Japan

2011-07-27 (for around this date) Ex-SKF: Re-Criticality in Late July and Mid August, majiasblog.blogspot.com, September 17, 2001
"Saturday, September 17, 2011 Japanese Researcher: Recriticality in July and August? (UPDATED)
[excerpted] "Yoyo Hinuma, currently at University of California San Diego, says recriticality may have happened in one of the three reactors at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in late July and again in mid August, releasing the largest amount of radioactive materials since April.
click on link to read the article at Ex-SKF's blog site. Also read the comments. I've posted one of the comments that substantiates the argument for re-criticality."
If you take a look at the charts coming from TEPCO, you can see a spike at sub-drain Fukushima Unit 1 around these dates of July and August, and s well one between 2th and 6th of September.
You can as well see Iodine-131 coming up again mid of August, lasting until beginning September.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110917e8.pdf
MAJIA HERE: I THINK THIS EVIDENCE HELPS SUBSTANTIATE POTRBLOG'S OBSERVATIONS OF VERY HIGH READINGS IN THE ST LOUIS RAIN
http://www.potrblog.com/
2011-07-28 (for this date) I think there was a recriticality where melted fuel started a chain reaction again: UCSD researcher — Largest amount of radioactive materials released since April by ENENEWS, September 19, 2011
Japanese Researcher: Recriticality in July and August? (UPDATED), EX-SKF, September 17, 2011: [Emphasis Added]

Part from Shukan Playboy Japan (9/12/2011):

… Indeed, there are some inexplicable numbers reported on the air radiation levels by the government agencies. That is, a big rise in the radiation levels from late July to mid August. [...]
[Dr. Yoyo Hinuma of the University of California San Diego said,] “I think there was a recriticality in which the melted fuel started a chain reaction again in one of the reactors at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, and that the largest amount of radioactive materials since April was released from the plant. It may have happened twice. The first was between July 28 and 31. The second was between August 19 and 21. That the large amount of radioactive materials were released can be clearly seen in the radiation survey data in Tokyo and Yokohama City, where it is suspected that the announced radiation levels are lower than the actual levels. So it’s a scientific fact.” [...]
“Further analyzing the data, we find that August saw a more definite rise than July. It may have been caused by the so-called “prompt criticality” which is bigger and lasts longer. The large amount of radioactive cesium and radioactive iodine released as the result may have reached the Tokyo Metropolitan area, raising the air radiation level”, says Dr. Hinuma. [...]
We’d have to admit that there is a high possibility that the recriticality happened this summer at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, at least twice, and fresh radioactive materials are being released. [...]

Hinuma cites some examples

* Tokyo Metropolitan government data showed air radiation level on August 19 was 0.0865 microsievert/hour (maximum), 1.4 times as high as the previous day.
* On the same day, Yokohama City measured 0.051 microsievert/hour, the level last recorded in late March.
* Since the end of July high level of iodine-131 have started to show up in the “dehydrated sewer sludge” in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture. Half life of iodine-131 is 8 days, so it couldn’t have come from the criticality happened in March.
* In August, radiation that exceeded the safety standard was detected in tens of sandboxes in the parks where children play, and the use of the sandboxes was prohibited until the sand was replaced. But before July, air radiation at most of these sandboxes measured lower than the safety standard.

Read the report here. (Please consider donating a couple dollars via the PayPal link on the EX-SKF site)
h/t Anonymous tip
2011-07-(for late in July) Japanese Researcher: Recriticality in July and August? (UPDATED), ex-skf.blogspot.com, dated 17 Sept 2011
"Yoyo Hinuma, currently at University of California San Diego, says recriticality may have happened in one of the three reactors at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in late July and again in mid August, releasing the largest amount of radioactive materials since April.
I cannot find much about the researcher, other than he was at MIT before, and that he has published papers in peer-reviewed magazines.
The article below says there was a criticality in March, but I don't know if the reporter is referring to the explosion events in March or the recriticality in one of the broken reactors as some researchers have alleged and hypothesized.
(UPDATE: I totally forgot about the report by the UC San Diego researchers that radioactive sulphur of Fukushima origin was detected in California in late March, indicating on-going chain reaction. So the Playboy magazine reporter may be right. To recap, chlorine in the seawater being injected back then captured neutron, turning to radioactive sulphur.)
(Of all magazines) the article appeared in the Weekly Playboy magazine in Japan.
Part from Shukan Playboy Japan (9/12/2011):

... Indeed, there are some inexplicable numbers reported on the air radiation levels by the government agencies. That is, a big rise in the radiation levels from late July to mid August. Dr. Yoyo Hinuma, who has published papers on the net about the seriousness of the situation since the beginning of the accident in March, explains.
"I think there was a recriticality in which the melted fuel started a chain reaction again in one of the reactors at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, and that the largest amount of radioactive materials since April was released from the plant. It may have happened twice. The first was between July 28 and 31. The second was between August 19 and 21. That the large amount of radioactive materials were released can be clearly seen in the radiation survey data in Tokyo and Yokohama City, where it is suspected that the announced radiation levels are lower than the actual levels. So it's a scientific fact."
For example, according to the data released by the Tokyo Metropolitan government, the air radiation level on August 19 was 0.0865 microsievert/hour (maximum), 1.4 times as high as the previous day. On the same day, Yokohama City measured 0.051 microsievert/hour, the level last recorded in late March.
"Further analyzing the data, we find that August saw a more definite rise than July. It may have been caused by the so-called "prompt criticality" which is bigger and lasts longer. The large amount of radioactive cesium and radioactive iodine released as the result may have reached the Tokyo Metropolitan area, raising the air radiation level", says Dr. Hinuma.
Looking back, it is since the end of July that the high level of iodine-131 have started to show up in the "dehydrated sewer sludge" in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture. Half life of iodine-131 is 8 days, so it couldn't have come from the criticality happened in March. Also in August, radiation that exceeded the safety standard was detected in tens of sandboxes in the parks where children play, and the use of the sandboxes was prohibited until the sand was replaced. But before July, air radiation at most of these sandboxes measured lower than the safety standard.
We'd have to admit that there is a high possibility that the recriticality happened this summer at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, at least twice, and fresh radioactive materials are being released.
I checked the Tokyo Metropolitan government's official measurement of air radiation in Shinjuku. The maximum levels recorded on July 30 and August 19 are indeed elevated:

July 29: 0.0697 microsievert/hour
July 30: 0.0735 microsievert/hour
July 31: 0.0610 microsievert/hour

August 18: 0.0621 microsievert/hour
August 19: 0.0865 microsievert/hour
August 20: 0.0605 microsievert/hour

2011-07-30 (for this day) Dr. Mark Sircus On Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Radiation Deception Continues, 10 Aug 2011.

North America and Europe

2011-07-25 Omaha Radiation: Fort Calhoun? Radnet Data July 25 10:00 am Pacific Time, majiasblog.blogspot.com
https://cdxnode64.epa.gov/radnet-public/monitorView.do,
Omaha Nebraska 139 beta, gamma energy range 10 (42), range 2 (2360), range 3 (1476), range 4 (428), range 5 (236), Lincoln, NE 38 beta, Des Moines under review, Mason City 69 beta, Kansas City under review, Wichita under review, Rapid City, SD under review, Pierre SD 31 beta
2011-07-28 Nuclear plant will wait to reopen: Officials plan an inspection after waters recede, columbiatribune.com.
"OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — When the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant will be able to restart is still not clear because the utility that operates it won’t be able to inspect it for damage until floodwaters from the overflowing Missouri River recede, officials said yesterday...
...The Missouri River might not return to within its banks until sometime in September because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to release massive amounts of water from the upstream reservoirs."
2011-07-29 What is the Source of the High Radiation Readings in Pierre SD?, majiasblog.blogspot.com.
2011-07-29 We Are Being Poisoned Also: EPA Radnet Readings, majiasblog.blogspot.com, https://cdxnode64.epa.gov/radnet-public/monitorView.do, Kansas city 0 beta, Wichita under review, Omaha 118 beta, Lincoln NE 125 beta, Pierre SD 315 beta!!!!, Rapid City is under review, Bismarck ND 207 beta, Duluth MN 0 beta, Seattle WA 0 beta, Spokane WA 116 beta, Madison WI under review, Milwaukee WI under review, Chicago IL under review, jet stream position, http://www.weatherimages.org/data/imag192.html.
2011-07-30 majiasblog.blogspot.com Saturday, July 30, 2011, EPA Radnet 7/30 11:00 PM Pacific Time, https://cdxnode64.epa.gov/radnet-public/monitorView.do,
Des Moines is current for the first time in a very long time with 145 beta (very high), Mason City is 95 beta, Kansas City is 0, Wichita KS is under review, Bismark ND is 76 beta, Omaha is 84 beta, Lincoln NE is 101 beta, Kearney NE is 120 beta, Pierre SD is 108 beta, Rapid City SD is under review, Billings MT is under review, Milwaukee WI is under review, Bay City MI is 61 beta, Detroit MI is 0 beta, Duluth MN is 0 beta, JET STREAM IS PRETTY FAR NORTH—CANADA—BUT DOES DIP DOWN AROUND 7/30-7/31 IN THE SOUTH DAKOTA AREA SO THESE HIGH READINGS IN VERY SPECIFIC AREAS COULD BE FROM THE JET STREAM. http://www.weatherimages.org/data/imag192.html, I’M STILL SUSPICIOUS THOUGH THAT FORT CALHOUN’S SPENT FUEL POOL IS ACCUMULATING HYDROGEN GAS AND IS BEING VENTED EVERY FEW DAYS., PERHAPS OMAHA’S READINGS ARE BEING MANIPULATED DOWNWARD...
2011-07-30 Corps Begins Reduction Of Water From Gavins Point, AP,
"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started to reduce releases from Gavins Point Dam into the Missouri River on Saturday.
The corps said releases at the dam near Yankton, South Dakota were lowered from 160,000 cubic feet per second to 155,000. It's scheduled to be lowered again on Monday to 150,000 cfs.
The releases are scheduled to hold at that level until mid-August, then gradually be cut each day to reach the target of 90,000 cfs by month's end and 40,000 cfs by October 1st.