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

[coastal]

Thank you, Quiche.

It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it?

 

[lkhns]

I have not posted on here in about a week for a couple of reasons: crazy work schedule and I THOUGHT and hoped that things were taking a turn for the better at the beginning of the week. It irritates me that the media seems incapable of following more than one "heavy" newsworthy story at a time. When Libya hit the fan Japan went out the back door. :banghead:


It appears to me that TEPCO is completely unable to give truthful and accurate information. I think (as do many of you from reading the posts) they have no idea what to do and are operating blind. I also think that the situation is VERY bad and beyond repair. Have we seen the worst? No, unfortunately, I think we are starting to see the tip of the worse case scenario. I cannot fathom how anyone can say that this "accident" is on the same level as TMI. I lived in PA. when that situation occurred and while maybe some radiation did escape, nothing like what is happening in Japan now happened there (iodine in water, radiation 10,000 above normal levels, airline passengers with elevated level of radiation, contaminated food/milk, etc.). The citizens of Japan have every right to be angry about this situation---TEPCO not being upfront and the Japanese gov't allowing them to do this. I am praying for these poor people----NO ONE should have to go thru this. NO ONE.

 

[Peliman]

TEPCO is working to remove the water inside the reactor buildings. This operation remains a challenge particularly for reactor Number One. The equipment used to remove radioactive elements in the water of this reactor has been damaged, however the firm is continuing its efforts.

TEPCO says it needs to remove the contaminated water as quickly as possible to resume efforts to restore external power to the reactors, in order to restart cooling systems.

Saturday, March 26, 2011 08:47 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/society.html

 

[Quiche]

Thank you, Quiche.

It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it?

I'm sorry to say...

 

[Lato]

This is an excellent article (I think) about how one large group of evacuees is
living and managing in a junior high school. I do not know if we have already posted about them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/w...agewanted=2&_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha22

 

[Quiche]

Earthquakes are frequent, but a bit smaller--

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php

 

[Quiche]

Radiation levels surge in seawater near Japan's N-plant

Excerpt:
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said that tests have shown radioactive iodine had surged 1,250 times higher than normal in the seawater some 330 metres south of the plant as the operator started pumping in fresh water into the No. 2 reactor core to enhance the cooling of its overheated fuel rods.

The level rose to its highest so far after staying around levels 100 times over the legal limit, said Tokyo Electric Power Co.(TEPCO), which operates the Fukushima plant, 250-km north-east of capital Tokyo.

It is highly likely that radioactive water in the plant has disembogued into the sea, said TEPCO, two weeks after the magnitude 9 quake and tsunami rocked the country's northeast leaving over 27,000 people dead or unaccounted for.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...r-near-japans-n-plant/articleshow/7794029.cms



http://www.thefreedictionary.com/disembogue
dis·em·bogue (dsm-bg)
v. dis·em·bogued, dis·em·bogu·ing, dis·em·bogues
v.intr.
To flow out or empty, as water from a channel: "the river whose dirty waters disembogue into the harbor" (John Updike).
v.tr.
To discharge or pour forth (water, for example).


Well, there's the answer to what happens to those pools of water. I wish there were another option...

 

[tk71texas]

Dickson's family are among a dwindling number of Americans clinging to hope as the hunt for survivors is now nearly two weeks old and search efforts are petering out. The State Department now says it is focusing on less than 10 cases of Americans unaccounted for in the hardest hit areas of Japan. Those cases came to their attention from loved ones like Dickson's family.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/search-mounting-monty-dickson-american-teacher-missing-japan/story?id=13205949&page=1

sorry if this was posted already

 

[Quiche]

Tsunami dolphin rescued from rice paddy 1 mile inland

Tsunami dolphin: A baby dolphin was rescued from a rice paddy 1 mile from the sea after being swept inland in the tsunami.

Quote: Taira found the dolphin struggling in the shallow seawater on Tuesday and after failing to net it, waded in to the field, which had yet to be sown with rice, to cradle the 1.2-meter (four foot) animal in his arms.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Late...dolphin-rescued-from-rice-paddy-1-mile-inland

 

[Quiche]

Japan’s nuclear emergency

Damage at nuclear plants made leaking radiation the primary threat facing a country just beginning to grasp the scale of devastation from the earthquake and tsunami.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-sr...uclear-reactors-and-seismic-activity/?hpid=z2

Follow along the pages, they give a good rundown on many facets of the nuclear problems occurring.

 

[Quiche]

Japan tsunami losses felt in mud-covered pictures

Quote: Fire-fighters digging through vast plains of debris searching for corpses pull photographs and other important papers out of the piles of destruction delicately, placing them in covered bins to protect them from any more damage.

The photos then make their way to place such as the town offices of Yamada, where about 400 of the town's population of 20,000 were killed, hundreds went missing and 3,618 became evacuees.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-quake-japan-pictures-idUSTRE72N3R720110324

That is a thoughtful search practice! How wonderful.

 

[Oriah]

SENDAI, Japan – With 50,000 troops stationed in Japan, the U.S. military responded quickly to the tsunami that devastated the northeast coast. Just one year after tensions over the U.S. bases forced out a Japanese prime minister, the relief mission is showing a new and welcome face of U.S. troops the Japanese have hosted — sometimes grudgingly — for decades.
Roughly 20,000 U.S. troops have been mobilized in "Operation Tomodachi," or "Friend." It is the biggest bilateral humanitarian mission the U.S. has conducted in Japan, its most important ally in Asia, and it is ramping up fast.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110326...VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNkaXNhc3RlcmFpZHA-

 

[Quiche]

Radiation Spikes in Sea Near Japan Plant

Excerpt:
The precise source of the radiation in the seawater—by air or by water—could yield clues about whether there is new, unanticipated damage in the complex.

Mr. Nishiyama on Saturday said officials weren't sure what caused the latest surge. "Radioactive substances may have been transmitted through the air, or contaminated water could have drained from the plant somehow," he said. "I don't have further ideas."

He also said officials were crafting a plan to deal with the contaminated puddles. "I have heard that [the operator] has an idea about a place to store water and is preparing" for drainage, he said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704517404576224563960070934.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


That's what I thought they'd do-- I sure hope they don't send it into the ocean.

 

[hockeymom]

Another loss of livelihood for many people,as this will most certainly effect the seafood industry in Japan. People would be crazy to eat anything that came from near there. I think it will be years before Japn recovers from this tragedy.

 

[essies]

[video=youtube;07I5qdMEaz4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07I5qdMEaz4[/video]
March 25, 2011 Dr. Michio Kaku analyzes the situation around nuclear power plants in Japan. For more, go here:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=13217613

 

[coastal]

Radiation Spikes in Sea Near Japan Plant

Excerpt:
The precise source of the radiation in the seawater—by air or by water—could yield clues about whether there is new, unanticipated damage in the complex.

Mr. Nishiyama on Saturday said officials weren't sure what caused the latest surge. "Radioactive substances may have been transmitted through the air, or contaminated water could have drained from the plant somehow," he said. "I don't have further ideas."

He also said officials were crafting a plan to deal with the contaminated puddles. "I have heard that [the operator] has an idea about a place to store water and is preparing" for drainage, he said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704517404576224563960070934.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


That's what I thought they'd do-- I sure hope they don't send it into the ocean.

BBM. Not a very inspiring remark, is it? Imagining what will happen to the sea life just makes me want weep. How far will the contaminated water spread? How long will it keep killing, altering the DNA of whatever fish and dolphins and whales and birds it doesn't fry outright?

Dear God, what have we done to the oceans?!

 

[coastal]

BBM. Not a very inspiring remark, is it? Imagining what will happen to the sea life just makes me want weep. How far will the contaminated water spread? How long will it keep killing, altering the DNA of whatever fish and dolphins and whales and birds it doesn't fry outright?

Dear God, what have we done to the oceans?!

An answer (of sorts) to my question (from your linked article):

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704517404576224563960070934.html

>>>snip

...A spokesman said the spike in radioactive iodine—to 1,250 times the legal limit—didn't pose an immediate threat to human health or the area environment, since the material quickly dissipates in the tides and would become diluted before reaching fish and seaweed...

<<<snip

Oh, good. I'm sure they're right about this, too.

 

[coastal]

Radioactivity Spreads to Nearby Areas
More Countries Restrict Food Imports as Traces of Contamination Are Found

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...222013555662214.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLENews

>>>snip

TOKYO—More than a dozen Japanese communities reported elevated radiation levels in the drinking-water supplies Friday, while authorities listed six types of vegetables with traces of contamination for the first time in suburban Chiba prefecture just outside Tokyo.

In the capital, however, radiation levels in both air and water fell Friday, and the metropolitan government declared tap water safe for drinking for all ages, including infants. Earlier in the week, officials had warned parents not to give Tokyo water to young babies.

Meanwhile, with more countries detecting radioactive contamination in food imported from Japan, efforts to prevent it from spreading through ...

(log in to continue article)

<<<snip

BBM.

 

[hockeymom]

I just love how nothing is ever enough to be harmful to human health. I just don't believe any of it. So these people are going to eat sushi,use the water to feed their babies and 10 years from now get a "whoops,sorry. Our mistake". What a terrible situation.

 

[coastal]

From a different newspaper: the same story, again from both sides of the mouth:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...-nuclear-plant/2011/03/26/AFdiG7bB_story.html

>>>snip

Radioactivity rises in seawater near...

...

...At their highest concentration, near the wastewater outside the plant, the iodine levels in the sea could be dangerous: Half a liter of the water contains the equivalent of the annual approved dosage limit for an adult.

But officials stressed that contaminants would become diluted as currents carry them farther offshore. Fishing has already been banned in the area around the plant.

“I don’t believe the levels we detected today would .&#8201;.&#8201;. cause a direct problem,” Nishiyama said.

(article continues)

<<<snip

At least they let us know they're lying.