Japan: 9.0 Earthquake-Tsunami-Nuclear Reactor Developments #2

[Reannan]

As I was listening and watching the news since this happened, the news was reporting that the president was going to speak at such n such time. So I decided to listen (although I can't stand to hear him talk) I think I missd the first minute to two of his speech and all I could get out of him speaking was talking about the deficit. I was thinking this is just what we want to hear at a time like this. I quickly changed the station.

BBM - Actually, I am remaining optimistic about the nuclear threat to the US. I am worried sick about the Japanese people, but IMHO, I am really not too worried about the type of radiation they are experiencing travelling to the US. I am however, waiting on the other shoe to drop - and that is the financial impact this disaster is going to have on the global economy.... and we will be dead center of that. Japan hasn't had time to fully grasp what this has done to it's own econmy yet...... but that will most certainly affect the rest of us. Lack of supplies from Japan, or rising costs from Japan is going to drive up the cost of many, many items that we use.

 

[Quiche]

A New Threat in Japan: Radioactive Spent Fuel

http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/03/15/a-new-threat-in-japan-radioactive-spent-fuel/

Excerpt:
Would a spent fuel fire be worse than a meltdown of the reactor core?

Pick your poison. Fresh fuel is hotter and more radioactive, but is only one fuel assembly. A pool of spent fuel will have dozens of assemblies. One report from Sankei News said that there are over 700 fuel assemblies stored in one pool at Fukushima. If they all caught fire, radioactive particles—including those lasting for as long as a decade—would be released into the air and eventually contaminate the land or, worse, be inhaled by people. "To me, the spent fuel is scarier. All those spent fuel assemblies are still extremely radioactive," Dalnoki-Veress says.

Read more: http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/20...n-japan-radioactive-spent-fuel/#ixzz1GhWXoFdg

 

[peeples]

you don't want to take potassium IodiNe you want the IodiDe...i think LOL

 

[Wise Old Owl]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_iodide



that's why i'm confused

Ok - that's my bad. I thought it was IODINE but its not - it is IODIDE. In that wiki link - the pharmacist talked about that being used years ago as an expectorant - but its not used at all anymore with all the new meds out.

Maybe that is what he was talking about as a water purifier. Maybe that's what the Wal-Marts have (they are big in camping stuff). IDK anymore.

It confused me too.!!!!

 

[peeples]

Amazon.com: Source Naturals Potassium Iodide 32.5mg, 240 Tablets: Health & Personal Care

 

[JBean]

latest updates from the IAEA..but the site is getting harder and harder to get into:

http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

Japan Earthquake Update (15 March 2011, 18:00 UTC)

The IAEA can confirm the following information about the status of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant:
Unit 4 was shut down for a routine, planned maintenance outage on 30 November 2010. After the outage, all fuel from the reactor was transferred to the spent fuel pool.
Units 5 and 6 were shut down at the time of the earthquake. Unit 5 was shut down as of 3 January 2011. Unit 6 was shut down as of 14 August 2010. Both reactors are currently loaded with fuel.
As of 00:16 UTC on 15 March, plant operators were considering the removal of panels from Units 5 and 6 reactor buildings to prevent a possible build-up of hydrogen in the future. It was a build-up of hydrogen at Units 1, 2 and 3 that led to explosions at the Daiichi facilities in recent days.
The IAEA continues to monitor and seek information on the status of plant workers, reactor conditions, and spent nuclear fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

much more at link and they update regularly

 

[Wise Old Owl]

Amazon.com: Source Naturals Potassium Iodide 32.5mg, 240 Tablets: Health & Personal Care

Wow - that's them. How can Amazon sell these when they are not considered OTC? Well, I guess anything is possible.

I give up. lol At least way over here in the Banana Republic I don't see any need for them.

 

[Daisyjane]

Here's some scary numbers.

400 millisiervert per hour leaking into the air
100 millisiervert per year can cause cancer
just 12 millisievert received in a CT Scan

http:/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/15/us-japan-radiation-leaking-directly-into-idUSTRE72E7B220110315

Japan has told the U.N. nuclear watchdog radioactivity was being released "directly" into the atmosphere from the site of an earthquake-stricken reactor and that it had put out a fire at a spent fuel storage pond there. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), citing information it had received from Japanese authorities at 0350 GMT, said on Tuesday dose rates of up to 400 millisievert per hour have been reported at the Fukushima power plant site. It did not give details or comparisons on the radiation level but exposure to over 100 millisieverts a year is a level which can lead to cancer, according to the World Nuclear Association. The Vienna-based IAEA uses the unit to measure doses of radiation received by people.

"The Japanese authorities are saying that there is a possibility that the fire was caused by a hydrogen explosion," the IAEA said in a statement. It later said that the fire had been extinguished at Unit 4 of the plant.In Japan, authorities warned radiation levels had become "significantly" higher around the nuclear power plant on Tuesday after explosions at two reactors, and the French embassy said a low-level radioactive wind could reach Tokyo within hours. The IAEA said it had been informed "that the spent fuel storage pond at the Unit 4 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is on fire and radioactivity is being released directly into the atmosphere."

Researchers say people get about 12 millisieverts from a standard CT (computed tomography) heart scan.

 

[Wise Old Owl]

Regardless of what happens I do believe that the area around that plant is gonig to end up as a "waste zone" and will probably be uninhabitable for years (maybe decades) to come.

 

[peeples]

If you look at the people who purchased this also purchased... thingy on amazon
it shows people buying the liquid stuff as well as thermal blankets water cleanser tablets all kinds of preparedness stuff...

 

[brighidin]

For what its worth, miso (as in miso soup) is supposed to help protect people from radiation.
http://www.macrobiotic.org/Miso.htm
(down near the bottom of the article)

 

[coastal]

Workers in protective gear – known as the Fukushima 50 – encounter myriad problems as Japanese PM demands answers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/15/fukushima-50-workers-nuclear-plant

Excerpt:
Kan, who had already announced he would take personal control of a new joint-response headquarters involving the power company and the government, reportedly warned Tepco of serious consequences should it decide to pull its workers out before the plant has been made safe.

"In the event of a withdrawal, I'm 100% certain that the company will collapse," he said. "You must be determined to solve this."

Dear God.
Bless these brave ones.

 

[Wise Old Owl]

the acting assistant deptuy of secretary of defense that is based on the Ronald Reagan was just on the phone with Shepard Smith on FOX. He didn't say much - they are re-positioning the ships again and the new US military ships that are coming are going to go to the west side (coast) of Japan for two reasons - 1) to aviod the large at sea debris area and 2) the radiation threat. He did say they are monitoring very closely (I bet they are!). But didn't say much else - talked about the "at sea debris field" being HUGE. It was the Navy that released that earlier pic of the house floating way out in the ocean.

 

[JustToSeeYouSmile]

Another thing to think about:

<DEPLOYMENT UPDATE: VA-TF1, CA-TF2 and UK search teams are all using a gymnasium in Ofunato City as their Base of Operations. All three task forces began working at daybreak yesterday and they are not dividing into red and blue team shifts. Everybody is working, including all of the canines.>

 

[peeples]

Well I got sucked in and bought some.. should be here in a couple days.... I'm not taking em unless someone with some clout says the sky is falling though!!! LOL

 

[coastal]

lol, I keep waiting for one of the ummmm, "leaders", to just go on camera and go "OMG! WTF!!!"

Sorry for the off-topic, but tehcloser, my friend just looked over my shoulder and said, "Oh, my God! Is that a tiger-rabbit?".

Thanks for that!

 

[Niner]

Oh my... I have to go in next week and get a (thyroid uptake) "pharmaceutical" radioactive material injected to find what's happening with my thyroid!! I have lost 56 pounds, and believe it's a hyper-thyroid problem. Maybe I should wait and see if any 'radioactive' clouds come over California... :waitasec:

Here's a brieft explanation of what I'll be getting:

What is a Thyroid Scan and Uptake?
The thyroid scan and a radioactive iodine uptake test (RAIU), also known as a thyroid uptake, are types of nuclear medicine imaging.

Nuclear medicine is a branch of medical imaging that uses small amounts of radioactive material to diagnose or treat a variety of diseases, including many types of cancers, heart disease and certain other abnormalities within the body.

Nuclear medicine or radionuclide imaging procedures are noninvasive and, with the exception of intravenous injections, are usually painless medical tests that help physicians diagnose medical conditions. These imaging scans use radioactive materials called radiopharmaceuticals or radiotracers.

Depending on the type of nuclear medicine exam you are undergoing, the radiotracer is either injected into a vein, swallowed or inhaled as a gas and eventually accumulates in the organ or area of your body being examined, where it gives off energy in the form of gamma rays. This energy is detected by a device called a gamma camera, a (positron emission tomography) PET scanner and/or probe. These devices work together with a computer to measure the amount of radiotracer absorbed by your body and to produce special pictures offering details on both the structure and function of organs and tissues.

The thyroid scan and thyroid uptake provide information about the structure and function of the thyroid. The thyroid is a gland in the neck that controls metabolism, a chemical process that regulates the rate at which the body converts food to energy.

 

[Quiche]

Radiation leak feared at spent fuel pool, water injection ordered

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/78352.html

TEPCO said the water level in the pool storing the spent fuel rods at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant's No. 4 reactor may have dropped, exposing the rods. Unless the spent fuel rods are cooled down, they could be damaged and emit radioactive substances.

 

[Adrienne37]

Radiation exposure: a quick guide to what each level means

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/mar/15/radiation-exposure-levels-guide

 

[peeples]

"There was a 6.4 earthquake in the Shizuoka area, where I am from and my family are now. This is near the Hamaoka nuclear plant, which is still operating. It has been predicted that the Shizuoka area will have an eight level earthquake in the near future, due to the pressure from two [tectonic] plates. We must put pressure on the Japanese government to stop the operation of the Hamaoka plant, which could cause the same damage as the plant at Fukushima if further earthquakes happen. We don't want the same situation happening again."

on the left sidebar

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698