Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Plutonium From Fukushima



2012
Plutonium Detected at 10 Locations in Fukushima Aug 21, 2012 http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2012082100888
(Jiji Press)--Plutonium believed to originate from Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s  crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has been detected at 10 locations in four municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture, the science ministry said Tuesday.

2011
"Latest find sounds scary but risk is limited" March 30, 2011  http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20110330a2.html
"Revelations that low amounts of plutonium, a component of nuclear bombs, were detected in soil near the Fukushima No. 1 plant sent shock waves across the nation Tuesday....in data compiled by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 21 mg of potassium cyanide is considered a lethal dose to an average male weighing 70 kg. When it comes to plutonium, 13 mg is enough to kill..."

Plutonium traces found in Iitate soil (Kyodo10/1/2011) http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111001a3.html
[Excerpted] Plutonium has been detected at six locations in Fukushima Prefecture, including Iitate village around 45 km northwest of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, which suffered three reactor meltdowns after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, science ministry officials say.
 
Plutonium from Fukushima Found in Lithuania http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22206700

How Much Plutonium?

Reactor 3 alone contained mox fuel, which uses plutonium in the fuel mix, rendering it more toxic than fuel based only on uranium (Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-japan-quake-idUSTRE72A0SS20110325).

One source suggests that unit 3’s reactor core contained a range of 164 to 32 mox assemblies. The low-end estimate of 32 mox assemblies is from France’s Areva, which provided the fuel for unit 3. As the French Fukushima 3/11 Watchdog group points out, the low-end estimate of 32 mox assemblies translates into 5.5 tons of fuel containing more than 300 kg of plutonium: “300 kg is therefore equivalent to 300 billion lethal doses.”
(Fukushima 311 Watchdogs. MOX fuel-Corium-Plutonium in Fukushima Daiichi, http://www.fukushima311watchdogs.org/biblio/9/Mox%20fuel-corium-plutonium%20in%20Fukushima%20Daiichi.pdf).

 

A Ton of Plutonium Was in Each Reactor (Plutonium: A Ton in Each Fukushima Reactor  (July 30, 2012) Enenews Headline: Gundersen: A ton of plutonium was in each Fukushima reactor — Host stunned (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/gundersen-a-ton-of-plutonium-was-in-each-fukushima-reactor-host-stunned-video   
Source: If You Love This Planet Radio Author: Dr. Helen Caldicott Date: July 27, 2012  Arnold Gundersen with the latest on Fukushima: its effects on Japan, and the global risks posed by the No. 4 reactor


Significance?
 
It takes between 5 kg and 8 kg of plutonium to produce an atomic bomb. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20030129a4.html
  
Compare the amount of plutonium found in atomic bombs with the "low end estimate" 5.5 tons of fuel containing more than 300 kg of plutonium: “300 kg is therefore equivalent to 300 billion lethal doses.” (Fukushima 311)

Source on level of plutonium required to produce "overdose" in civilians and workers http://www.ccnr.org/max_plute_aecb.html


Studies on Emissions
Greenpeace Study of Fukushima Releases by Dr.  Helmet Hirsch http://www.greenpeace.org/international/PageFiles/285388/greenpeace_hirsch_INES_report_25032011.pdf 

Study: Modeling Fukushima NPP P-239 and Np-239 Atmospheric Dispersion  Posted on October 27, 2011 http://www.datapoke.org/blog/89/study-modeling-fukushima-npp-p-239-and-np-239-atmospheric-dispersion/
http://datapoke.org/partmom/a=114
[Excerpted] A recently disclosed Tepco documentation indicates total emissions estimates of both plutonium 239 and neptunium 239 for the first 100 hours of the catastrophe. This leaked Tepco document [19] suggests a release of 1.2 trillion bq of pu-238,pu-239,p-240 and pu-241 collectively and 76 trillion bq of Np-239 within the first 100 hours of the catastrophe. Our goal with this study included developing atmospheric dispersion plots of these emissions and modeling radionuclide concentrations at receptors worldwide.



And Emissions Continue Unabated
 
According to Tepco’s estimates in June 2012, the plant continues to emit 10 million becquerels per hour. (NHK documentary Fukushima Daiichi Radiation: March to Recovery; Voices From 3/11 published August 12, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MQG_KPV45J4#!)


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