Thursday, March 15, 2012

Plutonium: Not Our Friend


My son's biology told me yesterday that she has a favorite element, gene, etc. Her enthusiasm is good for the kids and makes the material more interesting.

Unfortunately, we may be getting to experience more of plutonium. I've pasted in the original post plus a brief update:

Today's news:
Enenews reports "Gov’t: Highest plutonium concentration found almost 20km away from Fukushima plant"
 
Enenews got this tidbit from an article published in Asahi: "Fukushima contamination is much less extensive than Chernobyl" http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201203140034
 
I hope that most readers read with some skepticism the title of the Asahi article.
 
I certainly regard with skepticism the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology report that Fukushima produced less radiation than Chernobyl, particularly since Fukushima is STILL producing radiation.

Furthermore, if the recently declassified NRC commentary on Fukushima is correct, then lots of plutonium were involved because spent fuel pools 3 and 4 were reported to have been destroyed in that report.
 
Below find my post on plutonium found in Japan from June

Plutonium Found in Japan: Plutonium Keeps on Giving Even When You're Dead
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110606x2.html
(hat tip zerohedge http://www.zerohedge.com/article/japan-finds-plutonium-one-mile-away-fukushima-doubles-radiation-leak-estimate#comment-1345527
 and enews http://enenews.com/first-time-plutonium-has-been-reported-outside-of-fukushima-plant )

Monday, June 6, 2011
Plutonium found in soil at Okuma
Kyodo

"Plutonium that is believed to have come from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant has been detected in the town of Okuma about 1.7 km away from the plant's front gate, a Kanazawa University researcher said Sunday."

Majia Here: let us take a look at plutonium using the US Government Profile of its Toxicity...

"If plutonium were to enter your lungs today, much of the plutonium would still be in your body 30-50 years later”

“The isotope 239Pu was first used in fission weapons beginning in 1945 and is produced during the bombardment of uranium (235U) by neutrons in nuclear reactors. Approximately one-third of the total energy produced in a typical commercial nuclear power plant comes from the fission of 239Pu produced from 235U”… Approximately 1,855 metric tons of plutonium was estimated to exist worldwide at the end of 2003; most of which was found in spent fuel from nuclear power plants.

Atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, which ended in 1980, is the source of most of the plutonium in the environment worldwide, which released approximately 10,000 kilograms of plutonium. Trace amounts of plutonium (including 238Pu, 239Pu, 240Pu, and 241Pu) are found worldwide, mostly due to fallout from atmospheric nuclear testing…

Plutonium released to the atmosphere reaches the earth's surface through wet and dry deposition to the soil and surface water. Once in these media, soluble plutonium can sorb to soil and sediment particles or bioaccumulate in terrestrial and aquatic food chains….

Most of the body burden of plutonium resides in the skeleton and liver, and following inhalation exposures, in the lung and lung-associated lymph nodes. As a result, these tissues receive relatively high radiation doses following exposures to plutonium. Radiation-induced toxicity to these tissues has been documented in human epidemiological studies and in animal models…

Possible associations between exposure to plutonium and mortality have been examined in studies of workers at the U.S. plutonium production and/or processing facilities (Hanford, Los Alamos, Rocky Flats), as well as facilities in Russia (e.g., Mayak) and the United Kingdom (e.g., Sellafield). The Mayak studies provide relatively strong evidence for an association between cancer mortality (bone, liver, lung) and exposure to plutonium….

Read More About the Fun Effects of http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ToxProfiles/tp143.pdf

Majia Here: Additionally, the health effects of plutonium were also studied through the deliberate contamination of people with plutonium by our oh-so-concerned-about-our-welfare-government

Read The Plutonium Files
http://www.amazon.com/Plutonium-Files-Americas-Medical-Experiments/dp/0385314027

1 comment:

  1. Interesting, I did some real calcs on uranium (and thus guaranteed plutonium) from the explosions at Fukushima using real EPA DATA.

    The smallest amount of plutonium aerosolized would be around 500 pounds, but if it was the enriched MOX fuel in reactor 3 that blew up, then it could be 10,000 lbs

    hmmmm

    maybe we should just stop playing with fire
    http://nukeproffesional.blogspot.com/p/uranium-aerosolized-into-atmosphere.html

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.