MILLIONS OF PEOPLE IN THE GREATER PHILADELPHIA REGION FACE CATASTROPHIC THREATS TO LIFE, PROPERTY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT.
OUR REGION COULD BECOME A TOXIC WASTELAND FOR GENERATIONS.
100-CAR CRUDE OIL “BOMB TRAINS” TRAVEL 1/8 OF A MILE FROM LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT’S REACTORS AND FUEL POOLS
“BOMB TRAIN” DERAILMENT, EXPLOSIONS, AND EXTENDED FIRES COULD TRIGGER DEVASTATING LIMERICK NUCLEAR MELTDOWNS, CAUSING MILLIONS OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA REGION’S RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES TO LOSE EVERYTHING.
Recent reports of crude oil derailment disasters show “bomb trains” keep exploding and turning into huge fireballs that burn for days, requiring miles-wide evacuations and resulting in devastating losses.
These unstoppable fires result in days-long thick black toxic smoke that are difficult, if not impossible to extinguish.
MILLIONS OF VICTIMS WOULD FACE UNPRECEDENTED CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES DUE TO THE COMBINATION OF LIMERICK NUCLEAR MELTDOWNS PLUS A CRUDE OIL DISASTER. VICTIMS WOULD NOT BE COMPENSATED FOR THEIR DEVASTATING LOSSES.
Millions of people would lose their homes, businesses, and health.
Drinking water for almost two million people (Pottstown to Philadelphia) would become radioactive/toxic.
Long-term ecological damage would leave ghost towns that can’t be cleaned up safely.
WHO WOULD PAY TO DEAL WITH IRREVERSIBLE DEVASTATION FROM CRUDE OIL EXPLOSIONS/FIRE AND LIMERICK MELTDOWNS? BOTTOM LINE: NO ONE!
NOT insurance companies that refuse to cover radiological accidents
NOT Exelon, with its government guaranteed limited liability protection
NOT the railroad industry, already fighting for exemption from strict liability for derailment damages
NOT Pennsylvania, already burdened with an enormous deficit
NOT the federal government, already trillions of dollars in debt and totally dysfunctional
TO AVOID CATASTROPHIC DISASTER COMMUNITY LEADERS AND ELECTED OFFICIALS MUST GET THE CRUDE-OIL “BOMB TRAIN” ROUTE MOVED NOW
EVERY CITIZEN MUST SPEAK UP TO COMMUNITY LEADERS AND ELECTED OFFICIALS, TO DEMAND THAT THE CRUDE-OIL “BOMB TRAIN” ROUTE BE MOVED NO CLOSER THAN SEVERAL MILES OUTSIDE THE NUCLEAR PLANT BORDER.
PLEASE REVIEW ATTACHED DETAILED INFORMATION
Compiled By The Alliance For A Clean Environment (ACE) November, 2015
CRUDE-OIL BOMB TRAINS SHOULD NOT TRAVEL WITHIN 1/8 OF A MILE FROM LIMERICK NUCLEAR REACTORS/FUEL POOLS OR ANYWHERE ON THE SITE. IT’S FAR TOO RISKY!
LIMERICK, A TICKING TIME BOMB + A BOMB TRAIN DERAILMENT =
CATASTROPHIC DISASTER!!!
Millions of people in the Greater Philadelphia Region face devastating risk from frequent railroad transport of millions of gallons of explosive, flammable, hazardous crude oil, only 1/8 of a mile from Limerick’s reactors and fuel pools.
Each shipment of explosive, flammable, hazardous crude oil traveling near Limerick’s reactors and fuel pools is estimated to contain:
30,000 gallons in each rail car. 100 or more rail cars can contain over 3 million gallons.
Heat from the rupture and ignition of just one 30,000-gallon car can set off a chain reaction, causing other cars to explode, releasing a days-long fireball that is difficult, if not impossible to extinguish. Basically, responders must let it burn out.
Train derailment disasters should be anticipated. ProPublica data (2011-2014) reveals that incidents have occurred in over 250 municipalities. Whole towns have already had to evacuate from crude-oil trains and fires. No one should assume or suggest there will not be a crude-oil train derailment, explosion, and fire on or near the Limerick Nuclear property.
The worst of eight major crude oil train accidents and risks include:
A train derailment and explosion killed 47 and destroyed 30 buildings in Quebec.
2,300 residents were evacuated in North Dakota. The fireball was observed several states away.
Serious crude-oil train derailments and fires are occurring with more frequency. Many have occurred just since the beginning of 2015.
A fuel-oil train already derailed a few miles from Philadelphia. Sixty-five tank cars bound for Philadelphia had loose, leaking, or missing safety components to prevent flammable, hazardous contents from escaping (Hazmat report – last two years).
Safer trains aren’t the answer. A new train with a safer-design derailed in February 2015 in West Virginia, despite adhering to the speed limit.
Hundreds of families had to flee their homes in frigid weather
Burning continued for days
Drinking water and electricity were lost
Leaking crude oil poisoned the water supply
Fireballs erupted from crumbled tank cars, underscoring volatility of crude oil’s propane, and butane
Toxic water and dirt are difficult and very costly to attempt to clean up
Hoping it doesn’t happen doesn’t eliminate catastrophic risk! Denial allows risks to continue and increase.
Richard Lengel, Pottstown’s Fire Chief, said in the Mercury 2-23-15, “If something catastrophic happens, there’s no municipality along the railroad that can handle it, the volume [crude oil] is too great. We just have to hope that nothing happens, honestly.”
The Pottstown Mercury 3-1-15 editorial got it right concluding, “Clearly, hope is not enough to maintain safety…”
No matter what claims the oil, rail, or nuclear industries make, there is no emergency plan that could effectively deal with a disaster of this magnitude within 1/8 of a mile of Limerick’s fuel pools.
Fire fighters and emergency responders shouldn’t be expected to be on the front lines of such devastating uncontrollable disasters.
Emergency responders are smart to be concerned.
Authorities say most fire and emergency departments are only capable of responding to a 9,000 gallon tanker truck incident, but DOT-111 crude oil cars hold 30,000 gallons, exceeding the response capacity.
Catastrophic disasters from crude oil explosions/fires near Limerick Nuclear Plant can and must be prevented with foresight and political will to face this unnecessary risk and take action.
WHY CRUDE OIL BOMB TRAIN EXPLOSIONS AND FIRES ON OR NEAR THE LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT SITE CAN TRIGGER MELTDOWNS:
LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT IS ALREADY VULNERABLE TO CATASTROPHIC MULTIPLE MELTDOWNS. LIMERICK HAS REACTOR SHUTDOWN PROBLEMS.
Limerick has a history of chronic shutdown problems. Publically available official reports show that Limerick’s reactors may not be able to be shut down safely in an emergency.
An explosion and days-long fire from a crude oil “bomb train” derailment could require immediate Limerick reactor shutdowns to avoid meltdowns. This may not be possible.
LIMERICK ISSUES RELATED TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF A BOMB TRAIN EXPLOSION FOLLOWED BY A DAYS-LONG FIREBALL PRODUCING THICK BLACK SMOKE:
Entire towns have been forced to evacuate after a bomb train disaster. Limerick workers, including guards, so close to the disaster should certainly be evacuated for their own health and safety. Yet, evacuation of Limerick workers could increase meltdown risks in Limerick’s 2 reactors and 2 fuel pools.
Limerick workers might be unable to access all necessary emergency equipment vital to preventing meltdowns, due to a crude oil explosion, massive heat, and extended days of thick black smoke.
Limerick’s control room would likely be impacted from days of thick black smoke. Even Occidental Chemical’s vinyl chloride powder accidents (.7 of a mile from Limerick Nuclear Plant) caused Limerick’s operators to “button up” Limerick’s control room. What would happen in days of thick black soot from a huge crude oil fire?
Extreme heat and soot could disturb the natural air flow needed for casks holding high-level radioactive wastes. Blocked cask vents could go undetected in thick black smoke leading to overheating of the stored high-level radioactive wastes.
LIMERICK’S DANGEROUSLY RELAXED FIRE SAFETY REGULATIONS
NRC weakened Limerick’s fire safety regulations, and still fails to enforce the weakened regulations.
Limerick does not use the safest fire barrier systems in all areas, to protect cables important to safe shutdown. Even Limerick’s recent 4-5-15 fire in a reactor panel shows that Limerick is extremely vulnerable to fire that could lead to meltdowns.
Reduced fire safety at Limerick has new meaning in relation to days-long crude oil fires because Limerick’s fire barriers are only required to protect cables for 1 hour.
Without the safest fire barriers, fire detection and suppression systems, and spatial separations, Limerick plant stability is compromised. Fires can erupt in many ways at a nuclear plant. Fires from crude oil bomb trains add significantly to Limerick’s risk of meltdowns due to fire.
Reactors and fuel pools need a constant supply of water to prevent meltdowns. A crude oil fire could disable Limerick’s cooling water delivery system, resulting in simultaneous meltdowns in Limerick’s 2 reactors and 2 fuel pools.
Exelon’s liability limit encourages cutting corners to save money.
A CRUDE OIL DISASTER ON THE LIMERICK SITE INCREASES OPPORTUNITIES FOR TERRORISM.
Evacuation of security guards could increase risk of a terrorist attack.
Terrorists could trigger a bomb train derailment, initiating crude oil explosions and fires at any point along the lengthy rail track route on the nuclear plant site.
A “BOMB TRAIN” DISASTER AT LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT MUST BE AVOIDED!
SAFE EVACUATION IS IMPOSSIBLE:
A CRUDE OIL TRAIN DISASTER TRIGGERING LIMERICK MELTDOWNS MUST BE PREVENTED
LIMERICK NUCLEAR PLANT’S EVACUATION PLAN IS UNREALISTIC, UNWORKABLE, AND DEFINITELY NOT “ROBUST”.
ACE’s evaluation of Exelon’s fatally flawed 2012 “Evacuation Time Estimate (ETE) For Limerick’s Plume Exposure Pathway” is useless as a planning tool for safe evacuation
Exelon’s ETE is self-serving fiction riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, fact-free spin, unsubstantiated suppositions and assumptions, illogical conclusions.
Exelon’s ETE is not realistic and must be rejected.
To understand why Limerick Nuclear Plant’s emergency and evacuation plans are fatally flawed and inadequate, we urge you to review the 8-part ACE video-blog series on Emergency and Evacuation Plans for Limerick at www.acereport.org. It serves as a wake-up call to millions in the Greater Philadelphia Region about Limerick Nuclear Plant’s negligent emergency and evacuation planning:
ACE Analysis of Exelon’s Evacuation Time Estimate For Limerick’s Plume Exposure Pathway(Video / Blog Part 7)
This analysis reveals self-serving, unrealistic, unworkable fiction, with suppositions, inconsistencies, and inaccuracies, featuring fact-free spin with illogical conclusions.
Historic Fatal Flaws In Limerick’s Emergency – Evacuation Plans (Video / Blog – Part 6)
In 2012, NRC Pared Down Emergency and Evacuation Plans, Even After Fukushima (Video / Blog – Part 1)
Calls For Immediate Notification And Expanded Evacuation and Ingestion Pathway Zones (Video /Blog – Part 2)
The Truth and Consequences of Radiation Exposure From Nuclear Plant Accidents / Meltdowns (Video / Blog – Part 3)
What Really Happened After Fukushima, Chernobyl, and TMI Meltdowns (Video / Blog – Part 4)
Financial Injustice To The Public From A Radiation Accident / Meltdown (Video / Blog -Part 5)
Until Limerick Closes, Changes That Must Be Made To Limerick’s Evacuation Plan, To Minimize Radiation Exposure Risks After A Limerick Radiation Accident and/or Meltdowns (Video / Blog – Part 8)
In 1980 NRC publicly admitted that safe evacuation from Limerick was impossible. NRC testified at Limerick’s 1980 public hearing that Limerick had double the population density for a safe evacuation. NRC admitted that people within 30 miles would be harmed. Things are far worse now, since the population around Limerick has increased dramatically in the past 35 years.
Thomas Sullivan, Montgomery County Director of Public Safety, testified at a public hearing for Limerick Nuclear Plant relicensing in 2011 that many local, county, and state roads used for evacuation that feed the local highways were no longer suitable for the amount of traffic that Limerick’s EPZ evacuation could produce. Traffic conditions have worsened, yet in 2015 Thomas Sullivan, claimed, “Because of the Limerick generating plant, we have robust plans…” (Mercury 2-23-15), dismissing potential dangers associated with the transport of crude oil. The serious problems and flaws with Limerick’s Emergency and Evacuation plans have been ignored by Mr. Sullivan and others.
WILLFUL BLINDNESS IS JEOPARDIZING OUR FUTURE, ESPECIALLY WITH THE ADDED RISK FROM A BOMB TRAIN DISASTER
The Mercury article of Feb. 23, “We just have to hope that nothing happens” has profound implications to everyone in the Greater Philadelphia Region. We applaud the March 1 Mercury editorial conclusion, “Clearly, hope is not enough to maintain safety…”
So-called “bomb trains” containing up to 3 million gallons of explosive, flammable, hazardous crude oil travel right through Pottstown and the Limerick Nuclear Plant Site. A derailment, explosion and days-long fire ball near Limerick’s reactors and deadly fuel pools could trigger simultaneous meltdowns with catastrophic radioactive releases. Millions of Greater Philadelphia Region residents could lose everything forever.
Days of thick black smoke from a crude oil fire could be devastating. Even Occidental Chemical’s large vinyl chloride accidents (seven-tenths of a mile from Limerick) caused problems at Limerick, according to employees, some of whom are very worried about crude oil train derailments.
Risks are increasing. Emergency responders are smart to be concerned. They shouldn’t be expected to be on the front lines of such devastating uncontrollable disasters.
Train derailment disasters should be anticipated. Sixty-five tank cars bound for Philadelphia had loose, leaking, or missing safety components to prevent flammable, hazardous contents from escaping (Hazmat report – last two years). A fuel-oil train already derailed a few miles from Philadelphia.
Heat from the rupture and ignition of one 30,000-gallon car can set off a chain reaction, causing other cars to explode, releasing a days-long fireball. Basically, responders must let it burn out.
Over 100 railcars, estimated to hold three million gallons, regularly sit on tracks from the Dollar General in Stowe to Montgomery County Community College.
ProPublica data from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (2011-2014) shows incidents in over 250 municipalities. The worst of eight major crude oil train accidents include:
• A train derailment and explosion killed 47 and destroyed 30 buildings in Quebec.
• 2,300 residents were evacuated in North Dakota. The fireball was observed states away.
Safer trains aren’t the answer. A new safer-design derailed February 2015 in West Virginia, despite adhering to the speed limit. Hundreds of families had to flee their homes in frigid weather. Burning continued for days. Drinking water and electricity were lost. Leaking crude oil poisoned the water supply. Fireballs erupted from crumbled tank cars, underscoring volatility of crude oil’s propane, butane, etc.
Safe evacuation from our densely populated region is an illusion. Limerick Nuclear Plant’s evacuation plan is unworkable and unrealistic, not robust as claimed by a health official. Just consider work hour traffic combined with deteriorated roads and bridges. We encourage officials to visit www.acereport.org to view ACE’s 2012 video-blog series on the reality of Limerick’s evacuation plan. For a graphic presentation call (610) 326-2387.
Who pays to deal with irreversible devastation from train derailments and meltdowns? Clearly, not the oil industry, nuclear industry, railroad or government. We’d be on our own, despite:
1. Long-term ecological damage that would leave ghost towns that can’t be cleaned up safely.
2. Risking the vital drinking water resource for almost two million people (Pottstown to Philadelphia).
3. Millions of people losing their homes, businesses and health.
Richard Lengel, Pottstown’s Fire Chief, admitted, “If something catastrophic happens, there’s no municipality along the railroad that can handle it, the volume [crude oil] is too great. We just have to hope that nothing happens, honestly.”
Hope is no solution! Neither is denying the reality of our unacceptable devastating risks.
The catastrophic disasters we face can, and must, be prevented with foresight and political will to face the facts and take action. Enough of corporate profits jeopardizing public safety.
Wake up! Speak up! Tell local, state and federal elected officials to stop this insanity!
Say no to dangerous crude oil trains traveling through our communities and the Limerick site.
Say no to continued Limerick Nuclear Plant operations to avoid meltdowns that can be triggered by cyber/terrorist attacks, embrittled/cracking reactors, earthquakes and now oil-train explosions/fires.
Terrorist Threats At Limerick Pose Catastrophic Risks
ACE wants a safer future for you and your family.
A 2013 Defense Department analysis said NO U.S. nuclear plant is protected against terrorist attacks, and all pose catastrophic risks.
We can avoid a Limerick Nuclear Plant catastrophe if our elected officials and government agencies stop dodging the harsh reality of risk and take action.
To insure a safer future we must transition to safer energy immediately, and close Limerick now before a terrorist attack triggers a meltdown which can be caused by loss of power and/or water.
Millions of people would suffer irreparable health harms from Limerick’s radioactive plume contaminating everything.
We would be financially ruined and permanently displaced. It’s insanity to allow that kind of unnecessary risk to continue.
After 9/11, ACE started investigating Limerick’s vulnerabilities to terrorism, plus security and evacuation problems. For details: www.acereport.org #13 “Terrorists Threats: Precaution Is Inadequate” and Video Blog Series 1-8. The reality is alarming. It’s not fear-mongering to report it in hope of prevention.
On July 30, 2014, the Mercury printed Evan Brandt’s article, “NRC Mum about Security Problem at Limerick Nuclear Plant”. It’s unacceptable for NRC to withhold information about risks from those who would be most impacted by the consequences.
For a year following 9/11, taxpayers paid for Limerick’s air defense. Since then, NRC refused to require Exelon to pay for that, despite extraordinary risks from terrorists’ planes or missiles.. If a plane or missile crashed into a fuel pool, it could result in loss of water, meltdown, and fire.
One expert reported that a fuel pool fire could cause fatal radiation-induced cancer in thousands of people as far as 500 miles from the site. “Spent fuel” rods (among the deadliest materials on earth) are jam packed in Limerick’s extremely vulnerable fuel pools, constructed with substandard cement and without extra containment walls. Like Fukushima’s, they’re directly above Limerick’s reactors.
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On September 24, 2014, a PBS documentary, “Cyber Security, Rise of the Hackers”, revealed the reality of high-stakes cyber attacks. For example: the Stuxnet virus targeted an Iranian nuclear plant in 2010, destroying over 1,000 centrifuges before detection. Stuxnet, capable of spreading, could be a blueprint for cyber attacks on U.S. nuclear plants. Even a cyber attack on the grid could lead to extended loss of power and water, triggering meltdowns at Limerick.
Limerick security and NRC oversight are so lax that an Al-Qaida suspect worked undetected for 5 years (2002-2007) during Limerick re-fueling.
Inexplicably, in 2012, even after lessons from Fukushima, NRC pared down emergency evacuation planning for radiation exposure after meltdowns.
Nearly 8 million people live within 50 miles of Limerick, the evacuation zone that NRC recommended after Fukushima. Millions of people, in all directions, would suffer health harms, financial ruin, and permanent displacement, while Exelon would be liable for only a tiny fraction of the estimated one trillion dollar cost.
We can’t evacuate safely! No workable evacuation plan exists. Escape routes would be completely gridlocked.
The Montgomery County Planning Commission and the Department of Safety both warned NRC about inadequate infrastructure to support safe evacuation. Where would everyone go, with Philadelphia just over 20 miles downwind and downstream from Limerick?
The price of ignoring the public’s health and financial risks are incalculable, yet almost all our elected and agency officials have displayed callous disregard for the extraordinary terrorist threats we face related to Limerick Nuclear Plant and our future.
We can’t afford to elect more politicians like Tom Quigley, who took contributions from Exelon and publicly supported Limerick relicensing until 2049, despite ACE repeatedly informing him of irrefutable catastrophic risks, including terrorism.
Before voting 11-4-14, ask each candidate if they will help close Limerick now to protect your family.
We also encourage you to review just released 2013-2014 environmental voting records of PA state senators and representatives at www.conservationpa.org.
Related To Meltdowns At Fukushima and Chernobyl, and the partial Meltdown at TMI
Information in this report is taken from reports, books, and news releases by reliable independent scientists, physicians, experts, and reporters. We hope after review of this information that residents in the Greater Philadelphia Region will urge local, state, and federal officials to speak out for far more protective measures on behalf of public health and safety related to the growing potential for a Limerick Nuclear Plant radiation accident / meltdown and the urgent need for more protective emergency and evacuation planning.
What Really Happened After Meltdowns
At Fukushima, Chernobyl, and TMI?
Industry Hid Data and Lied About Radiation Releases. Governments Made Fatal Mistakes Leaving Millions Exposed To Major Radiation Releases. Government and Industry Are Still Lying About Harmful Consequences
We Must Challenge Nuclear Lies, Cover-Ups, and Secrecy
Cover-Ups and Lies will result in more people in the Greater Philadelphia Region unnecessarily exposed longer and harmed worse by large radiation releases from a Limerick Nuclear Plant Radiation Accident / Meltdown. Unless the truth is told and elected officials speak up, NRC will NOT require more protective emergency and evacuation planning for a Limerick Nuclear Plant meltdown. Expanding the evacuation zone and avoiding Limerick’s radiation plume will be imperative to limit radiation exposure, reduce radiation sickness, and minimize long-term health harms, including cancers.
FUKUSHIMA MELTDOWNS – 2011
· Japan’s apocalyptic nightmare, the worst nuclear catastrophe in history, sent the nuclear industry spin machine into overdrive.
With 3 meltdowns releasing major radiation with widespread health and environmental impacts, they foolishly claimed no health harm.
They underreported radiation levels and tried to hide the reality to avoid liability and the costs of broader evacuation and clean-up efforts.
· Two years after the March 11, 2011 triple meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, new research and new information continues to come to light about its continuing bio-medical and ecological consequences, and what they indicate about the impact of nuclear power on public health, safety, and the environment.
“The Fukushima crisis is actually an issue of global public health,” said Dr. Helen Caldicott.. “As a physician, I’ve been distressed about the lack of general understanding of the medical science that should be part of any discussion of nuclear power, but isn’t. For example, cancers in humans take from five to seventy years to develop after radiation exposure, so it takes time to actually see the effects in populations,” she said.
“But we are already observing a demonstrable increased incidence of thyroid abnormalities in children in the Fukushima Prefecture. This may be an early indicator of an eventual increased incidence of thyroid cancers. Further, plumes of radioactivity from Fukushima are currently migrating in the Pacific Ocean towards the West Coast of the U.S.”
“This crisis is far from over. Large radioactive releases into the ocean continue, and thousands of tons of radioactive waste are set to be incinerated in cities throughout Japan. And worst of all, Fukushima Daiichi’s building #4, which holds 100 tons of highly radioactive spent fuel, was seriously damaged and could collapse causing the fuel pool to burn, releasing even more massive amounts of radiation. All of these have profound medical and public health implications.”
· Fukushima Radioactive Fallout Was Detected Over 11,500 Square Miles
4,500 Square Miles Had Radiation Exceeding Japan’s Highly Inflated “Allowable Radiation Limits”
The Exclusion Zone is 310 Square Miles
But the evacuation zone remained at 12 miles
· Fukushima’s owner, TEPCO, two months after meltdowns started, finally admitted to multiple meltdowns with impacts estimated to be 20 times worse than Chernobyl.
At the same time, government illogically claimed Fukushima’s radiation would not be harmful to health.
· Government officials limited and eliminated radiation monitoring and reporting to cover-up the truth to protect the nuclear industry.
They hid data, played numbers games, and refused to expand the evacuation zone. That unnecessarily jeopardized the health of millions.
· Large Numbers Of Japanese People Are Accumulating Significant Levels of Internal Radioactive Contamination.
Radiation sickness symptoms have been identified in people as far as 140 miles from Fukushima.
· Fukushima Doctors Are Forbidden To Tell Patients Illnesses Are Related To Radiation Exposure. If They Refuse Their License Can Be Revoked.
· Early on independent experts estimated 1 million additional cancers would occur, based on the amount of radiation released.
CHERNOBYL MELTDOWN – 1986
· Chernobyl caused over 1.5 million additional cancer deaths and a broad range of other serious diseases and disabilities
· Chernobyl’s children suffered massive increased cancers, infant mortality, birth defects, heart problems, and more
· Doctors in Cuba treated over 25,000 children from the Ukraine and Russia for leukemia
· Damage to the environment over vast dead zones is proven devastating decades later. 80 Square Miles Has Become A Permanent “Exclusion (Dead) Zone”. Radioactive Fallout Was Found Over 200 Miles From The Reactor – Radiation actually traveled to the U.S. About 350,000 People Were Evacuated.
· The truth can no longer be hidden. Russian Scientists compiled over 5,000 studies in a booktitled:“Chernobyl: Consequences To People And The Environment” – New York Academy of Science nyas.org/annals.
Chernobyl Deaths Top a Million Based on Real Evidence ISIS Report 24/05/12
The Soviet government initially tried to hush-up the explosion and resisted immediately evacuating nearby residents. It also failed to tell the public what happened or instruct people and cleanup workers how to protect against radiation, which significantly increased the health damage from the disaster.
Medical records from contaminated areas speak for themselves; doctors, scientists and citizens bear witness to the devastating health impacts of radioactive fallout from nuclear accidents – Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
The Russian publication, Chernobyl, by scientists Alexey V. Yablokov,Vassily B Nesterenko, and Alexey V.
Nesterenko, translated and published by the New York Academy of Sciences in 2009, concludes that among the billions of people worldwide who were exposed to radioactive contamination from the disaster, nearly a million deaths had already occurred between 1986 and 2004. Most of the deaths were in Russia, Belarus and
Ukraine [5] (see Truth about Chernobyl, SiS 47). The report drew on thousands of published papers and internet and printed publications.
Devastating health impacts did not escape the notice of the hundreds of doctors, scientists and other citizens who had to bear witness to the deformities, sicknesses and deaths of exposed babies, children and adults in their care.
There is a clear difference in mortality rates between highly contaminated provinces and less contaminated provinces of Russia (see Figure 1).
The Chernobyl explosion on April 26, 1986 led to a fire that burned for 10 days, forcing some 300,000 people from their homes.
· Some 19 Russian Regions also received high doses of radiation over some 60,000 square kilometers and impacted some 2.6 million people.
· Radiation released into the air contaminated 50,000 square kilometers of Ukraine.
· Some 46,500 square kilometers of neighboring Belarus were also contaminated, constituting 23 percent of the country.
· Meanwhile, radioactive material spread across much of northern Europe and reached as far as the east coast of the United States
THREE MILE ISLAND (TMI) PARTIAL MELTDOWN – 1979
· Independent researchers reported that TMI’s partial meltdown may have caused
between 50,000 to 100,000 excess deaths in a 1990 book Titled;
“Deadly Deceit: Low Level Radiation – High Level Cover-up“by Jay Gould and Ben Goldman
· It reveals that after TMI infant deaths soared and birth defect deaths were far higher.
Official Responses To Meltdowns At Fukushima, Chernobyl, and TMI Show A Pattern Of Unethical Deception.
With every radiation accident / meltdown government and nuclear industry officials routinely deceive the public to reduce opposition to nuclear power and to prevent collapse of the nuclear industry. Information in this report provides insight into how public opinion is manipulated.
When independent radiation experts compile verifiable data on meltdowns that contradicts the nuclear industry’s deceptive and misleading propaganda, the nuclear industry responds by falsely claiming “little” or “no” health harm occurred, even though the evidence and common sense suggest otherwise. They never acknowledge the realities.
Health Impacts and Deaths From Meltdowns are Deliberately Underestimated by the Following Methods:
· Using dilution to underestimate the level of radiation by averaging exposure over a large region, (such as an entire country), so high exposure doses and health statistics of the most contaminated areas are lumped together with the least exposed.
· Discounting internal sources of radiation due to inhalation and ingestion of radioactive material from fallout
· Using obsolete and erroneous models for external sources of ionizing radiation
· Not counting diseases and conditions other than cancers
· Misrepresenting natural background radiation
· Suppressing and withholding information from the public
Health Impacts From Radiation Are Censored Worldwide.
· The Excuse: not alarming the public.
· The Reality: deceptive tactics using media to avoid negative public opinion.
· The Consequences: exposure to dangerous accidental radioactive releases without the incentive or opportunity to take precautionary actions.
Fukushima and The Battle for Truth
Fukushima’s Meltdowns, beginning in March 2011, Unleashed Dangerous Radiation on the World.
Radiation Spread in Air, Groundwater, the Food Chain, and the Sea.
· Radiation has contaminated Japan’s water, soil, food, sewage sludge, building materials, seawater, fish, and people. Evidence already shows the suffering of the children, who have been most impacted.
· Plumes of radioactive gases crossed the Pacific Ocean and reached the US. within days. Independent scientists detected xenon-133 and “high concentrations” of cesium-137 in the United States and Canada.
· Nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen estimates that, within four days of Fukushima’s explosions, Seattle was exposed to xenon and krypton levels 40,000 times above normal, followed by slower-moving clouds of iodine, cesium, and strontium isotopes.
· Monitoring March 15 to 19, 2011 showed radiation swept over Hawaii and the West Coast, covering all of western North America. While the Rocky Mountains blocked much of the fallout, rainwater was contaminated even as far away as New England.
· Two of three East Coast monitoring stations (including one in Boston) detected the presence of dangerous “hot particles”. Air sampling traced fallout all the way to Stockholm.
· Although the Norwegian Institute for Air Research was reporting that fallout had blanketed most of the United States and Canada, little official alarm was demonstrated in either country.
· Three weeks after Fukushima’s reactors began to overheat and explode, the US government still refused to publish any official data on radiation levels in the United States.
· A citizen’s brigade of radiation trackers started with hundreds of people measuring radiation with Geiger counters after rainstorms, detecting radiation all across the U.S.
· Joseph Mangano, Radiation and Public Health Project Director, and Dr. Janette D. Sherman, reviewed weekly mortality records collected by the Centers for Disease and Control in 122 cities and reported that the greatest mortalities in excess of what would be expected were seen among children under the age of one. The findings echoed the 16,500 “excess deaths” recorded in the 17 weeks following the Chernobyl explosion. On February 23, 2012, Mangano updated the report, showing excess death count to be nearly 22,000. Twelve industry pundits and pro-nuclear bloggers immediately dismissed the findings as “bogus.”
· Three months after Fukushima melted down, TEPCO finally admitted Fukushima radiation releases surpassed Chernobyl’s, and that it is the worst nuclear accident on record, yet falsely claim health risks are small or non-existent, despite shocking numbers of victims from Chernobyl.
Evidence shows radiation sickness symptoms in Japanese people far outside the evacuation zone.
Evidence Also Shows That Large Numbers Of Japanese People Are Accumulating Significant Levels of Internal Radioactive Contamination.
· The average person in Tokyo (more than 140 miles from Fukushima), is thought to have inhaled “hot particles” (10 per day throughout April, 2011 – Gunderson & Busby)
· 15 of 15 children are internally contaminated with Iodine-131 and Cesium 135 and 137 as far as 40 km (about 25 miles) from Fukushima (Reported 6-26-11)
· Fukushima radiation was also confirmed in U.S. water, soil, and milk.
· A study shows infant deaths soared in the U.S. after Fukushima.
Japanese Government and the Nuclear Industry Are Compounding Harms To Japanese Citizens.
· Health experts said, “A culture of cover-up” and inadequate cleanup efforts have combined to leave Japanese people exposed to “unconscionable” health risks long after Fukushima (Canadian Medical Association – Reported 12-27-11)
· Japanese government and industry officials withheld and deleted radiation data, hiding the amount of radiation released. Japan failed to report that 95% of radiation monitors were not working after the meltdown until two months later (5-29-11)
· They failed to admit any meltdown occurred at Fukushima until 2 months after it started.
· Japanese officials left evacuees in peril, refusing to expand the evacuation zone, even after high levels of radiation were found outside the zone.
· July 2011 cesium levels stopped declining, but remained stuck at 10,000 times above pre-accident levels.
· Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility said it’s completely untrue to say this level of radiation is safe or harmless. Reassurances have been completely irresponsible.
To say there are no health concerns flies in the face of all scientific evidence.
· An investigative reporter in Japan visiting from New York City said, “During my November (2011) visit I was the only one on the streets of Tokyo who wore a mask to avoid inhaling cesium.” While radiation levels continued to rise in Japan months after the meltdowns, people were not wearing masks to protect themselves from internal radiation exposure because government and industry officials irrationally continued to claim there was no risk.
Officials Have Forbidden Doctors in Fukushima To Tell Patients That Their Illnesses Are Related To Radiation Exposure.
· The Fukushima Medical Society Forced Doctors to Sign A Secrecy Agreement; If They Refuse, Their License Is Revoked.
Evidence Shows Japanese Hypocrisy
· Records Dispute Their Own False Claims Of No Harm From Fukushima.
· 573 Deaths from 13 Prefectures Have Officially Been Certified As Related to the Fukushima Nuclear Crisis by Japanese Officials. (Reported 2-5-12) However, the number must be far higher because 634,573 Deaths were Submitted to Undergo Screening by the date of the report.
· In Japan, there is a FINANCIAL INCENTIVE to deny that a death was caused by Fukushima because 5 Million Yen must be paid if the dead person is a breadwinner.
NEWS ON CHILDREN’S
RISKS AND HARMS FROM FUKUSHIMA
Ø Radiation Was Documented In Children’s Bodies Up To 60 Kilometers From Fukushima (Reported by June 2011)
Ø Ethical, Legal, and Medical Implications Turned Into A Human Rights Mess, Documented By A New White Paper On What Is Going On With Denial of Medical Care to Children in the Fukushima Region (Reported 11/08/12) http://www.simplyinfo.org/?p=8220
· Some children were denied treatment by doctors after the central government ordered them to stop examining patients for thyroid disorders. It may not be legal. According to Japan’s medical law the refusal of care by doctors around Japan appears to be in violation of those laws.
· Dr. Yamashita, stated that his goal is to deny people the proof needed to obtain compensation from the government. Doctors that are willing to deny patients medical care because Dr. Yamashita requested it, makes them accomplices in the deception and purposeful injury of those children to avoid compensation from the government.
Fukushima Mom: 5 Hospitals Refuse to Provide Medical Care to Children;
“We can’t be seen by a doctor when we want to be seen”… “It is just not right” — Doctor: It will be confusing if our result is different than Fukushima Medical University
Published: August 28th, 2012 at 6:54 pm ET By ENENews
Fukushima – Local Children Unwitting (and Unwilling) Radioactive Guinea Pigs
(Reported October, 2012 by John C.K. Daly l Oil Price.com)
· The children of Fukushima have been an involuntary irradiated Fukushima “test” group monitored since March 2011. They display disturbing health abnormalities. Scientists do have a well defined test group – the population of Fukushima Prefecture surrounding the stricken NPP. The sixth report of the Fukushima Prefecture Health Management Survey was released in April, 2012.
ü The survey examined 38,114 local children.
ü 36 % of Fukushima children have abnormal thyroid growths.
ü 13,460 of Fukushima children, or 35.3 percent, had thyroid cysts or nodules up to 0.197 inches long growing on their thyroids
ü 0.5 percent of the children had growths larger than 0.197 inches.
· So, why might this be significant? According to the American Thyroid Association (ATA), thyroid problems from nuclear events occur when radioactive iodine is leaked into the atmosphere and thyroid cells that absorb too much of this radioactive iodine may become cancerous, with children being particularly susceptible.
· Australian pediatrician Dr. Helen Caldicott, said: “It is extremely rare to find cysts and thyroid nodules in children.” “You would not expect abnormalities to appear so early- within the first year or so – therefore one can assume that they must have received a high dose of (radiation)”.
Cancer Risk To Young Children Near Fukushima Daiichi Underestimated
Video by Ian Goddard – Introduced by Arnie Gunderson from Fairewinds. 01/18/12
· Cesium-134 and 137 isotopes were detected in urine tests conducted on 10 children in Fukushima City, located about 60 kilometers from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. More than 1,080 children were screened from March 26-30, 2011 (newborn to 15 years old)
· Soil samples taken by citizens at four locations in Fukushima City (June 26, 2011) all tested positive for radioactive cesium contamination. Measurements were between 16,000 to 46,000 becquerels per kilogram — far exceeding the legal limit of 10,000 becquerels per kg.
Radiation Detected in Fukushima Children’s Urine (NKK)…10 out of 10 Children Had Cesium 134 in Their Urine (June 30, 2011)
· Urine samples from 10 elementary to high school students in the prefecture’s capital Fukushima City were analyzed by a French research organization.
· Tests show clearly that children living as far as 60 kilometers from the plant are suffering internal exposure. It urged the state and prefectural governments to immediately check children in Fukushima for such exposure.
· Children located 50 KM away from ground zero are suffering from fatigue, diarrhea, and nosebleeds.
CESIUM FOUND IN URINE OF FUKUSHIMA CHILDREN
07/02/12 The Japan Times Online – Kyodo
Radioactive cesium was found in urine samples from 141 infants and young children in Fukushima Prefecture.
Fukushima Children at Risk of Heart Disease (by Chris Busby) 9/27/11
· Chris Busby, a chemical physicist, is the Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR) and a visiting professor at the University of Ulster.
· Busby documents the heavy impact of radiation on the hearts of Chernobyl children while noting other immediate effects such as brain damage and birth defects.
· Cesium impacts the heart, especially dangerous in children. Busby is warning officials to start looking at heart disease and heart attacks now and to get children out of cesium contaminated areas quickly.
Greenpeace Condemns Move to Raise Radiation Exposure Levels for Japanese Children 4/22/11
· Children’s Allowable Levels were set at 10 Times Higher than the Average Dose Shown to Increase Cancer Risk in Nuclear Workers.
· After March 2011 Fukushima Meltdowns, the Japanese government protected the nuclear power industry instead of Japan’s children. They set allowable radiation exposure limits so high that renowned scientists suggested the levels would eventually kill children.
Japanese Government Still Refusing to Evacuate Children
In October 27 2011, Fukushima women met government officials in Tokyo to demand that the government evacuate Fukushima children immediately. But, the government official only repeated the government’s policy of cleaning up the contaminated areas in Fukushima. (Reported 1/3/12)
· One Mother said this is insane. Children should be our first priority: Evacuation is something you DO folks-it’s NOT something you sit around and debate. But, the government official only repeated the government’s policy of cleaning up the contaminated areas outside the evacuation zone around Fukushima.
· Six months after the meltdowns started, the Japanese government was still refusing to evacuate Fukushima children outside the evacuation zone in spite of evidence of high radiation contamination of area.
· 360,000 children lived in the Fukushima region .Only about 5% (20,000) whose parents could afford to move and live in safer areas evacuated. (Reported Oct 30, 2011)
High Radioactive Cesium Levels Found at Tokyo School
Fukushima workers have been treated like expendable collateral damage.
· There has been no accurate accounting of “missing” or dead workers.
· An undercover reporter estimated between 700 to 4,000 workers died (2011).
· Radiation data released long after the meltdowns started, showed many workers were receiving lethal doses.
· Workers found lethal radiation levels months after the meltdown (Reported 8-2-11)
· 8-2-11, five months after meltdowns started, the highest radiation reading to date was reported. A single dose would be fatal in weeks. 60 minutes of exposure could kill the worker within weeks
· Radiation was so lethal – robots were finally used – Reported 4-18-11
· Workers complained about industry handling of radiation exposure data – Reported 4-21-11
4. Fatal radiation levels found at Fukushima Plant 8-2-11
Japan Citizens Were Victimized.
Evidence From Japan News Reports Reveals The Negligence Of Japanese Government Officials Whose Evacuation Orders Left Victims
Much Too Close To Radiation Releases Far Too Long
· Fukushima Evacuees Turned Away From Medical Facilities and Shelters 3-30-11
· Japan plans to extend evacuation zone around Fukushima 4-11-11
· Japan Plant Exclusion Zone Ban Takes Effect – 4-22-11
· People were unnecessarily exposed for over a month
· French urge 70,000 more Fukushima Evacuations
· Greenpeace: Radiation measurements call for further evacuation around Fukushima 4-11-11
· Radiation Including “Low-Level Radiation” is already sickening Japanese People 6-8-11
· 15 out of 15 Internally Contaminated @ 40 km from Fukushima 6-26-11
· Right to Relocate Based On Radiation Exposure In Japan DENIED 8-3-11
· Public Denied Access To Devices That Check Internal Radiation Levels 9-11-11
· Fukushima Safety Level – NOT SAFE 12-19-11
· Petition Was Started Against Japan’s Higher 20mSv Radiation Exposure Level 4-23-11
· By fall of 2011, stories were reported about a farmer’s suicide, dosimeters for children instead of evacuation, scraping playgrounds, and mutant animals.
· Unsafe Radiation Found Near Tokyo, Vast Area of Japan Contaminated June 18, 2011
ü Radioactive contamination of grass exceeded safety standards at a distance of 90 to 125 miles from Fukushima nuclear power plants.
ü Japanese scientists have become so concerned about the health of their children that they initiated their own radiation monitoring program and made their own maps. The results are shocking.
ü A very disturbing report about parents concerned about possible radiation sickness in children appeared in a local Japanese paper. Symptoms include: Nosebleed, diarrhea, lack of energy 2-year-old boy had nosebleeds from the end of April to May. 6-year-old girl had nosebleed everyday for 3 weeks in April. For 1 week, she bled copiously from both nostrils.
Evidence Shows Fukushima’s Fallout From Meltdowns
Caused Widespread Radioactive Contamination.
Evidence Shows Entire Food Chain Became Radioactive in Japan
· Green Tea - Radioactive 250 miles from Fukushima
· Retailers were told to stay mum about radiation levels in tea.
· 6-17-11 was the 1st time high levels in tea were admitted.
· Rice - Fall 2011 – 154 farms poisoned with cesium 25% above allowable limits
· Rice shipments were finally banned after many tons were sold.
· Infant Milk Powder – Japan babies may face a life of debilitation and disease from cesium.
· Milk
· Cheese
· Spinach, Leafy Greens
· Tomatoes
· Mushrooms
34 miles from Fukushima – Up to 6,200 Becquerels Cesium Per Kilogram – Legal Limit 500
· Animal Feed
· Beef – Cattle shipments were banned 8-2-11
· Worms – High cesium levels were detected – 2-6-12 (Ecological Society of Japan)
· Radiation Levels Found 20,000 Becquerels per kilogram – 14 miles away
1,000 Becquerels per kilogram – 40 miles away
290 Becquerels per kilogram – 100 miles away
RADIOACTIVE FOOD FALLOUT – Responses
· Japan Grocery Stores Started Listing Radiation Levels Of Foods
· Japan Prime minister said: “Produce is safe, I want you to eat it.“
· A leading French radiological laboratory formed after Chernobyl disagrees with Japanese assessment that radioactive contamination of food presents, “no risk”.
· The European Union authorized an emergency order allowing large increases of radiation in food.
· World Health Organization said: “Radioactive Food Contamination Causes Real Risk”
· Canadian Food Inspection Discontinues Testing of Japan Products (6-17-11)
· U.S. Radioactive Food Testing Is Abysmal, Yet Legislators Keep Lowering The Budget for Testing
· The Japan Times: Jan. 3, 2012 “Mothers first to shed food-safety complacency” – I feel a sense of crisis over food safety,” a Japanese Mother said. “And I can’t trust the government. I have to set my own standards and make my own choices.” “So (we) should realize (food) contamination will continue for a long time in Japan”
Radiation Levels Soar Far From Fukushima
Elevated radiation levels were widespread in eastern Japan (Reported June 18, 2011)
· Radioactive rain causes 130 schools in Korea to close (April 4, 2011)
· Rain in California had 10 TIMES more radioactivity than Korea (April 4, 2011)
· Unsafe levels of radioactive contamination have been reported from multiple sources throughout vast areas of eastern Japan in locations far away from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
· Independent radiation testing found cesium 134 and 137 in air filters of cars more than 100 kilometers beyond Japan’s evacuation zone and even in northwest U.S.
· Levels are exceeding acceptable safety limits in many locations.
· Radioactive cesium has traveled over 100 miles away from Fukushima
· Pastoral grasses are contaminated beyond safety standards
· If grass is contaminated, cows eat the grass, and children drink the cows’ milk.
· Crops also absorb radiation; in fact, growing crops is a strategy used to clean up soil that’s contaminated with radiation.
· The “Dead Zone” Around Fukushima Could Be Even Larger Than The Dead Zone Around Chernobyl
· All soil samples near Fukushima tested positive for Cesium (Far Exceeding Legal Limits)
· Radioactive soil levels were comparable to Chernobyl (Reported 5-25-11 Japan Times)
· 40 miles from Fukushima, radiation levels were as high as those that triggered resettlement near Chernobyl. (Reported 7-5-11)
· Radiation may have sunk 30 cm into the ground near Tokyo, over 140 miles from Fukushima meltdowns
(Reported 3-14-12)
ü 5 centimeters beneath the ground – 3 months after meltdowns
ü 10 to 30 centimeters beneath the ground – as of 3-14-12 – one year later
ü Further delay of decontamination will make radioactive materials sink even deeper
· Soil samples taken by citizens at four locations in Fukushima City (about 60 kilometers from Fukushima meltdowns) all tested positive for radioactive cesium contamination. Measurements were between 16,000 to 46,000 becquerels per kilogram — far exceeding the legal limit of 10,000 becquerels per kg. June 26, 2011
10/15/11
Citizens’ Testing Finds 20 Hot Spots Around Tokyo, 160 Miles From The Fukushima Disaster Zone
Takeo Hayashida signed on with a citizens’ group to test for radiation near his son’s baseball field in Tokyo after government officials told him they had no plans to check for fallout from the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Local officials said there was nothing to fear.
The level of radioactive cesium in a patch of dirt just yards from where his 11-year-old son, Koshiro, played baseball was equal to those in some contaminated areas around Chernobyl.
SEA WATER
The Fukushima Disaster Produced The World’s Worst Nuclear Sea Pollution (Reported 10-28-11)
· Enough Highly Radioactive Water Spilled Into The Sea to Fill 40 Olympic Sized Swimming Pools
· Radioactive Leak Into The Sea Was 20,000 Times Above Limit. 4-21-11
· Radioactive Iodine-131 Was Detected 4,385 Times Higher Than Legal Limit. 4-1-11
· Radioactive Debris Plume Is Likely to reach U.S. in 3 years. 4-22-11
· Greenpeace Marine Radiation Monitoring Was Blocked by Japan Government. 4-28-11
· By 5-26-11 Greenpeace Finds Marine Life Was Soaking Up Radiation Along Fukushima Coast.
· Ocean Radioactivity Was 10 Times Radioactivity of Chernobyl 5-20-11
· TEPCO Halts Filtering of Radioactive Water Releases Into The Sea 6-28-11
· Scientists Test Sick Alaska Seals For Radiation (Reported 12-27-11)
· Seals With Damaged Flippers and Hair Loss are being killed by Radiation From Fukushima according to biologists (Reported 12-28-11)
· Pacific’s Cesium-137 Levels – 30 Times Higher Than Reported . Could present a cancer risk for generations – Cesium has a 30-yr. half life. (Reported 12-22-11)
· Cesium 134 and 137 found in Plankton 600 km from Fukushima only 3 months after meltdowns started. (Reported 3-17-12 by Tokyo University)
FISH
Contamination of Fish in the Pacific Ocean Could Have Wide-Ranging Consequences for Millions.
· 60% of Pacific Fish Positive For Cesium 1-13-12
· Cesium was found in 16 fish species in November, the last month data was available.
Cesium was especially prevalent in certain species:
ü mackerel – 73 %
ü halibut – 91 %
ü sardines – 92 %
ü tuna and eel – 93 %
ü cod and anchovies – 94 %
ü carp, seaweed, shark and monkfish – 100 %
GROUNDWATER
STRONTIUM -90 CONTAMINATION was confirmed far OUTSIDE JAPAN”S EVACUATION ZONE
Japan’s Government announced Strontium 89 and 90 were detected in 11 locations outside the 20-kilometer evacuation zone around Fukushima – as far away as 62 kilometers. (Reported June 8, 2011)
· SR-90 found in gutter 250 Kilometers (160 miles) from Fukushima 10-15-11
RADIOACTIVE SEWAGE SLUDGE
Sewage plant perplexed over how to dispose of highly radioactive sludge 5-14-11
· Radioactive sewage sludge worries Japanese
· It Seeped Into Sewage in Dozens of Treatment Plants
· No one expected such high levels
· Piles of radioactive sludge are growing around the country. NO ONE WILL TAKE IT
· Over 1,550 TONS of Highly Radioactive Sludge From 5 Prefectures Cannot Be Buried – 7-29-11
RADIOACTIVE CONCRETE – BUILDING MATERIALS
· Radioactive Cement Was Made From 3 Sewage Sludge Plants Reported 5-6-11
· New Apartment Building had high levels of radiation found 7-11
· High levels of Radioactivity found in concrete in a new condominium building. Reported 1-16-12
· Concrete mixed with radioactive materials taken from an evacuation zone was used.
RADIOACTIVE RUBBLE
1,000 tons of radioactive rubble was taken to Tokyo by train, then burned and dumped into Tokyo Bay. (Reported by NIRS – October 2011)
RADIOACTIVE INCINERATION – JAPAN IS BURNING RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
Incineration of radioactive materials is spreading radiation further all over Japan and drastically increasing health risks – inhaling radioactive particles is the worst route of exposure.
· Japan is venting radiation high into the atmosphere by burning radioactive wastes. Reported 9-5-11
· High cesium levels were found in dust at 42 incineration plants in 7 prefectures – Cesium levels were documented from 30,000 Becquerels to 95,300 Becquerels
· Cesium incinerator dust was found above limits in 7 prefectures across east Japan.
· Radioactive rain-outs will continue as long as Japan continues to burn its wastes, even in the U.S. and Canada, according to experts
RADIOACTIVE ANIMALS
· Mutant Rabbit Was First Reported 6-14-11 – An earless bunny was conceived after Fukushima outside the evacuation zone – discovered by a woman raising rabbits for over 10 years who said this is the 1st time this happened. Rabbits gestation period is about 4 weeks.
RADIOACTIVE MALE CEDAR FLOWERS
· These flowers were found with high radiation levels (Reported 12-27-11
· Radiation will keep spreading as these flowers open.
RADIATION MONITORING
Radiation Levels Kept Rising, Not Going Down (4-28-11 Bloomberg News)
Since Fukushima’s 3 meltdowns started radiation was released at the approximate average rate of one billion becquerels per hour.
· Japan deceptively claimed citizen monitors were not working.
· The Fukushima operational record wasn’t released until November 2011
Japanese Radiation Data Is NOT Independent (Reported 6/25/11)
· Full disclosure is not in the interests of the Japanese nuclear industry, yet they control the data.
· TEPCO, Fukushima’s owner, withheld information and lied from the start
· They claimed they didn’t want to release data to avoid panic with high readings. Reported 5-28-11
When citizens and Greenpeace started monitoring, extraordinary levels of radiation were found, even 100 miles from Fukushima, including Tokeo.
· Government and industry tried to stop citizen monitoring – saying leave the monitoring to us.
Radiation was dispersed and spread over the general population in many regions of Japan. The public minimally should have full disclosure on data for:
· cesium-137
· strontium-90
· iodine-131
· noble gases
· plutonium-239
Many radionuclides were detected with independent testing.
· PLUTONIUM, one of the most hazardous radionuclides, was released since March 2011, yet NOT reported until May, 2011 when a Fukushima worker informed an investigative reporter
ü If ingested, Plutonium, a very potent carcinogen, can cause genetic damage.
ü Plutonium, an alpha emitter, should not be found far from Fukushima, yet it was spotted far from Fukushima/ (Journal Scientific Reports March 8, 2012 )
· Airborne Radioactive Xenon-133 was measured up to 40,000 times greater than normal in the weeks following the fallout, by Pacific Northwest National Lab in Washington State – July 2011 journal article.
· Xenon-133 is a gas that travels rapidly and signals other radioactive chemicals will follow.
· Radioactive Iodine-131 was found hundreds of times above normal
- Places like Portland OR, Fresno CA, and Denver CO, after entering soil from rainfall.
(February 2012 journal article by the U.S. Geological Survey)
· Cesium-134 and Cesium-137 in the U.S. had the highest levels in the same places.
Map Showed Massive Radiation Plume Heading toward U.S. and Canada (Reported 5-14-11)
· US and Canada response: “Quick FUDGE the numbers before anyone notices”
· Canada turned off its fallout detectors (4-9-11)
What did the U.S. government do?
· NRC Raised Allowable Radiation Dose Limits from 360 after Chernobyl to 620 after Fukushima
· EPA Raised Radiation Limits
U.S. Halted Radiation Monitoring While Radiation Levels Were Going Up Everywhere. (Reported 5-6-11)
The U.S. radiation monitoring system was mostly turned off a month after the disaster in Japan. Why?
By 4-9-11, Fukushima radiation was detected across the U.S. in air, precipitation, drinking water, and milk.
· Elevated Radiation Levels were found in all parts of the country.
· West Coast and Rocky Mountain states received greatest amount of Fukushima Fallout.
· Philadelphia had highest level in drinking water of 13 cities tested.
· Radiation was detected in California fruit and vegetables by 6-4-11
· Bay area milk – iodine and others – levels comparable to Tokyo.
· Testing was limited but: Iodine 131 reported everywhere
· Cesium & Iodine were detected in milk even in Ireland – by March 23, 2011
· Cesium-137 was confirmed in the Nevada air, snow, rain
· Vermont’s milk from cows contained Strontium-90
U.S. Radiation Monitoring After Fukushima Was Confirmed Unreliable (Reported 11-4-11)
· NRC handed radiation monitoring over to nuclear industry lobbyists at Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) who forward data to EPA.
· A no bid contract for radiation monitoring for EPA was awarded to a former Bush Appointee. This radiation monitoring network proved to be unreliable.
Jeff McMahon, Forbes, pointed out …strategies used to minimize public perceptions of the real risks of the Fukushima radiation: “Covering the story, I watched the government pursue what appeared to be two strategies to minimize public alarm.It framed the data with reassurances like this often repeated sentence from the EPA: ‘The level detected is far below a level of public health concern.’ The question, of course, is whose concern.The EPA seemed to be timing its data releases to avoid media coverage. It released its most alarming data set late on a Friday – data that showed radioactive fallout in the drinking water of more than a dozen U.S. cities.”
Nuclear Industry and Governments’ Lies, Falsely Claiming No Risk From Fukushima, Must Be Debunked For Precaution and Prevention In Emergency and Evacuation Planning In Communities Around Nuclear Plants Like Limerick.
Fukushima Meltdowns
News and Investigative Reports
Saturday, 27 October 2012 – On the News With Thom Hartmann:
Fukushima Is Having Trouble Disposing of Hundreds of Thousands of Tons of Contaminated Nuclear Waste Water, and More
It’s been a year and a half of crisis at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan – and that crisis continues to this day. This week, Fukushima’s water-treatment manager admitted that they are having trouble disposing of hundreds of thousands of tons of contaminated nuclear waste water.
· Since the plant began melting down in March of 2011 – TEPCO operators have been desperately dumping water on the exposed reactors to keep them cool.
· Now, all that water has accumulated within the reactors and TEPCO is running out of space to put it all.
· Over the next three years, the amount of wastewater is expected to triple at the plant – worsening an already massive health concern.
· Fukushima is teaching the world that despite decades of nuclear energy proliferation, we still don’t fully understand the dangers of nuclear power.
· Nor do we know how to deal with nuclear catastrophes like Fukushima. It’s time to build movements around the planet and ditch nuclear power for good. No nukes!
Review: Silence Deafening, Fukushima Fallout… A Mother’s Response
Posted: 09/06/2012 5:45 pm
She writes.
· “Knowing what I knew, and then seeing those facts to be so thoroughly disregarded by the media and elected officials has begun to take on a sort of nightmare quality.”
· “It may take decades for the true magnitude of Fukushima Daiichi to be comprehended, just as the effects of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown of 1986 are still being realized.”
· “This is the story of my attempt to learn the truth, and then to do something about it in my own small way.”
· The author quotes Gandhi: “First they laugh at you, then they ignore you, then they fight you, then you win.”
Initial Deaths Verified To Be Related To Fukushima
A total of 573 deaths have been certified as “disaster-related” by 13 municipalities affected by the crisis at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. This number could rise because certification for people remains pending while further checks are conducted. The screening process was difficult in cases when people had stayed in evacuation facilities for an extended time and when there was little evidence of where they had been taking shelter.”
If a municipality certifies the cause of death is directly associated to a disaster, a condolence grant is paid to the victim’s family. If the person was a breadwinner, 5 million yen is paid.
Dr. Mercola on Fukushima Radiation Radiation from FukushimaSeptember 04, 2012
On March 11, 2011, TEPCO’s Fukushima nuclear power plant was fatally crippled. Exactly how much radiation has poured out, contaminating not only cleanup crews but also residents in surrounding areas, remains unclear, as does the risk posed to the rest of the world from nuclear fallout.
One thing is clear: this disaster is far from over… and emerging evidence suggests the impacts may be far worse than we are being led to believe.
Radiation Levels at Fukushima at Record Highs
It’s been over 1 year since the damage occurred, but it’s just now being reported that samples from the basement of reactor number 1 revealed:
· Radiation levels reached up to 10,300 millisievert (mSv) an hour – enough to make a person sick within minutes, and kill them shortly thereafter.
· In perspective, workers at this site reach their annual allowed radiation dose in 20 seconds.
· Workers cannot go anywhere near the site, so robots must be used.
· It’s estimated that complete demolition of the plant will take four decades and require new cleanup technologies to be completed.
Adding to the already precarious situation, another of the reactor buildings – which houses 1,331 spent and 204 unused nuclear fuel assemblies, each of which contains approximately 50-70 nuclear rods – is now tilting and the walls are bulging outward. …Large amounts of radiation could add to the radiation already released into the environment.
Obviously, the situation is still incredibly volatile.
Ø It’s a mystery why U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) only conducted accelerated sampling from March to June 2011.
A report from the Congressional Research Service, suggests radiation-contaminated debris from Japan may take up to three years before it reaches the U.S. West Coast: The debris plume likely will reach the U.S. West Coast, dumping debris on California beaches and the beaches of British Columbia, Alaska, and Baja California.
Ø Although the ocean currents have a slow flow, there’s still a threat posed because radioactive contaminants are incredibly persistent in the environment Radioactive contaminants with long half-lives (e.g., cesium-137, with a half-life of about 30 years) could still pose concerns if transported over long distances by ocean currents.”
Ø Case in point, 15 bluefin tuna caught near San Diego, California in August 2011 were found to contain Fukushima-derived radiation, including caesium-137 and caesium-134, at levels 10 times higher than those detected in previous years. The researchers noted:
Is Fukushima Worse Than Chernobyl?
When the Chernobyl reactor melted down in 1986, approximately 134 plant workers and firefighters were exposed to high doses of radiation – 800 to 16,000 mSv – and developed acute radiation sickness. Of those 134 workers, 28 died within 3 months of exposure.
In total, more than 160,000 children and 146,000 cleanup workers became victims of radiation poisoning as a result of living and working in that radiotoxic environment, raising the incidence of birth defects, leukemia, anemia, cancers, thyroid disease, liver and bone marrow degeneration, and overall severely compromised immune systems.
These, however, are only estimates, and according to some data, Chernobyl deaths may actually top 1 million.6 Fukushima is the largest nuclear disaster since, but there are many similarities popping up. For one, as the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) points out:7
“From the beginning, the official nuclear safety experts were at pains to minimize the projected health impacts, as they are doing now for the Fukushima accident.”
According to ISIS, with Chernobyl, they underestimated related deaths by:
· Underestimating the level of radiation by averaging exposure over a large region, such as an entire country, so high exposure doses and health statistics of the most contaminated areas are lumped together with the less and least exposed
· Ignoring internal sources of radiation due to inhalation and ingestion of radioactive material from fallout
· Using an obsolete and erroneous model of linear energy transfer due to external sources of ionizing radiation
· Not counting diseases and conditions other than cancers
· Overestimating the natural background radiation; today’s “background” has been greatly increased by discharges from nuclear activities including tests of nuclear weapons, use of depleted uranium, and uranium mining
· Suppressing and withholding information from the public
While downplaying the risks of contaminated U.S. seafood, the Congressional Research Service goes into great detail on the magnitude of radiation that entered the ocean water following the disaster:
· “Seawater was monitored with a dose rate of greater than 1,000 millisievert per hour was confirmed by TEPCO on April 2, 2011, in a pit located next to Fukushima’s Unit 2 seawater inlet point. …Experts cite this incident as the largest recorded accidental release of radiation to the ocean.
Did 14,000 Americans Already Die from Fukushima Radiation?
· A report published in the International Journal of Health Services suggests that up to 14,000 deaths related to Fukushima may have already occurred in the United States:
· “Deaths rose 4.46 percent from 2010 to 2011 in the 14 weeks after the arrival of Japanese fallout, compared with a 2.34 percent increase in the prior 14 weeks.
· The number of infant deaths after Fukushima rose 1.80 percent, compared with a previous 8.37 percent decrease.
· Projecting these figures for the entire United States yields 13,983 total deaths and 822 infant deaths in excess of the expected.
· …Recent assessments have suggested that the amount of radioactivity released from Fukushima equals or exceeds that released from Chernobyl.
· Given the continuing emission of radioisotopes from the melted reactors, the high density of population around the plant, and the close proximity to food sources, we can expect that morbidity and mortality will be high in Japan.
· …Adverse health effects may also be expected in the United States, even though exposures have been far below those in Japan.
· Low-dose radiation exposure, previously assumed to be harmless, has been linked with elevated disease rates in children born to women who underwent pelvic X-rays while pregnant, Americans exposed to atomic bomb fallout, nuclear plant workers, and, for leukemia, children exposed to very low doses after Chernobyl.
· In addition to physical diseases is loss of cognitive ability in adolescents following low-dose ionizing radiation in utero.”
The Potential Dangers of Low-Dose Radiation
If the levels of radiation that reach the U.S. are, in fact, low, this may still pose a formidable threat to human health and the environment.
· In 2010, the United National Scientific Committee released a report on the effects of low-dose radiation, noting the following (the report uses the term ‘low dose’ to mean doses of radiation below 200 mGy – a computed tomography (CT) scan delivers about 10 mGy):
· There is strong evidence of “statistically significant” elevations of risk of solid tumors and leukemia above doses of 100 – 200 milligray (mGy)
· Findings of elevated incidence of circulatory disease in populations irradiated at high doses are raising some concern
· There is “increasing evidence” of radiation exposure leading to increased incidence of cataracts
· Radiation exposure of the developing embryo or fetus during pregnancy can also contribute to the appearance of non-cancer diseases in children. In addition to the induction of congenital mal-formations, the central nervous system is particularly affected … Mainly on the basis of animal studies and some observations following high-dose exposures of pregnant women, the Committee considers that there is a threshold for these effects at about 100 mGy.
· There is emerging evidence from recent epidemiological studies indicating elevated risks of non- cancer diseases below doses of 1 to 2 Gy, and in some cases much lower.
· Although this report was released in 2010, scientists are just now going to review it to help assess the true effects of Fukushima.
· There is also a phenomenon known as the “bystander effect,” which multiplies the dose and harm from radiation exposures. According to Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, cells that have not been exposed to radiation can be harmed by nearby cells that have. Writing for ISIS, Dr. Ho explains:
ü “…low dose radiation is all the more dangerous because it does not kill the targeted cell, but allows its influence to spread widely to adjacent cells, thus multiplying the radiation effect (about 100 fold)
ü …a wide range of bystander effects in cells not directly exposed to ionizing radiation have been found, which are the same as or similar to those in the cells that were exposed, including cell death and chromosomal instability.”
· Currently, there is a considerable push to understand bystander effects, genomic instability, and adaptive response after radiation exposure in low doses… but it is now clear that bystander effects do occur and are a general phenomenon induced by all types of radiation.
Truth and Consequences of Radiation From Meltdowns Must Be Fully Disclosed So That People In The Greater Philadelphia Region Begin To Understand Why More Protective Limerick Nuclear Plant Emergency and Evacuation Planning Is Imperative
· The Pattern of Unethical Deception About Radiation Exposure After Meltdowns Has Created Disastrous Situations, Needlessly Magnifying Harms For Millions.
Victims Were Not Evacuated Soon Enough or Far Enough Away From Meltdowns. They Suffered Needlessly.
People Failed To Take Precautionary Actions Because They Were Lied To About Radiation Releases.
· Cover-Ups, Lies, and Secrecy About Radiation Releases and Their Consequences From Meltdowns Must Be Revealed – It’s About Ethics, Human Rights, and Minimizing Harms.
· Government and the Nuclear Industry Deceive The Public. They Manipulate Public Opinion To Reduce Opposition to Nuclear Power To Prevent Collapse of the Nuclear Industry.
· Deaths and Harmful Health Impacts Have Been Deliberately Underestimated – Using Dilution, Discounting Internal Radiation Exposure, Ignoring Diseases Other Than Cancer, Using Deceptive Testing and Estimates.
· The Truth About Consequences of Meltdowns Has Been Suppressed and Withheld – Through Worldwide Censorship of Media and Misleading Industry Propaganda That Denies Reality.
Once a Large Amount of Radiation Enters An Ecosystem It Quickly Becomes Widespread, Contaminating Water, Soil, Plants, Animals, and People
· Radiation is invisible – It also can’t be tasted, smelled, or felt by victims.
· Evidence shows radiation from meltdowns contaminates air, water, soil, and food hundreds of miles away from meltdowns.
· As Radiation moves up the food chain, it Bioaccumulates, Bioconcentrates, and Biomagnifies
· Example: Ingestion of foods contaminated with even “low levels” of radioactive cesium leads to bioaccumulation in the liver, kidneys, small intestines, pancreas, spleen, and heart and endocrine tissues.
· Children are most susceptible to effects of radiation on their internal organs.
· There is “NO SAFE RADIATION DOSE” according to The National Academy of Sciences, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and other experts.
People In The Greater Philadelphia Region Must Have Immediate Notification Of A Limerick Nuclear Plant
Radiation Accident or Meltdown With Expanded Evacuation and Ingestion Pathway Zones
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Has Lost All Credibility
NRC’S LUDICROUS DECEPTION
Fukushima was the worst nuclear disaster in history, expected by independent experts to have worse radiation consequences than Chernobyl – estimated to have released radiation 20 times Chernobyl.
Soon after Fukushima’s meltdowns started, many Japanese people far beyond the evacuation zone started showing signs of radiation poisoning, especially children. Related deaths were certified by officials in 13 Prefectures.
Yet, NRC Told 3,000 Nuclear Experts From 34 Countries:
Fukushima Did Not Result In Big Radiation Doses to the General Population. Immediate Health Consequences Were “Very Close To Nothing,” With “Little To No” Long-Term Health Effects.
Probably Met NRC Safety Goals.
NRC Needs New Standards For Fukushima Type Disasters.
How Can We Believe NRC About Anything?
NRC Protects Nuclear Industry Profits At The Expense Of Public Health and Safety
· NRC is failing in its mission to protect public health and safety.
· In spite of credible evidence from Chernobyl and Fukushima meltdowns proving radiation released travels hundreds of miles and has devastating impacts on health, especially for children, and in spite of NRC warning U.S. citizens to evacuate 50 miles from Fukushima, NRC is still denying the need to expand U.S. evacuation zones beyond 10 miles and ingestion pathway zones beyond 50 miles.
· NRC disregards reliable independent scientific research and fails to fully disclose harmful impacts from routine and accidental radiation releases with deceptively designed word-smithing.
NRC is using industry biased studies to deceive the public about actual consequences of radiation exposure from meltdowns.
NRC is refusing to provide more realistic protective planning for Limerick Nuclear Plant and others.
$1.65 million was awarded through grants from the Department of Energy Nuclear Energy University Programs and $450,000 was awarded through graduate student fellowships. “Scholarship for Nuclear Communications and Methods for Evaluation of Nuclear Project Acceptability” will develop a model to characterize the factors affecting social acceptance of nuclear projects by potential stakeholders.
NRC’s response to Fukushima meltdowns was to ignore reality and arrange for MIT do a selection-bias study, using a 35-day short-term mouse study to make it seem as if impacts from radiation exposure are harmless. The MIT study excluded extensive evidence of genetic damage to humans living in a radiation-contaminated environment. Nineteen groups of Children from Chernobyl showed lasting genetic damage from radiation.
A Radioactive Conflict of Interest (June 25th, 2012)
Having the Energy Department control radiation health research makes as much sense as giving tobacco companies the authority to see if smoking is bad for you.
MIT Confronted With Its Malpractice of Science (June 25, 2012)
The MIT Radiation Study Was Confronted With Its Malpractice Of Science. The Study Protocol was flawed. It’s the worst kind of bias, the kind paid to ignore human suffering. “It’s difficult to get someone to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”
· The use of genetically altered FYDR mice for one portion of the study but not the comparison groups.
· The wide range in the numbers of mice used in the comparison groups.
· The time frame was too short (Tanaka paper)
· External radiation was the only radiation studied. Internal radiation was not studied, but presents the bigger risk.
· The study left out crucial information that children may have a 3-fold higher risk for damage from radiation at half the accumulated MIT dose.
Independent Research And Evidence Dispel MIT’s Radiation Deception:
A body of independent research on radiation, as well as evidence from actual meltdowns, reveal the truth and consequences of radiation exposure from nuclear plants like Limerick.
· There is NO safe level of radiation exposure, according to the National Academy of Sciences and Physicians for Social Responsibility.
· Ionizing radiation from nuclear plants damages living things and can contaminate the environment permanently.
· Nuclear Plant radiation mutates genes which can cause genetic damage across generations.
· U.S. and European studies have all shown increases in cancer around nuclear facilities.
· Drastic increases in cancer are documented, especially in children, in communities near Limerick Nuclear Plant and Montgomery County, home of Limerick Nuclear Plant , since Limerick Nuclear Plant started operating in1985. (See ACE Website Download #2: “Cancer – Skyrocketing Increases: Links to Limerick”)
Human Health Consequences Resulting From Radiation Releases After Meltdowns At Fukushima, Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island Have Been Revealed By Independent Research:
· Based on the amount of radiation releases over 1.5 million excess cancers are expected from Fukushima.
· Over 1.5 million excess cancers occurred over 25 years from Chernobyl, “Consequences To People And The Environment” – New York Academy of Science nyas.org/annals
· Partial meltdown at TMI may have caused 50,000 to 100,000 excess deaths. Read: “Deadly Deceit: Low Level Radiation – High Level Cover-up” by Jay Gould and Ben Goldman, 1990
Radiation and Public Health Project Director, Joseph Mangano’s Two Excellent Books Reveal Truth And Consequences About Radiation Exposure
· “RADIOACTIVE BABY TEETH: THE CANCER LINK”
The Only Study Of Radiation Levels In Bodies Of Americans Living Near Nuclear Plants – Includes Data On Limerick Nuclear Plant.
· “MAD SCIENCE: THE NUCLEAR POWER EXPERIMENT”
Includes An Account of Consequences From Nuclear Accidents and Meltdowns, Plus A Point-by-Point Refutation of Pro-Nuke Arguments.
“There Is NO Safe Level Of Radionuclide Exposure Whether From Food, Water, Or Other Sources. PERIOD!”
Dr. Jeff Patterson, Former President of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Said:
Exposure to Radionuclides, like Iodine-131 and Cesium-137, INCREASES Risk of Cancer.”
Radiation Exposure Can Affect The Whole Body
The broad range of radionuclides that are present in radioactive releases from nuclear power plants have been linked to damage to: Bladder, Bone, Brain, Breast, Kidneys, Liver, Lungs, Muscles, Ovaries, Pancreas, Skin, Spleen, Thyroid
Radiation Sickness Symptoms Appear in One to Four Weeks and Can Be Mistaken for Other Illnesses Like the Flu:
· Within the first twenty-four hours, symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fever, etc.
· Within one to four weeks, symptoms can include dizziness, disorientation, weakness and fatigue, hair loss, bloody vomit and stools, infections, poor wound healing, and low blood pressure.
There Is No Way to Undo Damaging Effects Of Radiation Exposure
To Minimize Exposure
· Time Limit Exposure
· Distance Between You and Radiation
· Shielding Learn About Best Sheltering Procedures
For Radiation Exposure Summaries See: www.acereport.org
#1 Radiation – Limerick’s Routine Releases
#3 Radiation – No Safe dose
#4 Radiation – Reduce Risk
Over 8 Million People Live Within 50 Miles Of Limerick
How Close Do You Live To Limerick Nuclear Plant?
See Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Radiation Plume Map www.nrdc.org
RADIATION EXPOSURE CAN BE MINIMIZED
RELATED TO A LIMERICK ACCIDENT / MELTDOWN
WITH MORE PROTECTIVE UP-FRONT EMERGENCY AND EVACUATION PLANNING
Contact Elected Officials Today To Demand That NRC Require More Protective Emergency Planning Including:
1. Immediate Public Notification By Exelon and NRC
2. Independent Radiation Monitoring With Electronic
Radiation Alert System
3. A 50-Mile Evacuation Zone
4. A 100-Mile Ingestion Pathway Zone
Fukushima and Chernobyl Meltdowns Prove Radioactive Fallout Traveled Far Greater Distances Than 50 Miles. The Radioactive Ingestion Pathway Went Far Beyond 100 Miles.
Facts About Fukushima Fallout:
· Japan’s long-lived radiation contaminated more than 11,500 square miles. (Reported 11-11)
· An area almost the size of Connecticut (some 4,500 square miles) was found to have radiation levels exceeding Japan’s shameful highly inflated allowable radiation limit.
· The radioactively-contaminated exclusion zones surrounding Fukushima cover more than 300 square miles.
Facts About Chernobyl Fallout:
· Evacuations spread over the years as far as 200 miles away from the reactor. Approximately 350,400 people were evacuated from the areas surrounding Chernobyl.
· 80 square miles were declared too radioactive for human habitation and declared a permanent “exclusion” zone.
Yet, Limerick’s Emergency and Evacuation Zone Remains Set At Only 10-Miles. Limerick’s Ingestion Pathway Zone Remains Set At Just 50 Miles. This Is Negligence!
1974 Reactor Safety Study Published by NRC (Referred To As The Rasmussen Report)
While no agency is taking responsibility for attempting to clean up after a nuclear disaster, all these agencies ignore or miss the fact that nuclear “accidents” NEVER end. Will they ever admit that a nuclear plant worst case scenario is likely to be just too bad to clean up?
NRC and Industry’s Attempt To Hide The Real Risk From Nuclear Plant Radiation
Bogus Comparisons:
· The nuclear industry and NRC intentionally ignore and deny harms from continuous routine radiation exposure from nuclear plant releases. They repeatedly, absurdly dismiss harm from continuous exposure to over 100 radionuclides routinely discharged from nuclear plants and make bogus comparisons to radiation from sunshine, X-rays, and airplane trips.
· The broad range of nuclear plant radionuclides routinely released cause additive, cumulative, and synergistic internal and external radiation damage. Once in the ecosystem, people living in the region of a nuclear plant cannot avoid these exposures. They cannot see it, taste it, feel it, or smell it.
Starting in January 2013, ACE will begin a Video-Blog Series addressing the need to improve and update Limerick Nuclear Plant’s outdated, flawed, and inadequate emergency and evacuation plans. Each 15 minute video will be uploaded to YouTube, and also be included with an accompanying Blog Post with detailed information on our website. An overview of the series follows.
ACE REPORT VIDEO-BLOG SERIES:
Minimizing Chaos and Reducing Radiation Exposure By Improving Limerick Nuclear Plant’s Fatally Flawed And Inadequate Emergency and Evacuation Plans.
This ACE Report Video and Blog Series Should Serve As A Wake-Up Call To Millions In The Greater Philadelphia Region Related To Limerick Nuclear Plant’s Negligent Emergency and Evacuation Planning.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Limerick Nuclear Plant’s regulator, is required to protect our health and safety, but a body of evidence shows that NRC is instead protecting the financial bottom line of Exelon. NRC’s deceitful claims and actions demonstrate that NRC is failing to fulfill their required duties to protect us.
NRC’s historical and current failures and corruption in policies and decision making are compromising and further jeopardizing millions of people whose lives could be harmed or ruined permanently as the result of a Limerick Nuclear Plant Radioactive Accident and/or Meltdown.
This series of ACE Report Videos and Blogs will identify problems and flaws with Limerick’s Emergency and Evacuation plans. It will reveal why we and our elected officials must demand a system for immediate independent public notification of a Limerick accidental radioactive release, and demand updated and improved planning for expanded evacuation and ingestion pathway zones.
The Alliance For A Clean Environment www.acereport.org
January to March – 2013
Video / Blog Part 1
In 2012, NRC Pared Down Emergency and Evacuation Plans, Even After Fukushima
Video / Blog Part 2
Calls For Immediate Notification And Expanded Evacuation and Ingestion Pathway Zones
Video / Blog Part 3
The Truth and Consequences of Radiation Exposure From Nuclear Plant Accidents / Meltdowns
Video / Blog Part 4
What Really Happened After Fukushima, Chernobyl, and TMI Meltdowns
Video / Blog Part 5
Financial Injustice To The Public From A Radiation Accident / Meltdown
Video / Blog Parts 6 and 7
Fatal Flaws In Emergency – Evacuation Plans for Limerick Nuclear Power Plant
Video / Blog Part 8
Regional Campaign To Improve Limerick Nuclear Plant’s Evacuation Plan, Including Immediate Public Notification and Expanded Evacuation And Ingestion Pathway Zones
The Alliance For A Clean Environment ACE Website Blog Post
Blog Post #3 – May 13, 2012
Limerick Nuclear Plant Must Shut Down Before It Melts Down
1. Meltdowns Can Be Triggered By Loss of Power and Loss of Water.
Earthquakes Can Trigger Meltdowns.
Limerick Is Considered A VERY High Risk Nuke Plant – 3rd On The Nation’s Quake-Risk List
The Questions Is – Why Was Limerick Allowed To Be Constructed Here Right Over An Earthquake Fault, And So Close To So Many Others, Including One That Has Been Active?
In 1972 – Limerick Proceeded Without A License For Construction Or Permission -
BEFORE Limerick’s Earthquake Study Was Even Completed In 1974
– Exelon’s Fact Sheet Claims Limerick Construction Began In 1974.
• But November 15, 2972, before PECO ever received a permit, a mammoth 90-wheel truck, escorted by police, carried a new nuclear reactor vessel to the Limerick site in Pottstown.
• Attorney Lawrence Sager told the Mercury,
“It shows … arrogance of the utility. It has no license for construction, nor permission to proceed, and yet they moved the vital parts onto the site.”
Cover Up? Evaluate NRC’s Omissions and/or Confusion Regarding Earthquake Faults Under and Near Limerick Nuclear Plant. You decide.
- ACE members recently confirmed that there is a fault right under the Limerick Nuclear Plant site. They discovered this in the Pottstown Library from a 1974 geological study done for Limerick’s original licensing,
• The Sanatoga Fault is right under Limerick Nuclear Plant, yet NRC failed to disclose that fault under Limerick or two others within 2 miles of Limerick when asked to identify the closest faults to Limerick by a local Mother very concerned after knowing an earthquake triggered the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
- Two other faults were identified by NRC in a letter and map sent to the resident 10/11 – After multiple requests and over 5 months after the original 5-11 request.
• The resident’s letter and map identified ONLY faults 9 and 17 miles from Limerick.
9 miles – Chalfont Fault 17 miles away – Ramapo Fault
• At NRC”s 4-18-12 meeting in Limerick, NRC officials appeared totally unaware of the fault right under Limerick Nuclear Plant.
• The NRC official who sent the letter and map which failed to identify the fault under Limerick, admitted 4-18-12 that the Ramapo fault 17 miles from Limerick was active with 2 or 3 quakes.
• He also expressed concern about the quarry next to the Limerick site.
- A cover-up to construct Limerick? Just Like North Anna in Virginia?
• The geological study revealing the Sanatoga Fault right under Limerick Nuclear Plant was completed in 1974.
• But in 1972, the first Limerick reactor was already delivered to the site.
• There was a documented earthquake fault cover-up in order to push through the construction of North Anna. The risk was uncovered and challenged in court, but the company only paid a fine and proceeded with construction.
• Limerick’s generator was already delivered before the earthquake study was reported.
• Now it appears to many, that NRC is covering up the risk, after the fact.
• 5-9-12 NRC responded to ACE questions 4-18-12 about the fault under Limerick. NRC points to 3 faults within 2 miles of Limerick, but fails to address the fact that the Sanatoga Fault is directly under the Limerick Nuclear Plant site.
• NRC points us to a 1983 Safety Evaluation Report which concludes there are “no capable faults” in the site area. That study is outdated and no longer valid based on new information. In 2011 we saw earthquakes becoming far stronger and more frequent, a risk that will only increase with fracking of thousands of gas wells in PA.
• NRC even contradicted that conclusion when admitting the Ramapo fault is active.
- Earthquake threats are stronger and more frequent
• Earthquakes Triggered Fukushima Meltdowns
• 8-23-12 Virginia quake shook our region – Limerick had to check for damage, but the place an earthquake is most likely to cause damage is also the place hardest to inspect – underground.
• Damage is hard to detect in the miles of buried underground pipes and cables under the 600 acre Limerick site. What could happen from earthquakes in faults so close to and under Limerick?
- Fracking Could Trigger An Earthquake at Limerick
• A 2012 USGS study confirmed that fracking can trigger earthquakes
• In PA 4,200 natural gas wells have been approved since 2007
• Many, including a high-ranking NRC official, are even concerned about the quarry very close to Limerick, especially now knowing there is a fault right under Limerick.
- Limerick is considered a high-risk nuke, ranked 3rd on the nation’s quake-risk list
• Yet, Limerick is not required to comply with KEY seismic safety upgrades until 2017
NRC’S NEGLIGENT EXCUSE – “Limited Resources – Prioritizing” Rick Ennis 4-18-12
NRC couldn’t answer how you fix earthquake faults under and too close to Limerick.
2. Safety of Limerick’s Design Was Challenged In 1981 In Federal Court,
YEARS BEFORE Limerick Completion. Construction Should Have Been
Halted In 1981, Pending The Decision. It Was About Safety In Design
In 1981 Limerick Ecology Action sued in federal court – Accusing NRC (AEC) of:
- Violating the National Environmental Policy Act
- Not Considering Safety Enhancing Design Alternatives For Limerick Nuclear Plant.
NRC was ordered to listen to LEA’s proposals by the 3rd circuit court of appeals in Philadelphia.
- The order was a major embarrassment to NRC and setback for PECO.
Reported in Mercury “David Against Federal Goliath” – September 28, 1997
The case dragged on nearly 9 years – the decision came too late:
- Unit 1 was Finished
- Unit 2 Completion was Approved.
3. Limerick’s Design Flaws Are A Serious Threat To The Entire Philadelphia
Region
- Limerick’s reactor containment is substandard, meaning more radiation would be released in an accident or attack.
- 9-22-11 A quality assurance engineer at the time cement was poured for Limerick’s fuel pools testified that cement was faulty.
- 5-9-12 – NRC substantiated that “there were deviations in a concrete pour for the spent fuel pool.”
- NRC admitted to ACE 5-9-12 – At the time of construction NRC (AEC) claimed there would be “no adverse effect on the structural adequacy of the spent fuel pool”. In other words, even with potentially deadly consequences, NRC overlooked and allowed substandard cement to be used for very critical fuel pool construction.
- That negligent conclusion was accepted decades ago, but NOT NOW, with increasing threats to Limerick’s fuel pool integrity from both earthquakes and terrorist attacks,
- The quality assurance engineer, Dan Ely, expressed heightened concerns 9-22-11, due to increased risk of stronger and more frequent earthquakes and other natural disasters.
This should be enough of a concern to NRC and elected officials in our entire region to call for closure of Limerick to prevent devastation to the entire Philadelphia region.
4. Limerick’s Densely Packed Deadly Fuel Pools Are Highly Vulnerable To
Meltdown
- Cement holding Limerick’s Deadly Radioactive Wastes Is Substandard.
- Large volumes (over 6,000 assemblies-1,000 tons), of Limerick’s highly radioactive wastes (spent fuel rods) are stored in Limerick’s densely packed fuel pools, elevated five stories above and outside the reinforced containment structure for the reactor.
- After decades of holding all Limerick’s highly radioactive and heated “spent fuel” rods, Limerick’s substandard cement could crumble like a tea cup from a strong earthquake or a terrorist attack with a plane or missile.
- Limerick’s Fuel Pools are similar to Fukushima’s, but Limerick’s 2 fuel pools hold far more deadly spent fuel than 4 of Fukushima’s.
- A 2011 Study On DOE Records Shows Limerick’s 2 Fuel Pools Hold:
• Almost three times more than four of Fukushima’s fuel pools
• Far more than many U.S. nuclear plants, including Exelon’s TMI and Oyster Creek
• Far more than the reactors
- With loss of cooling water, Limerick’s fuel rods can heat up, self-ignite, and burn in an unstoppable fire.
- Fire in a spent fuel pool could release enough cesium-137 “to render about 95,000 square kilometers of land uninhabitable” (Comparable to covering about 75% of New York)
- Loss of water from Limerick’s fuel pools could create a disaster far worse than Chernobyl and 100 times worse than Hiroshima.
- A meltdown from loss of water in a spent fuel pool could cause fatal radiation-induced cancer in thousands of people as far as 500 miles from the site according to a 2000 NRC study.
- Limerick’s “Spent Fuel” pools are at high risk from loss of cooling water due to:
• Earthquakes
• Leakage and/or Evaporation
• Reactor Failure
• Explosion Inside or Outside Pool Building
• Terrorist Acts Including Aircraft Impact or Missiles
- Fuel Pools are especially vulnerable to aircraft penetration. Still, Exelon has not been required to spend the money to guard Limerick against terrorists’ missiles or air strikes.
- A 2004 Study by Dr. Edwin Lyman, Senior Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, Concluded:
• As many as 44,000 near-term deaths from acute radiation poisoning
• 518,000 long term deaths from cancer.
• Deaths could occur among people living as far as 60 miles downwind.
- A 2003 study by Dr. Frank Von Hippel, Director of Science and Global Security at Princeton University, concluded that:
• A successful terrorist attack on a spent fuel storage pool could have consequences “significantly worse than Chernobyl.”
• A catastrophic spent fuel fire could release a radiation plume that could contaminate 8 to 70 times more land than Chernobyl. (Would include the entire Philadelphia Metropolitan Region).
- How dangerous is “spent fuel”?
• Standing 1 yard away unshielded can cause death in less than 3 minutes.
• 30 seconds of exposure can cause significant increased risk of cancer and genetic damage.
5. Deja Vu – Limerick’s Serious Safety Concerns Are Being Ignored By NRC
Yet Again.
- In 2011, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Intervened On Our Behalf Against Limerick Nuclear Plant Relicensing, Accusing Limerick of Dodging A New Safety Study
- NRDC Said “Limerick’s Safety Analysis Is Decades Out Of Date. A New Limerick Safety Analysis Is Necessary.” NRDC Cited Limerick’s Obsolete Severe Accident Mitigation Study. NRDC’s Director Said,
• “After Fukushima, it seems just plain nutty not to require a new study on Limerick’s Boiling Water Reactors similar to those at Fukushima.”
• “Exelon and NRC blithely maintain they have NO reason to take another look at Limerick’s Severe Accident Mitigation Analysis”
- The licensing board ruled in favor of NRDC, but Exelon and NRC (the agency supposedly protecting our safety) appealed the decision, even though this is about our safety.
Why would Exelon and NRC fight so hard against a new safety study?
- Many believe Limerick should have to close as a result of a new safety study.
Welcome to the new Alliance for a Clean Environment (ACE) website. It seems fitting that this post appears on April 22, Earth Day 2012.
This section of our website will provide interested and concerned members of ACE, residents of the immediate tri-county region closest to the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant (Berks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties), and anyone concerned about our environment and health with timely updates on events of importance.
Our intensive, in-depth public interest investigations of the nuclear power industry, Exelon, and the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant since 2000 have been summarized in the new website. ACE Blog Posts will be utilized to inform members of the community in the future. New posts will be added to our site as new information becomes available, and as events occur that the community has a right and need to know.
Please visit our website on a regular basis. An informed citizenry is our best hope for avoiding an unthinkable disaster. We encourage concerned members of the community to speak up, contact your elected officials, and join the growing ACE campaign to close the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant.
