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U.S. Air Force
The Air Force's WC-135W Constant Phoenix aircraft collects samples from the atmosphere for radiation analysis.
U.S. officials have told NBC News that they're seeing a disparity between Japanese radiation readings and the readings they've been getting from military monitors.
Concerns about the release of radiation from Japan's stricken nuclear plants at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex began with data collection on the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. On Monday, the U.S. Seventh Fleet relocated its ships and aircraft out of the downwind direction after crew members returning to the carrier were found to have picked up low levels of radioactive contamination. The personnel were scrubbed down with soap and water, then declared contamination-free.
Since then, the data on radiation releases suggest a range of outcomes, going all the way up to "dire," the officials said. They spoke with NBC on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the findings publicly.
NBC's sources said the Japan nuclear site and its surroundings are being monitored by a variety of U.S. aircraft, including:
- U-2 spy planes. The U-2s, flying out of Okinawa, have "radiation suites" that can take readings at various altitudes.
- Global Hawk drone.The Global Hawk remote-controlled plane, now on its second run, has multispectral imaging capabilities, including thermal infrared and synthetic aperture radar. Kyodo News Service quoted Japanese government sources as saying that the Global Hawk was taking images of the inside of the reactor buildings.
- WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft. One radiation-sniffing WC-135, basically a converted Boeing 707 jet, is on its way from Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska to the area around Japan, where it will take atmospheric readings.
Intelligence experts also tell NBC News that the United States has a network of ground-level stations around the world that monitor radiation and can backtrack to calculate how much has been dispersed from a specific site.
Officials said several agencies are analyzing the data, including the Department of Energy's Nuclear National Security Administration and the CIA.
Tip o' the Log to NBC News' Robert Windrem and Courtney Kube.
More on the radiation situation in Japan:
- U.S. boosts radiation-sniffing system
- What is Japan doing to fix reactors?
- If there's a meltdown, then what?
- Q&A: Clearing up nuclear questions
- Cosmic Log archive on the Japan crisis
- Special report on the disaster in Japan
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Leave a Comment:
scrubbed down with soap and water, then declared contamination-free. Well, isn't that simple.
Yep, it can be that simple if it's just a small amount of radiation on the surface.
nah. experts posters say it isnt. along with vaccines are bad
I think its about time we take a huge step forward to upgrade more heavy sophisticated robotic equipments to be associated with Nuclear Plants and natural catasrophe response, so we can avoid putting the lives of many brave humans to control and stop a nuclear disaster that is beyond our human limitations, as well as to help on a search and rescue or recovery missions. I believe that it is very important that our computer system and robotic technology need to catch up with this kind of disasters.
Frank
Soap and water actually work quite well for removing light radioactive particulate from people's exterior surfaces. Sounds cheesy, but it's a proven technique that dates back to our early above-ground nuclear weapons tests.
And the WC-135 is NOT a converted Boeing 707 airliner. The C-135 family of military jets were a parallel development on a separate assembly line in Wichita, as opposed to the 707 airliner assembly line in Seattle. They share a few common design features but are otherwise entirely different airframes. Boeing had to promise the USAF that 707 production would not interfere with C-135 production before they were allowed to commence production of the former in Seattle.
I know because I'm a retired WC-135 aviator with over 1,000 hours on that particular platform. KC-135 and RC-135 tanker crews will tell you their planes are not converted 707 airliners, too. E-3 AWACS crews, however, fly aboard converted 707 airliners, as do the E-8 J-STARS folks.
It's alright, the media also categorizes nearly every weapon carried by an armed assailant as an AK-47
Here's even a handy_diagram of how ridiculous they are about such things =)
Actually the nuclear navy has found that if tape doesn't remove it then Quaker Oats Oatmeal is fantastic. Less abrasive than brushes and tepid water. Now my question was who did the "Omni Dominei" and free-released the SH3 helicopter?
It's good to see some people still remember those "birds". I also had experience working on them when they were assigned to McClellan AFB in the 60's. They are a unique aircraft with all the Atmospheric Research Equipment (my speciality) installed for monitoring nuclear events.
As long as they find it , and they just fix it.
If the government of Japan denied the radiaction problems, then the people might have it and had not received the proper care...
How much radiation was detected? I would be willing to bet that information was provided, but the amount was so trivial that NBC and MSNBC decided that it would sound like they are trying to inflame the situation by reporting it if it were published. Well, they are trying to inflame the situation. I noticed the other day one line ONE LINE in a report about 2000 bodies washed up on shore. Back to the picture of the Plant.. I understand the gravity of the situation, but we DO have thousands and thousands of dead, but the overwhelming coverage from the MSM is about the Nuclear Plants. Nice Journalism.
Google NHK english and go to that website. I find it informative, but right now all they have on there is about the reactors. I hope they get that problem fixed. I have a son over there.
Radiation given off from the Nuclear plants in a worst case scenario could easily be more devastating than the 5k found dead due to the Tsunami.
jcook140;
They said that they found radiation levels over 18 miles from Fukushima to be as much in 6 hours as the body can handle in a year. That's pretty frickin serious in my book. Maybe you should read a few more stories before you start slinging insults. This particular story is simply about the fact that Japan is hiding some numbers to try to prevent panic or something. Pay attention.
The Japanese CANNOT be trusted.
Tojo wouldn't buy "Self Sealing Fuel Tanks" nor "armor plating" cause it were "expensive".....Soooo, not much has changed in "modern Japan"!
I wish that this post made an inkling of sense.
Japan would not spend the money to armor their cockpits to help protect their pilots from shrapnel and bullets in their planes. They would not spend the money for self sealing fuel tanks in their planes, so if a bullet hit the fuel tank, that's all she wrote for the plane, and most likely the pilot. They didn't place much value on protecting their airmen's lives.
I'd like to know the specifics of the radiation plume coming in our direction. There's still a depressing lack of real information- which is often a sign of a cover-up.
The real problem the government's having is that we've been lied to so many times by so many people that there's no trust left. Yes, some people naively expected things to improve after Nixon was caught with his hands in the cookie jar- but they have, if anything, become worse. WMD, Yellow Cake, "WE didn't out anyone in the CIA!"...and the two current whoppers: "The economy is recovering." and "We can reduce the deficit without destroying jobs."
Just saying that there is a disparity between radiation levels is pretty uninformative. Please provide actual units (facts.)
From another article on MSNBC titled "High levels of radiation found 18 miles from nuke plant"
"High levels of radiation have been found 18 miles from Japan's quake-damaged nuclear power plant, the country's science ministry said Friday.
Experts said exposure for just six hours would result in absorption of the maximum level considered safe for a year, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.
The ministry said up to 0.17 millisieverts per hour have been detected 18 miles northwest of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, according to NHK.
Its officials tested radiation levels between from 9:20 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time on Thursday at 28 spots, in areas 12 to 37 miles from the plant, NHK said."
Lay off the Japanese people and their culture, at least for now. What has happened there is catastrophic and overwhelming. I think they are paddling as fast as they can with what they've got.
All you screaming banshee want to blame everything on anyone but yourselves people can pick it back up later. Shoot, just rant about Qaddafi/Kaddafi. Pro or con. Pick your side.
All I know is when I visited the Ukraine about 5 years there were thousands of sick people all around that were several miles away from Chenobal when I began releasing radiation,of course all the workers that eventually burried it in cement are long since dead.Hundreads more are developing cancers every year in that area to this day.All from a reactor that contained far less radioactive material then any of the 4 known to be melting down in japan.Strange how we have such little available in the USA about the aftermath of this so called "low level radiation".
"when I began releasing radiation" ??? Well you shouldn't have released the radation. :) Also, it is a complete lie to say "all the worked that buried it are dead". 28 recovery workers died in the first 3 months (more later, but that was immediate toll).
Here's the official United Nations report:
#Health
I've heard from several sources (so called experts) that the deaths from Chernobyl () is highly exaggerated. This is a good thing.
I do question the reports coming out of Japan, one obvious issue is they really did not disclose (or measure) how much Radiation was injected into the atmosphere. The US military measured levels in the atmosphere so naturally the reading are higher.
This whole thing seems surreal... I mean water dropping helicopters over a nuke plant. Unbelievable.
All governments, without exception, routinely lie.
Look what ever amount of fallout we are going to get is going to ride the upper air currents just like the ash from volcanoes and fires. What effect is it going to have on us who knows as the amount will more than likely be very, very small but that is not the whole problem here. The governments are lying about it. How many times do we have to be lied to. This admin does not respect the citizens of the United States enough to tell them the truth about this and it frosts my butt. The global warming group wants to build these plants for cleaner energy well okay but are they really safe enough. Yes the tech has come a long way but can the handle any accident that can come up to protect the people around these plants? In a dry area are they going to have the water, on a fault are they going to earth quake proof towers and so on and so on, so many things to consider. If this happens we need to do it right and not let them push down out throats, there are too many lives at stake. I don't know about any of the rest of you but I am tired of getting lied to. As always just my opinion.
I know it feels like everybody is lying, but I believe that in a situation like this, there is too much information from too many sources. The media and the people want immediate answers, and there is no time to sift thourgh the information and digest it, before releasing it. Add in the media people reporting on topics of whcih they have no expert knowledge, then add in anonymous sources (who shouldn't be passing on information, probably for good reason) and you have what looks like the big government lie or cover up. I've never been in a disaster of anything near this magnitude, but I have been involved in much smaller emergencies. Things come at you fast and furious and the reporting of it is rarely close to the reality.
One has to register on the EPA Radnet website, jump thru various hoops and then try to connect to what the US Military is sharing with the EPA if anything. It appears most of the EPA information is simply radiation stations which various individuals and colleges have put into place for a free grant or taxpayer giveaway.
YEP, the US Military knows how much the radiation levels are and where the clouds have spread but the American citizen 'little people' are the Last of the Last to be informed. Sadly we the tired American taxpayers are paying 100% of the tab for those radiation studies and yet seem 100% unable to readily recieve the information gathered, go figure!
It's as minor as a 'Dental X-ray' they spew.
It's as minor as a 'Chest X-ray' they cry.
As the background radiation in and around Tokyo it's only like a 'CT Scan' they spew.
Or the McDonald Herr Karl Rove Spin today, it's a billion times smaller than xxx!
Such is crass, soul-less PROPAGANDA entirely lacking in total understanding of the radiation effects while entirely focusing on an initial single exposure to such radiation. THAT is what they are reporting on if the radiation readings are accurate while those are widely alleged to be falsely low readings.
A small amount of non-natural radiation coming from radioactive isotopes could easily results in radiation caused tumors and cancers BECAUSE once they are lodged in the body they continuously hammer away at any and all cells in the human body in and around that radioactive isotope. The particles emit either alpha, beta, gamma or neutron radiation 24/7 thru its 9 consecutive half-lives. Radioactive Iodine Isotopes half-life is 8 days, 10 half-lives would be 80 days constantly pinging away. Cesium 137's half-life is 30 years, ten half lives would be a whopping 300 years.
SO, when some moron spews it's only like a chest X-ray or Dental X-ray, consider that every second for 80 days or in case of Cesium 137, every day 24/7 for the rest of your lifespan.
So yeah the moron saying that is only HALF right, each shot of radiation if that particle or isotope were lodged in your lungs, muscles or stomach colon would be like that of a dental x-ray or chest x-ray and that shot would be more than 1x per second thru that particles 10 consequential half-lives.
With radiation alert levels at 100 CPM, one in Denver hit 76 just a few minutes ago and is going down now. http://xrl.in/7gss
The American people are among the last of the last to be informed of the 100% American taxpayer funded US Military radiation sniffer jets flying over Japan and across the Pacific Ocean. EPA's Radnet is not transparent in sharing it's radiation detection network unless you jump thru a series of hoops and loops to register, be approved and then locate what in the Radnet that you need to know. I don't find such 'American citizen friendly' nor as a website even remotely 'friendly'.
Tuck your head between your knees,fold arms around knees be is a sitting posistion. Now yer ready to get whacked off by the radiation!!!!