February 2014

Nuclear Weapons 65 - China Claims that Japan is Developing Nuclear Weapons

          I have blogged about Japan and nuclear weapons in the past. Japan is the only country on Earth to have suffered nuclear attacks. The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Japan helped to bring World War II to an end in the Pacific. The post-World War II Japanese Constitution forbids the development of nuclear weapons by Japan. There are factions in Japan who would like to see that prohibition struck from the Constitution.

Nuclear Accidents 24 - Accident at Nuclear Waste Repository in New Mexico 1

           I have been blogging lately about illegal dumping of radioactive materials around the world. I am going to change topics for today's blog. Recently there has been a series of reports about a fire and a "radiation event" at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico. This facility is a deep geological repository for waste generated by the manufacture of nuclear weapons for the United States military and is the only transuranic repository in the U.S.

Geiger Readings for February 22, 2014

Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Ambient office = 61 nanosieverts per hour
 
Ambient outside = 77 nanosieverts per hour
 
Soil exposed to rain water = 88 nanosieverts per hour
 
Iceberg lettuce from Top Foods = 86 nanosieverts per hour
 
Tap water = 79 nanosieverts per hour
 
Filtered water = 71 nanosieverts per hour
 
Wild Salmon - Previously frozen = 95 nanosieverts per hour

Radioactive Waste 64 -Ocean Dumping of Radioactive Waste

           I have been blogging about illegal dumping of nuclear wastes by and in different countries. Some of the articles have contained references to ocean dumping of wastes. There have been various international treaties signed intended to stop such practices including the London Convention of 1972 which went into effect in 1975.

Radioactive Waste 63 - Illegal Nuclear Waste Dumping in Japan 1

           My recent posts have been about illegal handling of nuclear waste in Russia. One of the incidents I covered involved Russian dumping of nuclear waste into the Sea of Japan. The Japanese citizens reacted strongly to the news of this dumping. The Japanese government demanded a halt to Russian dumping. Ironically, it turns out that Japanese companies may have been involved in illegal dumping of Japanese nuclear waste.

Radioactive Waste 62 - Illegal Nuclear Waste Dumping in Russia 5

          I have been blogging about Russian nuclear waste issues recently. For decades, European countries routinely shipped waste to Russia for disposal in blatant disregard for Russian Law. Their handling of internal nuclear waste and foreign wastes have resulted in contamination of thousands of square miles, disruption in the lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens and damage to the health of thousands.

Radioactive Waste 61 - Illegal Nuclear Waste Dumping in Russia 4

          In December of 2005, Greenpeace activists occupied a loading dock and 2 loading cranes at the port of Le Havre, France. They were protesting the loading of four hundred and fifty containers of radioactive waste on a ship bound for Russia. They were protesting the thirty year arrangement between European nations and the Russian Federation to ship nuclear waste to Russia for disposal.

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