February 2, 2012

THE HEADLINES

Alert Details: Unusual Event at Exelon Byron Nuclear Station
AlertsUSA Alert Issued January 31, 2012

Alert Details: Exelon Byron Nuclear Station Tritium Release
AlertsUSA Alert Issued January 31, 2012

Fukushima Radionuclides Ocean Dispersion Simulation
January 27, 2012

Spy agencies warn of possible limited bioterror attack in 2012
February 01 , 2012

Urban U.S. Counties Hot Spots of Terror
January 31, 2012

Alert Details:

On Jan 31, 2012, AlertsUSA issued the following Flash messages to subscribers:

"FLASH: WI Emrg Mgmt issues awareness statement: Byron Nuclear Station (Byron, IL), “Unusual Event” after power loss. Steam release ongoing. Developing.." "Fed & company officials confirm Exelon Byron Nuclear Station, Byron, IL, releasing unknown levels of tritium. Officials state levels safe for public."

Some additional info:

• A "Notice of Unusual Event" was issued following a loss of offsite power which lasted more than 15 min. The loss of power to the reactor cooling pump (RCP) tripped the reactor into shutdown mode. Steam was vented in order to help cool the reactor.
• Officials reported the release of tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen. While officials stated there was no immediate threat to the public, they also stated they have no idea how much tritium was actually released.
• It is reported that the tritium possibly escaped through cracks in pipes carrying reactor water to the steam generator.
• Smoke was seen rising from this part of the plant, though firefighters reportedly found nothing burned. It is now speculated that the smoke was steam.
• The NRC reports a faulty transformer is principle failure point.
  

And another one:

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station near San Diego, just across the highway from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, is also having problems. Officials state that a radiation release may have occurred and the plant has been shut down for safety reasons, though again, there is no threat to the public. Read more here.

Fukushima Radionuclide Ocean Dispersion Simulation
January 27, 2012

The juicy parts:

"Large amount of radionuclides are discharged into the Pacific Ocean from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) due to the accident associated with the East Japan Earthquake and related huge tsunamis on March 11th, 2011."

"Using a data-assimilative high-resolution ocean prediction system around Japan, called JCOPE (Japan Coastal Ocean Predictability Experiment), [researchers] are conducting radionuclide dispersion simulations to show how the radionuclides spread and disperse from the Fukushima coastal region to the open ocean.

Click image to jump to video page.

 

What you need to know:

• Cooling operations at the severely damaged Fukushima facility will need to continue for many years. During this time tremendous amounts of additional radioactive materials will make it's way into the Pacific Ocean.
• As previously covered by Threat Journal, at least 16 of 22 species of fish currently exported from Japan to Canada have tested positive for contamination with radioactive cesium.
• Given the magnitutde of expected duration of the disaster, logic would dictate that one carefully evaluate what ocean-sourced food products one consumes.

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Urban U.S. Counties Hot Spots of Terror, But Rural Areas Are Not Exempt
January 31, 2012

The juicy parts:

"Nearly a third of all terrorist attacks from 1970 to 2008 occurred in just five metropolitan U.S. counties, but events continue to occur in rural areas, spurred on by domestic actors..."

"The largest number of events clustered around major cities -- in Manhattan (343 attacks), followed by Los Angeles County, Calif. (156 attacks), Miami-Dade County, Fla. (103 attacks), San Francisco County, Calif. (99 attacks) and Washington, D.C. (79 attacks)."

"While large, urban counties such as Manhattan and Los Angeles have remained hot spots of terrorist activities across decades, the researchers discovered that smaller, more rural counties such as Maricopa County, Ariz. – which includes Phoenix – have emerged as hot spots in recent years as domestic terrorism there has increased."

 

Read the full report here.