At 17:03 of 5/16/2013 (JST), M4.1 hit off the coast of Sanriku according to USGS.

The seismic scale is not known.

However, Japan Meteorological Agency did not report this quake for some reason.

Even after 2 hours passed, they haven’t updated the earthquake information since 16:40 5/16/2013 (JST).

↓ The information of the quake of 17:03 (JST)

↓ Japan Meteorological Agency hasn’t updated since 16:40 (JST)

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000gwvx#summary

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/

Iori Mochizuki
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‘Absurd’: Intentionally dumping Fukushima nuclear material into ocean from land “is not considered dumping” — Allowed under international law? http://enenews.com/absurd-intentionally-dumping-fukushima-nuclear-material-ocean-land-considered-dumping-allowed-international-law

Concern in US as Japanese nuclear reprocessing plant completed http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2013/s3760280.htm Mark Willacy reported, May 16, 2013 TONY EASTLEY: It’s taken more than 20 years and $20 billion to build, and in a few months time Japan’s state-of-the-art nuclear reprocessing plant will be ready for operation.

The Rokkasho plant in far northern Japan will be capable of turning used nuclear fuel into eight tonnes of plutonium a year, although the Japanese say this weapons-grade plutonium will be used for power generation only.

That hasn’t soothed American concerns though. It’s worried about the security of the plutonium stockpiles and the risk that the new plant could stoke a nuclear race in the region.

North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy was given an exclusive look inside the Rokkasho nuclear complex. MARK WILLACY: In the spring sunshine, Keiko Kikukawa tends to her daffodils. The winter snow has finally melted up here in Japan’s far north and her fields are beginning to burst with colour.

When Keiko Kikukawa isn’t selling her flowers, she’s campaigning to uproot what she sees at the biggest pest in this district – the Rokkasho nuclear complex a few kilometres down the road.

“First of all, Rokkasho village has become a dump for radioactive waste from around Japan,” she tells me. “If there was an accident it’d be catastrophic,” she says.

Keiko Kikukawa is talking about the sprawling Rokkasho nuclear re-processing plant.

Its operator, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited, has spent two decades and $28 billion building the facility……Japan has 17,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel sitting in pools across the country. If Rokkasho is given the green light to begin operation, it can turn this fuel into eight tonnes of plutonium every year.

The problem is, this eight tonnes of plutonium will be weapons-grade – meaning it could theoretically be used to make nuclear bombs…..

Not much climate change doubt, science says : http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/not-much-climate-change-doubt-science-says-20130515-2jmup.html#ixzz2TV6hLn4F    Peter Hannam Carbon economy editor, 16 May 13, 

Having doubts over climate change and the role of humans? You’re unlikely to find many scientists who share your uncertainty. That is the finding of a University of Queensland-led study that surveyed the abstracts of almost 12,000 scientific papers from 1991-2011 and claims to be the largest peer-reviewed study of its kind. Of those who a stated a position on the evidence for global warming, 97.1 per cent endorsed the view that humans are to blame. Just 1.9 per cent rejected the view.

The report’s lead author, John Cook, a fellow at the University of Queensland’s Global Change Institute and founder of the website skepticalscience.com, said the scientific consensus was overwhelming, growing and had been around since the early 1990s.

He said that while the number of papers rejecting the consensus was “vanishingly small”, his research suggested the public was under the impression the debate was split 50-50.

“When people think scientists agree, they are more likely to support a carbon tax or general climate action,” he said.

“But if they think scientists are still arguing about it, they don’t want to do anything about it.” Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are about 400 parts per million and rising – the highest in more than 3 million years.

The fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is due to update its findings on research into global warming and the potential impact on societies and the environment from this September.

Mr Cook said scientists now found less need to state their position on climate change in abstracts summarising their papers, “just as geographers find no reason to remind readers that the earth is round”.

The survey is published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. It is based on the work of 24 scientists and others recruited through skepticalscience.com. Ratings were cross-checked and authors were contacted to rate their own papers.

Mr Cook said the level of endorsement – 97.2 per cent of the one-fifth who replied – was in line with the overall findings.

The strength of the scientific consensus could be likened to the theory of plate tectonics, or continental drift, that took 50 years to gain acceptance. In that case, he said the media found little reason to stoke controversy because there was “no political or ideological issue with plate tectonics”, he said.

Broad study

“If people disagree with what we’ve found we want to know,” said Mark Richardson of the University of Reading in England, one of the authors of the study that looked at English-language studies by authors in more than 90 nations.

Another co-author, Dana Nuccitelli of Skeptical Science, said she was encouraging scientists to stress the consensus “at every opportunity, particularly in media interviews”.

Opinion polls in some countries show widespread belief that scientists disagree about whether climate change is caused by human activities or is part of natural swings such as in the sun’s output.

A survey by the US Pew Research Center published in October last year found 45 per cent of Americans said “Yes” when asked: “Do scientists agree Earth is getting warmer because of human activity?” About 43 per cent said “No”.

Governments have agreed to work out, by the end of 2015, a deal to slow climate change that a UN panel of experts says will cause more floods, droughts and rising sea levels.

With Reuters

Top scientists express safety concerns over Kudankulam nuclear plant NDTV,  by Pallava Bagla, Edited by Mala Das |   May 14, 2013  New Delhi: Sixty of the country’s leading scientists have written to chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, expressing safety concerns over the controversial Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant which received the Supreme Court’s nod earlier this month. The scientists, most of who aren’t specialists in nuclear energy, have sought a safety review of the plant by an “independent panel” of experts.

Audio  The secret trade deal that could let multinationals sue states ’ http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/trade-talks/4689004   RN Breakfast  Presented by Fran Kelly 14 May 2013  Cathy Van Extel The latest round of negotiations for the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership starts today in Lima, Peru. The TPP is a multinational trade deal involving 12 countries, including the US and Australia, and if finalised it will account for 40 per cent of the global economy. Cathy Van Extel reports that the outcome of the Australian federal election is likely to have a big impact on the terms of the deal. The latest round of negotiations for the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership is kicking off in the Peruvian capital of Lima today.

The TPP is a multinational trade deal involving 12 countries including the US and Australia. If finalised it’ll account for 40 per cent of the global economy.

The trade talks are heavily shrouded in secrecy—and critics are concerned the TPP will benefit multinational corporations at the expense of existing labour and social protections.

The US has been pushing for an agreement by October this year and the Australian federal election is likely to have a big impact on the terms of the major trade deal. The wide ranging trade deal has been under negotiation since 2010 behind closed doors, and that’s a worry for critics like Jane Kelsey, professor of law from the University of Auckland and an activist academic.

She says it’s being rushed through with no public scrutiny.There’s going to be a huge amount of political pressure brought to bear on the negotiators in this round because they have set an informal deadline for signing a deal, or at least something, at the APEC leaders’ meeting in Bali in October,’ Professor Kelsey says. ‘However, the negotiations are still stuck on a number of key points and so there will be quite a bit of public posturing and quite a lot of pressure behind the scenes.’

The TPP involves the US, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Japan has recently asked to join—although it won’t sit at the negotiating table until the next round of talks in July. Notably, China has not been invited.

One of the key sticking points is Australia’s opposition to the US push for an investor-state dispute settlement clause.An investor-state dispute settlement clause gives a multinational company which believes its investment has been harmed by a government decision the right to sue a state in an international arbitration tribunal—which would have the power to overrule local laws.

In recent years these arbitration tribunals have broadened the range of potential claims that can be made against a state and this has led to a rapid increase of investor interest in this form of dispute settlement. Multinationals can now sue states for damages if legislative changes may make their profits lower than expected.

Critics are also concerned that arbitrations are carried out in secret by trade lawyers who earn income from the parties and are not accountable to the public or required to take into account broader constitutional and international law human rights norms. Under the TPP it’s proposed tribunal hearings would be held in public.In 2011 the Australian government issued a new trade policy, in which it ruled out supporting such clauses, arguing they ran the risk of giving foreign business greater legal rights than domestic businesses (who must operate within local law)……..

Another contentious issue under negotiation is intellectual property and copyright, which could have far-reaching impacts on Australia’s pharmaceutical benefits scheme, and access to material on the internet.

Electronic Frontiers Australia, which represents internet users, says while the trade talks are being kept secret, there’s concern US corporations are pushing a well known agenda for heavy restrictions and criminal sanctions.Many of those controls already exist but we are certainly seeing attempts to criminalise acts which we would argue probably don’t deserve criminal sanctions,’ EFA’s CEO John Lawrence says. ‘The general thrust of these things does really hamper innovation and development of content outside the US.’

Mr Lawrence says that while Australia has its own well balanced review of copyright underway, the TPP has the ability to override and scupper that process.

‘Things like TPP (which of course the negotiation’s secret), have the potential to stop any reform there, or constrain any reform, that Australia as a sovereign entity may choose to take.’ http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/trade-talks/4689004

Fukushima Fallout Threat and Cover Up Continues  . Veterans Today, 14 May 13, A new study in April of 2013 suggests that nuclear fallout from Fukushima in March of 2011 has led to significant elevated rates of congenital thyroid illness among infants born on the West Coast and Hawaii ~ keeping in mind that President Obama not only denied this threat but ordered the EPA to stop weekly & monthly testing for radiation in April of 2011: by Allen L Roland A creeping and never ending deadly fog of radiation, invisible to the eye but not to the immune system, continues to blanket the West Coast while its human cost is just beginning to be perceived.

“…….So what has the American government done to protect us? (According to the Washington Post)

” It has pressured the Japanese government to re-start its nuclear program, and is allowing Fukushima seafood to be sold in the U.S. And U.S. nuclear regulators actually weakened safety standards for U.S. nuclear reactors after the Fukushima disaster. And as we noted 6 months after Fukushima melted down: Americanand Canadian authorities have virtually stopped monitoring airborne radiation, and are not testing fish for radiation. (Indeed, the EPA reacted to Fukushima by raising “acceptable” radiation levels.)”  See report ~

In other words, there is currently a concerted worldwide propaganda campaign to cover up the severity of the major nuclear fallout of Fukushima by raising acceptable levels of radiation and, in essence, saying that a little more radiation in your system is nothing to be concerned about.

The cover up regarding exposure to radiation especially applies to Japan itself. On December 20, 2012, a multi-professional symposium was held in Tokyo, and organized by Free Press Association of Japan, a non-profit organization. The symposium clearly illustrates that the issues of radioactive exposure are consideredtaboo on the Japanese media ~ as they most certainly are on the American main stream media. 7 minute video

In yet another example of growing corporate totalitarianism, we now have a worldwide conspiracy to suppress the radiation exposure of the ongoing Fukushima nuclear fallout. Led by Japan itself and reinforced by America’s plutocracy ~ much like the financial crisis, the gulf oil Spill, and all other major crises ~ we continue to cover up instead of address the real human problem, human cost and human consequences of these events, and that is the very definition of corporate totalitarianism.

In that regard, what did the leader of the free world, President Obama actually have to say regarding this disaster in 2011? Short true Video (with appropriate Photoshop allowance for hypocrisy)

Clearly, the situation regarding the Fukushima fallout is out of control ~ now that the fog of calculated deception is slowly lifting. As such, the US needs to be forced to lead the way in rallying international support for the crippled plant for it’s obviously more than Japan can handle itself.  A Senate investigation would be a first step in facing the reality of Fukushima fallout as well as its ongoing threat. Please continue to circulate thispetition ~

Only the united will of the people in action can block the gears of an out of control plutocracy along with the abuse of corporate totalitarianism but now, in regards to Fukushima, our very lives are at stake.

Now here’s an unusual item from the Australian business pages.  Instead of the usual big talking up of the future for Australia’s uranium companies, – darned if  one investment writer hasn’t told it like IT IS!

Uranium on the nose, The Motley Fool By Mike King - May 16, 2013  More than 26 months after the nuclear accident at Fukushima, Japan, the nuclear industry is still feeling the effects with depressed uranium prices and cost pressures that are squeezing margins……

 Audio  The secret trade deal that could let multinationals sue states  ’ http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/trade-talks/4689004   RN Breakfast  Presented by Fran Kelly 14 May 2013  Cathy Van Extel The latest round of negotiations for the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership starts today in Lima, Peru. The TPP is a multinational trade deal involving 12 countries, including the US and Australia, and if finalised it will account for 40 per cent of the global economy. Cathy Van Extel reports that the outcome of the Australian federal election is likely to have a big impact on the terms of the deal. The latest round of negotiations for the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership is kicking off in the Peruvian capital of Lima today.

The TPP is a multinational trade deal involving 12 countries including the US and Australia. If finalised it’ll account for 40 per cent of the global economy.

The trade talks are heavily shrouded in secrecy—and critics are concerned the TPP will benefit multinational corporations at the expense of existing labour and social protections.

The US has been pushing for an agreement by October this year and the Australian federal election is likely to have a big impact on the terms of the major trade deal. The wide ranging trade deal has been under negotiation since 2010 behind closed doors, and that’s a worry for critics like Jane Kelsey, professor of law from the University of Auckland and an activist academic.

She says it’s being rushed through with no public scrutiny.There’s going to be a huge amount of political pressure brought to bear on the negotiators in this round because they have set an informal deadline for signing a deal, or at least something, at the APEC leaders’ meeting in Bali in October,’ Professor Kelsey says. ‘However, the negotiations are still stuck on a number of key points and so there will be quite a bit of public posturing and quite a lot of pressure behind the scenes.’

The TPP involves the US, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Japan has recently asked to join—although it won’t sit at the negotiating table until the next round of talks in July. Notably, China has not been invited.

One of the key sticking points is Australia’s opposition to the US push for an investor-state dispute settlement clause.An investor-state dispute settlement clause gives a multinational company which believes its investment has been harmed by a government decision the right to sue a state in an international arbitration tribunal—which would have the power to overrule local laws.

In recent years these arbitration tribunals have broadened the range of potential claims that can be made against a state and this has led to a rapid increase of investor interest in this form of dispute settlement. Multinationals can now sue states for damages if legislative changes may make their profits lower than expected.

Critics are also concerned that arbitrations are carried out in secret by trade lawyers who earn income from the parties and are not accountable to the public or required to take into account broader constitutional and international law human rights norms. Under the TPP it’s proposed tribunal hearings would be held in public.In 2011 the Australian government issued a new trade policy, in which it ruled out supporting such clauses, arguing they ran the risk of giving foreign business greater legal rights than domestic businesses (who must operate within local law)……..

Another contentious issue under negotiation is intellectual property and copyright, which could have far-reaching impacts on Australia’s pharmaceutical benefits scheme, and access to material on the internet.

Electronic Frontiers Australia, which represents internet users, says while the trade talks are being kept secret, there’s concern US corporations are pushing a well known agenda for heavy restrictions and criminal sanctions.Many of those controls already exist but we are certainly seeing attempts to criminalise acts which we would argue probably don’t deserve criminal sanctions,’ EFA’s CEO John Lawrence says. ‘The general thrust of these things does really hamper innovation and development of content outside the US.’

Mr Lawrence says that while Australia has its own well balanced review of copyright underway, the TPP has the ability to override and scupper that process.

‘Things like TPP (which of course the negotiation’s secret), have the potential to stop any reform there, or constrain any reform, that Australia as a sovereign entity may choose to take.’ http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/trade-talks/4689004

‘Absurd’: Intentionally dumping Fukushima nuclear material into ocean from land “is not considered dumping” — Allowed under international law? http://enenews.com/absurd-intentionally-dumping-fukushima-nuclear-material-ocean-land-considered-dumping-allowed-international-law

TEPCO Withholds “Black Box” Data About Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Simply Info, May 13th, 2013  In April of 2010 TEPCO signed a contract with high tech security company Magna BSP to provide asophisticated video and trespass detection system  at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. This was the first installation of what was to be a series of similar installations at nuclear plants around Japan, coordinated between the government and nuclear operators. The system was installed at Fukushima Daiichi in 2010

国連の報告：　社会権規約「選択議定書」は、国家の救済手段が、疲弊してしまったあとに、経済的、社会的及び文化的権利に関する人権侵害に対しての不平、不満を、国連機関として、聞き入れる機会を提供してくれるはずで、たとえ、委員会の勧告が、拘束力がないかといえ、うその報告は、許せない行為です。

反差別国際運動（IMADR）ジュネーブ事務所のスタッフ、この委員会に出席した白根大輔さんのコメント

UN Report – Japanese Delegation to The UN Spreads Lies and Deception! 国連報告書２０１３年４月　　国連への日本政府代表団のうそとごまかし！　抗議締め切り5月17日！

皆で、抗議しましょう。

この委員会に出席した代表団の名前のリストが、以下のサイトに記されています。

外務省意見書ページ：
https://www3.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/mail/qa.html

国連合広報センター【 United Nations Information Centre 】
〒150-0001　東京都渋谷区神宮前5-53-70　UNハウス8F
Tel : 03-5467-4451／FAX : 03-5467-4455

この委員会の内容は、日本語で、記されていなく、国連のアラビア語のページに、載せられていたのを、Ａｒｃｌｉｇｈｔさんが掘り起こして、記事にしたもの です。　少量の日本語訳で、申し訳ないですが、ジュネーブ在住の日本人女性が翻訳を、ただいましている最中だそうです。　翻訳が回ってきた際に、次回のポ ストに投稿します。　　Ｍｉａ

(Source) http://nuclear-news.net/2013/05/14/un-report-bloggers-response-japanese-delegation-to-the-un-spreads-lies-and-deception/#comments
14 May 2013
Published by nuclear-news.net
By Arclight2011

….Rosatom is an absolute giant in the global nuclear sector. The company builds more nuclear power plants worldwide than anyone else, with builds currently underway in China, Vietnam, India, Iran, and Turkey. The 21 new builds in Rosatom’s order book are worth US$50 billion….

 

http://www.caseyresearch.com/articles/putins-power-play-how-it-will-change-the-uranium-sector

 

Casey Research

May 15, 2013

The last time Vladimir Putin was president, he laid the foundation to pull Mother Russia from the wreck of economic chaos to a world power once again. This time, he’s ready to extend that influence to counter the West. His tools: Russia’s abundant resources of energy, including uranium.

There’s a new war developing on the continent, and the weapons this time will be oil wells, gas fields, and uranium mines, pipelines and ports, processing facilities, and supply deals.

Led by Russia’s vast resource wealth and China’s massive bank account, the countries of Asia and those along the Eurasian divide are realizing they do not want or need help from the West to achieve their goals. They are settling their differences, negotiating closer relations, and advancing their plans without as much as a phone call to Washington or Brussels.

After years of Western dominance in world affairs, they’ve had enough. And with Vladimir Putin back in as Russia’s president, this emerging bloc has its leader.

Vladimir Vladimirovich is a man of remarkable intelligence, determination, and ruthlessness. In many Russian eyes, that last attribute is far from a fault – they see him as a man’s man who restored their country’s pride, economy, and position of influence after a humiliating period they’d rather forget. If that has required trampling some citizen rights along with much of the country’s new capitalist class… well, nothing comes for free.

From the chaos of financial collapse and political turmoil in 1998, Putin increased GDP by an average 7% annually, cut in half the number of Russians living below the poverty line, grew industry by 75%, and doubled real incomes.

He’s achieved these accomplishments largely though development of energy resources. Under his guidance, Russia became a global energy superpower. Today, with a much-strengthened country under his feet, Putin will use his control over natural resources to pull leverage away from the United States and Europe.

It’s no secret that Putin disdains America’s self-appointed role as global policeman and holds Europe in equal contempt for generally supporting US foreign policy. The NATO campaign in Libya was perhaps a final straw: After Russia vetoed a UN motion to intervene in the civil war there, the US and its European allies turned to their military club NATO to further the regime change they desired. To Russia, at least, it was a snub intended to suggest that Russian opinion still doesn’t matter.

Now Putin’s primary goal is to prove that view wrong.

And he has the tools to do so. Among other things, he’s working to corner the uranium market – his country already controls 40% of global uranium enrichment capacity, the lion’s share of the world’s downblending facilities, and a fair chunk of the world’s uranium resources.

On top of that, the country’s nuclear power giant, Rosatom, builds more nuclear power plants than any other company in the world, with deals for 21 international reactors currently on the books.

The era of Putinization is about to begin, and we investors need to understand where it’s coming from and what it means. What’s on the table are investment trends and profits along with the balance of world influence…….

“The supposedly free democratic nation of Japan, which supposedly values and promotes freedom of speech, has officially issued orders to telecommunication companies and webmasters to remove content from websites that counter the official government position that the disaster is over and there is no more threat from the radiation. 20 April 2011″

Image and caption source ; http://weeklyintercept.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/japan-officially-orders-censorship-of.html

UN Report – Bloggers response! – Japanese delegation to The UN spreads Lies and Deception!

14 May 2013

Published by nuclear-news.net

Below, is a report concerning the petition to the UN on behalf of the Children of Fukushima and their petition to the UN. The UN sent Mr. Anand Grover on a Country Visit to Japan on 15 to 26 November 2012. Mr Anand Grover made some comments regarding the nuclear disaster, as well as some other issues in Japan……

http://nuclear-news.net/2013/05/14/un-report-bloggers-response-japanese-delegation-to-the-un-spreads-lies-and-deception/

Japanese responses

Comment by Mr. Daisuke Shirane, staff at Geneva office of IMADR(The International Movement Against all Forms of Discrimination and Racism)

The Japanese Government Delegation often apply a so-called “official bureaucrats style of talking” when they speak at UN committees when answering questions. It means that they sometime talk vaguely or answer the questions only partly or repeat the same sort of things from a single aspect from the whole situation.  As a member of NGO I got an impression that they didn’t want to deliver their clear answers. 

Also, in relation to the Japanese government’s report and their answers to committees’ questions, there had been comments such as that there were no honest answers, not appropriate answers to questions and also that international standard hadn’t been applied correctly in Japan.

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/harumi-s_2005/e/bc90e378cf16da2fd9d38e79fb3bea61
IMADRジュネーブ事務所　白根大輔

 Anonymous Japanese citizen from Geneva (from private correspondence)

“… thank you very much for the information. This document is really precious and must be told to the Japanese people. All UN documents are written in official UN languages but not in Japanese and I think no one knew and followed what Japanese Government has been doing currently in UN.

Your friend’s info is extremely important. I will also tweet or update in my FB so that we maintain a pressure on the Japanese Government! Thank you again!

Then after some more investigation she wrote:

It’s a kind of cover-up not to show what the Govnt. is doing abroad to hide the ongoing reality in Japan.

I read the article in the UN Arabic section but Fukushima’s conditions are mentioned only briefly and with lies. So, I decided to translate the blog you sent me and translate some parts of UN doc. I also tweeted that Japanese Govnt ‘s activities in UN are only updated in Arabic section.

Japanese mass media are contaminated by money from Nuke lobby and that’s the reason no mass media followed this important human rights issue. I tried to ask my friends in Geneva if there are any journalists who can have access to UN s coming session about human rights and resolution for Japan. I believe we need alternative journalists who show the world what really happens in Fukushima…..”

Posted by on behalf of anonymous by Arclight2011

A list of names of Japanese government delegation.

http://www2.ohchr.org/English/bodies/cescr/docs/list/List_Japan_CESCR50.pdf

For sending your protest:
1. https://www3.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/mail/qa.html

2. United Nations Information Centre:
UN HOUSE 8F
5-53-70, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001
Tel : 03-5467-4451／FAX : 03-5467-4455

Translation and research support for this article from Mia (JANUK)  thttp://fukushimaappeal.blogspot.co.uk/

Posted by Xeno on May 15, 2013

http://xenophilius.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/authorities-hunting-for-nuclear-gauge-lost-in-west-virginia/

….That Troxler 3440 seems like a pretty amazing device. From what I can gather, the nuclear materials send out Gamma rays which are sent into the soil, and then the the bounce back is sensed. I think. It sounds sort of like a Gamma-ray based radar or sonar system…..

……These things are commonly used by construction crews and surveyors, and I’m pretty sure that if you hold it up to your genitals for long enough, it’ll turn you into the Hulk…..

Image source and caption ; http://jalopnik.com/nuclear-device-lost-somewhere-between-pennsylvania-and-505920425

The truck was transporting the device for the Pennsylvania firm Valley Quarries Inc. – a company licensed to possess and use the gauge. The company had been using the instrument in West Virginia at the time it was lost, and is desperately seeking to find it

Image source ; www.hindustantimes.com

Department of Environmental Protection officials said Tuesday that after one of its employees was taking a reading with the job, he placed the gauge in his pickup truck to drive to another site.

 

“Once he arrived, the gauge user realized the truck’s rear gate had opened and the device was missing,”DEP spokeswoman Lisa Kasianowitz told The Times Online. “Further, the gauge was not in its shipping container. The gauge user and a coworker promptly drove back along the route just traveled but were unable to find the device.”

Officials are now warning people to be on the lookout for a device that could pose dangerous health and contamination risks to the public.

“It is critical for anyone who has information about the lost nuclear gauge to contact

the Pennsylvania DEP, Nuclear Regulatory Commission or a local law enforcement agency immediately.

 

As long as the device is not tampered with or damaged, it presents no hazard to public safety,”

 

the DEP Bureau of Radiation Protect David Allard said in a press release.

The nuclear density gauge contains radioactive material, which directs particles and counts those that are reflected or passed through material to measure density. In the construction industry, these gauges are used to create suitable soil environments to build roads and structures.

When left intact, the gauges are safe to handle. But anyone who tampers with them risks serious radioactive contamination and exposure.

Police are urging anyone who finds the gauge – which is bright yellow and the size of a shoebox – to call 911 or contact the Pennsylvania DEP. The gauge is a Troxler Model 3430 with serial number 32506. It contains about 8 millicuries of cesium-137 and 40 millicuries of americium-241. Cesium-137 is the principle source of radiation in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, which was designated for evacuation and placed under military control after the 1986 nuclear accident.

Valley Quarries is offering an unspecified reward for information leading to the return of their device. One of the company’s safety officer’s told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that he saw someone stop along the road, pick up and drive off with a device that appeared to be a gauge.

http://rt.com/usa/nuclear-gauge-radiation-virginia-321/