Radiation fear after Fukushima prompted irrational hoarding of iodized salt in most Chinese cities

Radiation fear after Fukushima prompted irrational hoarding of iodized salt in most Chinese cities

July 3, 2013 (nuclear.com) -- A newspaper story out of China today mentions that iodized salt was hoarded in most Chinese cities shortly after the Fukushima accident. The article cites Chai Guohan, Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Environmental Protection's Radiation Safety Center, as saying that iodized salt only contains a minimal amount of iodine, meaning that to reach the dose of one iodine tablet, a person has to take several kilograms of salt.

Source: China.org.cn, "Scientists allay fears over nuclear power", Ecns.cn, July 3, 2013

keywords: #China #radiophobia #iodizedsalt #nuclear #Fukushima #radiation #iodine #thyroid  #I131 #iodine #KI #potassiumiodide #salt #iodized #irrational #behavior #irrationalbehavior thyroid radiophobia irrational behavior

EnergySolutions - $1.1 billion isn't nearly enough, sez owner of about 10% of shares

EnergySolutions - $1.1 billion isn't nearly enough, sez owner of about 10% of shares

(nuclear.com, Feb 21, 2013) -- Companies associated with Clint D. Carlson informed the Securities and Exchange Commission today that they oppose the acquisition offer that EnergySolutions Inc's board has approved. The current deal is for private equity firm Energy Capital Partners LLC (ECP) to buy EnergySolutions for $3.75 per share -- that works out to about $1.1 billion.

The Carlson companies told SEC that "The Reporting Persons do not believe the current offer by Energy Capital Partners ("ECP") to acquire all shares of the Issuer's outstanding Common Stock for $3.75 per share pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of January 7, 2013 (the "Merger"), reflects the fair underlying value of the Issuer. Among other things, the Reporting Persons believe that the offer by ECP does not appropriately value the Issuer's Zion project. In particular, the Reporting Persons believe that the Issuer and its investment banker, Goldman, Sachs & Co., are assigning insufficient value to the restricted cash associated with the Zion project...

Read more at http://news.nuclear.com/blog7.php/energysolutions-1-1-billion-isn#OW1HQkwfQ2Q0o22p.99 

Hatch - emergency diesel generator was inoperable for two years

Hatch - emergency diesel generator was inoperable for two years

A breaker manufactured in 2004 was miswired. The defect did not affect the breaker's operability where it was first used at Plant Hatch. But it was installed in another location in 2010. And for the next two years, EDG 1C was unknowingly inoperable, even though it passed its monthly tests.

Here's excerpts about this story from NRC inspection report released today...

Read more at http://news.nuclear.com/blog7.php/hatch-emergency-diesel-generator-was#Dotm5S7bSKjyLJ3b.99 

Sheltering in place - 1981 Nat'l Inst for Chemical Studies report - 54-pg PDF

Sheltering in place - 1981 Nat'l Inst for Chemical Studies report - 54-pg PDF

This report provides a look at chemical accidents where sheltering in place was used as a public protective action. It was entered into the record in the Indian Point license renewal proceeding.

Excerpt: "To maximize the protective value of sheltering in place, threatened people must know how to shelter effectively and quickly. Public education in emergency preparedness must include information on how and why to shelter in place. In addition, communities must have ways to alert the public to a chemical threat. Emergency alert systems should be able to provide the public with information about the emergency, simple protective action instructions, and information on where to find additional information about protective actions. In many communities, emergency preparedness instructions, including how to shelter in place, can be found in local phone books. LEPCs (local emergency planning committees) in various areas also have implemented strong public education programs for emergency preparedness."

nuclear.COMment: phone books are rapidly going the way of the dodo bird. New strategies are needed.

#Chernobyl - is it true that those who live in exclusion zone are living longer than evacuees? #nuclear

#Chernobyl - is it true that those who live in exclusion zone are living longer than evacuees? #nuclear

* Ted Rockwell: A recent study showed that people who refused to evacuate Chernobyl were happier and outlived the evacuees by 20 years, while the evacuees themselves were depressed and suicidal. There is nothing else that is as central to the issue as that one fact.

* [nuclear.COMment] The link provided by Mr. Rockwell isn't actually a study, and it doesn't suggest 20 years difference. Here's the relevant excerpt from the Telegraph newspaper story: The journalist Alexander Anisimov, who spent his career studying the self-settler community, claimed that the women who returned to their ancestral homes in the zone outlived those who left by a decade. No health studies have been done, but anecdotal evidence suggests that most of the babushkas die of strokes rather than any obvious radiation-related illnesses, and they have dealt better with the psychological trauma. Toxic levels of strontium and cesium in the soil are real, but so are the tug of the ancestral home and the health benefits of determining one’s own destiny.

Read more at http://news.nuclear.com/blog7.php/chernobyl-is-it-true-that#jbCGXS3xkCCHa5fi.99 

Radiation levels around Fukushima are lower than natural levels where people have lived healthily for countless generations

From Theodore Rockwell's letter to editor published in Sept 2012 issue of Nuclar News:

* Low-dose radiation is not harmful, and in the range of interest, is, in fact, beneficial

* There is no scientific basis for attributing radiation damage to doses less than 10 rad

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Diablo Canyon seismic survey - any injury to endangered species could lead to criminal prosecution

The death or injury of an endangered species would trigger an investigation that could potentially result in prosecution, according to NOAA's Christine Patrick. A nuclear.com info nugget -- http://adf.ly/DHXNr

key words
nuclear, Diablo Canyon, seismic, map, earthquake, faults, high-energy, air cannon, sonic boom, endangered species, criminal, prosecution