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Japan Nuclear Crisis: What About The Plutonium MOX?

Plutonium

The media tells us that things are looking much better now in regard to the Japan nuclear crisis and we should all relax about the damaged nuclear reactors in Fukushima. 

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Yet, there is something bothering us in London which makes it difficult for us to relax completely: 

1. What does the smoke and vapour being emitted from the various nuclear reactors at the plant actually contain?

2. What if one of the elements being discharged is plutonium -- the deadliest substance known to man -- which is extremely difficult to detect?

Universal Concerns

  • Reactor 3 suffered significant damage after the quake and the tsunami waves on March 11th;
  • The roof of the building was destroyed by a powerful explosion last week caused by an accumulation of hydrogen;
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  • Reactor 3 raises the most concern since it runs on MOX or Mixed Oxide fuel -- a mixture of plutonium and uranium;
  • MOX is far more dangerous than uranium on its own; and
  • MOX is two million times more deadly than normal enriched uranium.
  • Reactor 3's recent smoke appears to have originated from the building's side, where the spent nuclear fuel pool is located;
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  • The precise contents of the smoke and vapour at reactor 3, and other reactors, are as yet unknown;
  • However, workers were evacuated from the nuclear plant after smoke appeared from reactor 3;
  • No radiation spike has been detected so the common assumption is that all is fine;
  • Radiation levels are NOT up after the smoke release from reactor 3 which seems to have reassured the global financial markets for the moment;
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  • Should the world relax if we don't as yet know the precise contents of the smoke and vapour from reactor 3?
  • What if the release of elements in the smoke and vapour were not just radioactive iodine, caesium and uranium but a MOX combination including plutonium?
  • This would explain why the workers were immediately evacuated given the deadly nature of plutonium;
  • Plutonium is extremely difficult to detect because it emits limited gamma rays -- unlike radioactive iodine, caesium and uranium -- and it is deadly;
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  • Plutonium release would not show up as a radiation spike;
  • Plutonium 239 is the deadliest element known to man;
  • Half-life of Plutonium-239 in MOX is 24,000 years: Few milligrams of P-239 escaping in a smoke plume will contaminate soil for tens of thousands of years; and
  • Plutonium comes from Pluto: god of wealth and power and also the god of hell and death.
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Conclusion

If the smoke billowing from the Fukushima reactor 3, amongst other reactors, does indeed contain plutonium, then this nuclear crisis has exposed Japan and the world to a much more extreme danger than the one originally envisaged.  If so, we all ought to know about it.  There should be some more specific investigations in regard to the contents.

We are hosting an Expert roundtable on this issue at ATCA 24/7 on Yammer.

Expert roundtables are the newly launched ATCA 24/7 Q&A private exclusive club service. They seek to become the killer application in strategic intelligence by delivering an unprecedented competitive advantage to our distinguished members.

Q1: How to become a privileged member of ATCA 24/7 to participate in the expert roundtables?

A1: i. If you are a distinguished member of ATCA 5000, ATCA Open, The Philanthropia or HQR affiliated groups you may be allowed to become a privileged member of this new and exclusive private club.

ii. If you are pre-invited, visit the private intelligence network -- PIN -- by going to https://www.yammer.com/atca [Note: In https:// 's' is for security and encryption]

iii. If you don't have membership of the PIN yet, email the mi2g Intelligence Unit at intelligence.unit@mi2g.com for an exclusive invitation.

Q2: How to participate in the expert roundtables and get domain-specific strategic intelligence questions answered?

A2: Access the ATCA 24/7 Private Intelligence Network -- PIN -- online and ask or answer a strategic intelligence question, no matter how complex. Receive expert answers within 24 hours or get pointers from:

i. ATCA 5000 experts who are online;
ii. ATCA Research and Analysis Wing; and
iii. mi2g Intelligence Unit.

Q3: Why is the ATCA 24/7 Q&A Exclusive Club special?

A3: ATCA 24/7 has now created an exclusive private intelligence watering hole and expert roundtable at the highest level where interesting and sophisticated questions are being asked from around the world, and intelligent answers are being provided, almost always by experts who have deep domain-specific knowledge. Come and check out the exclusive club, take it for a strategic test drive, which sign-of-intelligent life are you waiting for?

To learn more about "The Expert Roundtable: ATCA 24/7 Q&A Club" email: intelligence.unit@mi2g.com and if you are already a member visit https://www.yammer.com/atca

All the best


DK Matai

Chairman and Founder: mi2g.net, ATCA, The Philanthropia, HQR, @G140

To connect directly with:

. DK Matai: http://twitter.com/DKMatai

. Open HQR: http://twitter.com/OpenHQR

. ATCA Open: http://twitter.com/ATCAOpen

. @G140: http://twitter.com/G140

. mi2g: http://twitter.com/intunit

-- ATCA, The Philanthropia, mi2g, HQR, @G140 --

This is an "ATCA Open, Philanthropia and HQR Socratic Dialogue."

The "ATCA Open" network on LinkedIn and Facebook is for professionals interested in ATCA's original global aims, working with ATCA step-by-step across the world, or developing tools supporting ATCA's objectives to build a better world.

The original ATCA -- Asymmetric Threats Contingency Alliance -- is a philanthropic expert initiative founded in 2001 to resolve complex global challenges through collective Socratic dialogue and joint executive action to build a wisdom based global economy. Adhering to the doctrine of non-violence, ATCA addresses asymmetric threats and social opportunities arising from climate chaos and the environment; radical poverty and microfinance; geo-politics and energy; organised crime & extremism; advanced technologies -- bio, info, nano, robo & AI; demographic skews and resource shortages; pandemics; financial systems and systemic risk; as well as transhumanism and ethics. Present membership of the original ATCA network is by invitation only and has over 5,000 distinguished members from over 120 countries: including 1,000 Parliamentarians; 1,500 Chairmen and CEOs of corporations; 1,000 Heads of NGOs; 750 Directors at Academic Centres of Excellence; 500 Inventors and Original thinkers; as well as 250 Editors-in-Chief of major media.

The Philanthropia, founded in 2005, brings together over 1,000 leading individual and private philanthropists, family offices, foundations, private banks, non-governmental organisations and specialist advisors to address complex global challenges such as countering climate chaos, reducing radical poverty and developing global leadership for the younger generation through the appliance of science and technology, leveraging acumen and finance, as well as encouraging collaboration with a strong commitment to ethics. Philanthropia emphasises multi-faith spiritual values: introspection, healthy living and ecology. Philanthropia Targets: Countering climate chaos and carbon neutrality; Eliminating radical poverty -- through micro-credit schemes, empowerment of women and more responsible capitalism; Leadership for the Younger Generation; and Corporate and social responsibility.

Read the original article on mi2g. Copyright 2011.
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