Japan: 9.0 Earthquake-Tsunami-Nuclear Reactor Status #4

[Nova]

I would like everyone to remember that the radiation can go across the pacific to teh us and over to the Atlantic and then onto Europe, BUT it can also go 'backwards' over Asia, then Europe across the Atlantic and over to us. This thing is going to affect the whole world.

Also, I checked mileage and from Japan to MN it is 7300 (5500 to calipornia). From the UK to japan it is 5800ish miles. Sorry that just really bugs me, especially when the TV shows the plane flight flying over every other country to show how 'far' away it is, when in reality the plane just fly's backward.

Also, I was watching the news and I loved the part when one of their experts said flat out "big power companies such as TEPCO lie". Paraphrased, but FINALLY. Acknowledgment. No I don't have a link. I can't watch videos on dial up. When the news peice was on it also said the 10M reading 'may have' been a misread. May have. I take everyone tepco says with a very large grain of salt though. Very large.

Kudos to the workers. They work in the nuclear field so they have to know how bad of a situation they are in, yet most of them are still plugging on.

BBM: Okay, I'm fascinated. Exactly why does it bug you that Japan is closer to the UK than to Montana? I don't think any of those places meant to offend us...

 

[coastal]

However it got here, here's some more:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/27/nuclear-japan-massachusetts-idUSN2713732220110327

>>>snip

BOSTON, March 27 | Sun Mar 27, 2011 4:59pm EDT

Low-level radiation found in Massachusetts rainwater

(Reuters) - Trace amounts of radioactive iodine linked to Japan's crippled nuclear power station have turned up in rainwater samples as far away as Massachusetts during the past week, state officials said on Sunday.

The low level of radioiodine-131 detected in precipitation at a sample location in Massachusetts is comparable to findings in California, Washington state and Pennsylvania and poses no threat to drinking supplies, public health officials said...

(article continues)

<<<snip

 

[Allusonz]

I as well must add a great ty to you all that are keeping us all so up to date!!! I am though wondering if you are getting any rest

Thank you though from the bottom of my heart !!!

 

[peeples]

OT.. well kinda

I happened to turn on the national geographic channel and the whole thing is about different storms.. and weather.. and it's focused on how things travel through air. I'm about to have a coronary. That does NOT mean I'm not thinking of the people in Japan, their lives are worse than ours probably ever could be.... with disaster piled on top of disaster..
But they talk about finding sands from the Sahara desert in antartica and all kinds of stuff. They started off the show talking about some of the stuff not my kids was talking about how it's in the ground, evaporates and then gets rained down... SOMEWHERE.. no way to really know where... (they are not talking about the japan crisis, this show it just about weather in general).
It might be possible to watch online somewhere. I'll go try to find the name of the show.

 

[peeples]

It's called Naked Science: Storm Worlds

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/naked-science/6060/Overview

The description does not really fit with what the show is about I don't think.. but LOL it's their show!

Ok we're in the last little bit of the show and they are talking about a Dust storm with Alien dust and trying out suits etc..
But it's still interesting and i think a lot could be applied to the radiation flowing through the sky.

 

[coastal]

Japan officials: No place to put tainted water from nuclear plant
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 28, 2011 4:39 a.m. ED

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/28/japan.nuclear.reactors/?hpt=T2

>>>snip

...

...As of Monday morning, there was no place to put water pooled in the basement of the No. 2 reactor's turbine building, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, an official with Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency...

...That water is giving off radioactivity at a level of 1,000 millisieverts per hour, said an official with the plant's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co...

..."The fuel rods-deriven substances are coming out, and therefore a certain crisis ... is taking place," Edano said...

...High radiation levels persisted in the Pacific Ocean waters near the seaside power plant, with one monitoring post reporting levels 1,850 times normal on Sunday...

(article continues)

<<<snip

 

[waltzingmatilda]

Progress Energy detects low levels of radiation in US

http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=14328600

Text of company memo to employees included at link.

wm

 

[Trident]

I wonder how much "low level" radiation causes thyroid cancer in young children.

 

[Daisyjane]

I've quoted the main points of the article below. Radioactive water extending at least a mile into the ocean. My question: seawater evaporates, forms clouds that move on, then falls as rain elsewhere. So how long will it be before it gets into the friendly neighborhood watertable HERE, and we're all drinking and cooking with stuff that glows in the dark?



http://abcnews.go.com/International/japan-nuclear-crisis-reactors-damaged-fuel-rods-contaminated/story?id=13235478&page=1

Japan Nuclear Crisis: Reactors Have Damaged Fuel Rods

Contaminated Water Extends at Least a Mile Into the Ocean Near the Plant, Officials Say

Radioactive water has been found in all four of the reactors at the plant.

Meanwhile, experts at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said that the radioactive materials could be leaking directly from the reactor core, which would indicate a breach.

 

[Daisyjane]

Outside Reactor No. 2. Radioactive water, 10 times the minimum at which cancer risks are apparent. And only 180 feet from the sea!


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8411193/Highly-radioactive-water-leaks-outside-Japans-nuclear-plant-building.html

The water seeping into a trench outside the Number two reactor at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan had a radiation level of more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour. Such a high level can cause temporary radiation sickness including nausea and vomiting and far exceeds the 100 millisievert per hour which is generally regarded the lowest amount at which cancer risks are apparent. Officials at Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) are now attempting to locate the source of the leak, which is near the turbine building of the Number 2 reactor and around 180 feet from the sea.

 

[Trident]

Outside Reactor No. 2. Radioactive water, 10 times the minimum at which cancer risks are apparent. And only 180 feet from the sea!


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8411193/Highly-radioactive-water-leaks-outside-Japans-nuclear-plant-building.html

The water seeping into a trench outside the Number two reactor at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan had a radiation level of more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour. Such a high level can cause temporary radiation sickness including nausea and vomiting and far exceeds the 100 millisievert per hour which is generally regarded the lowest amount at which cancer risks are apparent. Officials at Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) are now attempting to locate the source of the leak, which is near the turbine building of the Number 2 reactor and around 180 feet from the sea.

BBM Temporary radiation sickness? I've never heard of that before. I always believed once you were radiated, you were radiated. Does anyone know anything about this?

 

[Daisyjane]

BBM Temporary radiation sickness? I've never heard of that before. I always believed once you were radiated, you were radiated. Does anyone know anything about this?

Good question, and I googled up this tidbit (sounds like it's basically the diff between a single exposure and a cumulative effect):

http://www.hthworldwide.com/extras/highPriority_article.cfm?p_fn=ne_news_67118.html We are exposed to radiation every time we have a head CT scan (2.0 mSv) or chest X ray (0.1 mSv).

Every year our annual exposure from natural radiation is 2.0 mSv. By comparison, a single dose of 10,000 mSv is required to cause fatal radiation sickness; 1000 mSv to cause non-fatal, temporary radiation sickness (nausea, vomiting, low white blood cell count), and an accumulated dosage of 1000mSv to cause a statistically significant increased risk of cancer.

If NurseBeeMe is reading here, could you please draw on your medical experience and weigh in on this?

 

[waltzingmatilda]

BBM Temporary radiation sickness? I've never heard of that before. I always believed once you were radiated, you were radiated. Does anyone know anything about this?

IDK Trident, but I have the same question. I am not trusting anything TEPCO says. I guess it could be considered 'temporary radiation sickness' if one contracts it then dies from it!

There is just too much conflicting information for my liking. And the TEPCO officials who are putting out the statements have allegiance to the company. The few protective lead suits are worn by the company big whigs and not by the workers who are in harms way. That tells me ALOT!

I am so upset about this, I had a take a break from it for a few days. I feel so badly for the plant employees and the Japanese people. I am also very grateful that my former SIL missed being sent to work there this Spring. GE was sending him in to work for a year at the Fukushima 'ichi' plant. He was scheduled to travel just a few weeks after the disaster.

This is all MOO as I needed to vent!:innocent:

wm

 

[buffetoflies]

BBM: Okay, I'm fascinated. Exactly why does it bug you that Japan is closer to the UK than to Montana? I don't think any of those places meant to offend us...

It's just that the east coast and the coast of western Europe are about the same distance away from japan, going both ways. So, it's not really that it went any further if it gets to Europe or Massachusetts over here. It is more likely because of the pacific jet stream, but for a few days there the wind was from the east in japan.

MT is Montana
MN is Minnesota

 

[coastal]

In case ya'll missed this, too (note: article dated last Tuesday):

Appropriately enough, it’s National Tsunami Awareness Week
MAR 24, 2011 14:28 EDT

http://blogs.reuters.com/environmen...y-enough-its-national-tsunami-awareness-week/

>>>snip

The U.S. government has announced this as National Tsunami Awareness Week, starting just days after a disastrous tsunami powered over Japan’s northeast coast. Not that anyone necessarily needed reminding...

<<<...>>>

...The deadly 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami prompted a $150 million investment in expanding the U.S. tsunami detection and warning capabilities, outreach and education, and research. This funding also supported a global tsunami warning and education network.

As a result, NOAA said, 83 U.S. coastal communities have earned the National Weather Service TsunamiReady™ designation, up from only 11 in 2004. This program prepares emergency managers to warn citizens during a tsunami emergency.

A tsunami might be coming if: there’s a strong earthquake, or one that lasts for 20 seconds or more; the ocean withdraws or rises rapidly; there’s a loud, roaring sound (like an airplane or a train) coming from the ocean.

If any of these signs are present, NOAA says you should: get to your local tsunami shelter along a defined evacuation route; if there aren’t defined evacuation routes, move to higher ground that’s at least 100 feet in elevation, a mile inland or to the highest floor of a tall, sturdy building and STAY THERE (NOAA’s emphasis). If you have to move around, go on foot — leave roads clear for emergency vehicles.

NOAA also recommends that you keep calm...

(article continues)

<<<snip

BBM. I hope our $150 million bought more than just this advice!

 

[Daisyjane]

Breaking news: Plutonium found in soil at the nuke plant.http://english.kyodonews.jp/

 

[buffetoflies]

if there aren&#8217;t defined evacuation routes, move to higher ground that&#8217;s at least 100 feet in elevation, a mile inland or to the highest floor of a tall, sturdy building and STAY THERE (NOAA&#8217;s emphasis).

Sniped.

Being a mile inland wouldn't have helped japan b/c the tsunami went more than 2 miles in.

Question though: Their towers over there are built with springs and rollers so they move with the earthquake, so why don't they stay inside? Why go outside? I know the more upper floors must sway a lot, so why not go down a few floors? Were there even reports of buildings collapsing from the quake?

Plutonium in soil = beginning of the end. Japan is so screwed.
If one single speck can give lung cancer, and it's spreading through the air, more then just a few specks are going to most likely be everywhere on the planet, right?!? Gah. Today is my 25th birthday. I am wondering if I and everyone else will be around for my and their next one.

 

[hockeymom]

Breaking news: Plutonium found in soil at the nuke plant.http://english.kyodonews.jp/

What does this mean? I wish the news would have the experts on explaining all this like they did when this 1st happened. Now its just a passing report with no explaination as to what it means.

 

[Quiche]

Thanks for all the links, guys. It really looks like they've lost the battle, imo. I think things will be moving quickly today. Praying for the safety of those working the plant, their families, and all of Japan.

 

[waltzingmatilda]

What does this mean? I wish the news would have the experts on explaining all this like they did when this 1st happened. Now its just a passing report with no explaination as to what it means.

hockeymom, I haven't seen any reporters from US news agencies on the scene in Japan lately. That doesn't mean there aren't any because I don't know. But the fact that the coverage of this disaster has been reduced to repeating the news reports coming from Japan says alot to me. JMO, but I don't think MSM in the US is willing to risk sending their news crews over there. It is such a dire situation......

I wish at the very least, MSM would have experts to explain all of this because I just don't understand it all. I need laymen's terms!

MOO

wm