[ RadSafe ] New Meltdown Byproduct Found Far From Fukushima Daiichi

Sat Feb 6 17:07:55 CST 2016

Hi Peter:

Back in '86 following Chernobyl, I did several hundred line-kilometers of horseborne scintillation counter traverses in Wein- and Wald-viertels in Lower Austria. I also found one hot particle. Wet and dry deposition (washout & fallout) areas could be easily distinguished. 

Dan W McCarn, Geologist
108 Sherwood Blvd
Los Alamos, NM 87544 USA
+1-505-670-8123
Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 6, 2016, at 10:14, Peter Bossew <peter.bossew at reflex.at> wrote:
> 
> Both is correct.
> 
> How the radio-caesium containg spheres were generated has not yet been
> clarified to my knowledge.
> 
> Black dust: typical results of radioecol. concentration processes, quite
> common. Large amounts of similar blackish matter can be found on Alpine
> glaciers (in that context called cryoconite), with partly very high
> concentrations of Chernobyl and even global fallout.
> 
> In Japan, I used such samples to identify Pu from Fukushima quite far away
> from the NPP. If I remember well, the fathest distance from the NPP where
> such matter has been found, is the Yokohama area S of Tokyo.
> 
> 
> Peter Bossew
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "The International Radiation Protection \(Health Physics\) Mailing List"
> <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu> schreibt:
>> This looked like it might be solid scientific article, then I noted
>> that it was discussed on RADSAFE three years ago, so it is hardly new
>> and I found no actual scientific journal article.  It also has been
>> put out by Gundersen's Faire Winds so I wonder just how solid the
>> science is.
>> 
>> Roger Helbig
>> 
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> New Meltdown Byproduct Found Far From Fukushima Daiichi
>> 
>> by dunrenard (French anti-nuclear activist who never seems to use his
>> real name - typical of activists - never stand behind what they claim
>> to be true because someone could disprove it)
>> 
>> Another type of material has been found by researchers that is tied to
>> the meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi. We have reported extensively over
>> the years on the finding of “black stuff” around mainland Japan. This
>> is a highly radioactive black sand like material that had gathered in
>> gutters and roads as far away as Tokyo. Analysis of materials of that
>> type has linked them to the meltdowns inside the reactors at Fukushima
>> Daiichi. This new finding is also linked directly to the reactor
>> meltdowns.
>> 
>> Photo of black sand substances found in Namie, from research paper by
>> Marco Kaltofan. Photo credit Marco Kaltofan.
>> 
>> Researchers in Japan found new materials they described as tiny
>> spherical glass particle that was highly radioactive. These glass
>> particles are structurally quite different from the “black stuff” but
>> they also bear a link back to the reactor meltdowns. A glass particle
>> labeled NWC-1 was collected from Nihonmatsu in 2011 after the initial
>> disaster. Nihonmatsu is roughly 40-45 km directly west of Fukushima
>> Daiichi. The town area sits south of Fukushima City and north of
>> Koriyama. This area is well outside the evacuation zone and is
>> currently occupied without restriction.
>> 
>> These glass particles include high levels of radioactive cesium.
>> Researchers found that the radioactivity was highest in the center of
>> the particle, indicating the cesium was incorporated into the glass
>> particle during the molten phase of the meltdown. The glass particle
>> also contains materials that indicate it includes either concrete from
>> the containment vessel or seawater that was injected. This is
>> significant as it shows this material was formed after the melted fuel
>> burned through the reactor vessel and had begun burning the
>> containment vessel concrete floor, or it formed after seawater was
>> injected. The seawater injections were fairly late in the meltdown
>> progression and newer research shows all or most of that water flowed
>> the wrong direction and didn’t make it to the reactor vessels. The
>> timing of the creation of these glass spheres would be between the
>> time of the first reactor vessel failure and the start of seawater
>> injection then thereafter. This may help in the future to identify the
>> specific reactor and event that may have created these spheres.
>> 
>> Photo of the glass sphere from Nihonmatsu, from the Yamaguchi et al study.
>> 
>> Cross section of the NWC-1 glass sphere from Nihonmatsu, photo credit
>> Yamaguchi et al.
>> The location of the found particle in Nihonmatsu is unexpected. A
>> second glass sphere was found on a cedar leaf in Fukushima, specific
>> area not mentioned. Nihonmatsu is directly west of the plant and not
>> in the documented plume paths that developed north-west and south of
>> the disaster site. This appears to indicate that materials from the
>> reactors themselves were transported far further than initially
>> claimed. These glass particles are small enough in size to potentially
>> be inhaled. Right now researchers do not know the extent or geographic
>> spread of this material. It does show that direct materials from
>> inside the reactors did leave the buildings and were distributed over
>> a long distance. Due to the high radioactivity within these glass
>> spheres they could pose a significant health risk.
>> 
>> We put together a rough comparison of the properties of the two
>> reactor meltdown byproducts. This is not a definitive list. Please
>> refer to the original studies for further information.
>> 
>> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RAbsClYl3KIZkHeI1don3Zfe_AYBKF_vW3C7tWlIpXw/edit?usp=sharing
>> Full Study:
>> Yamaguchi, N. et al.
>> Internal structure of cesium-bearing radioactive microparticles
>> released from Fukushima nuclear power plant.
>> Sci. Rep. 6, 20548; doi: 10.1038/srep20548 (2016).
>> Black Stuff Analysis:
>> Radiological Analysis of Namie Street Dust
>> Marco Kaltofan
>> 
>> Source: http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/?p=15283
>> 
>> http://nuclear-news.net/2016/02/06/new-meltdown-byproduct-found-far-from-fukushima-daiichi/
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