability.

A tool equipped with a tiny video camera, a thermometer, a dosimeter and a water gauge was used to assess damage inside the No. 2 reactor’s containment chamber for the second time since the tsunami swept into the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant a year ago.

The data collected Tuesday showed the damage from the disaster is so severe, the plant operator will have to develop special equipment and technology to tolerate the harsh environment and decommission the plant, a process expected to last decades.

The other two reactors that had meltdowns could be in even worse shape. The No. 2 reactor is the only one officials have been able to closely examine so far.

Tuesday’s examination with an industrial endoscope detected radiation levels up to 10 times the fatal dose inside the chamber. Plant officials previously said more than half of the melted fuel has breached the core and dropped to the floor of the primary containment vessel, some of it splashing against the wall or the floor.

Particles from melted fuel have probably sent radiation levels up to a dangerously high 70 sieverts per hour inside the container, said Junichi Matsumoto, spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. The figure far exceeds the highest level previously detected, 10 sieverts per hour, which was detected around an exhaust duct shared by No. 1 and 2 units last year.” Read more.

Radiation levels at Fukushima can kill in minutes – “A lethal level of radiation has been detected inside one of the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, throwing fresh doubts over the operator’s claims that the disabled complex is under control. Engineers for Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) say readings of airborne radiation inside the containment vessel of Reactor 2 showed nearly 73 sieverts per hour this week, the highest since the crisis began following the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March last year. Exposure to radiation at that level is deadly within minutes, according to Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK.” Read more.

By JOSEPH MANGANO and JANETTE SHERMAN – “The myth that Fukushima radiation levels were too low to harm humans persists, a year after the meltdown. A March 2, 2012 New York Times article quoted Vanderbilt University professor John Boice: ‘there’s no opportunity for conducting epidemiological studies that have any chance for success – the doses are just too low.’ Wolfgang Weiss of the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation also recently said doses observed in screening of Japanese people ‘are very low.’

Views like these are political, not scientific, virtually identical to what the nuclear industry cheerleaders claim. Nuclear Energy Institute spokesperson Tony Pietrangelo issued a statement in June that ‘no health effects are expected among the Japanese people as a result of the events at Fukushima.’

In their haste to choke off all consideration of harm from Fukushima radiation, nuclear plant owners and their willing dupes in the scientific community built a castle against invaders – those open-minded researchers who would first conduct objective research BEFORE rushing to judgment. The pro-nuclear chants of ‘no harm’ and ‘no studies needed’ are intended to be permanent, as part of damage control created by a dangerous technology that has produced yet another catastrophe.

But just one year after Fukushima, the ‘no harm’ mantra is now being crowded by evidence – evidence to the contrary.” Read more.

Expert on Asahi TV: If Unit 4 pool gets a crack from quake and leaks, it would be the end for Tokyo – “Most discussion of the No. 4 spent fuel pool has focused on an earthquake causing the pool to collapse. This video [you may need to enable subtitles] is different because it reveals: 1. A crack, rather than the collapse of the pool itself, can be the end of Tokyo, 2. The quake that could put a crack in the pool and be the end of Tokyo does not have to be a large one, 3. The sense of shock when people in Japan are made aware of this information for the first time” Read more.