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

[Quiche]

Quake Evacuees Survive on Rice Balls, Bread, Seek to Avoid Contracting Flu

Quote: In Miyagi, the hardest-hit prefecture, shelters continue to feed people rice balls and bread even after restored utilities allowed many who still have houses to go home. Medical teams are struggling to access some areas in Iwate prefecture to deliver medicine as flu is spreading at some of the 383 local evacuation centers, authorities there said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...ttle-flu-survive-on-rice-balls-and-bread.html

 

[Allusonz]

Thank you, Quiche.

It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it?

It sure does and is totally heartbreaking

 

[buffetoflies]

I am reading on AboveTopSecret.com (conspiracy site, but some smart posters) right now and there is a thread that has discussion on the neutron beams (that happened on the 13th but tepco didn't think to let everyone else know till the 21st or some such crud).

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread672665/pg296

The discussion starts on that page. On 298-99 there is a pretty good explanation by a mod.
I'm just adding this on for more reading, not my kids did a good job explaining.

Also, this is an map of earthquakes as they happen near japan and shows the depth of each through colored circle.
http://www.japanquakemap.com/#
It's really cool!

(Are we going to get a new thread at 1k posts?)

 

[lkhns]

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.

This is EXACTLY what I was thinking. I am so SICK of reading "increased levels but experts say that they are not harmful to health." Color me cynical, but I don't believe them. I don't know why I expect anyone to be truthful, but good grief. Do they think we are stupid??

As to the neutron beams---I did read about that a couple of days ago (and I think it was from a link that someone posted on here) and thought, wow, this is truly very serious.

I will say it again---poor Japanese people, they are being lied to. I would rather know the true depth of this tragedy than be lied to. I continue to pray for them.

 

[Quiche]

TEPCO workers not warned of radiation risk

Quote: The worker's exposure to highly radioactive ankle-deep water in the turbine building connected to the No. 3 reactor was most likely due to TEPCO's failure to share information about the leakage of radioactive materials with the workers, the company admitted.

and

The company had detected 200 millisieverts per hour of radiation leaking from the first basement of the turbine building of the No. 1 reactor on March 18, six days before the accident.

and

Working with their feet submerged in the water up to their ankles, the three continued working even when the dosimeters they were wearing began sounding alarms. The workers later said they thought the dosimeters might be malfunctioning.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110326003217.htm

 

[Quiche]

Water-laden U.S. barge heading for Fukushima

Quote: There are no U.S. crew members on the 50-meter-long barge, which is carrying about 1,140 tons of water.

and

...the United States urged a change to fresh water, because the salt in seawater could cause corrosion inside the reactor. The U.S. Navy offered the use of its barges to transport fresh water.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110326003023.htm

 

[Quiche]

Japan: Radioactive levels in sea 1,250 times higher than the safety limit

Quote: The readings were taken about 300m (984ft) offshore. It is feared the radiation could be seeping into groundwater from one of the reactors.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12869678


This is something I've been wondering about-- are the readings in Tokyo from airborne radiation, or groundwater?

 

[hollyblue]

Just thought this was interesting.

The reports said this quake was 15+ miles deep....that's about half of the depth of the Japan trench. I can't fathom the power -- generated at the very depths. They say at the deepest part of the Mariana (a little south of Japan), the PSI is 8 TONS....and they had thoughts of using this as a waste disposal site? .

The closest one to the continental US is the Puerto Rico Trench. If Mt. Everest was placed there, the height of land protruding would equal only a 75 story building. No wonder Atlantis disappeared.

Possible nuclear waste disposal site
Like other oceanic trenches, the Mariana Trench has been proposed as a site for nuclear waste disposal,[10][11] in the hope that tectonic plate subduction occurring at the site might eventually push the nuclear waste deep into the Earth's mantle. However, ocean dumping of nuclear waste is prohibited by international law.[12][10][11] Furthermore, plate subduction zones are associated with very large megathrust earthquakes of which the effects on any specific site are unpredictable and possibly adverse to the safety of long-term disposal

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

 

[Quiche]

Holy heck, that's the stupidest thing ever, imo. I don't think there's a responsible way to go about "storing" the waste. So scary.

 

[not_my_kids]

Holy heck, that's the stupidest thing ever, imo. I don't think there's a responsible way to go about "storing" the waste. So scary.

yeah, didn't they think it was stored responsibly last time? That sort of backfired. It's nuclear waste, it's highly radioactive...safe, responsible storage just doesn't seem to happen, as there are just so many problems with the very composition of the stuff.

 

[sorrell skye]

From wikipedia:

Aftershocks 780+ (53+ above 6.0 MW)
Casualties 10,489 deaths, 2,777 injured, 16,621 people missing (all figures preliminary)


It also states that the duration of the 9.0 earthquake on March 11 was 6 minutes.

I didn't know that.

ETA: I tried to link to the wikipedia page, but it looks really wonky, so I left it out.

 

[amandab]

Working with their feet submerged in the water up to their ankles, the three continued working even when the dosimeters they were wearing began sounding alarms. The workers later said they thought the dosimeters might be malfunctioning.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110326003217.htm

Respectfully snipped - I seem to remember reading something very very similar to this regarding the workers at Chernobyl....they didn't think their meters could possibly have been correct, so they kept on working - to their deaths I believe.

The level of misinformation and outright falsehoods with regard to this situation is maddening.

 

[not_my_kids]

On Friday, levels of radioactive iodine in the sea near the Fukushima plant were recorded at 1,250 times higher than the safety limit.

The readings were taken about 300m (984ft) offshore. It is feared the radiation could be seeping into groundwater from one of the reactors.

But the radiation will no longer be a risk after eight days because of iodine's half-life, officials say.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12872707

Although the statement about iodine's halflife is true, I DO NOT LIKE this statement. It's as if they are saying, yes, there's radiation, lots of it, but in just over a week, it'll be all gone and nothing more to worry about. Don't think about the fish that have been contaminated, or the animals that drank the water, or the boats that may have cut through it and not been decontaminated, and all the havoc they have taken to wherever they were going. Don't think about the cycle of precipitation and the fact that what is beneath us eventually ends up above us, and in the case of open water sources, that can happen in a lot less than 8 days. Just focus on what we tell you, that it's all better in a week.

 

[not_my_kids]

Despite the sorry state Minami-soma and the surrounding area are in, I discovered residents within the 30-kilometer evacuation zone who continue to struggle to go on with their lives as usual. That’s certainly the case with Tomiko Takahashi, a 59 year-old farmer. I discovered her harvesting cabbage in a large vegetable field 25 kilometers from the damaged nuclear power plant.

“I evacuated to my son’s home in Tokyo [250 kilometers away] after the earthquake,” Tomiko told me. “But I came back yesterday. I just couldn’t stop worrying about my farm.”

Tomiko’s concern was heightened by the fact that this is an important harvest period for the winter cabbage and spinach that she grows with her husband, who also remains on the farm. Tomiko was undeterred by the fact that the Japanese government on Wednesday prohibited shipments of leafy vegetables from Fukushima over concerns that they exceed limits considered safe for radioactive contamination.

“I know I can’t sell my veggies, but my friends want them,” she explained. “So I’ll give them away for free. Do you want some? I’d be very happy if you take them,” she said, proudly handing me her produce before I could respond. Based on appearances alone, they were the most gorgeous cabbages I’d ever seen.

“You can still eat them if you peel a few leaves off the outside and wash them really well,” Tomiko assured me.
http://blogs.forbes.com/yasidei/2011/03/26/in-japans-nuclear-evacuation-zone-residents-struggle-on/

BBM. Yes, I'm sure the residents of Belarus thought the same thing...God help them.

 

[not_my_kids]

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/notw/_news/1252186/Japan-earthquake-victims-buried.html

The photo at this link really drives it home...Rows and rows and rows of identical coffins with rows and rows and rows of plywood headstones...I feel ashamed to admit that it made me shudder.

 

[peeples]

“You can still eat them if you peel a few leaves off the outside and wash them really well,” Tomiko assured me.
http://blogs.forbes.com/yasidei/2011/03/26/in-japans-nuclear-evacuation-zone-residents-struggle-on/

BBM. Yes, I'm sure the residents of Belarus thought the same thing...God help them.

Sooo sad, just soo sad.. they just don't understand, because their government and media hasn't made them understand how at risk they are. The japanese soldiers need to be going through with a PA system telling them not to eat the food and unradiated food can be found at such and such a place...
it breaks my heart

 

[Quiche]

FOCUS: Efforts to search children orphaned by quake face challenges

Excerpt:
Search efforts moved into full swing Saturday in Iwate Prefecture, one of the three prefectures that suffered the heaviest tolls.

Child welfare specialists have gathered from various parts of the country for this unusual mission under the initiative of the central government.

Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, the other prefectures that were most severely damaged, are also preparing to accept those specialists and are expected to request their dispatches soon.

In Iwate, 17 specialists including psychologists and child minders from nurseries in Hokkaido, Aomori, Akita, Tokyo and Kanagawa have arrived. On Saturday, they met local counterparts and started their searches in the cities of Kamaishi, Ofunato and Rikuzentakata and the town of Otsuchi.

The experts will initially work in groups of three and look for children without parents at evacuation shelters along with people in charge at the shelters.

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/20...:+kyodonews/quake+(+Kyodo+News+-Japan+quake+)

 

[Quiche]

Here is the answer to what else is in those "puddles"...

Radiation Levels- 10 Fold Increase Found In Fukushima Sea Water

Quote: However, in a statement made by TEPCO it was noted, “The cesium level-137, the half life of which is approximately 30 years, was 79.6 times the legal maximum.”

http://newstabulous.com/radiation-levels-10-fold-increase-found-in-fukushima-sea-water/6545/

 

[Quiche]

Know your nukes: understanding radiation risks in Japan

Excerpt:
Half-life isn't just a game

Radioactive decay is largely a random process. There is no way to predict when a specific atom will decay, but it is possible to get a sense of how often an average atom will survive before decaying. The most common measurement for this average is a half-life: the amount of time it takes for half the atoms in a sample to undergo decay. For some isotopes, the half-life is a fraction of a second; within a few seconds, nearly all of it will be gone. For other isotopes, a half-life can be hundreds of thousands of years or more, so you need a substantial amount of the material for the radiation to really register. If you only had 100,000 atoms of a long-lived isotope, chances are low that there would be any decays during a short exposure.

and

The actual nuclear fuel, and some of the nastier isotopes associated with it, create more of a long-term risk. Unless present in high quantities, the fuel won't deliver a critical dose of radiation in a short time period. Because of their long lives, however, isotopes deliver extended, chronic doses of radiation in any contaminated areas; since they'll outlive anybody alive today, they're typically dealt with either by extensive cleanup or prohibiting any humans from occupying the area of contamination (e.g., the exclusion zone around Chernobyl).

http://arstechnica.com/science/news...es-understanding-radiation-risks-in-japan.ars

 

[Quiche]

US stores spent nuclear fuel rods at 4 times pool capacity

Quote: Each Fukushima spent fuel pool holds about 100 metric tons, he says, while each US pool holds from 500-700 metric tons. A single pool fire would release catastrophic amounts of radioactivity, rendering 17-22,000 square miles of area uninhabitable. That’s about the size of New Hampshire and Vermont – from one pool fire. [Image: Spent fuel pool at the top of a nuclear reactor.]

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/03/26/us-stores-spent-nuclear-fuel-rods-at-4-t