Updates from Japan

 

Voice of America’s Steve Herman has a clear, concise description of the major points in Japan here. I recommend it to bring you up to date on the latest info as per today at 8 am Pacific Time.

How concerned should we be with trace amounts of radiation in our food.  PBS has a story here.

Even as the Pentagon weighs pullout from Japan, A Ex-pat’s decision not to leave Tokyo seems to bewilder himself.

And, of special interest to the Emerald Triangle,  the LA Times asks if marijuana crops could be tainted by radiation.

 

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photo from VOA here

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highboldtage
Guest
13 years ago

Good find on the radioactive pot. Although the tone of the article is a bit tongue in cheek this could be a serious concern here (though low probability) depending upon how it goes in Fukushima. But it would be a concern in October and long before that we might see problems with Napa wine grapes, cantaloupes from Coachella and rice from the Sacramento Delta not to mentiion the Humboldt dairy industry. In the longer term we must worry about contamination of the entire west coast fishery (Alaska to Baja) with long half life radioacive particles. I think the probability of this is still low, but higher than the risk of atmospheric pollution.

have a peaceful day,
Bill

highboldtage
Guest
13 years ago

Good find on the radioactive pot. Although the tone of the article is a bit tongue in cheek this could be a serious concern here (though low probability) depending upon how it goes in Fukushima. But it would be a concern in October and long before that we might see problems with Napa wine grapes, cantaloupes from Coachella and rice from the Sacramento Delta not to mentiion the Humboldt dairy industry. In the longer term we must worry about contamination of the entire west coast fishery (Alaska to Baja) with long half life radioacive particles. I think the probability of this is still low, but higher than the risk of atmospheric pollution.

have a peaceful day,
Bill

tra
Guest
tra
13 years ago

This morning, some bad news from the Fukushima plant, thankfully followed soon after by some good news.

The bad news: Water in one of the spent fuel pools was close to boiling as of this morning. Meanwhile more smoke rising from two of the crippled reactors.

The good news: They were able to dump 18 tons of seawater into the near-boiling spent fuel pool, cooling it to 105F, a much safer situation. And they finally got outside power reconnected to all 6 plants, an important step towards (hopefully) getting the original cooling systems back online, which would be hugely important in re-establishing real control over the situation and averting full-scale meltdowns in the reactors, and overheating/fire/radiation releases in the spent fuel pools.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/03/22/134758568/live-blog-tuesdays-news-on-the-crisis-in-japan

tra
Guest
tra
13 years ago

This morning, some bad news from the Fukushima plant, thankfully followed soon after by some good news.

The bad news: Water in one of the spent fuel pools was close to boiling as of this morning. Meanwhile more smoke rising from two of the crippled reactors.

The good news: They were able to dump 18 tons of seawater into the near-boiling spent fuel pool, cooling it to 105F, a much safer situation. And they finally got outside power reconnected to all 6 plants, an important step towards (hopefully) getting the original cooling systems back online, which would be hugely important in re-establishing real control over the situation and averting full-scale meltdowns in the reactors, and overheating/fire/radiation releases in the spent fuel pools.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/03/22/134758568/live-blog-tuesdays-news-on-the-crisis-in-japan

Mr. Nice
Guest
Mr. Nice
13 years ago

1964 scientists discovered radioactive polonium in tobacco.

Pot heads like me always try and tell folks tobacco kills except in small amounts such as blunts in moderation. Weed simply cannot suck down radioactive elements like tobacco. Folks think weed is so so sticky but try growing tobacco to package illegally and sell for cheap in Laytonville without paying tax on it (hypothetically)… you’ll see tobacco is way more sticky. That’s why all them tobacco resin glands catch specks of radioactive dirt on them, stickiness. Weed sticks on the buds but tobacco is sticky all over the sun leaves. Tobacco is so damn sticky dragonflies die getting stuck to it. Literally, bugs big and small come right out of the creek and get stuck to your crop which is good as a companion plant if you know what I mean.

True that lettuce, spinach, and dandelion greens pull radioactive iodine from surface roots. Weed and most other taproot style herbaceous plants draw most of their feed below the soil unlike dandelions etc.

Summary being nothing to worry about because a) bogey smokers get 500 times more radiation than weed smokers due to stick and b) even if there was radiation on the ground, weed roots run deep.

Mr. Nice
Guest
Mr. Nice
13 years ago

1964 scientists discovered radioactive polonium in tobacco.

Pot heads like me always try and tell folks tobacco kills except in small amounts such as blunts in moderation. Weed simply cannot suck down radioactive elements like tobacco. Folks think weed is so so sticky but try growing tobacco to package illegally and sell for cheap in Laytonville without paying tax on it (hypothetically)… you’ll see tobacco is way more sticky. That’s why all them tobacco resin glands catch specks of radioactive dirt on them, stickiness. Weed sticks on the buds but tobacco is sticky all over the sun leaves. Tobacco is so damn sticky dragonflies die getting stuck to it. Literally, bugs big and small come right out of the creek and get stuck to your crop which is good as a companion plant if you know what I mean.

True that lettuce, spinach, and dandelion greens pull radioactive iodine from surface roots. Weed and most other taproot style herbaceous plants draw most of their feed below the soil unlike dandelions etc.

Summary being nothing to worry about because a) bogey smokers get 500 times more radiation than weed smokers due to stick and b) even if there was radiation on the ground, weed roots run deep.