Watch Out! Mainstream News is Reporting on Dangers of Fukushima to America!

The cask containing 22 fuel rods at the No. 4 reactor building
is moved from the reactor building to another building where
a common fuel pool is located at the tsunami-crippled TEPCO's
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture,

The corporatized mainstream media in the U.S. does its very best to downplay the ongoing, potentially apocalyptic tragedy that occurred March 11, 2011 when a 9.0 magnitude quake crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, thus allowing critical information the time to be manipulated and mishandled, essentially covering up what is actually happening. The reason for this is obvious: The Fortune 500,, in particular, #8 on the list, General Electric, the primary architect of the nuclear reactors, not to mention,  the overwhelming political power they wield as one of the big six media conglomerates.

But as workers have begun the tricky but essential task of removing fuel rods from one of the reactor units there, a local ABC news outlet (Los Angeles CA) actually reported on the enormous danger that Fukushima poses to the USA, especially to the west coast.

“Fukushima is an enormous problem that's getting bigger.

Nuclear Engineer Dr. Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, confirmed that ocean currents are carrying the radioactive water to the West Coast.

"There are several hundred tons of radioactive water that are pouring into the ocean at the site every day," Makhijani said.

[...]

"Fukushima is potentially the biggest ticking time bomb in human history. The damaged plant is in no condition to withstand another massive earthquake or tsunami. The original 19-foot sea wall was shattered when the tsunami struck and provided little protection. The tsunami flooded the plant, cut off power, and the meltdown was underway.

[...]

“Just last week, Dr. David Suzuki, one of Canada's top environmental scientists, stunned the audience when he described what will happen if a massive quake did hit today.

"It's bye bye Japan, and everybody on the West Coast of North America should evacuate," Suzuki said. "Now if that isn't terrifying, I don't know what is."

However, even though this report dares to go where other mainstream outlets dare not, it still  distorts  the facts,  whether as a result of omission or commission, leaving  the informed reader dubious of  the author/network's intention.

For instance, we're told that the radioactive isotopes will dilute, when, in fact, they are incapable of diluting, not to mention, they  tend to stay within a particular, circular current that runs between Japan and the west coast of North America/Canada. Not to mention, they omit the process of bioaccumulation, how radiation exposure increases through the food chain.  Radioactive particles in organisms at the bottom of the food chain are eaten by larger organisms, who concentrate it even more, and so on. 

Moreover, both the Japanese and US governments have increased the "safe" limits, once again, in reaction to the Fukushima meltdown.



Links:

Fukushima's crippled reactors: the risky plan to move fuel rods

Japanese governor calls out TEPCO for ‘institutionalized lying’
Whirled Peas commented:

"Nuclear power plants pose an unacceptable risk to the world..

The fact that the risk hasn’t shown up often in the 55 years of nuclear energy leads some people to naively believe that all that is required to make it safe is just a little more research, better buildings, air-tight systems, and well-trained personnel, more support for university nuclear engineering departments. But no matter how many improvements and fail-safes are built into a reactor, there will always be a risk of failure — there are always material and human limitations. And when the failure does show up, the results have widespread disastrous consequences.

The Japanese people have great patience, perseverance, and drive. Their country has always been prone to natural disasters and yet they have quickly recovered from them in the past. If the Fukushima residents had experienced “only” an earthquake and tsunami, they’d be well on their way to rebuilding their cities and re-establishing their businesses. I have no doubt about that. It is the threat of radiation, the problems with clean up, and the quarantine of entire areas that have made life a living nightmare for the population. The nuclear disaster has made people powerless to get on with their lives. And just think of the amount of money it’s taken to evacuate people long term and to do the clean up? The risk has shown up, and it is unacceptable.

First Fuel Rods Plucked From Tsunami-Damaged Fukushima Plant

Uncertainties abound in Fukushima decommissioning

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If Fukushima Fuel Pool #4's Collapses it Could Mean Global Catastrophe.

A former Japan Ambassador warned a government committee of “a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced” if No. 4 collapses. Common spent fuel pool with 6,375 fuel rods in jeopardy “would affect us all for centuries.” Yet, the governing class doesn't seem all that concerned. Is it possible they have the technology to deactivate or reverse radiation? I know Brown's gas can neutralize radiation, however, unless you want to destroy whatever it is that you are neutralizing, it's highly impractical.

Most materials are radioactive because the electrons have been stripped off the molecules; the nucleus then ejects particles of various kinds (radioactivity) to try to 'balance' the 'weight' (and transmute to a lighter, glasslike, material). Somehow, the molecules are able to use the special energy in the BG to complete this transmutation in seconds (instead of millennia), when the material is molten and given the shock of the thermite explosion.

So it's impractical to use BG, as far as I know, on anything that you don't want to destroy. The BG 'explodes' the material and does the neutralization during the explosion. You need to affect the material on an atomic level to neutralize the radioactivity.

Also it's impractical to use BG on any material that isn't concentrated radioactive. It takes electrical power to make the BG, plus quantities of iron and aluminum to make the explosive reaction.

Thus, BG works well to neutralize CONCENTRATED nuclear waste, like spent fuel rods or decommissioned warheads, but practically useless at remediation of radioactive materials that have dispersed into the general environment.

BG has been proven (Canada government certified tests) to be an extremely effective, practical and inexpensive method to neutralize the radioactivity of materials generally produced by nuclear powerplants. The neutralization can be done onsite, eliminating the need for transportation and storage of nuclear waste.

According to the Blue Commission Report a fuel assembly contains over 6,000 fuel assemblies and 140,000 fuel rods.

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Cold Shutdown? Fukushima Reactor Reaches Highest Temperature Ever.

On September 28, 2011, it was reported that the Japanese prime minister at the time - Naoto Kan - contemplated evacuating tens of millions of people from in and around Tokyo - that's 30 million people - but didn't because he feared the panic and chaos that would result. The Japanese leadership were also accused of knowing months ago that areas around the nuclear plant would not be habitable for decades.

In December, 2011, the Japanese government and TEPCO declared that all the reactors were in a state of "cold shutdown".  However, in the last few days, one TEPCO graph showed that Reactor No. 2 showed a temperature spike in excess of 90 degrees Celsius . With the injection of massive amounts of water, the temperature is now at 78 degrees Celcius.


MsMilkytheclown is doing a great job of reporting on the ongoing, under-reported Fukushima crisis.




Related Links:

One reading of Fukushima reactor exceeds 80 C

Nuclear accident scenario kept under wraps

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Nature's Fury or Mankind's Nuclear-Level Stupidity?

It took a while but the mainstream news is finally on the job, as three of our nation's nuclear facilities may be approaching something that could radiate the world: two, because of floods, and one, because of fire. Not to mention, the nuclear melt-through occuring in Japan.

Nevertheless, despite these apparently dire circumstances, notice the light-heartedness of these mainstream news folk, as nuclear armageddon seems all but a sure thing. Now, I know I constantly go on and on about how the mainstream media either minimizes, or totally ignores important stories; however, it seems now that they've decided to take these stories on, despite the magnitude of potential doom, it's as if peachy-faced talking heads are reporting on a day in the life of Mickey Mouse. Or, more accurately, "beauty in the beast".  Do they know something we don't know?   Like, maybe, there's a turn-off switch, somewhere? 

The anti-nuclear watchdog group Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety reported that 30,000 55-gallon drums of plutonium-contaminated waste were stored in fabric tents above ground , in area 'G' - later confirmed by lab spokesperson, Lisa Rosendorf - on the campus of the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory .  Uhm...30,000 55-gallon drums of plutonium in fabric tents above ground?!? With a raging rapidly-growing wildfire that's "zero-percent contained", about a mile away?!? I'm no expert by any means, but that situation sounds slightly...oh, I don't know, apocolyptic.  But, maybe, that's just me.

Meanwhile, mandatory evacuations seem almost commonplace, now, as 12,000 people are ordered to leave the city of Los Alamos.    

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Viewers on the frontlines of the fire : krqe.com

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Fukushima: Radioactive Urine. Plutonium Release? No Signs of Quake Damage?

We don't hear too much about Fukushima; however, you can be fairly sure that the old cliche: "no news is good news" does not apply.  Japanese officials are evacuating more towns as new "hot-spots" of radiation are discovered further and further away from the nuclear plant.

Fukushima residents' urine is now radioactive as over 3 millisieverts of radiation has been measured in the urine of 15 Fukushima residents of the village of Iitate and the town of Kawamata, confirming internal radiation exposure. Although it was learned Sunday, the tests were taken six weeks ago.

And, what about the black smoke coming out of the #3 reactor, the most dangerous of the reactors because  of  the plutonium inside. TEPCO first reported that the black smoke was dwindling, but that it was still rising. What's the big deal? Well, the color of smoke is a major indicator of the type of fire that is burning. The containment building is mostly steel and concrete which does not account for the black smoke. However, a plutonium release at Fukushima, unit 3 Reactor Fukushima unit 3 reactor is currently



Last, but not least...an interesting analysis by freelance journalist Jim Stone, who, in addition to disputing the 9.0 Japanese earthquake, disputes Arne Gunderson's "prompt criticality", with regard to the massive explosion at #3, claiming that he is very poorly credentialed.

1997 Military briefing to William Cohen regarding EM weaponry

"Others are engaging even in an eco- type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves. So there are plenty of ingenious minds out there that are at work finding ways in which they can wreak terror upon other nations. It's real, and that's the reason why we have to intensify our efforts, and that's why this is so important. - William S. Cohen, Secretary of Defense, April 28, 1997

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Evil People Have Plans! Good People Have Donuts and Word Jumbles.

Clear thinking comedian Lee Camp tells it like it is.

Evil people have plans.



Message to homophobes.



We Can't Control The Monsters We Create



What do Glen Beck and Hugh Hefner have in common?



Stamp out happiness!

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It's the Spent Fuel Pool, Stupid.

Flooded Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant

Fukushima may end up being the worst disaster the world has ever seen, yet, we hear very little, if anything about it as Japanese authorities struggle to contain the fallout, and the mainstream media follows corporate orders to remain silent on this issue.

Yet, the Japanese government was well aware of the meltdown taking place since the earliest days of the accident, yet, they refused to admit it until they were forced,   (Tepco later admitted that it was a melt through, far worse than a meltdown)... more than two months later.  They not only avoided the word, "meltdown", they maintained its line that Fukushima had only leaked 10% of the radiation of Chernobyl, knowing it was much worse!

“In the first days after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station began spewing radiation in mid-March, the plant’s operator and Japanese safety regulators studiously avoided the word “meltdown”.

Yes, they said, uranium fuel rods in the tsunami-hit facility’s reactors might have been damaged after cooling systems failed. But the official view was that the rods were still mostly intact – and radioactive material was safely contained inside their zirconium sheaths.

Now, a little over two months later, new information on the state of Fukushima Daiichi’s three overheated reactors is making the m-word impossible to avoid. Fuel inside the cores, it is now understood, melted far more quickly and extensively than was initially believed – disintegrating just a few hours after the tsunami knocked out the plants electricity."

So, following right along, in Japan's footsteps,  the disinformation begins.

Disinformation: "no fly-over zone since 9/11":

The recently ordered no-fly zone over Fort Calhoun's nuclear island is now being reported that there has been a no-fly zone over nuclear power plants in the U.S., since 9/11. On June 6th, the FAA issued a directive banning aircraft from entering the airspace within a two-mile radius of the plant. OPPD spokesman Jeff Hanson said the flight ban was due to high power lines and 'security reasons that we can't reveal.' He said the flight ban remains in effect.Since 9/11, a "no-hover" or "no-loitering" order's been in place over nuclear power plants throughout the US.

Disinformation: "no-need-to-worry":

There is  no need to panic; nevertheless, there is much more to worry about, here, than the future agenda of Wiener's wiener that dominates the mainstream media right now. You will hear or read that because the plant is "shut down", there is no need to worry. However, considering the plant was shut down to refuel, that means the reactor head has been taken off the reactor, exposing the core; therefore it's even more vulnerable to security issues.  In addition, it's impossible to shut down a nuclear plant completley due to the "spent" fuel rods that need constant cooling, because, in reality, they aren't fully spent, nor are they fully cooled. As is the case with reactor # 4 at Fukishima, the rods will be active for centuries.  In other words, the real threat here is ensuring that spent fuel rods stay cool.

 In addition, the NRC ordered six new boats in order to transport their employees to and from the plant.

Whether or not this turns out to be nothing, or the story that ends all stories is not the issue, as much as, where the hell is news media, and what good are they when all they report on is bullshit

Oh, wait, NBC (GE) and CBS (Westinghouse) makes nuclear reactors.

Update:

Facility: FORT CALHOUN
Notification Date: 06/16/2011
Notification Time: 14:46 [ET]
Event Date: 06/16/2011
Event Time: 12:30 [CDT]
Event Text: ADDITIONAL PENETRATION IDENTIFIED FOR MITIGATION DURING WALKDOWN
“Operations identified a potential flooding issue in the Intake Structure 1007 ft. 6 in. level. The area of concern is a the hole in the floor at the 1007 ft. 6 in. level where the relief valve from FP-1A discharge pipe goes through the raw pump bay and discharges into the intake cell. There is one penetration of concern. Flooding through this penetration could have impacted the ability of the station’s Raw Water (RW) pumps to perform their design accident mitigation functions.“Efforts are in progress to seal the penetration.

“This eight-hour notification is being made pursuant to 10 CFR 50.72 (b)(3)(v).”
The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

Links:

Beyond Nuclear

Locations of Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations

Tepco Failed to Disclose Scale of Fukushima Radiation Leaks, Academics Say

World Nuclear Power Reactors & Uranium Requirements

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Japan: A Ticking Time Bomb?

Over one month later, after a catastrophic earthquake, tsunami, Chernobyl levels of radiation, and liquefaction - the process whereby earthquake shaking causes poorly consolidated ground with high water content to behave like a liquid - the people of Japan, despite their country's earthquake history (approx 1,500 earthquakes strike the island nation every year) still has no idea what to expect. All they know is that things are not good.

Even, the normally cheerful and optimistic Physics Professor, Michio Kaku called Fukushima reactors "ticking time bombs.







Links:

Japan Quake Map

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Evidence of Chain Reaction at Fukushima Unit 1.

Recent press reports have discussed the possibility that Fukushima Unit 1 may be having a nuclear chain reaction. Neutron bursts were detected 13 times, about a mile away from the reactor, as well as the presence of an “ethereal blue flash,” above the plant. Moreover, new data released by TEPCO indicates that even though Fukushima Unit 1 was shut down during the March 11 earthquake, it appears to have "gone critical" again.

In the video below, Arnie Gundersen, Chief Nuclear Engineer from Fairewinds Energy Associates, explains that the presence of neutrons inside a nuclear reactor means that a chain reaction is definitely occurring.  The discovery of isotope Chlorine-38, not present in nature, in Fukushima #1 reactor,  is more than likely, created by Chlorine-37, present in seawater, absorbing a neutron.  This chain reaction must be responsible for turning on a  portion of the nuclear core in reactor #1, without human intervention, considering it was shut down, at the same time as all of the other reactors, which do not show signs of the isotopes present in #1.

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Japan's Triple Disaster: An Act of Genocide?

Over 11,000 people died and 16,500 are still missing from the triple disaster that devastated Japan on March 11, 2011. Moreover, millions...possibly billions of people, worldwide, will suffer consequences from this horrific event. So, I hope that what geoscientist and international radiation expert, Leuren Moret says about the Japanese earthquake and tectonic warfare is not true; however, she sure seems to know what she's talking about.

From March 20, 2011:



From March 27, 2011:




Two Flyovers shot in high definition on 24 March 2011 of the smoldering ruins of the Fukushima nuclear plant



Links:



Bodies of 1,000 Too Toxic to Handle.

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Fukushima: What's Really Going On?

If you listen to the mainstream media, regarding anything, really, you will probably hear what you want to hear: everything will be fine as long as you listen to us, but, everything will not be fine, especially if you listen to them. If you don't think so,  research the 9/11 workers who are sick, dying or dead.  Research the  Gulf Coast residents and workers, that nearly a year after the oil disaster began,are sick, and dying from BP’s toxic chemicals.  Where was/is the mainstream media?

Take "safe levels of radiation", or event better, “at levels far below the levels that would pose a risk to humans” that self-interested parties like to claim, exist, without putting it into context.

"We all get between 1 to 10 millisieverts a year - an average 2 to 3 millisieverts - from background radiation," says Burns.

Air travel and CT scans are other common sources.

Official limits for radiation in food and water are set in the context of such exposures.

For example, the limit for nuclear workers is much higher than for the general public.

Ruff says it's important to remember radiation limits like this are not levels below which there is no effect.

"They're just a practical compromise between what's achievable and what's deemed an acceptable risk," he says.

Ruff says it's also important to remember the impact of radiation is greater on the unborn, infants and children, especially girls, compared to adults.

Now, Physicians for Social Responsibility say there are no safe thresholds for radiation.  However, once again, that means little without putting it into some sort of context.  Nevertheless, you can be sure of one thing.  Governments lie cover up. They always have and they always will...especially when profit is at stake. Moreover, every single government that has ever had a radiation problem covered up the extent of the danger.

There are no warning signs anywhere along the coast. People walk on this shoreline with their dogs and children. The dogs take the contaminated mud back home on their hair. The children carry it on their shoes. It then dries and can be breathed in. The deeper you dig down into the mud, the more poisonous the levels become because of the accumulation of waste over the years.

Fortunately, for us, we have the Internet, and the technology available to check them out. Unfortunately, the news is not good.

More signs of serious radiation contamination in and near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were detected Thursday, with the latest data finding groundwater containing radioactive iodine 10,000 times the legal threshold and the concentration of radioactive iodine-131 in nearby seawater rising to the highest level yet.

It appears that the core of No. 2 reactor - the one that Dr. Chris Busby said has a 5% of creating a nuclear explosion - "has melted through the bottom of the pressure vessel and at least some of it is down on the concrete floor beneath".

One nuclear expert warned that it might be another 100 years before melting fuel rods can be safely removed.

Anaheim California registered highest radiation in US

Drifting radiation:



The following video took place in Stockholm, April 22, 2009. The recently resigned Scientific Secretary of the ICRP, Dr Jack Valentin (icrp.org), concedes to Pr. Chris Busby, ECRR (euradcom.org) , that the ICRP model cannot be used to predict the health effects of exposures and that for certain internal exposures it is insecure by up to two orders of magnitude. He also said that as he was no longer employed by ICRP he could agree that the ICRP and the United Nations committee on radiation protection (UNSCEAR) had been wrong in not examining the evidence from the Chernobyl accident, and other evidence outlined below, which shows large errors in the ICRP risk model.



Pr. Chris Busby, ECRR, versus Dr. Jack Valentin , ICRP, 1(2) from Radio Active on Vimeo.

Links:

The Low Level Radiation Campaign

European on Radiation Risk

Fallujah study finds epidemiological consequences worse than Hiroshima

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Fukushima Nuclear Disaster May Become Worst in History.

Japan's damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima has been emitting radioactive iodine and caesium at levels approaching those seen in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident in 1986 according to   New Scientist. Moreover, the Fukushima plant contains "1760 metric tons of fresh and used nuclear fuel on site last year, according to a presentation by its owners, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco)."  Chernobyl contained only 180 tons.

What's even scarier is that the plant's Unit 3 reactor contains MOX, , a combination of uranium and plutonium fuel that according to the Nuclear Information Resource Center (NIRS); "this plutonium-uranium fuel mixture is far more dangerous than typical enriched uranium -- a single milligram (mg) of MOX is as deadly as 2,000,000 mg of normal enriched uranium".

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Japan Earthquake Victims: Erosion of Trust in Institutions? DIY.

Notes left behind by Japanese evacuees looking for loved ones inside a shelter in the earthquake and tsunami-destroyed town of Rikuzentakata, Japan on March 21. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Japan has proven to be resilient when it comes to surviving and reversing natural disasters, because it has a culture and mentality that facilitates rebounds and recovery, especially regarding earthquakes. However, this earth-changing quake may render Japanese efforts, less effective, in the long run, mainly because of the enormity of the catastrophe, the invisible threat of radiation, and most importantly, the lack of trust in the institutions with all of the crucial information needed to navigate this calamitous event.

"Japan is in a highly active tectonic zone where the Eurasian, Philippine Sea, Okhotsk and Pacific Plates converge. The unexpectedly strong quake took place where the Pacific Plate sinks under the Okhotsk Plate (subduction). In the affected region, the submerging Pacific Plate is very old and heavy and is sinking into the Earth’s core at a relatively high speed of 8 to 10 centimeters per year."

The western mainstream media's  coverage of Japan's post-earthquake and post-tsunami activity is already fading into the background, and was/is not giving a fully accurate picture.  On top of that, supposedly, Japan's "bureaucracy-media complex" is even worse, according to freelance journalist Takashi Uesugi, even though, since 2009, the Japanese press has become more aggressive after the end of 54 years of Liberal Democratic Party rule that shattered many of the cozy relationships between the ruling elite and the big media outlets.

So, what do you do when you can't trust the official word, or the accuracy of official radioactivity measurements. Well, DIY.  Create a croudsourced map of Geiger counter readings that contains a distributed network of 215 Geiger counter.

PICTURES: Japan Earthquake, Two Weeks Later

A photograph is seen in the rubble of a destroyed house in Otsuchi, Japan, on March 22. (Reuters/Damir Sagolj)

A car sits on headstones in a cemetery in Higashimatsushima City, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 22. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Tayo Kitamura, 40, touches the covered body of her mother Kuniko Kitamura, 69, after Japanese firemen discovered the dead woman inside the ruins of her home in Onagawa, northeastern Japan, on March 19. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

Family members and relatives transfer the bones of Masaichi Oyama, who was killed by the tsunami, by chopsticks into an urn during a cremation ceremony on March 24 in Kurihara , Japan. The family lost three family members from the earthquake and tsunami. Under Japanese Buddhist practice, a cremation is the expected traditional way of dealing with the dead, but now with the death toll so high, crematoriums are overwhelmed and there is a shortage of fuel to burn them. Local municipalities are forced to dig mass graves as a temporary solution. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

A traditional Japanese sandal, worn with formal kimono dress, lies in the rubble in the earthquake and tsunami destroyed town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan on Sunday, March 20. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

A house rests upside down in an open field along the coast near Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Friday, March 25. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

A person walks under snow through the town of Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, on March 23. (AP Photo/Yomiuri Shimbun, Tetsuya Kikumasa)

Links:

Know your nukes: understanding radiation risks in Japan

Unique Japan tsunami footage boon to scientists

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Widespread Radioactive Fallout Downwind.

According to the Institute for Science and International Security, the situation in Japan has considerably worsened. Japan was hit by a 5.7-magnitude aftershock and a second fire at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant as at least three of the four reactors are in a meltdown process. Japan has reported that radiation is being released directly into the air. At this time, it is reported that there is very little chance of ratiation reaching the United States.  However, it's also reported that Tokyo Electric and the Japanese government are under-stating or withholding information, both regarding the situation at the nuclear plant as well as radiological readings.

The amount of destruction, death, and suffering in Japan from the earthquake, tsunami and radioactive fallout is beyond comprehension. Here's the thing: Japan is probably the best prepared for this type of disaster. And even here, safety took a backseat to profits. So, will this be a wake-up call to the rest of us? Of course, earthquakes and tsunamis are beyond our control (unless they aren't, eco-terrorism may be alive and well). However, the safety of nuclear reactors is. But, our current paradigm of never ending growth and ever increasing consumption requires ever increasing amounts of energy and which, encourages profit over people.

Anyway, unfortunately, as much as, I'm sure, we would all like to alleviate the suffering of the Japanese, most of us, other than donating money or time, can do little to help. Nevertheless, we do have the power to manage as individuals or groups within our local sphere to possibly alleviate the potential suffering of ourselves and others.

Below is snapshot of the map that depicts environmental radiation levels across the USA, updated in real time every minute at Radiation Network. . You can see where all of the nuclear reactors are located.

So, what's that old boyscouot motto, again?  Ah yes, "Be prepared".

Well, maybe it might be a good idea to have some inkling of what to do should we experience  radioactive fallout, especially considering that both sides of the American political spectrum are controlled by corporate interests with mandates to increase profits at the total expense of humanity. And thanks to Citizens United, our fully corporate owned election process.

 What to Do If a Nuclear Disaster is Imminent might be a good place to start...just in case.

Links:

The Japanese are angered by the lack of Nuclear plant information.

Aftershocks, Fires Keep Japan on Edge; Snow Covers Disaster Area

In Fukushima city, capital of the prefecture where Tokyo Electric Power Co. workers are battling to contain fires and radiation leaks at nuclear reactors, about 200 people lined up at the Co-op supermarket to buy provisions. The queue at a local gasoline station stretched for more than a kilometer, there was no running water and portable toilets were overflowing.

DEFCON Warning System

IAEA Update on Japan Earthquake

Satellite Image Shows Damage to Reactor Buildings at Fukushima Daiichi Complex After Explosions

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2053 Nuclear Explosions Since 1945

Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto has created a time-lapse map of the 2053 nuclear explosions which have taken place between 1945 and 1998, beginning with the Manhattan Project's "Trinity" test near Los Alamos and concluding with Pakistan's nuclear tests in May of 1998. This leaves out North Korea's two alleged nuclear tests in this past decade (the legitimacy of both of which is not 100% clear).

Each nation gets a blip and a flashing dot on the map whenever they detonate a nuclear weapon, with a running tally kept on the top and bottom bars of the screen. Hashimoto, who began the project in 2003, says that he created it with the goal of showing"the fear and folly of nuclear weapons." It starts really slow — if you want to see real action, skip ahead to 1962 or so — but the buildup becomes overwhelming.

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The Man Who May Have Saved Millions of Lives

In September 1983, Soviet fighter jets shot down a Korean Airliner, killing 269 civilians, including many Americans and a US congressman. President Ronald Reagan described the Soviets actions as "barbaric" and "a crime against humanity that must never be forgotten".

The tension between the US and Russia increased to an all-time high and Soviet aircraft were banned from US airspace.

Strategic Rocket Forces Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov was filling in for someone else the night he received a computer report that a nuclear missile had been launched from the US to strike Moscow.

Petrov knew that he should immediately launch an all-out nuclear weapons counterattack against the United States, but Petrov thinking it was very odd that only one missle was launched held off.

Seconds later, four more missiles were spotted but Petrov decided to go with his initial instinct and hold off on the counterattack. Upon further investigation it was found the computer error resulted from a very rare sunlight alignment, which the computer read as missile.

Soviet leaders did not find Petrov's decision heroic and he was let go with $200 a month pension. Petrov consequently suffered a nervous breakdown.

This incident was not revealed until a Russian officer who was witness to Petrov's brave decision not to start WW III, wrote a book detailing what happened that night in 1983. In 2008, a documentary film entitled 'The Man who saved the World' is set to be released.

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Devastating Power of Nuclear Weapons!

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What the Hell is Going On?

Larry Johnson from No Quarter asks the following questions:

"What the hell is going on?"

"Why would we want to preposition nuclear weapons at a base conducting Middle East operations?"

"Did someone at Barksdale try to indirectly warn the American people that the Bush Administration is staging nukes for Iran?"

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Is Bush Leading Us to Nuclear War?

As we know, the Bush administration is very concerned about eliminating nuclear programs in other countries, especially in the Middle East. At the same time, Bush is building our nuclear weapons program up, spending more money on it than we spent during the Cold War.

The Bush administration is pumping this money -- more than $6 billion this year -- into renovating the nuclear weapons complex and designing new nuclear weapons. Such hypocrisy is one of the main obstacles to nuclear arms reductions because it runs the risk of shattering the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in which the nuclear-armed states pledged to begin the process of disarmament if the non-nuclear states opted not to pursue the deadly technology.

The centerpiece of the administration's move toward developing a new generation of nuclear weapons is "Complex 2030," a multiyear plan introduced last April by the National Nuclear Security Administration (the semi-autonomous agency within the Department of Energy that oversees the nuclear weapons program).

Complex 2030 calls for the construction of new or upgraded facilities at each of the National Nuclear Security Administration's eight nuclear weapons-related sites throughout the country. The plan also calls for building a new nuclear weapon, the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW), inside the old warheads. The program was conceived in response to concerns that the cores of existing nuclear weapons could be wearing out and need to be replaced. But RRW development has gone much further than that.

The Department of Energy (DOE) notes in its summary of Complex 2030 that one of the major goals of the program is to "improve the capability to design, develop, certify and complete production of new or adapted warheads in the event of new military requirements." In short, while the Bush administration has publicly stressed reductions in nuclear weapons, it is working to produce new, more usable nuclear weapons.

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US Iran Attack Plans Revealed

US contingency plans for air strikes on Iran extend beyond nuclear sites and include most of the country's military infrastructure, the BBC has learned.

It is understood that any such attack - if ordered - would target Iranian air bases, naval bases, missile facilities and command-and-control centres.

The US insists it is not planning to attack, and is trying to persuade Tehran to stop uranium enrichment.

The UN has urged Iran to stop the programme or face economic sanctions.

But diplomatic sources have told the BBC that as a fallback plan, senior officials at Central Command in Florida have already selected their target sets inside Iran.

That list includes Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz. Facilities at Isfahan, Arak and Bushehr are also on the target list, the sources say.

Two triggers

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the trigger for such an attack reportedly includes any confirmation that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon - which it denies.

Alternatively, our correspondent adds, a high-casualty attack on US forces in neighbouring Iraq could also trigger a bombing campaign if it were traced directly back to Tehran.

Long range B2 stealth bombers would drop so-called "bunker-busting" bombs in an effort to penetrate the Natanz site, which is buried some 25m (27 yards) underground.

The BBC's Tehran correspondent France Harrison says the news that there are now two possible triggers for an attack is a concern to Iranians.

Authorities insist there is no cause for alarm but ordinary people are now becoming a little worried, she says.

Deadline

Earlier this month US officials said they had evidence Iran was providing weapons to Iraqi Shia militias. At the time, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the accusations were "excuses to prolong the stay" of US forces in Iraq.

Middle East analysts have recently voiced their fears of catastrophic consequences for any such US attack on Iran.

Britain's previous ambassador to Tehran, Sir Richard Dalton, told the BBC it would backfire badly by probably encouraging the Iranian government to develop a nuclear weapon in the long term.

Last year Iran resumed uranium enrichment - a process that can make fuel for power stations or, if greatly enriched, material for a nuclear bomb.

Tehran insists its programme is for civil use only, but Western countries suspect Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons.

The UN Security Council has called on Iran to suspend its enrichment of uranium by 21 February.

If it does not, and if the International Atomic Energy Agency confirms this, the resolution says that further economic sanctions will be considered.

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