Residents Living Near North Korea's Nuclear Test Site Are Suffering From 'Ghost Disease'

Newsweek: North Korea's Nuclear Tests Are Spreading 'Ghost Disease' Causing Deformations, Defectors Say

North Korea’s nuclear test are spreading a “ghost disease” that is deforming babies and sickening civilians exposed to radiation, defectors said in a report published Sunday.

“So many people died we began calling it 'ghost disease,’” Lee Jeong Hwa, a defector who used to live by a nuclear testing site, told NBC News.

"We thought we were dying because we were poor and we ate badly. Now we know it was the radiation."

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More News On North Korea's 'Ghost Disease'

North Korean defectors say nuclear tests have ravaged their health -- NBC
Kim Jong-un's nuke tests have led to a 'ghost disease' that deforms babies and leaves North Koreans exposed to radiation, defectors claim -- Daily Mail
North Korean nuclear tests sickening residents with 'ghost disease,' defectors say -- FOX News
Defectors who lived near North Korea weapons test site complained of ‘ghost disease’ -- New York Daily News
North Korean Defectors Say Radiation Is Leaking From Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site -- Gizmodo
North Korean Defectors Claim 'Ghost Disease' Is Nuclear Radiation Poisoning -- IBTimes

16 U.S. Navy Ships Are Still Contaminated With Radiation After Fukushima

PACIFIC OCEAN (March 23, 2011) Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) conduct a countermeasure wash down on the flight deck. Sailors scrubbed the external surfaces on the flight deck and island superstructure to remove potential radiation contamination. Ronald Reagan is operating off the coast of Japan providing humanitarian assistance as directed in support of Operation Tomodachi. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Nicholas A. Groesch/Released)

Zero Hedge: Five Years After Fukushima, 16 U.S. Cleanup Ships Are Still Contaminated With Radiation

The Fukushima disaster was over five years ago, and may have been largely forgotten by the general public and the media (perhaps because the Japanese olympics are just four years from now), but its effects still linger. Perhaps nowhere more so than for those who took pare in the Fukushima clean up effort: as Starts and Stripes reports, sixteen U.S. ships that participated in relief efforts after Japan’s nuclear disaster five years ago remain contaminated with low levels of radiation from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

In all, 25 ships took part in Operation Tomadachi, the name given for the U.S. humanitarian aid operations after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011. In the years since the crisis, the ships have undergone cleanup efforts, the Navy said, and 13 Navy and three Military Sealift Command vessels still have some signs of contamination, mostly to ventilation systems, main engines and generators.

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WNU Editor: 370 US sailors are suing for being exposed to enough radiation poisoning that is is impacting their health .... I expect this number to climb over the next few years.

US Navy Sailors Search For Justice And Information After Fukushima Mission

Soon after the devastating tsunami struck Japan's east coast in March of 2011, the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan showed up to provide humanitarian aid. It may have exposed those on board to toxic levels of radiation. Here, sailors scrub down the flight deck to clean the ship of radiation on March 23, 2011. AFP/US Navy

Alexander Osang, Speigel Online: 'Uncertain Radiological Threat': US Navy Sailors Search for Justice after Fukushima Mission

In March of 2011, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan rushed to Japan to help after the disastrous tsunami. Since then, many sailors from that ship have fallen ill, possibly as a result of exposure to radiation from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. They will soon have their day in court.

WNU Editor: I have been covering this story since day one ....

Sailors Aboard The Aircraft Carrier Ronald Reagan Exposed To Radiation Off The Shores Of Japan (March 14, 2011)
U.S. Military Positions Itself To Assist Japan Quake/Tsunami Victims (March 14, 2011)
Aircraft Carier USS Reagan Fought Radiation Contamination While Aiding Japan (March 26, 2011)
Were U.S. Sailors Exposed To Radiation From Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant? (December 29, 2012)
Did U.S. Sailors Get Cancer After Being Exposed To Radiation From Fukushima While Helping Japan After The March 2011 Tsunami Disaster? (December 21, 2013)
US Navy Sailors Seek £600m Damages From The Owners Of Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant For Radiation Related Illnesses (February 9, 2014)
Report: USS Reagan Crew Were Exposed To Higher Levels Of Radiation From The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Than What Has Been Reported (February 28, 2014)

This is a nightmare scenario for everyone directly involved.There were also a number of support ships with the USS Ronald Reagan in the danger zone during this time .... but no word yet on what is the fate and/or situation for those crews.

Japan's Soluton To Get Rid Of 100s Of Tons Of Radioactive Water From Fukushima Is To Dump It Into The Pacific

Japan Begins Purposely Dumping 100s Of Tons Of Radioactive Water From Fukushima Into The Pacific -- Zero Hedge

How do you get rid of hundreds of tons of highly radioactive water?  You dump it into the Pacific Ocean of course!  In Japan, the  Tokyo Electric Power Co. has made the “painful decision” to begin purposely dumping massive amounts of radioactive water currently being stored at the destroyed Fukushima nuclear facility directly into the Pacific.  This is being done even though water radiation levels near Fukushima spiked to a brand new all-time record high just a few days ago.  The radioactive material that is being released will enter our food chain and will potentially stay with us for decades to come.  Fukushima is an environmental nightmare that never seems to end, but the mainstream media in the United States decided to pretty much stop talking about it long ago.  So don’t expect the big news networks to make a big deal out of the fact that Japan is choosing to use the Pacific Ocean as a toilet for their nuclear waste.  But even though they aren’t talking about it, that doesn’t mean that radioactive material from Fukushima is not seriously affecting the health of millions of people all over the planet.

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My Comment: I get a chill down my spine when I read stories like this one .... the reason why is that I know too well on what will be the impact from this radiation poisoning on our populations ... specifically on the young. I was working in China when the disaster at Chernobyl occurred .... and in the years after that I ended up working for the UN at ICAO in Montreal. My trips back to Russia/Ukraine were sporadic .... a few weeks here .... a few weeks there .... etc.. But during this time I started to notice the deterioration in the health of many young children .... specifically in Ukraine. Case in point .... my cousin's daughter got severely sick during this time .... her immune system essentially shut down, and if it was not for the antibiotics that I was shipping back home from Montreal .... she would probably not be around today. But my actions attracted attention .... and before I knew it I was sending boxes of the stuff to needy families and doctors in Kiev as well as to Minsk (Belarus) .... the crisis was hitting everyone .... and everyone also knew what was the cause .... low level radiation .... and it was impacting our young the most.

Flash forward to today .... the Japanese are now doing the same thing .... they are poisoning our ecosystem and it will be the young who will impacted the most .... but what makes this story even more perplexing (and makes me angry) .... is the absence of the media in covering this story and zero outrage from our politicians.

A 'Radiation Belt' For Nuclear Emergencies

Israeli Company Develops 'Radiation Belt' For Nuclear Emergencies -- Jerusalem Post/Reuters

Called the "StemRad 360 Gamma" belt, it shields the body from the effects of gamma radiation.

"It may look simplistic on the outside but the structure inside is three dimensional and very unique. The idea here was to create a product that on the one hand protects but on the other hand is not over burdened weight."

Oren Milstein is co-founder of Stemrad, the company behind the belt. He won't give much away about its key technology, but says it's partially comprised of lead and has been designed to protect the pelvic area, where most of the the body's renewable bone marrow is concentrated.

Milstein says protecting that bone marrow can be crucial to ensuring survival after radiation exposure.

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Update #1: Nuclear Accident? Fasten Up Your 'Radiation Belt' -- NextGov
Update #2: ‘Anti-radiation belt’ developed by Israeli firm for nuclear emergencies -- RT

My Comment: There are three Nobel laureates on-board, and they are vouching for it.

US Navy Sailors Seek £600m Damages From The Owners Of Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant For Radiation Related Illnesses

The USS Ronald Reagan is underway in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility, March 12, 2011. The Ronald Reagan has been directed to Japan following a 8.9 earthquake and tsunami to render humanitarian assistance and disaster relief as directed. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dylan McCord

US Navy Sailors Seek £600m Damages From Owners Of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant -- The Telegraph

Nearly three years after the Fukushima disaster, more than 70 US Navy sailors who participated in rescue operations claim that radiation exposure has left them sickened for life

Dozens of American sailors who assisted Japan during the 2011 nuclear disaster are suing the operators of Fukushima power plant for more than £612 million (US$1bn) in damages, claiming that they have become sick from radiation exposure.

The sailors were on board the USS Ronald Reagan super-carrier when it was diverted to northeast Japan following the devastation of the March 11, 2011 earthquake which triggered a tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster.

As they helped rescue victims and evacuate disaster zones, the claimants allege that they drank, bathed and waded through water contaminated with radiation from the damaged nuclear power plant and were reportedly exposed to radioactive plumes.

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Update: US Navy sailors sue Fukushima operators for £600m -- Voice of Russia/The Telegraph

My Comment: 79 US sailors have filed in this suit .... and this number is rising. If more sailors become sick .... and I suspect that this will be the case .... expect this to be an even bigger story in the next few years.

Aircraft Carier USS Reagan Fought Radiation Contamination While Aiding Japan

This photograph released by the US Navy shows sailors conducting a wash down of the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan on March 23, 2011 off the coast of Japan. Navy officials halted air operations from USS Reagan on March 23, 2011 to clean the ship of contamination from radioactive plume it had passed while conducting humanitarian relief operations following the massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and towering tsunami which battered northeast Japan on March 11. While the radiation did not pose any significant health risk, “it needs to go away,” Cmdr. Ron Rutan, chief engineer for the Reagan, said during an interview on March 22. AFP PHOTO / US NAVY

US Carrier Fought Contamination While Aiding Japan -- MSNBC/AP

ABOARD THE USS RONALD REAGAN — When U.S. Navy helicopters returned from a humanitarian mission on the first weekend following Japan's earthquake and tsunami, Lt. j.g. James Powell felt a slight unease.

Powell, the radiation health officer aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, knew there was a chance the choppers could have been exposed to radiation from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant as they ferried relief aid to northeastern Japan, and even though "the Japanese had told us we'd be fine," he still wanted to be sure.

"I was kind of nervous about it," the 30-year-old nuclear engineer said. "So I said, 'Let's just go check them, just in case. ... Let's just go check it out.'"

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(Click on Image to Enlarge)
Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan conduct a counter-measure wash down on the flight deck to remove potential radiation contamination while operating off the coast of Japan while providing humanitarian assistance in support of Operation Tomodachi, March 22, 2011. Nicholas A. Groesch / Reuters

Update #1: US carrier fought contamination while aiding Japan -- Yahoo News/AP
Update #2: US nuclear carrier flees radiation fallout zone -- Sydney Morning Herald
Update #3: Carrier Ronald Reagan gets decontamination scrubdown -- WVEC.com

My Comment: I suspect that there must have been a number of Pentagon and Navy officers (plus all the crew) who were nervous on what was their situation when the first radiation readings started to come in. On a side note .... I am also sure that the USS Reagan had support ships with it when it was in the radiation zone .... were they also scrubbed clean?

A Look At Ex-Rad, The American Military's Radiation Wonder Drug

Ex-Rad, the U.S. Military's Radiation Wonder Drug -- FOX News

These are tragic and tense days indeed in Japan.

The immense loss of life and absolute devastation caused by last week’s earthquake and tsunami is heartbreaking – and serve as the culprits in this unimaginable tragedy. The tension, felt by its citizens and far beyond the country’s borders, centers most immediately on what happens next at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility.

Reports of radioactive contamination and a potential meltdown at the complex have many Americans wondering how prepared our own government would be in the event something similar occurred here. More specifically, could the the health of residents living near a severely damaged nuclear reactor in the U.S. be ensured?

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My Comment: I do not know much about this drug, but from what I have been reading on the web I am surprised that there is not more news and information on it.