JAPAN: Mothers Rise Against Nuclear Power

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Radioactive cesium detected in infant milk powder formula in Japan 9 months after Fukushima disaster began; wide recall ordered

Fukushima Radiation Alarms Doctors

Trace Amounts of Fukushima Fallout Found in Fukushima Children's Urine

These Terrible Findings Suggest Internal Organs Exposed to Radioactivity in the Most Vulnerable

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Indian Point Lapses in Radiation Monitoring:
Entergy cites “heavy work load” and “limited resources” for delays in repair
Seven instruments to measure Indian Point Nuclear Power Station’s radiation releases failed and were out of service for greater than 30-day periods during 2010, according to the plant’s annual radiation effluent monitoring report issued on April 22, 2011.

"The Breast Cure" (New York Times June 23, 2011)

Mother's Milk Sing-Along with Margo Schepart performing at the June 18, 2011 Hudson Clearwater Revival Festival

Photos from the Mothers Milk Project display at the Hudson River Clearwater Revival Festival at Croton-on-Hudson on June 18, 2011.

  

   

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Fukushima parents dish the dirt in protest over radiation levels
Furious Fukushima parents dump school playground earth that may have radiation levels well above the old safety level
Parents in Fukushima are angry over rule changes which mean that school children can be exposed to 20 times more radiation than was previously permissible. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters. Jonathan Watts in Tokyo The Guardian, Mon 2 May 2011 16.43 BST

Furious parents in Fukushima have delivered a bag of radioactive playground earth to education officials in protest at moves to weaken nuclear safety standards in schools.
Children can now be exposed to 20 times more radiation than was previously permissible. The new regulations have prompted outcry. A senior adviser resigned and the prime minister, Naoto Kan, was criticised by politicians from his own party.
Ministers have defended the increase in the acceptable safety level from 1 to 20 millisieverts per year as a necessary measure to guarantee the education of hundreds of thousands of children in Fukushima prefecture, location of the nuclear plant that suffered a partial meltdown and several explosions after the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March.
It is estimated that 75% of Fukushima’s schools may have radiation levels above the old safety level of 1 millisievert. The local authorities in Koriyama have tried to ease the problem by digging up the top layer of soil in school and day centre playgrounds, but residents near the proposed dump site have objected.
The new standard of 20 millisieverts a year – equivalent to the annual maximum dose for German nuclear workers – will mean those schools remain open, but parents and nuclear opponents are angry that safety concerns are being ignored.
A group claiming to represent 250 parents in Fukushima visited the upper house of parliament and presented government officials with a bag of radioactive dirt from the playground of one of the affected schools. A geiger counter clicked over it with a reading of 38 millisieverts.
“How dare they tell us it is safe for our children,” said Sachiko Satou of the Protect Fukushima Children from Radiation Association. “This is disgusting. They can’t play outside with such risks. If the government won’t remove the radioactive dirt then we’ll do it ourselves and dump it outside the headquarters of Tokyo Electric.”
Greenpeace, Friends of the Ea rth and other environment and anti-nuclear groups submitted a petition against the regulations. They accused the Nuclear Safety Commission of meekly accepting the new safety limit after just two hours of closed-door discussions with government officials.
However, representatives of the commission denied agreeing that 20 millisieverts was safe. Education ministry officials fudged demands for an explanation. “I think 20 millisieverts is safe but I don’t think it’s good,” said Itaru Watanabe of the education ministry, drawing howls of derision from the audience of participants. He promised the government would carefully monitor the situation and do all it could to get radioactivity down to 1 millisievert.
The health impacts are disputed. Physicians for Social Responsibility – a US-based Nobel prize winning organisation that opposes nuclear power – said children were more vulnerable than adults. It said the new acceptable limit exposed children to a one in 200 risk of getting cancer, compared with a one in 500 risk for adults.
“It is unconscionable to increase the allowable dose for children to 20 millisieverts,” the group said in a statement. “There is no way this level of exposure can be considered safe.”
This is not the first time the government has shifted safety baselines since the start of the crisis. Permissible levels of radiation exposure for nuclear workers were amended soon af ter the disaster struck to allow emergency operations at the stricken Fukushima reactor. Several weeks later the cabinet allowed the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric, to violate regulations by dumping 11,500 tonnes of contaminated water into the Pacific. The radioactivity of the discharge was 100 times higher than the acceptable limit. The government says it has to take unprecedented measures to deal with an unprecedented disaster.
Kan has lost one of his chief scientific advisers over the latest decision. Toshiso Kosako – a Tokyo University professor who was called in to help deal with the crisis – walked out on Friday and has since accused the government of ad hoc policy making and contravening internationally accepted norms for the sake of political expediency.
Kan has also come under fire from lawmakers in his ruling Democratic party.
Mori Yuko, an upper house member, said she was disgusted by the decision to loosen the safety limit. “Would politicians and bureaucrats allow their own children to go to a contaminated school,” she said. “This makes me furious.”
She called for more rigorous and widespread health monitoring of children and criticised an earlier government policy to withhold data about radiation levels and wind direction. After a public outcry these figures are now published daily in newspapers, but the allegations of cover-ups and shifting safety baselines are taking a heavy political toll.
A mere 1.3% of respondents in a weekend poll by the Kyodo news agency thought Kan was exercising sufficient leadership. But many people also criticise the main opposition Liberal Democratic party for lax nuclear regulation while it was in power.

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Radioactive rain causes 130 schools in Korea to close —
Yet rain in California had 10 TIMES more radioactivity

Citizens arm themselves with umbrellas, raincoats, boots, Korea Times, April 7, 2011:
… The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) said radioactive iodine and cesium were found in rainwater collected in the early morning at a checkpoint on the island. The concentration level of iodine-131 was 2.02 becquerels per liter (Bq/l), that of cesium-137, 0.538 Bq/l, and that of cesium-134, 0.333 Bq/l. …
Following the news that minuscule radioactive substances were detected on Jeju, people in all parts of the country carried umbrellas to work or school even though the rainfall was light.
Parents h ad their children not only use umbrellas but also wear raincoats, rubber boots and even masks. Some of them gave their children a ride to school, with streets near schools congested.
In Gyeonggi Province, about 130 pre-, elementary and middle schools were closed after the regional educational office allowed school heads to close them if they deemed it necessary. More than 40 others shortened school hours. …
Read the report here.
UCB Rain Water Sampling Results, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Nuclear Engineering:
Iodine-131 level in rainwater sample taken on the roof of Etcheverry Hall on UC Berkeley campus, March 23, 2011 from 9:06-18:00 PDT
20.1 Becquerel per liter (Bq/L)
Read the report here: Radioactive Iodine-131 in rainwater sample near San Francisco 18,100% above federal drinking water standard Read more:
“Yellow rain” around Tokyo caused by pollen officials say – Rain may have contained radioactivity
“Yellow rain” recently reported in Tokyo also happened after Chernobyl — Government assured residents it was pollen
Rain stimulating “reagents” used during Chernobyl to protect Moscow from fallout — Expert recommends same over Pacific for Fukushima
NY Times contributor confirms California rainwater 181 times above drinking water standards for radioactive iodine-131
Radioactive Iodine-131 in rainwater sampl e near San Francisco 18,100% above federal drinking water standard.

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JAPAN IMPOSES RADIATION LEVEL ON FUKUSHIMA SCHOOLCHILDREN EQUAL TO
MAXIMUM DOSE ALLOWED FOR NUCLEAR PLANT WORKERS IN GERMANY
THE LEVEL IS THE DOSE LEGALLY RECOGNIZED TO INDUCE LEUKEMIA
IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WORKERS
STOP THIS CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY!
SIGN THE PETITION OF THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN

Radioactive iodine found in breast milk of Japanese mothers
The breast milk of four Japanese mothers has been found to contain small quantities of radioactive iodine.

By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo 11:00AM BST 21 Apr 2011
The government faced calls for a full investigation into the impact of the nuclear disaster on mothers and babies following the discovery.
The radiation contamination came to light after tests were conducted on breast milk samples taken from nine women living northeast or east of Tokyo.
Four of these women were found to be contaminated, with the highest reading of 36.3 becquerels of radioactive iodine per kg detected in the milk of the mother of an eight-month-old baby in Kashiwa, Chiba prefecture.
There are no current legal safety levels for radioactive substances in breast milk as set by the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan.
However, the breast milk readings were below the safety limit of 100 becquerels per kg of tap water consumption by infants under one year of age and no radioactive cesium was found.
The findings of the study, conducted by a citizen's group in Japan, has sparked concerns surrounding the impact of the nuclear crisis on mothers and babies.
''We cannot yet determine safety, but infants drink breast milk,'' Kikuko Murakami, who heads the group, told Kyodo News. ''We want the government to conduct an extensive investigation swiftly.'' Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is believed to have been emitting radioactive substances since it was severely damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Workers at the stricken power plant were continuing to work around the clock in increasingly challenging conditions in order to bring crucial cooling functions under control.
A Japanese newspaper meanwhile has alleged close links between Tepco, which runs the plant, and the opposition Liberal Democratic Party. Recently retired senior officials are alleged to have donated more than £140,000 to the party over the last three years.
Masataka Shimizu, the Tepco president , has said the company had not made any political donations since 1974.
Tepco denied any systematic involvement in the donations.

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State of Virginia Warns Residents to Avoid Drinking Rainwater

Children of Fukushima Being Denied Refuge and Medical Treatment Over Radiation Fears

Fukushima Fallout: Radiation Detected in West Coast Milk

Dense populations and risk of plutonium releases could mean Fukushima accident worse than Chernobyl, prominent Russian scientist says

Analysis of Goat Milk collected in September 2010 25 Miles Downwind of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Station Has Detectable Levels of Strontium-90 and Strontium-89 Strontium-89, a carcinogen produced in nuclear fission, has been found in goat milk 25 miles downwind of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Station. The milk was collected in September 2010. Strontium-89 has a half-life of 50 days. When strontium-89 is detected in a milk sample, its source is a recent fission event, not resdue from nuclear weapons fallout or Chernobyl. Strontium-90, also a carcinogen which, when ingested, can cause bone cancer, disease of the immune system and other illness, was also found in the goat milk. Strontium-90 has a half-life of 28 years. Radiation bioaccumulates in the human body. The pathways for radioactivity released by a nuclear power plant to concentrate in goat milk include inhalation of airborne radiation and ingestion of radionuclides from drinking water and pasture grass. The detection of strontium-89 in the goat milk is further evidence that Indian Point is poisoning our environment and endangering our children. The risk of releases of strontium-89 and other carcinogens from Indian Point can be significantly decreased by shutting down these dangerous nuclear reactors.

 

March 23: Parents cautioned not to feed their babies Tokyo tap water High radiation levels contaminate fish off Japanese coast Radiation levels '1600 times above normal" in Fukushima     Mothers Milk Project: Fusushima demands a Connecticut response to protect mothers and children living near Indian Point Nuclear Power Station. Mothers Milk Project www.MothersMilkProject.org March 21, 2011 Hon. Dannel Malloy Governor State House Hartford CT 06101 Hon. Daniel Esty Commissioner Department of Environmental Protection 79 Elm Street Hartford CT 06106 Dear Governor Malloy and Commissioner Esty: I co-direct the Mothers Milk Project, which is dedicated to collecting mammalian milk samples in the vicinity of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant for their assessment by a qualified laboratory for levels of radioactivity. Since the project was instituted in 2008, many of our samples – particularly from human donors and goats residing within 30 miles of Indian Point - have testified positively for strontium-90, a carcinogen which settles in the bones and teeth. Developing fetuses and growing babies are particularly vulnerable to its toxic effects, which include bone cancer, leukemia and suppression of the immune system. Most disturbingly, some of our samples have also tested positively for the presence of strontium-89, also a carcinogen, which has a short half-life of 50 days. (Strontium-90 has a half-life of 28 years.) The detectable presence of strontium-89 in human and other mammalian milk indicates that the donors have been exposed to a recent release of nuclear fission products. As you know, the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant is located on the Hudson River in Buchanan, New York. Greenwich, Connecticut, is the state’s town closet to the plant (approximately 14 miles). Stamford, New Canaan and Ridgefield are the next-closest. Most of Fairfield County is located downwind of and within 50 miles of Indian Point. As the horrific events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Japan enfold, we must take action to protect our own vulnerable populations. Dairy milk within 20 miles of the nuclear complex has been found so contaminated with Iodine-131 that Japanese officials have banned its sale. It is feared that food contamination will spread widely. With New York State, Connecticut is opposing Indian point relicensing in formal adjudicatory proceedings. This step is not enough to protect Connecticut’s people, resources and food supplies. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recently identified Indian Point as the nation’s highest-risk nuclear power plant in terms of consequences from an earthquake event. It is certainly a prime terrorist target as well and nuclear meltdown could devastate the northeast corridor of the United States for untold generations. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, while New York Attorney General, called Indian Point “a catastrophe waiting to happen.” We urge you to take the following immediate steps: (1) Demand immediate shutdown of Indian Point‘s two operating reactors; (2) Demand expansion of the evacuation zone from 10 to 50 miles; (3) Demand distribution of potassium iodide to Connecticut residents within 50 miles of Indian Point; (4) Assist in fortification of Indian Point’s vulnerable infrastructure, vital components and back-up power. We further request the opportunity to meet with you to expand upon our concerns and share the information we have developed. Sincerely, Nancy Burton Dr. Louise Reiss, Pioneer Who Exposed Levels of Strontium-90 in Baby Teeth from Atomic Fallout    1920 - 2011 "The Breast Whisperer" Indian Point Unit 2 tripped        January 11, 2010   Indian Point nuclear plant officials say amount of radioactive steam released was 'Insignificant' BY Abby Luby  SPECIAL TO THE NEWS Friday, December 11th 2009, 4:00 AM That cloud spewing out of the Indian Point nuclear plant last month wasn't a smoke signal - it was radioactive steam.  Read more>>> Di Paola/Bloomberg - Traces of radioactivity were released via steam leak at Indian Point nuclear power plant, but officials said there was no cause for concern.   New report shows newborn hypothyroidism rate near Indian Point is 92% above US Mothers Milk Project at Hawk Watch Festival and Green Bazaar! Meet Deo and Theo, 3-week-old babies of Mothers Milk Project participant Cindy-Lu! Note to Breastfeeding Moms: Bring us a sample of your milk! The Hawk Watch Festival and Green Bazaar takes place Saturday September 19 and Sunday September 20 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road. $10 for adults 18 and older, $7 for youth 3 and older, and free for under 3. 203-869-5272, www.greenwich.audubon.org. Mothers Milk Project at Clearwater Hudson River Revival Festival in Croton-on-Hudson, NY, June 20 and 21. Mothers Milk Project co-directors Margo Schepart (l) and Nancy Burton welcome visitors to their booth and encourage lactating mothers to share their breastmilk confidentially for analysis to detect radioactivity. Cindy-Lu-the-Goat and her kids, Luna and Dude, are the star attraction of the Mothers Milk Project display. They live 25 miles downwind of Indian Point. Cindy-Lu's milk contains strontium-90 and strontium-89, carcinogens especially harmful to developing babies and young children. Sr-90 and Sr-89 are routinely released by the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant 6 miles north of the festival site. SCREENING PROGRAM TO TEST IF INDIAN POINT HAS HARMED THYROID GLANDS OF LOCAL RESIDENTS For immediate release Contact Joseph Mangano 609-399-4343 Sharon Cunningham 647-477-5672 Ernest J. Sternglass, Ph.D. writes an open letter to:Dr. Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy 2/7/2009 Breast Is Best - New Yorker magazine 1/19/2009 Radioactive fish breast cancer rates and a nuclear power plant thecancerblog.com 06/13/2006 Join the Mothers Milk Project at the Beacon Sloop Club CORN FESTIVAL Sunday, August 10, 2008 Noon to 5 PM at the Beacon NY Waterfront Bring us a sample of your breast milk - we will test it for radioactivity for free! Take Metro-North to Beacon Station Visit www.beaconsloop.org Help spread the word! Download this flier and share it with your friends and post it in your community! PLEASE DONATE  A SAMPLE OF YOUR BREAST MILK! We are collecting mothers milk within a 50-mile radius of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in New York and Connecticut. The milk will be analyzed confidentially for traces of radioactivity - strontium-90 - which is routinely released by Indian Point. Strontium-90 causes birth defects, bone cancer and leukemia. Exposure increases risks for breast, lung and other soft tissue cancers. Help us create a database of information. The New York State Department of Health and Indian Point’s owner stopped sampling cow’s milk near Indian Point in 1991 - just as strontium-90 levels were increasing. They never sampled human breast milk. Visit www.MothersMilkProject.org!  Mothers Milk Project at Indian Point Benefit Join the Mothers Milk Project at its table at the Monday, June 30, 2008 Indian Point Safe Energy Council benefit at Lincoln Center in New York City. The event includes two film screenings: the New York premiere of award-winning "Woven Ways," which explores the impact of uranium mining on the Navajo people, and "Nowhere to Run," about consequences of an accident at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in Buchanan, New York. 6:30 P.M. to 10:30 P.M. Walter Reader Theatre at Lincoln Center, 165 West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam. Tickets $20. Dear Muscoot Farm, Please share Pineapple's milk with the Mothers Milk Project!
Muscoot Farm is a beautiful working and educational farm located exactly 10 miles downwind of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Station in Somers, New York. Pineapple, the Jersey cow pictured here, is milked twice a day. Some of her milk is fed to her calf, Papaya, and the rest is fed to the Tamworth pigs (pictured here taking their morning nap) as swill. Westchester County owns Muscoot Farm and it is well maintained by Westchester County taxpayers. The Mothers Milk Project is asking Muscoot Farm to share one quart of Pineapple's milk once a month to be tested for radioactivity. The Mothers Milk Project is also asking for samples of goat milk from Isabelle (left) and Skye (right). We hope to extend special thanks on this website to Muscoot Farm for their contributions to our project!

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Mothers Milk Project Signs Up Breastfeeding Mothers at Clearwater Festival on June 21

Mothers Milk Project co-directors Nancy Burton and Gail Merrill signed on a dozen more lactating mothers from New York and Connecticut communities to donate their breastmilk samples for radioactivity testing. Pictured here is a New York City mother and her baby who signed on to the Project. Cindy-Lu-the-Goat, who visited the Festival with her kids, Hannah and Henry, gave her first live radio interview with WBAI. George Amarant, of Haddam, Connecticut, dropped by to tell us he kept three milking goats near his home one mile west of the now-defunct Connecticut Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in the 1970s. He said the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission told him they would test his goats' milk for Iodine-131 but not strontium-90 because they predicted the strontium-90 would be below detectable levels.

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Mothers Milk Project Invites Lactating Mothers at
Clearwater Hudson River Revival Festival to
Give Milk Samples For Indian Point Study

The Mothers Milk Project invites lactating women to share samples of their breastmilk at the annual Clearwater Hudson River Revival. The Project will share a booth with WestCan (Westchester Citizens Awareness Network).
Where: Croton Point Park, Croton NY
When: Saturday and Sunday, June 21-22 from 12 noon to dusk, rain or shine.
For more information and directions visit: www.Clearwater.org and www.IPSECinfo.org.

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Listen to the Mothers Milk Project interview with Rebecca Myles on WBAI-Pacifica Radio, 99.5 FM on the June 18, 2008 evening news from 6 to 6:30 PM (repeated at 11 PM) and streamed live at www.wbai.org.

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Legendary songwriter Pete Seeger joined Mothers Milk Project leaders as they accepted a donation of mother's milk at the Strawberry Festival in Beacon, New York on June 15, 2008

Fifteen more breastfeeding mothers signed on to donate their milk to have it tested for levels of strontium-90 and other radioisotopes routinely emitted by the Indian Point Nuclear Power Station in Buchanan, New York.

Cindy-Lu-the-Goat, also a milk donor, and her kids Hannah and Henry greeted visitors to the Mothers Milk Project booth.

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Have your goat's milk tested for strontium-90!

Breastfeeding mothers offered samples of their milk on June 5, 2008 to launch the Mothers Milk Project to test for radionuclides within a 50-mile radius of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in Buchanan, New York. A milk donation was also made by Nubian Goat Cindy-Lu, mother of Hannah and Henry, pictured to the right.

    The Mothers Milk Project is being launched on June 5, 2008 to begin a systematic sampling of mothers milk produced by humans and other mammals living within 50 miles of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Station in Buchanan, New York.
    Indian Point's owner and the New York State Department of Health stopped sampling cow's milk near Indian Point in 1991 and have never tested human breast milk.
    The project is an unpredecented campaign to create a database of findings of the potential presence of radioisotopes in milk of mammalians, including humans, near the nuclear power plant.
    Indian Point, in common with all nuclear power plants, is designed to routinely release fission products into the air. These include strontium-90, which has a half-life of 30 years and remains biologically active for 600 years. Strontium-90 mimics calcium in its chemical composition and is readily taken up by bone cells and teeth, where it continuously emits pulses of energy which disrupt the functions of nearby cells. Strontium-90 exposure is linked to bone cancer, leukemia, diseases of the immune system and cancer of soft tissue including breast and lung. Strontium-90 is only one of more than 100 radioisotopes routinely released by Indian Point. All are carcinogens and all.are most harmful to young children and developing babies.
    We encourage breastfeeding mothers to participate in this program by donating a cup of their breast milk monthly. Each sample will be divided into four parts: one for the New York State Department of Health, one for Entergy, Indian Point's owner, one for the project's independent laboratory, and one to be retained by the project. There is no cost and all samples will be taken confidentially with results anonymous.
    The Mothers Milk Project will also include dairy cow and goat milk samplings. Other mammals may be included as well.
    The Mothers Milk Project is designed to inform the community about a known hazard - radiation - which is insidious because it cannot be seen, tasted, smelled or detected except with sophisticated equipment and which is biologically harmful at any degree of exposure.
    Please return to this website for future updates.
    To donate milk to the Mothers Milk Project, click here