by Robert Wilkinson
I hate to bring you down on this “holiday” weekend, but the hits just keep on coming. This news report confirms how widespread this disaster really is. And they're just now getting around to telling us....
In the newest report from Jeremy Hsu at LiveScience, reported by NBC titled Fukushima's radioactive ocean plume due to reach US waters in 2014 we read this disaster is spreading and not diminishing. You would think the world governments would band together to stop this death-dealing problem that will affect all life on Earth for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
These are of course computer simulations, and we are told “the plume of radioactive cesium-137... could begin flowing into US coastal waters starting in early 2014 and peak in 2016.” That means of course we’re dealing with radioactive water, fish, and whatever through 2022 at the least, and probably longer, given the genetic mutations that will take place in the ocean creatures. And if the half-life is 30 years, I doubt we'll be done with the problem any time soon.
We read “Fukushima’s radioactive water release has taken its time journeying across the Pacific. By comparison, atmospheric radiation from the Fukushima plant began reaching the U.S. West Coast within just days of the disaster back in 2011.” Which is of course NOT what they told us back then.
As I recall, we were told “nyet problema” and there was zero radiation affecting the US west coast. Now we find West coast children have shown symptoms of health problems directly associated with radioactivity.
In a twisted development, it seems some pea-brained marine scientists are excited since Cesium can be used to track ocean currents. In the story it is stated that Cesium 137 “doesn’t interact with interact much with other things, and decays slowly with a long half-life of 30 years.”
One scientist states “One advantage of this tracer is its long half-life and our ability to measure it quite accurately, so that it can be used in the future to test our models of ocean circulation and see how well they represent reality over time.... In 20 years' time, we could go out, grab measurements everywhere in the Pacific and compare them to our model.”
That’s pretty twisted. Let’s allow radioactive particles to drift around the ocean for 30 years, and then more years of half-life (of some indeterminate length) as it decays into another substance, and then more years of half life, and on and on (that's how they compute it), ignoring any possible downside posed in contaminating the creatures of the ocean with nuclear particles. Wow. Or contaminating the disgusting Pacific Ocean “dump,” a.k.a. “the Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” so that we can’t clean it up for decades if ever.
If you’re wondering why I keep insisting this is a global problem, the report ends with this: “But the plume will eventually begin to escape the North Pacific gyre in an even more diluted form. About 25 percent of the radioactivity initially released will travel to the Indian Ocean and South Pacific over two to three decades after the Fukushima disaster, the model showed.” Heads up Oz and NeZ! You're in the path of the radioactive menace!
In case you missed this when I recently posted it in a comment stream, here’s another ugly recent development in this horrible nuclear menace. This is really not good. The world needs to pull together to stop this mess. It's obvious the Japanese government is more focused on saving face than fixing what will probably go down as the worst nuclear disaster in history.
For your consideration, “Why Fukushima is worse than you think” From the report:
"Meanwhile, the soil around the leaking tank delivered a dose per hour equivalent to the legal limit for nuclear workers for five years. No remote radiation measuring devices, no remote handling.""The tank leak is just the latest in a long list of signs that things are going fundamentally wrong at the site of what could still turn out to be the most serious radiological event in history. And the situation could still get a lot worse. A massive spent fuel fire would likely dwarf the current dimensions of the catastrophe and could exceed the radioactivity releases of Chernobyl dozens of times. First, the pool walls could leak beyond the capacity to deliver cooling water or a reactor building could collapse following one of the hundreds of aftershocks. Then, the fuel cladding could ignite spontaneously releasing its entire radioactive inventory."
Not to overstate the obvious, this escalating problem will be a critical issue of our times, and given the current state of incompetence, it’s safe to say that we’re leaving this obscenity to our children and our children’s children. I just don’t know why the governments of the world aren’t doing EVERYTHING to contain and resolve this problem. It’s obvious that the Japanese government doesn’t have a clue.
Here’s an overview of the threat, with internal links to how ALL Pacific Bluefin tuna are testing radioactive, how infants on the west coast of the US have been affected, and why nothing has been happening to prevent massive radioactive contamination of the earth and water in Japan, as well as the Pacific Ocean, it seems.
Fukushima Finally Upgraded from a Level 1 to a Level 3 Threat
I am reminded of an old song made big in the movie "On the Beach," but the problem is that the currents are headed toward Oz and NeZ:
Waltzing Matilda, waltzing MatildaYou'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."
And please just keep smiling, laughing, and drinking, since the Japanese government assures us that this will protect us against radiation poisoning. It’s in the article on the threat upgrade. This is the Grand Irrationality at its worst, a twisted Twilight Zone on steroids.
© Copyright 2013 Robert Wilkinson
It won't be the first time this type of radiation (Caesium-137)has spilled out into the earths environment on volumes of this scale. In 1961-62 it was at its highest then too, just before the treaty banning nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, outer space and under water was signed by the cold war powers in 1963 > http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Factsheets/English/npt_chrono.html
And then the French were testing in the south pacific during 1970s, so as for us "down under" what can we do?...sigh... boycott seafood?
Posted by: RodJM | September 01, 2013 at 05:47 AM
Hi Rod - Exactly right, and the adults in charge in the early 60s got it and chose to ban above ground nuke tests for the sake of the future of life on Earth. And yes, the French did not do the right thing, and that's how Greenpeace became a global force for good, along with protecting our ancient record keepers the Whales, and our allies the Dolphins.
I stopped eating seafood in 1976 for all kinds of reasons, including increasing Mercury contamination and Gulf of Mexico oil spills. They were the last flesh food I gave up, having stopped eating pig and chicken by 1971-72 and beef in 1973 due to food poisoning and becoming aware of how animal flesh is commercially processed in this country, which is a filthy, disgusting abomination. At this point in the game, even "organic" is not that safe due to the watering-down of how that term is defined, along with environmental problems outside of the ability for anyone to control, kind of like this radioactive insanity. Fish eating radioactive fish.....
I believe this will force all of us to re-think how we manage the oceans, which of course affects the global food chain. It will lead many to stop eating Pacific fish, or at least cut back and be more mindful of what they eat and where it comes from. No doubt it will lead to higher prices for Atlantic fish and for the time being, South Pacific and Indian Ocean fish. This is a slo-mo trainwreck unfolding right before our eyes.
Posted by: Robert | September 01, 2013 at 09:05 AM
Thank you Robert for your reporting on these issues. For anyone who is thinking why is this on an astrology site remember that Mahatma Gandhi believed and practiced that there is no separation between spirituality and political/social involvement. He was a Libra and Venus recently entered Libra. This morning it made a sesquisquare to Neptune in Pisces. Don't believe the lies that the gerontocracy is telling you about nuclear energy and war for that matter. Venus is transiting my natal Sun at 18 Libra so allow me to include John Lennon and Jackson Browne as Librans in my personal plea for sanity. No Nukes! Hell no, we won't Glow! And also there are "Lives in the Balance" as the drums of war continue to beat.
Posted by: dcu | September 01, 2013 at 01:07 PM
Hi all - Here's the newest from yesterday: Radiation spikes to lethal levels at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant
"Radiation readings near water tanks at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant have risen dramatically, with one test registering lethal levels, the plant's operators reported Sunday."
"The Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO, said the high readings were discovered at four new locations on Saturday, near the joints at the bottom of storage tanks that are holding highly contaminated water. One of the readings reached 1,800 millisieverts per hour, which is considered enough to kill an exposed person in four hours, the company said. Previous readings around the same tank registered a dose of 100 millisieverts per hour."
Posted by: Robert | September 01, 2013 at 03:32 PM
Why this problem isn't number one priority to world leaders is beyond me as well. It leads me to believe it is hopeless. There just isn't an app to fix it. It's uncontrollable and we are left to deal with the damage. The ocean creatures are f_cked. At least CA jumped on the affordable health care thing and have organized to provide care for the citizens. Not that lives can necessarily be saved but may be able to keep folks as comfortable as possible. The earth will be fine but less habitable. We've out technologied ourselves and it's turning on us. A life of its own. This does bother me a great deal, coping with the reality of it is the challenge.
Posted by: caliban | September 02, 2013 at 07:47 PM
Thanks for your comments Robert, I understand exactly where you are coming from. The only way one can be sure of "clean" food is to produce it themselves, otherwise we just have to trust others in the system. I have Pluto conjunct Uranus conjunct Venus in Virgo, so know only too well the issues here.
@caliban,
This issue only started appearing in one of our mainstream news sources here in Australia today! I heard it on ABC 24 news, however, the upcoming federal election has crowded the scene somewhat!
Posted by: RodJM | September 03, 2013 at 04:12 AM
@RodJM, this oceanic catastrophe really puts all the petty politics and squabbling in perspective. The money makin machine just isn't getting it.
Posted by: caliban | September 03, 2013 at 08:58 AM
i love america and its ability to freely delve into human existence but the hypocrisy is difficult for the rest of the world to understand - french nuclear testing in the pacific led to entire villagers of people disappearing to france never to be seen again, uninhabitable islands and 3rd generation deformities - yes seafood and oil are important - but the weaker innocent nations who never saw the Sheriff arrive will eat what they can. may as well mention the blind eye taken to australia taking east timours oil while i'm at it, as part of whatever indonesian deal was done.
peace in the light of honesty, brett
Posted by: brett | September 04, 2013 at 04:33 AM
Hi all - As of Wed, Sept 4, Radiation level spikes further near toxic water tanks at Japan's Fukushima plant -
"Radiation readings near tanks holding toxic water at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant have jumped to a new high, the plant operator said Wednesday."
"Tokyo Electric Power Company, which has been struggling to deal with a series of leaks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, said it detected a radiation level of 2,200 millisieverts near the tanks on Tuesday. That's up from a previous high of 1,800 millisieverts on Saturday."
"Those levels, detected around the same tank, are strong enough to kill an unprotected person within hours."
Posted by: Robert | September 04, 2013 at 05:59 AM
I know this is Astrology website but... now to add insult to injury, its just been announced
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Summer_Olympics
that Tokyo will be hosting the 2020 Olympic games, I don't have to tell you all how far away it is from Fukushima, unbelievable! Those athletes and there support teams that will be participating... good luck! you'll need all you can get...
Posted by: RodJM | September 07, 2013 at 06:25 PM
Today's Wall Street Journal has an op ed piece professing that people need to get over their 'radiation phobia'. Even quoted a scientist who says you can drink a cup of water right at the site and perfectly fine. But but but what about radiation sickeness and mutating dna. Oh maybe that's where the mutant's are gathering. Could be venus in scorpio but I am seeing old black and white japanese monster movies in my head. :D
Posted by: caliban | September 11, 2013 at 02:05 PM