I have been always wondering why only data of Cesium 137 and Iodine 131 have been released to the public in Japan, as if only these two materials are discharged from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. The reality is there are a lot more radionuclides coming out of it.
I checked the website of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that has reported some detected radioactive substances (Note: the US has measured quantity of radioactive materials in the air, which has not been done in Japan). There I found out that not only Cesium 137 and Iodine 131 but also Cesium 134, Cesium 136, Iodine 132, Tellurium 129, and Tellurium 132 have been detected in the U.S.
Note: I wrote this article initially not knowing that EPA does not reported all the detected values in the majority-oriented websites. Then I found by looking carefully at EPA database’s raw results that they have also detected Plutonium 238, Plutonium 239, Uranium 234, Uranium 235, Uranium 238, Thallium 208, Bismuth 212, Barium 140, Beryllium 7, Cobalt 60, Lead 212, and Strontium 89 in the air. I examined the cases of Plutonium and Uranium in this article.
- As of April 24, 2011, out of 229 detection points whose results have been released, Tellurium 132 has been detected at 46 points. The highest amount of 0.015Bq/m3 was recorded in Dutch Harbor, Alaska on March 19, 2011. The half-life span of Tellurium 132 is 3.26 days.
- Similarly, Cesium 134 has been detected at 44 points. The highest amount of 0.0096Bq/m3 was recorded in Anaheim, California on March 25, 2011. The half-life span of Cesium 134 is 2 years.
- Cesium 136 has been detected at 5points. The highest amount of 0.00045Bq/m3 was recorded in Nome, Alaska on March 24, 2011. The half-life span of Cesium 136 is 13 days.
- Iodine 132 has been detected at 32 points. The highest amount of 0.001Bq/m3 was recorded in Dutch Harbor in Alaska on March 19, 2011. The half-life of Iodine 132 is 2.3 hours.
- Tellurium 129 has been detected once at the amount of 0.0045Bq/m3 in Nome, Alaska on March 24, 2011.
It is very unlikely that the air in Japan does not contain these radioactive materials detected in the U.S. It is also unlikely that Japan technically cannot measure these radioactive materials. The amounts that have been detected in the U.S. may be little so far, but the important thing is its proportion. I checked the proportions of the above newly-found substances comparing with Cesium 137.
Cesium 134: 103% of Cesium 137
Cesium 136: 2% of Cesium 137
Iodine 132: 84% of Cesium 137
Tellurium 129: 8% of Cesium 137
Tellurium 129M: 13% of Cesium 137
Tellurium 132: 140% of Cesium 137
It is extremely important to look at Cesium 134 considering its long “half-life” span of 2 years. In Japan, the amounts of Cesium 134 have not been measured or the data itself has been hidden to the public. But, by using above information from the U.S., we can roughly estimate how much radioactive substances could be out in Japan. It seems Cesium 134 could have been emitted in the similar amount with Cesium 137 (reported in Japan) because you can see that both Cesium 134 and 137 have been found in the similar proportional amounts in the U.S. For instance, the total accumulation of Cesium 137 in Tokyo from March 18, 2011 to April 25, 2011 is about 7,000 MBq (megabecquerel)/km2 (Note: the hidden data of the precipitation between March 11 and 18 may be much more than ten times of it, though). This number could be doubled to 14,000 MegaBq/km2 if you put the unreported amount of Cesium 134 into the consideration.
Yes, it is certainly promiscuous and shady that the Japanese government has been only reporting the amounts of Cesium 137 and Iodine 131. How the government officials and biased academia have always proudly alleged perfect safety of the situation is absolutely nonsense as long as vital information and data are concealed as it is now.
We also need to be cautious about statistical hoax, such as unclear criteria of "undetected" values. “Undetected” does not mean nothing detected. Japanese government seems to report “undetected” Unless the government disclose every available data without any judgement, it is meaningless what they say about safety. TEPCO and the Japanese government!!! Before spending much time pretending to apologize us, release raw data you are hiding about emitted radioactive materials in order for us to come up with ways to protect ourselves better than what you guys have been doing (well, they seemingly are doing nothing but harming us).
PS- Right after finishing this blog, I also found that Plutonium and Uranium have been detected in the U.S. since March 11, 2011.
