RADIOACTIVE PLUTONIUM RELEASED FROM FUKUSHIMA

'Release of plutonium isotopes from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident'
by Jian ZHENG, Keiko TAGAMI, and Shigeo UCHIDA
Research Center for Radiation Protection
National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Inage, Chiba, Japan

1. Introduction
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident has caused serious contamination in the environment from the atmospheric fallout and the direct discharges of highly radioactive liquid wastes.

In addition to the massive release of highly volatile fission products, such as 127m-Tellurium (Te) , 132-Te, 131-Iodine, 133-Xenon, 134-Cesium (Cs) , 136-Cs and 137-Cs, the possible release of non-volatile Plutonium isotopes attracted considerable public attention following the FDNPP accident. 

It is known that Pu (Plutonium) isotopes present a large risk for internal radiation exposure via ingestions of contaminated agricultural crops, particularly for 241-Pu (a beta-emitter, T 1/2 (half life) = 14.4 years). As it decays, the ingrowth of 241-Am ( an alpha and gamma-emitter, T1/2 =
432.7 years) will present an additional radiation risk.

Plutonium is generally produced in reactor fuel as a mixture of isotopes.
The predominant isotope, 239-Pu is produced by neutron capture by 238-U.

If a fuel element containing 239-Pu is left in a reactor for any length of time, further neutron capture can occur, yielding isotopes with higher mass such as 240-Pu, 241-Pu, and 242-Pu.
In addition, small quantities of two other isotopes, 236-Pu and 238-Pu, are produced during the irradiation.
To date, information on the release of Pu isotopes from the FDNPP accident into the environment is very limited.
Several studies on the determination of Pu isotopes in environmental samples, such as soil, litter, sediment, seawater, and aerosols, CONFIRMED THE RELEASE OF PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES FROM THE FDNPP ACCIDENT.

Recently, core inventory calculation results of Pu isotopes within the FDNPP reactors using
the ORIGEN model simulation HAVE BEEN REPORTED.

These studies suggest that the damaged reactors were the major contributor of Pu to the
environment. However, the release of Pu from the spent fuel pools remains unknown.
.
It was found that... the inventories of Pu isotopes in the reactors in the Fukushima DNPP were ca. (about) 3.5 times higher than those in the Chernobyl reactor.
Schwantes, et al, reported an estimation that roughly 2  X 10 to the third power % of the total plutonium inventory from Units 1 and 3 WAS released into the environment, which is two orders of magnitude higher than those of  Zheng et al, and Grambow and Poinssot. <end quote>

Plutonium 238, 239 and 240 are highly radioactive.

Plutonium has 15 isotopes. The longest-lived is plutonium 244, which takes 80.8 million years to decay to half its level of radioactivity. The most commonly-used isotopes -- and those found at Fukushima -- are plutonium 238, with a half life of 88 years; plutonium 239, with a half life of 24,000 years; and plutonium 240, with a half life of 6,500 years.

Around four tons of plutonium were released into the global environment before nuclear weapons atmospheric testing ended.

Where the Plutonium isotopes are most highly dangerous is when they are inhaled.
Their radiation causes DNA damage in tissue, which then boosts the risk of cancer. The bone marrow and liver, where plutonium is transported through a blood protein called transferring, are especially vulnerable. Just a dozen milligrams of plutonium are lethal for a human, according to tests on lab animals cited by France's Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN). 

Plutonium is only eliminated from the body very slowly, though excretion.
It takes around 50 years for plutonium to be biologically removed from the skeleton and about 20 years for it be eliminated from the liver, says the IRSN, all the while subjecting surrounding organs and tissues to a continual bombardment of alpha radiation and greatly increasing the risk of cancer, especially lung cancer, liver cancer and bone sarcoma. 

Scientists say plutonium may be the worst of all the fission byproducts that has entered the environment as a result of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. That's why MOX fuel rods that are piled up in spent fuel pools near the Unit 3 reactor, which consist of a mix of plutonium and uranium isotopes, have become the number one concern of workers at the plant.
Plutonium-239, the isotope found in the spent MOX fuel, is much more radioactive than the depleted Uranium-238 in the fuel. Alpha rays from Plutonium sent out from within cells cause somewhere between 10 and 1,000 times more chromosomal damage than beta or gamma rays.

Radioactive contaminants are dangerous for 10 to 20 times the length of their half-lives, meaning that dangerous plutonium released to the environment today will stick around for the next half a million years.   

HERE IS A LIST OF MAJOR POISONS IN OUR DAILY RADIOACTIVE "COCKTAIL" FROM JAPAN:  
<Pu 239 is an alpha emitter, has a half life of 240,000 years, mimics iron and goes to the liver, spleen and bone marrow. It causes 10 to 1000 times more chromosome damage than the same amount of gamma or beta radiation. It is pyrophoric (combusts upon contact with oxygen) and changes its volume and density with temperature change. Its heat makes it highly toxic when ingested, glows in the dark (Pu 238), and currently fuels the Curiosity rover on Mars. Caesium 137, a gamma emitter, is the most abundant fission product in nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. Its half-life of 30 yrs, high-energy decay, chemical reactivity and high solubility (Ci), means that Cs 137 will be present for roughly 300 years after Fukushima. It attracts to muscle tissues (prostate/ovary/breast cancer) and causes malignant muscle cancers (rhabdomyosarcomas, heart arrhythmias and cardiac arrests, muscle seizures, loss of consciousness, memory loss). Strontium (Sr89-90) mimics calcium, goes to the bone and teeth, causes bone cancers and leukemia and is radioactive for 300 years. Along with the above, there are many other radionuclides in the inventory of nuclear reactors: alpha – thorium, radium, neptunium, curium 244, americium 241, californium, polonium 210 (transuranic and actinides); gamma – Cobalt 60, Irridium 92, Barium 137, Iodine 131, Lanthanum 140; Beta – Tritium, Phosphorous, Nickel, Carbon; Alpha and Beta – Strontium 90, Cadmium 113, Europium 155, Krypton 85, Tin 121 (Sn), Samarium 90; noble gases – Xenon and Iodine 131. As the weight or chemical mass of a radionuclide causes most damage to internal structures, when ingested, heavy alpha particles (PLUTONIUMS ESPECIALLY) are even more destructive than beta and gamma emitters.>

AS WE AWAIT THE OUTCOME OF THE YEAR-LONG REMOVAL OF THE FUEL RODS FROM THE TOPPLING REACTOR #4 AND HOLD OUR BREATHS IN HOPE NOTHING GOES WRONG, WE MUST CONSIDER WHAT IS ALREADY DONE, AND WHAT CONTINUES TO BE DONE TO POISON US AND THIS PLANET WE ALL SHARE.
[ SEE http://havacuppahemlock1.blogspot.com/2013/11/most-dangerous-moment-in-all-history.html ]

IS THERE ANY WAY TO SAVE OURSELVES, ANY WAY AT ALL?
AFTER ALMOST 3 YEARS, IT WILL BE 3 YEARS IN MARCH, 2014, WE ARE STILL ACCEPTING NOTHING BEING DONE TO STOP THIS MADNESS.
WHY IS NOTHING BEING DONE?
WHY HAS THIS BEEN ALLOWED TO CONTINUE? 
DO OUR GOVERNMENTS WANT US DEAD?
IF NOT WHY AREN'T THEY DOING SOMETHING TO STOP THIS?