Radioactive Contamination of Americans
--- YOYO --- (You're On Your Own)
Fukushima Rescue Mission Lasting Legacy: Radioactive Contamination of Americans
http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/nation/a-lasting-legacy-of-the-fukushim...
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM, BY ROGER WITHERSPOON, Thursday, 31 January 2013 20:34
The Department of Defense has decided to walk away from a medical registry of nearly 70,000 American service members, civilian workers, and their families caught in the radioactive clouds blowing from the destroyed nuclear power plants at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan. There will be no way to determine if patterns of health problems emerge among the members of the Marines, Army, Air Force, Corps of Engineers, and Navy stationed at 63 installations in Japan with their families. In addition, it leaves thousands of sailors and Marines in the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group 7 on their own when it comes to determining if any of them are developing problems caused by radiation exposure.
More than 150 service men and women who participated in the rescue mission ‘Operation Tomodachi’ have developed a variety of medical issues – including tumors, tremors, internal bleeding, and hair loss – which they feel were triggered by their exposure to radiation.
The Tomodachi Medical Registry, developed over a two year period and completed at the end of 2012, was a collective effort of the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Veterans Affairs launched at the insistence of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
The Defense Department’s 252-page assessment of radiation doses the 70,000 Americans may have been exposed to is broken down by a host of factors, including proximity to Fukushima, the type of work being done and its impact on breathing rates, changing weather patterns, sex, size, and age. Children were divided into six different age groups, reflecting their varying susceptibility to radiation. The report states “over 8,000 individuals were monitored for internal radioactive materials and the results of those tests were compared with the calculated doses.”
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123316785
https://registry.csd.disa.mil/registryWeb/Registry/OperationTomodachi/Di...
http://www.usmedicine.com/articles/dod-launches-database-for-personnel-i...
http://www.army.mil/article/92028/Tomodachi_registry_aids_Japan_s_DOD_po...
http://www.vbdr.org/meetings/2012/Presentations/4a-Falo_VDBR_Mar12.pdf
http://www.amc.af.mil/operationtomodachi/
guess where the radioactive clouds were blowing
USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group 7
The USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group 7 was detoured from its South Pacific duties and brought to Fukushima for Operation Tomodachi, using the Japanese word for “friend.” It was an 80-day humanitarian aid and rescue mission in the wake of the earthquake and massive tsunami that decimated the northern coastline and killed more than 20,000 people. The rescue operation was requested by the Japanese Government and coordinated by the US State Department, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Departments of Defense and Energy. In addition to the USS Ronald Reagan with its crew of 5,500, the Strike Group included four destroyers – The Preble, McCampbell, Curtis Wilbur, and McCain – the cruiser USS Chancellorsville, and several support ships
It was the participants in Operation Tomodachi – land based truck drivers and helicopter crews, and carrier based aircraft and landing craft – who were repeatedly trying to guess where the radioactive clouds were blowing and steer paths out of the way. It was unsuccessful on more than one occasion, according to Defense Department records and participants, resulting in efforts to decontaminate ships travelling through contaminated waters and cleansing helicopters only to send them right back into radioactive clouds.
Hot Parts
“I remember pulling out a radiator and it read 60,000 CCPM.”
Michael Sebourn, senior chief mechanic for the helicopter squadron based at Atsugi, about 60 miles from Fukushima, recalled that “after the earthquake and tsunami we were given one day notice to pack up the command and go to Misawa, Japan Air Base to provide relief efforts to the Sendai and Fukushima areas.
Sebourn was sent to Guam for three days of intensive training and became the designated radiation officer. “We were in Misawa 3 ½ weeks, working every day, flying mission after mission after mission to pick people up, rescue people, ferry supplies and things like that. There were a few nuclear technicians scanning individuals coming back from missions. Many times they would cut off their uniforms.”
They scanned the returning helicopters for radiation, and then removed any contaminated parts and put them in special containers filled with water and stored on an isolated tarmac. Sebourn tracked varying radiation levels in units called Corrected Counts Per Minute on their electronic detectors.
“The rule was if there was anything over a count of 500 you needed special gloves. Over 1,000 CCPM and you needed a Tyvek radiation suit. And if it was over 5,000 you needed an entire outfit – suit, respirator, goggles, and two sets of gloves. You couldn’t put a contaminated radiator back into the helicopters – they had to be replaced. I remember pulling out a radiator and it read 60,000 CCPM.”