A World In Denial: Underestimating Japan’s Nuclear Disaster

A World In Denial: Underestimating Japan’s Nuclear Disaster





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Saturday, December 1st, 2012. Filed under: Disasters National Emergency Preparedness









Richard Wilcox
Activist Post

cognitive dissonance – noun -

Mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions
are contradicted by new information…. when confronted with challenging
new information, most people seek to preserve their current
understanding of the world by rejecting, explaining away, or avoiding
the new information or by convincing themselves that no conflict really
exists (1).

I see dead people…. Walking around like regular people. They
don’t see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don’t
know they’re dead. - The Sixth Sense (2)

I’m only human on the inside. – The Pretenders (3)

Every day, very sad and disturbing news about the Fukushima nuclear
disaster reveals itself. People in Fukushima are suffering the brunt of
this nightmare. But it is also a fact of life that Tokyo drinking water
is irradiated. It is not by much, but as we will see even a little bit
of radiation can cause harm.

The Japanese government has measured cesium in
much of the public water supply in the northeastern and Tokyo regions.
From January to March 2012, 0.0071 becquerels per kilogram of cesium 134
and 137 was measured in Tokyo; April to June, 0.0049; and from July to
September 0.0053 (4; 5; 6). This indicates that although the amount is
small, the problem is not improving. There may be ecological and
seasonal reasons, along with levels of ongoing emissions from the
Fukushima nuclear power plant (FNPP), as to why the level is not
steadily decreasing.

It is worth perusing the research results of ACRO, the French
radiation monitoring group, which has posted comparative radiation
contamination data from Fukushima and other prefectures measured from
water, soil, house dust and human urine (7).

All results of analyzes on children in Tokyo and its
suburbs show no contamination, except for a child in the city of
Matsudo, Chiba pref.

Not so far from the FNPP, there are still children with contaminated
urine, more than a year after the massive discharges into the
environment. This is particularly the case in the province of Fukushima,
but also in the neighbouring prefectures of Miyagi and Tochigi. These
contaminations are low, but persist over time. At Kurihara, Miyagi
prefecture, they are all children of farmers who eat farm products.
Contamination levels of the urine are similar ranging from 1.68 to 2.5
Bq / liter for…caesium.

Of course, there may be other dangerous forms of radiation present
such as strontium, plutonium and tritium that were not measured by ACRO.
People in the northeastern and Tokyo regions are constantly exposed to
low-doses of radiation in the water and air (8). Depending on ecological
cycles and seasonal factors, radiation may ebb and flow to different
degrees according to location, creating “demons in the dust,” the
temporary or long-term radioactive hotspots found in gutters or low
lying muddy areas.

Between the Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

Information uncertainty has left the majority of people vulnerable to
the circumstances they find themselves in, unable to know where to turn
to for help and safety. Although many people consume mainstream,
corporate owned media “information,” my guess is that most people do not
deeply believe what they are hearing. Nonetheless, to the extent that
they believe anything, those beliefs may be shaped by the most powerful
voices, and corporate news has the money behind it to create effective
propaganda.

Take the recent example of Japan’s supposedly liberal The Asahi
Shimbun (News), faithfully prostrating itself as the World Health
Organization’s brothel worker. Asahi reported on a recent WHO report
that severely downplays health dangers from the Fukushima nuclear
disaster. The Enenews.com editor asked Fairewinds’ chief engineer, Arnie
Gundersen, “Do you trust the WHO?” His response:

I don’t trust this data…my guess is that WHO
underestimated the radiological deposition and releases, and thus came
up with exposures that are too low. Also, I suspect they have omitted
hot particles and internal emitters from their dose assumptions. The
same thing happened at TMI [Three Mile Island]. Bad assumptions create
low exposures. GIGO (9).

Arnie uses the amusing phrase, GIGO, meaning “Garbage In Garbage
Out”. If you start out with a weak hypothesis or faulty data, you will
end up with the wrong results…uh, duh. The Asahi News parroted the WHO’s
findings with no scrutiny of its pro-nuclear history and agenda,
readily accepting their assumptions while ignoring alternative theories
(See: “No Safe Dose”: 10).

On the other hand, sometimes citizen activists go overboard and base
their claims not only on no scientific analysis or evidence, but also on
almost no anecdotal evidence, other than their own opinion. One well
meaning lady who is part of an artist’s group has made all sorts of
generalizations about people “probably” getting sick from radiation in
Tokyo, even though the fallout maps do not support her hypothesis (10).
Stating that “the moon is made of green cheese” does not make it so.

While the lion’s share of the blame falls on the corporate owned
media for not properly educating the public, we in the alternative media
must also be extra vigilant, “go that extra mile” and be sure to find
the truth. Of course, we do not have the budget of the Rothschilds’
Muliti-Trillion Dollar Media Empire or Fox/CNN/BBC/PBS/CIA on our side.

DNA-ocide

As Paul Zimmerman writes in his must-read book, A Primer In The Art Of Deception,

Unbeknownst to those who first made forays into the world
of the atom, their quest carried within itself a poison seed. The
release of atomic energy on planet Earth is a supreme violation of the
natural order.

Zimmerman describes how living organisms adapted to background levels
of radiation in the environment, yet the artificially higher levels of
ionizing radiation released from atomic bomb tests, depleted uranium
munitions and nuclear power plants is “intense enough to break chemical
bonds apart” in the cells of organisms (11; pp. 19 – 20). Zimmerman
makes the point that elite decision makers are either foolishly allowing
nuclear technologies to be used while not knowing the dangers, or are
intentionally spreading radiation in order to cull the world population.
Either way their actions are heinous crimes.

Numerous studies indicate that low-dose radiation is a danger to
health. One expert states that “[t]here is near-universal acceptance
that epidemiological data demonstrates an excess risk of delayed cancer
incidence above a dose of 0.1 sievert” (12). According to a rigorously
researched and frightening new report:

Even the very lowest levels of radiation are harmful to
life, scientists have concluded in the Cambridge Philosophical Society’s
journal Biological Reviews. Reporting the results of a wide-ranging
analysis of 46 peer-reviewed studies published over the past 40 years,
researchers from the University of South Carolina and the University of
Paris-Sud found that variation in low-level, natural background
radiation had small, but highly statistically significant, negative
effects on DNA as well as several measures of health (13).

In addition, Washington’s Blog offers a comprehensive survey of
reports about low-dose radiation dangers, ranging from nuclear power
plant emissions to so-called depleted-uranium munitions used by the US
in Middle Eastern wars (14).

We are now seeing these realities take hold with increasing numbers
of reports of people with health ailments occurring especially in the
Fukushima region.

Circling The Drain: 300 Billion Becquerels Per Month

Ongoing emissions of radioactivity from the FNPP disaster site does
not bode well for ecology or human health. NHK, the Japanese government
news station, broadcast that “[g]roundwater is flowing into the reactor
buildings and becoming tainted with radioactive materials.” Tokyo
Electric Power Company (Tepco) is “trying to collect the water and store
[it] in the tanks for decontamination…they don’t deny this polluted
water is seeping into the Pacific Ocean” (15). Tokyo University
oceanographer, Jota Kanda, has calculated that the FNPP “itself is
leaking around 0.3 terabecquerels per month” (16). Additionally, US
scientist Ken Buesseler has stated that “[t]here has to be a source. And
they’re cooling those reactors quite extensively, some of that water’s
getting back into the ocean, either actively being pumped out after some
decontamination or through leaks in the buildings, they’re not able to
contain all of the water that they use to cool [the reactors]” (17).

This is an incredible revelation, between the admissions of two
respected oceanographers from both Japan and the US, there is no doubt
that radioactive water is leaking into the ocean– possibly even being
intentionally “pumped out” despite Tepco’s contradictory explanations.
Since there is no independent investigation allowed, we have a case of
the criminals in charge of a murder investigation, and third parties are
kept at bay while the truth leaks out in dribs and drabs. This is not
just a legal or academic concern, one nuclear engineer close to the
situation worries this leakage could further contaminate the public
water supply (18).

The consequences of radiation released during the initial disaster at
the time of 311, along with ongoing emissions from the FNPP has
resulted in a clear pattern of environmental pollution. Fukushima
prefecture has not been the only place to face dire consequences. One
scientific report found that as far away as 70 kilometers to the south
on Japan’s coastline, “[m]ost of radiocesium in the coastal sediments is
incorporated into lithogenic fractions, and this incorporation is
almost irreversible” (19).

Also, in Ibaraki prefecture directly to the south of Fukushima,
although the water in Lake Kasumigaura itself was not found to be
radioactive with cesium– the lake which supplies drinking water to
nearly a million people in Ibaraki and is just 60 km northeast of Tokyo–
does contain contaminated mud.

[M]ud samples from the lake and the rivers…were found to
contain up to 5,200 becquerels/kg of cesium-134 and cesium-137, compared
with a maximum of 500 Bq/kg detected a year ago, a maximum of 5,800
Bq/kg in February this year and a maximum of 4,800 Bq/kg in July. The
sludge sampled from the bottom of the lake registered cesium
contamination ranging from 97 Bq/kg to 520 Bq/kg. That is lower than the
maximum 1,300 Bq/kg registered in February, but higher than the 340
Bq/kg detected in the first round of monitoring a year ago (20).

This amount of radiation is relatively low compared to Fukushima,
where, for example, “515,000 Bq/Kg of cesium was measured from the soil
of an irrigation channel in Fukushima city…. 2km South East of [the]
Fukushima prefectural government office” (21).

Are radioactive hot particles that are regularly being emitted from
the FNPP being carried by the wind 1100 km away? It would appear so.
Radioactive tea leaves are being discovered in the farthest reaches of
southwestern Japan, with readings of 80 Bq/kg of cesium 134/137 found on
leaves in Kagoshima; with 40 Bq/kg in Shizuoka; and 120 Bq/kg in
Saitama, which borders Tokyo (22).

Shakin’ All Over

In addition to persistent radiation problems, Japan is in danger of
additional large earthquakes. The good news is that all but two reactors
are now shut down which means if another major quake struck,
theoretically it would be a much safer situation than prior to 311. As a
recent seismological report warns:

Japan should be prepared for the possibility of a
magnitude-10 earthquake, although the chances of a temblor that size are
slim…. If a temblor of such a scale should strike, the underground
rupture would continue for 20 minutes to an hour, meaning tsunami could
hit coasts before the shaking subsides…. If a 3,000-kilometer stretch
from the Japan Trench to the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench along the Pacific
Ring of Fire has a slip of 60 meters, that would constitute a
magnitude-10 earthquake (23).

Researchers emphasize that it is better to be safe than sorry. The
Magnitude 9 quake on 311 was expected to be M8, not M9, so nothing
should surprise us. Time is precious and the longer it takes Tepco
(Tipkill) to clean up the “Nukushima” disaster site, the greater are the
chances of a large quake disrupting their clean-up operations. It is
expected to take several more years to remove the massive amounts of
radioactive fuel from damaged fuel pools and another four decades to
decommission the site!

The nuclear industry and a compliant public have created a
fire-breathing monster that cannot be forced back into its cave. Only
one year after the accident, it was estimated that 30,000 workers had
been exposed to “significant” radiation at the FNPP (24). Tepco is so
desperate for workers they now have plans to require their 100,000
employees to work two to three times a year at the FNPP (25). This
policy is being proposed just as it is learned that deteriorating
conditions at the site are causing present workers to quit (26).

Postmodern Postmortem Denial Syndrome

The college aged students I teach in Japan are in denial and do not
want to talk about Fukushima. Some have even give pro-nuclear
presentations in class! Indeed, many are keenly aware of the nuclear
dangers and are critical of nuclear power, but others have fatalistic
attitudes. Some students told me their parents who live in Fukushima or
near there are worried and angry about the situation, but if you ask the
average person in Tokyo about the issue, they would probably just shrug
their shoulders. People do not like having bad news pointed out to them
or having their noses rubbed in radioactive debris. If they feel, or
the mass media helps them to believe, that they are far enough away from
the problem, they can convince themselves that it is not worth worrying
about.

Escapism and distraction is the name of the game. Japanese TV variety
shows can only be described as narcissistic, self-absorbed, childish,
silly and often substance-less nonsense. This is great for creating a
dumbed-down and subservient society but not good for long term
sustainability. A thriving democracy depends upon a well informed
public. The situation is similar in many countries.

What is the psychological dimension for understanding how a society
can become so complacent while life-threatening dangers stare us in the
face? Like a beautiful but beguiling snake that has been trampled upon,
the venom released from the bite of its fangs can be deadly to the
victim.

An apt illustration of our cognitive dissonance comes from journalist
David McNeil, who endured the 311 nuclear crisis in Tokyo and notes
with irony, “[t]hroughout the worst week of the crisis, a diligent clerk
at my local video store phoned daily to remind me that I had failed to
return a DVD” (27). Even though the country had been nearly brought to
its knees, it was business as usual. Political analyst, Dean Hendersen,
notes an historical aspect of this behavior:

By indoctrinating people as to the omnipotence of the
Emperor and of the need to make sacrifices in his name, the Japanese
become in many ways the most exploited people on the planet- working
long hours, never questioning their supervisors, singing company songs
and drinking only with company cohorts after hours. Any resistance to
this fascism is instantly branded anti-Japanese behavior. The
perpetrator is considered mentally disturbed. Rather than challenge this
state terror regime, most Japanese have learned to suppress their
feelings… (28).

The cultural underpinnings that led to the nuclear disaster are
explained by Professor Shaun O’Dwyer, who studies modern Confucianism.

There are two important habitual attitudes in postwar
Japanese and East Asian governance that are arguably Confucian. There is
paternalism on the part of governments, legitimized by the efficiency
of a highly educated, meritocratic bureaucracy; and (until recently)
reciprocating loyalty from citizens, grounded in a faith in the moral
and intellectual ability of their leaders to work for their good.







Japan’s nuclear power policy since the 1960s must represent the high
point of this residual Confucian politics. Bureaucrats, government, the
captains of industry and scientists joined hands in a “nuclear village”
to develop an energy policy that would loosen Japan’s dependence upon a
volatile fossil fuels market, and deliver high quality power to growing
export industries.

Under the government’s paternalistic guidance, the Japanese public
and mass media were rallied to believe in a vision of prosperity partly
driven by nuclear power, and to trust in the prudence of bureaucrats and
the expertise of scientists to manage this energy source safely (29).

From a wider perspective, a cosmologist notes that the international
scientific community has failed us and become the promoter of
“Dysfunctional Science.”

Science is at a tipping point because, having fragmented
into specialties and sub-specialties, it is no longer equipped to deal
with falsifying data. The barricades of technical jargon and
self-serving politics prevent the specialists from seeing what would be
all too obvious from a higher vantage point. Such a system is averse to
outside challenges by ‘those who transcend the conventional,’ and
leading authorities feel free to ignore them…. Few universities have
shown the courage to insist on a broad and balanced picture of present
knowledge or an even-handed comparison of theoretical assumptions and
available alternatives. To apply such basic standards today would risk
discrediting entire departments (30).

Nuclear energy, which provides only 2.5 percent of global primary
energy needs, is the most dangerous experiment humanity has ever
undertaken. The time to end the insanity is now (31). Between reducing
consumption, rearranging society in a less consumer intensive form, and
implementing an array of alternative energy schemes, our problems could
be solved.

What You Can Do To Protect Your Health From Radiation

There are a number of measures people can take to minimize radiation
dangers. These include using: sulfur; magnesium; fiber in diet; French
clay; detoxifying herbs (there is a long list); iodine; and medicinal
seaweeds (32; 33).

Internet searches at a variety of health oriented websites reveal
that eating a healthy diet with fibrous fruits and vegetables is about
the best way to expel radiation from the body.

It goes without saying that whatever you are consuming should be
radiation-free. There are also many herbs and spices that can help.
Internet searches based on scrupulous and careful consideration, cross
checking data and results and references, can give an understanding of
how you can protect against radiation and other harmful toxins that
build up in the body. I eat a diet high in delicious fruits and
vegetables, and also drink a variety of herbal teas. Take a magnesium
salt bath and relax after a stressful day.

Richard Wilcox has a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from a social
science, holistic perspective. He teaches at a number of universities
in the Tokyo, Japan area. His articles on environmental topics including
the Fukushima nuclear disaster are archived at
http://richardwilcox99.blogspot.jp/ and are regularly published at
Activist Post, The Intel Hub and Rense.com. His interviews with Jeff
Rense are available at the website www.rense.com.

References

1. cognitive dissonance
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognitive%20dissonance

2. The Sixth Sense
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/quotes

3. The Pretenders, Human
http://ghost.animeholic.net/05%20-%20Human.mp3

4. Readings of radioactivity level in drinking water by prefecture, Tokyo, January-March, 2012
http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/en/contents/5000/4486/24/193_e0502.pdf

5. Readings of radioactivity level in drinking water by prefecture, Tokyo, April-June, 2012
http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/en/contents/6000/5084/24/194m_0801.pdf

6. Readings of radioactivity level in drinking water by prefecture, Tokyo, July-September, 2012
http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/en/contents/6000/5689/24/193_1107.pdf

7. Results of ACRO’s monitoring in Japan (12th of July 2012 update)
http://www.acro.eu.org/OCJ_en.html#34

8. Monitoring information of environmental radioactivity level
http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/en/

9. Gundersen on WHO: I don’t trust their data
http://enenews.com/gundersen-dont-trust-data-garbage-garbage-suspect-hot-particles-internal-emitters-left-radioactive-releases-underestimated


10. WHO forecasts no significant increase in cancer patients in Fukushima
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201211250051

11.No Safe Dose – Japan’s Low-Dose Radiation Disaster
http://rense.com/general95/no-safe-dose.htm

12. “All who met with Fukushima’s radioactive fallout are probably to have some problem with the thyroid”
http://enenews.com/watch-all-people-met-fukushimas-radioactive-fallout-problem-thyroid-many-tokyo-already-developing-problems-video


13. Paul Zimmerman, A Primer in the Art of Deception: The Cult of
Nuclearists, Uranium Weapons and Fraudulent Science (778 pgs., 2009).

14. The scientific jigsaw puzzle: Fitting the pieces of the low-level radiation debate http://bos.sagepub.com/content/68/3/13.full.pdf+html

15. Even low-level radioactivity is damaging
Broad analysis of many radiation studies finds no exposure threshold that precludes harm to life
http://www.sc.edu/news/newsarticle.php?nid=5214#.UKljmkvma6X

16. Meta-Review of 46 Studies: Even the Lowest-Level Radiation Is Damaging to Human Health
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/11/meta-review-of-42-studies-even-the-lowest-level-radiation-is-damaging-to-human-health.html

17. Tepco doesn’t deny radioactive materials are seeping into Pacific
http://enenews.com/nhk-tepco-doesnt-deny-radioactive-material-seeping-pacific-video

18. Ocean still suffering from Fukushima fallout
http://www.nature.com/news/ocean-still-suffering-from-fukushima-fallout-1.11823

19. Top scientist suggests contaminated water is “actively being pumped out” into ocean from Fukushima plant
http://enenews.com/reuters-top-scientist-suggests-water-is-actively-being-pumped-out-into-ocean-from-fukushima-plant-video

20. Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Plant’s Contaminated Water Storage Running Out Of Space http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/fukushima-nuclear-disaster_n_2016407.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

21. Contamination from Fukushima “is almost irreversible” in coastal sediments
http://enenews.com/japan-experts-contamination-is-almost-irreversible-in-coastal-sediments

22. The muddy issue of cesium in a lake
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20121118x3.html

23. 515,000 Bq/Kg of cesium in Fukushima city
http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/11/after-the-road-relay-515000-bqkg-of-cesium-in-fukushima-city/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FukushimaDiary+%28Fukushima+Diary%29&utm_content=Google+Reader


24. 80 Bq/Kg of cesium from tea leaves produced in Kagoshima
http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/11/contamination-reached-far-western-japan-80-bqkg-of-cesium-from-tea-leaves-produced-in-kagoshima/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FukushimaDiary+%28Fukushima+Diary%29&utm_content=Google+Reader


25. Researcher: Japan should prepare for worst-case magnitude-10 earthquake
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201211230030

26. Fukushima One Year On: Nuclear workers and citizens at risk
http://www.japanfocus.org/-Paul-Jobin/3729

27. Tepco will oblige all the employees to go to Fukushima, 100,000ppl/y in total
http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/10/fukushima-conscription-started-tepco-will-oblige-all-the-employees-to-go-to-fukushima-100000pply-in-total/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FukushimaDiary+%28Fukushima+Diary%29&utm_content=Google+Reader


28. NHK Documentary: Recently deteriorating working conditions at Fukushima plant causing workers to quit
http://enenews.com/nhk-documentary-working-conditions-deteriorating-fukushima-plant-many-workers-leaving-company-hasnt-able-recruit-single-worker-video


29. A Tokyo resident on facing his fear and living with earthquakes
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/a-tokyo-resident-on-facing-his-fear-and-living-with-earthquakes-8347583.html

30. Inside the Japanese Matrix
http://deanhenderson.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/inside-the-japanese-matrix/

31. Nuclear crisis lowers curtain on Japan’s Confucian politics
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/eo20120926a1.html

32. Science’s Looming ‘Tipping Point’
http://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/2012/11/19/sciences-looming-tipping-point/

33. Martin Cohen and Andrew McKillop, The Doomsday Machine: The High
Price of Nuclear Energy, The World’s Most Dangerous Fuel, pg.
28, (Palgrave, 2012, 242 pgs.)

34. Fukushima’s Radiation Release
Here’s One Important Way to Protect Yourself
http://www.naturodoc.com/sulfur_radiation.htm

35. Medicinal Uses of Seaweeds
http://www.ryandrum.com/seaweeds.htm

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