Fukushima update - 11/04/2013

ENENews headlines

09:05 PM EST on November 4th, 2013 | 7 comments PHOTOS: Sea star began “ripping itself into pieces” — Like a horror movie — AP: Deaths from Alaska to S. California — Biologist: Related to an environmental change? “An early warning that we aren’t picking up on?” — Professor: “None of us had ever seen anything like this before” 04:17 PM EST on November 4th, 2013 | 55 comments Postponed: Fuel removal attempt at Fukushima Unit 4 delayed, possibly for weeks — Gov’t safety agency wants tests conducted, as another ~M5 quake hits Eastern Japan 02:37 PM EST on November 4th, 2013 | 25 comments Japan Nuclear Engineer: I don’t think they’ll ever get Fukushima’s melted cores; Will probably start covering reactors in concrete — German Expert: May encase areas in sarcophagus 11:40 AM EST on November 4th, 2013 | 36 comments Nuclear Expert Invited by Japan: Melted fuel may have ‘sprayed up’ rather than flowing down at Fukushima — Not known where molten mass went 10:22 AM EST on November 4th, 2013 | 38 comments Fukushima Workers: I wanted to escape from nuclear plant, but feared they might hurt me — At ‘parties’ we were forced to eat radioactive mushrooms and bee larvae gathered from inside evacuation zone — “They called my mother to tell her I was in trouble” (VIDEO) 08:11 AM EST on November 4th, 2013 | 41 comments ABC Correspondent: Nobody knows where Fukushima’s melted cores are now, expert says — Tepco admitted fuel “is actually eating through the concrete… hopefully it’s not eating through any further” (AUDIO) 12:15 AM EST on November 4th, 2013 | 61 comments Sardine population plummets along U.S. West Coast — AP: Collapse of species feared — “Canadian Pacific fishermen catch no sardines in 2013″

Fukushima News 11/3/13: US Will Aid In Removing Radioactive Tritium; IAEA To The Rescue

IAEA to send Fukushima probe team in end of Nov.

The head of the international nuclear watchdog says he will soon send a team of experts to Fukushima to investigate the contaminated water leaks at the crippled nuclear plant.

Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, met reporters in Washington on Friday.

Amano said he will dispatch the team at the end of November. He said it will look into the water issue as well as the progress of the decommissioning work at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Amano says Japan needs to cooperate with international organizations in addressing the nuclear plant's problems in order to regain the trust of the global community.

He said the team will include sea water analysts. He said he believes the visit may ease concerns of Japan's neighbors and other countries about the dangers of the radioactive water leaks.

Moniz: US can help remove tritium from waste water

The US Energy Secretary says his government and US companies could help Japan in removing hard-to-filter radioactive tritium from waste water at the country's crippled nuclear plant

Ernest Moniz spoke to NHK on Saturday in Tokyo, one day after visiting the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Moniz said he was shocked to see the scale of the damage that remains more than 2 and half years after the tsunami disaster and the nuclear accident.
He said he also sensed how difficult work at the plant is with workers required to wear full face masks and other protective gear.

In particular, he referred to the issue of processing radioactive waste water.
Tokyo Electric Power Company has been able to remove most of the radioactive materials from the processed water. The one exception is tritium, which emits beta rays with comparatively weaker energy.

Moniz said removal of tritium is a challenge. But he stressed that his department and US firms have experience in processing the material when they dealt with nuclear waste water in the past.

TEPCO accepts US offer to aid dangerous Fukushima cleanup
http://rt.com/news/fukushima-tepco-us...

http://enenews.com/professor-there-ar...
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http://enenews.com/fox-news-wave-slig...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsHG6...

http://enenews.com/top-scientist-fuku...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...

http://enenews.com/study-iaea-website...
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com...

http://enenews.com/former-diplomat-fu...
http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/conte...

NRC's Operation Center Fukushima Transcript Audio Clips --March 18 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7bULc...

Air Force hopes to stick California city with radioactive waste dump
http://cironline.org/reports/air-forc...

Into thin air: The story of Plutonium Mountain
http://thebulletin.org/thin-air-story...

Tritium:
Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen that occurs both naturally — from interactions of cosmic rays with gases in the upper atmosphere — and as a by-product of the operation of in nuclear reactors and tritium processing facilities. Tritium exposure can pose a health risk if it is ingested through drinking water or food, inhaled or absorbed through the skin in large quantities.
http://nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/readin...

2013 Doomsday Clock Symposium
Doomsday Clock Symposium November 14, 2013 American Association for the Advancement of Science 1200 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005 Communicating Catastrophe Program
http://www.thebulletin.org/press-rele...