Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Released Mysterious Steam Plume

The nuclear power is predicted to continue to grow globally regardless of the stop to the use in several countries post-Fukushima. Almost 69 nuclear power reactors currently under construction around the world where power demand continues to rise especially in hydrocarbon-poor Asia.

Japan in the 1960s was the first to adopt nuclear power among Asian nations. Nuclear capacity in Asia rose nearly 250 percent between 1980 and 2012, led mainly by South Korea, Japan, and India, with China during the last decade also adopting nuclear power.
The trend is expected to continue. According to the United States Energy Information Agency (EIA), nuclear power is among the world’s fastest-growing energy source, increasing by 2.5 percent every year.

While the U.S. has not put a halt to its nuclear power generation program, Fukushima officials are concerned about the clean up and the impact to the nuclear power industry.

Immediately after visiting the plant, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said in a statement, “The United States stands ready continuing helping Japan as they continue to charting the cleanup and works to settle the future of their energy economy.” The United States and Japan created the Bilateral Commission to strengthen our strategic and practical engagement on civil nuclear R&D.


There are those who believe the moves by the U.S. and Japan have not been enough.

Gregory Jaczko, a former nuclear safety chief with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has accused Japan of being too slow to respond to radioactive water leaks at the facility.
“Shortly after massive amounts of water were used to cool the plant’s molten reactors it became clear that leaks were only a matter of time,” Jaczko told reporters in September. “Both U.S. and Japanese officials knew that and it’s not clear why it has taken Japan so long to deal with the problem.”

Other government shows the government is not as confident as public statements would have one believe even while the U.S. is expressing confidence in the cleanup efforts.

On Dec. 6, a request for quote was posted on the government’s Federal Business Opportunities website for “potassium iodide tablet, 65mg, unit dose package of 20s; 700,000 packages (of 20s).”

The tablets are to be delivered no later than Feb. 1.

Another item of interest in the quote is the fact that delivery of the tablets is destined for Perry Point, Md., a federal government medical supply and pharmaceutical center.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission states on its website: “Potassium iodide is a special type of protective measure in that it offers very specialized protection. Potassium iodide protects the thyroid gland against internal uptake of radioiodine that may be released in the unlikely event of a nuclear reactor accident.”

The health Physics Society states on its website “potassium iodide [KI] can only provide protection for the thyroid gland from an intake of radioiodine.” It goes on to state that “the only potential sources of large radioiodine releases are from a nuclear weapons denotation and a catastrophic accident in an operating nuclear reactor.”

“Therefore, KI has no protective value from a ‘dirty bomb’ or a dispersion of spent nuclear fuel.”

Potassium iodide only protects the thyroid gland in humans before they are exposed to radioactive iodine. The iodide ties up sites inside the organ and does not allow the irradiated iodine to accumulate. If the person is already exposed to radioactive iodine, the potassium salt is not effective.

KI would be of little help if the radiation released from Fukushima, consisting of radioactive cesium, would makes its way into the U.S. drinking water or food supply.
While potassium iodide will not protect against radioactive cesium, such as what is being found in the water coming off Fukushima, a compound called “Persian Blue” will.

Persian blue Fe7 (CN) 18 is a dark blue pigment that is usually used for spotting cells in medical research. It also is used as an antidote for heavy metal poisoning, in this case, for cesium and thallium poisoning.

There are questions as to why there is a call for potassium iodide at this time. Some think that it may be tied to the fact that 71 US sailors who helped during the initial Fukushima relief efforts sued the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) after they returned with thyroid cancer, leukemia, and brain tumors because of being exposed to radiation at 300 times the safe level. Their original lawsuit was dismissed, but the sailors are now refilling their petition.

There is the belief that the government may be stockpiling potassium iodide (KI) to give to U.S. military personnel and others in the Fukushima prefecture area in case there is another series of explosions within an working reactor.

Whether the KI is being purchased to protect persons from a threat that has not been disclosed or is being bought just to replenish expired stock is hard to tell. Such is the case when the full story is not being given.

TEPCO has been caught continuously misrepresenting the facts about the extent of the damage to the reactor complex and the environment in general. The company’s continual misleading reports also makes some think that, despite public pronouncements, extra precautions need to be taken beyond what is being openly recommended.

The lack of candor being exhibited by TEPCO and the Japanese and other foreign governments prompts the question, “What else are they not telling us?”