Friday, July 15, 2011

RELATED POSTS Fukushima

Lucas Whitefield Hixson
Re-posted by
RadiationAlerts.blogspot.com

Re-posted by
RadiationAlerts.blogspot.com

TEPCO Still Examining Over 8,300 Workers Who Worked At Fukushima In March and AprilFor Radiation Exposure

Radiation Alerts Re-distribute July 17 2011




Re-distributed by RadiationAlerts.org at
RadiationAlerts.blogspot.com

Posted: 14 Jul 2011 10:08 PM PDT
Over 8,300 total workers worked at Fukushima Daiichi Between March and April,
much higher than many other  printed estimates in main stream media.
March 2011 - 3,771 Workers 3,538 Tested To Date
April 2011 - 4,567 Workers 3,254 Tested To Date



The allowable emergency limit for radiation doses: 250 mSv (Previously 100 mSv)


To Date


100-200 mSv: 107 Workers
200-250 mSv: 8 Workers
250+  mSv: 9 Workers


Detailed assessment of 8 workers out of the 9 with the provisional exposure doses over 250mSv have been done, showing that 6 workers had received more than 250mSv.[7/7]


Definite exposure doses of 8 workers who received more than 250 mSv are distributed from 309 mSv to 678 mSv.


Still waiting on updated worker totals through July, and updated exposure limits as many of the workers who started at the plant since March and April still work on-site.


Watch the TBS feed AND the TEPCO Webcam simulcast EXCLUSIVELY HEREhttp://lucaswhitefieldhixson.com/lucaswebcamwatch.html
Posted: 14 Jul 2011 09:02 AM PDT
Nearly 4 months after the disaster new facts are being released about the working conditions at Fukushima Daiichi, and the extent of some of the injuries sustained.  NISA is finally reprimanding TEPCO for worker conditions and detected internal radiation amounts.


One worker whose internal exposure registered over 500 mSv was outside a door at Reactor that could not be secured or closed and was subsequently exposed to the radioactive materials during the hydrogen explosion.


The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency on Wednesday issued an improvement order to Tokyo Electric Power Co. over its failure to manage radiation levels for workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, citing the exposure of six workers at the site to levels in excess of the 250 millisieverts per year emergency limit.


Also coming out is the fact that there are over 23,000 abandoned firefighters uniforms dumped near Reactors 1 through 4 during the first crisis days at Fukushima.  There are still fire fighters uniforms  in Pripyat and Chernobyl that are extremely radioactive from the Soviet nuclear disaster.
From the Guardian
Ariyoshi Rune, a tall, wiry 47-year-old truck driver whose slicked-back hair and sideburns are inspired by his idol, Joe Strummer, is a "nuclear gypsie". Rune gave the Guardian a rare insight into working conditions inside the plant.


As he leaves his place of work for his 90-minute break, he must remove his cotton gloves before opening a door into a second room, where he takes off two pairs of rubber gloves and strips down to his underpants. In a third room, he is scanned for radiation. If he gets the all clear, he is given a new uniform and underwear. The process is repeated again after his second 90-minute shift of the day.



Workers on the bus which will transfer them
 to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. 
Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert
"It is so hot there at the moment, we have to take lots of breaks, so I don't think this will be done by January," he says, referring to Tepco's self-imposed deadline for stabilising the plant. "That said I have seen signs of progress, like the treatment of contaminated water."




He is part of the team of 25 men removing and packing 23,000 firefighters' uniforms dumped near reactors No 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the first chaotic days of the crisis, when three of the plant's six reactors suffered core meltdowns. One group retrieves the uniforms, which he collects by truck and drops off for another crew to sort and pack before they are taken away for disposal.


From Japan Times Online
On June 10, Tepco said two workers were exposed to 678 and 643 millisieverts, respectively. In late June and earlier this month, the utility announced that another worker was exposed to 352 millisieverts, while three more employees were exposed to dosages of 308, 475 and 359 millisieverts, respectively.


The legal annual limit for a nuclear plant worker is 50 millisieverts. However, the emergency limit, which is normally set at 100 milisieverts, was raised to 250 millisieverts, given the gravity of the Fukushima crisis. If someone absorbs 500 millisieverts in one go, experts say the impact causes a reduction in the lymphocyte count. 


Note: A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell in the vertebrate immune system. (White Blood Cells) These cells are made in the bone marrow along with other kinds of blood cells. Lymphocytes help protect your body from infection. Low numbers of lymphocytes can raise your risk of infection.
According to the report Tepco submitted to NISA on June 17, the first two employees were working in the central operating rooms of reactors 3 and 4 during the early stages of the accident. One worker, whose internal exposure is 590 millisieverts, was wearing glasses that likely caused his mask to bulge and allowed in radioactive materials.


The other worker, whose internal exposure was 540 millisieverts, was working near an outside door that could not be shut completely when the reactor 1 hydrogen explosion occurred, spewing radioactive materials.


Watch the TBS feed AND the TEPCO Webcam simulcast EXCLUSIVELY HEREhttp://lucaswhitefieldhixson.com/lucaswebcamwatch.html
Posted: 14 Jul 2011 07:21 AM PDT
Earlier this month, authorities in Japan were "shocked" to find that radioactive beef had been shipped to the markets without receiving the mandatory tests.  As the number of contaminated products increases, the number  causes are also increasing.


After the first 11 cows from one farm were tested, it was deduced that the well was a probable source of contamination, which worried residents who also used the same well to collect drinking water.  At that time, the feed that farm had used was found to be without contamination and had been harvested in 2005.


This week Fukushima Prefecture found that another 42 possibly contaminated cattle had been shipped out between April and July.  The inspectors found that the hay used to feed the cattle measured 97,000 becquerels/kg, some 73 times above the legal limits.





Inspectors at a cattle farm where 11 cows had been found to
exceed the radiation limits.




Fukushima Prefecture ordered that isolated farm to stop shipping and transporting cattle, and asked other municipalities to check the distribution channels of beef from cattle.