Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor

[Chopperboy]

Asked about the decision to change the rating, Peter Bradford, a former member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said he expected the threat level would be raised again.

''It's very hard for me to believe that at the end of the day, this accident will be seen as being the same level as Three Mile Island, which was also a level 5,'' Bradford said.

[Chopperboy]

You are of course right that all governments lie - but that isn't really the issue. The Japanese have an odd corporate culture. One that is best summed up in the word 'groupthink'.

In Japan, people don't take credit nor blame. They will also do their utmost to avoid putting a colleague in the situation where they may take credit or blame. Decisions are made in meetings and outsiders are mostly unwelcome.

I had experiences of Japanese denial - In one case I had two independant chemical analysis reports - it was jaw dropping to hear the "group" boss came up with a ridiculous reason for the results. In the end after doing their own tests they had to admit they were wrong.

[elcent]

There's a great live map (you need to zoom in to see details of specific areas or places) The range is from 0 - 749 nGy/h

Not surprisingly, Miyagi and Fukushima are completely N/A, as every single reading is Under Survey, also known as censored.nGy/h (nano- Grays per hour)Ishikawa is reported also as Under Survey.

http://www.targetmap...x?reportId=4870

just checked again, apart from the censored data more areas have turned into orange and red. 60 - 81nGy/h = orange, and 81 - 749nGy/h = red

[WarpSpeed]

Morgues, crematoriums overwhelmed

The Yomiuri Shimbun

March 19, 2011

Municipalities in quake-hit areas are struggling to cope with massive numbers of dead bodies that are overwhelming makeshift morgues and local crematoriums.

In short supply of dry ice and body bags for preserving the bodies until cremation, some local governments are considering burials, a practice that is not common in Japan. However, officials are having problems securing land for the purpose.

"How many more bodies must we receive?" a city official lamented as he looked over a sports center in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, that is being used as a temporary morgue.

http://www.yomiuri.c...10318005182.htm

In some sense the cold weather is a blessing I'm afraid..

[elcent]

UNCLAIMED PETS TO BE GASSED IN 72HRS, IN JAPAN

• A sad reality: Japanese animal holding centres in and around the disaster areas have announced in this bulletin that all pets who are not claimed within 72 hours will be 'disposed' of (gassed). This is the sad reality in Japan unfortunately and why we are truly racing against the clock now.
• http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/unclaimed-pets-to-be-gassed-in-72hrs-in-japan/
• Time to petition now

[TheWalkingMan]

There's a great live map (you need to zoom in to see details of specific areas or places) The range is from 0 - 749 nGy/h

Not surprisingly, Miyagi and Fukushima are completely N/A, as every single reading is Under Survey, also known as censored.nGy/h (nano- Grays per hour)Ishikawa is reported also as Under Survey.

http://www.targetmap.com/viewer.aspx?reportId=4870

Thanks for that link.

I am at a loss as to how the radiation could be red to the north of Chiba, skip the Chiba peninsula, skip a hunk of Tokyo and then land in Kawasaki. I live in Tokyo, but very near to Kawasaki and yesterday I was on my bicycle riding around Kawasaki... Which is under the 60-81 range.

[elcent]

18 March 2011 -- It is dangerous to take large amounts of iodized salt in order to increase the amount of stable iodine in the body. This salt does not contain enough iodine to be effective and eating excessive amounts of salt can have toxic effects. WHO is providing answers like this to the general public's frequently asked questions concerning exposure, food, shelter and individual protective measures on the radiation incident in Japan. WHO UPDATES http://www.who.int/hac/crises/jpn/en/index.html

[elcent]

There's a great live map (you need to zoom in to see details of specific areas or places) The range is from 0 - 749 nGy/h

Not surprisingly, Miyagi and Fukushima are completely N/A, as every single reading is Under Survey, also known as censored.nGy/h (nano- Grays per hour)Ishikawa is reported also as Under Survey.

http://www.targetmap...x?reportId=4870

Thanks for that link.

I am at a loss as to how the radiation could be red to the north of Chiba, skip the Chiba peninsula, skip a hunk of Tokyo and then land in Kawasaki. I live in Tokyo, but very near to Kawasaki and yesterday I was on my bicycle riding around Kawasaki... Which is under the 60-81 range.

The area you mentioned have been put under censorship now.

[Chopperboy]

Professor Steve Wing, an epidemiologist from the University of North Carolina, points out that any amount of radiation is dangerous, though the symptoms of damage will depend on the radiation levels.

Wing explains, there is a spectrum of types of radiation that are being emitted now at Fukushima Daiichi which pose a different threat. “Some of the radiation emissions from the reactors and the fuel pools have very short half lives. They will disappear; they will decay away – minutes, hours, days. Other types of radionuclides… will last for years, hundreds, thousands of years,” Wing explained.

However, the Japanese government insists that the radiation levels more than 30 kilometers away from the plant are not immediately threatening.

“It doesn’t mean that there won’t be risks to the populations that are exposed that will play out over the rest of their lives, because even after the radiation is gone, the genetic damage could lead to cancer many years later,” he stated.

[WarpSpeed]

Professor Steve Wing, an epidemiologist from the University of North Carolina, points out that any amount of radiation is dangerous, though the symptoms of damage will depend on the radiation levels.

Wing explains, there is a spectrum of types of radiation that are being emitted now at Fukushima Daiichi which pose a different threat. “Some of the radiation emissions from the reactors and the fuel pools have very short half lives. They will disappear; they will decay away – minutes, hours, days. Other types of radionuclides… will last for years, hundreds, thousands of years,” Wing explained.

However, the Japanese government insists that the radiation levels more than 30 kilometers away from the plant are not immediately threatening.

“It doesn’t mean that there won’t be risks to the populations that are exposed that will play out over the rest of their lives, because even after the radiation is gone, the genetic damage could lead to cancer many years later,” he stated.

Yes this is what I've been saying, it's all a white wash and concentrating on merely cancers which are a very small proportion of the type of damage that can be done.. That claim's for the purposes of PR only...

[elcent]

UNCLAIMED PETS TO BE GASSED IN 72HRS, IN JAPAN

• A sad reality: Japanese animal holding centres in and around the disaster areas have announced in this bulletin that all pets who are not claimed within 72 hours will be 'disposed' of (gassed). This is the sad reality in Japan unfortunately and why we are truly racing against the clock now.
• http://www.thepetiti...72hrs-in-japan/
• Time to petition now

Please people do sign the petition.

You know from slaughtering innocent animals which are not designed for food to slaughtering people is just a small step. Click the link above.

I thought in some sense, people were already being slaughtered..

that too ...

Please do not forget that pets are considered as family members.

Especially dogs are useful for overcoming traumas.

[lopburi3]

Several solicitation and flame posts have been removed per forum rules.

[Chopperboy]

The risk of a fatal cancer from a chest X-ray has been estimated as one in a million or more, which is very remote. But the risk of a fatal cancer in a person who had a CAT scan providing 10 mSv of radiation is dramatically increased and estimated to be one in 2,000.

As a way of comparison, Japanese survivors of the atomic bomb explosions at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who have been found to face an increased risk of developing a fatal cancer, received on average a dose of between 5 and 20 mSv, with some as high as 50 mSv.

ref:

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2008/mar2008_Avoiding-The-Radiation-Dangers-of-CAT-Scans_01.htm

[elcent]

The fight against the Gau is not over yet. It's risky to connect the electricity to the reactor blocks, explosions are possible

Tepco raised the limit of radiation for its' workers again. Now it's 150 msv per shift. Before, all the workers showed higher radiation than the previous 100 msv limit.

A second group of firefighters were sent to the danger-zone to take over the shift.

Disgusting!

Der Kampf gegen den Gau im AKW Fukushima I ist noch nicht entschieden - Arbeiter versuchen jetzt, die überhitzten Reaktorblöcke an die Stromversorgung anzuschließen. Doch das ist riskant, es könnte zu Explosionen kommen.

Tokio - Die Arbeiter am havarierten Atomkraftwerk Fukushima I bekommen bei ihrem Einsatz immer mehr radioaktive Strahlung ab. Der AKW-Betreiber Tepco erhöhte die Obergrenze auf nun 150 Millisievert pro Noteinsatz, berichtet der TV-Sender NHK. Vorher waren 100 Millisievert pro Schicht das Limit gewesen - die Arbeiter überschritten diesen Wert aber regelmäßig. Nun wurde eine zweite Gruppe Feuerwehrleute zu der Katastrophenanlage geschickt, um die Kollegen abzulösen, zitierte NHK die Behörden. http://www.spiegel.d...,751913,00.html

Edited March 19, 2011 by elcent

[pedro01]

In the US, they are more inclined to bring in specialists, they will hammer an issue out with everyone totally comfortable putting their ideas out there. They will fight and argue, get angry, kiss and make up and come to a decision having weighed up the pros and cons. Not only that, they will also plan for the worse and implement a plan as well as backups if the main plan does not work. In the face of new information, the Americans will alter their plans. They are more agile.

And the US is the only "western" country who operates this way ?

Go and look at what happened at 3 mile Island as regards mis-information, lies, confusion etc and tell me that was any different to what is happening in Japan currently, granted the cultural approach maybe different, but the net result is the same.

At least with the Japanese, Chinese executives take the "honourable" approach to when they "loose face" or are caught out doing some thing wrong", either suicide, or execution (in the case of the chinese), there are quite a few US executives who could have benefited from this approach through the years....

I have no wish to turn this into a US bashing rant...but to quote an old blues song...."before you accuse me, take a look at yourself"

No - the US are not the only western country to operate this way. I didn't say that.

Also, please note that I an English. I do not look at myself first because I am discussing differences in corporate culture between US & Japan. The US is the most likely candidate as they have the most resources in my opinion PLUS historically the US is the most likely to give aid quickly.

The lies would happen anywhere - but that is not the reason the Japanese are not resolving the issue. The problem lies in the way the Japanese resolve issues as a group.

[elcent]

Radioactivity exceeds the considered official harmless limits in spinach and milk near Fukushima l reactor. - Edano

+++ Radioaktivität in Spinat und Milch übersteigt ungefährliche Werte +++

[08.25 Uhr] Regierungssprecher Edano hat Weiteres zu berichten: Seiner Aussage zufolge übersteigt die Radioaktivität in Spinat und Milch aus der Nähe des Atomkraftwerks Fukushima I die amtlich zulässigen Werte. http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,751914,00.html

[elcent]

confirmed the above

(All times are local in Japan GMT+9)

• Timestamp: 4:29pm Associated Press - Japan's top government spokesman says radiation levels in spinach and milk exceed safety limits following nuclear accidents at a tsunami-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.
  Chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said checks of milk from Fukushima prefecture, where the plant is located, and of spinach grown in Ibaraki, a neighbouring prefecture, surpassed limits set by the government.
  It was the government's first report of food being contaminated by radiation since the March 11 quake and tsunami unleashed the nuclear crisis. aljazeera

[elcent]

4:44am Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, says that a cargo plane arriving in Dalien, China, from the Japanese town of Narita on March 16th was not allowed to unload its cargo of electrical components - after an inspection by Chinese customs officials found radiation levels in the hold to exceed standards. The plane returned to Narita.

Seem to be a huge difference of wishful and distorted truth and reality.

[elcent]

Sorry, have to quote a German source again. Many times they are faster than English media.

The office of the Japanese PM opened a twitter account this morning (German time) to advice people how to protect themselves from radiation. Within the 30km radius move only by car and not to get in touch with the air outside. Wear long-sleeve shirts and masks. Avoid rain.

+++ Regierung gibt per Twitter Sicherheitstipps +++

[09.00 Uhr] Am Samstagmorgen deutscher Zeit veröffentlichte das Büro des japanischen Premierministers Naoto Kan per Twitter Anweisungen zum Schutz vor Strahlung innerhalb des 30-Kilometer-Radius um das AKW Fukushima I: Man solle sich möglichst im Auto fortbewegen, um der Luft nicht ausgesetzt zu sein, langärmelige T-Shirts, Handschuhe und eine Schutzmaske tragen sowie Regen meiden. http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,751914,00.html

Edited March 19, 2011 by elcent

[elcent]

http://twitter.com/s...earch?q=JPN_PMO twitter account of the PM's office

more useful twitter accounts

JuanOoi: RT @katies: Important accounts to follow in #Japan: @JPN_PMO @norishikata @USEmbassyTokyo @AmbassadorRoos @Kantei_Saigai @FDMA_JAPAN @OfficialTEPCO

Edited March 19, 2011 by elcent

[jfchandler]

Elcent, from prior reports, some of the monitoring equipment in areas around the plants and along the coast in tsunami affected areas are either non-working and/or without electricity... I don't find that all that hard to believe, under the circumstances, since many many things in those areas are non-working right now... If you have some evidence information is being censored, please do share it here.

There's a great live map (you need to zoom in to see details of specific areas or places) The range is from 0 - 749 nGy/h

Not surprisingly, Miyagi and Fukushima are completely N/A, as every single reading is Under Survey, also known as censored.nGy/h (nano- Grays per hour)Ishikawa is reported also as Under Survey.

[JulianLS]

Sorry, have to quote a German source again. Many times they are faster than English media.

The office of the Japanese PM opened a twitter account this morning (German time) to advice people how to protect themselves from radiation. Within the 30km radius move only by car and not to get in touch with the air outside. Wear long-sleeve shirts and masks. Avoid rain.

+++ Regierung gibt per Twitter Sicherheitstipps +++

[09.00 Uhr] Am Samstagmorgen deutscher Zeit veröffentlichte das Büro des japanischen Premierministers Naoto Kan per Twitter Anweisungen zum Schutz vor Strahlung innerhalb des 30-Kilometer-Radius um das AKW Fukushima I: Man solle sich möglichst im Auto fortbewegen, um der Luft nicht ausgesetzt zu sein, langärmelige T-Shirts, Handschuhe und eine Schutzmaske tragen sowie Regen meiden. http://www.spiegel.d...,751914,00.html

You missed the gloves

[elcent]

Elcent, from prior reports, some of the monitoring equipment in areas around the plants and along the coast in tsunami affected areas are either non-working and/or without electricity... I don't find that all that hard to believe, under the circumstances, since many many things in those areas are non-working right now... If you have some evidence information is being censored, please do share it here.

There's a great live map (you need to zoom in to see details of specific areas or places) The range is from 0 - 749 nGy/h

Not surprisingly, Miyagi and Fukushima are completely N/A, as every single reading is Under Survey, also known as censored.nGy/h (nano- Grays per hour)Ishikawa is reported also as Under Survey.

... says the sooth-sayer.

Things like this run easily on 1.5 v batteries and don't need power electric. Proof enough?

[jfchandler]

For most of this week, the Japanese goverment's well-announced public policy to residents has been people living 0 to 20 Km from the reactors should evacuate, and those living 20 - 30 Km from the reactors should stay indoors or take simple protective measures when going outside.

Sorry, have to quote a German source again. Many times they are faster than English media.

The office of the Japanese PM opened a twitter account this morning (German time) to advice people how to protect themselves from radiation. Within the 30km radius move only by car and not to get in touch with the air outside. Wear long-sleeve shirts and masks. Avoid rain.

+++ Regierung gibt per Twitter Sicherheitstipps +++

[09.00 Uhr] Am Samstagmorgen deutscher Zeit veröffentlichte das Büro des japanischen Premierministers Naoto Kan per Twitter Anweisungen zum Schutz vor Strahlung innerhalb des 30-Kilometer-Radius um das AKW Fukushima I: Man solle sich möglichst im Auto fortbewegen, um der Luft nicht ausgesetzt zu sein, langärmelige T-Shirts, Handschuhe und eine Schutzmaske tragen sowie Regen meiden. http://www.spiegel.d...,751914,00.html

[elcent]

NHK TV on Ustream, some's recorded some's live http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk-world-tv

[jfchandler]

Here's what Kyodo News is saying about the food contamination issues thus far.

Hardly the model of clarity... Maybe Edano loses something in translation???

High levels of radiation detected in only milk, spinach so far: Edano16:26 19 March

Gov't mulls regulating shipments of farm products near nuke plant: Edano16:21 19 March

Radiation-contaminated farm products pose no immediate health risk: Edano16:18 19 March

Spinach from Ibaraki Pref. detected with high radiation levels: Edano16:16 19 March

Milk from near Fukushima plant found to have high radiation level: Edano

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/

And from NHK News:

Edano: Radiation detected in milk and spinach

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says higher levels of radiation than the legal standard have been detected in milk from Fukushima Prefecture and spinach from Ibaraki Prefecture.

Edano was speaking to reporters on Saturday.

The standard is based on Japan's Food Sanitation Law.

Saturday, March 19, 2011 16:58 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/19_20.html

Edited March 19, 2011 by jfchandler

[Jdietz]

Elcent, from prior reports, some of the monitoring equipment in areas around the plants and along the coast in tsunami affected areas are either non-working and/or without electricity... I don't find that all that hard to believe, under the circumstances, since many many things in those areas are non-working right now... If you have some evidence information is being censored, please do share it here.

There's a great live map (you need to zoom in to see details of specific areas or places) The range is from 0 - 749 nGy/h

Not surprisingly, Miyagi and Fukushima are completely N/A, as every single reading is Under Survey, also known as censored.nGy/h (nano- Grays per hour)Ishikawa is reported also as Under Survey.

... says the sooth-sayer.

Things like this run easily on 1.5 v batteries and don't need power electric. Proof enough?

Funny enough though those battery operated thingies don't connect all that well to the automated data gathering at SPEEDI, the place where your automated map gets its underlying data from.

http://www.bousai.ne.jp/eng/

I am using the same data as your doomsday map, and arrive at a largely different conclusion:

over the last 3 days, the HIGHEST reported level, at Ibaraki has been dropping by around 100nGy/h per day.

If I would have to produce a danger map, I would color everything below 1 μSv/h as 'mostly harmless', seeing it would take around 3.5 YEARS of constant radiation to even get a 30mSv dose, or 17 YEARS to get at the 150mSv currently used as the allowed level for plant workers.

NONE of the reported levels even come close to 1 μSv/h, Ibaraki is currently at 662nGy/h (0.6 μSv/h), all other reported levels are at least an order of magnitude lower.

Edited March 19, 2011 by Jdietz

[elcent]

Here's what Kyodo News is saying about the food contamination issues thus far.

Hardly the model of clarity... Maybe Edano loses something in translation???

High levels of radiation detected in only milk, spinach so far: Edano16:26 19 March

Gov't mulls regulating shipments of farm products near nuke plant: Edano16:21 19 March

Radiation-contaminated farm products pose no immediate health risk: Edano16:18 19 March

Spinach from Ibaraki Pref. detected with high radiation levels: Edano16:16 19 March

Milk from near Fukushima plant found to have high radiation level: Edano

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/

Spinach has lots of 'fe' and alike and is therefore prone to keep and show the radiation while other agricultural products are not as fast to show the level.

Remember, lots of tactical denial involved.

... and as is says ... no immediate healkth risk but doesn't exclude the radiation received.

word-games, tactical denial ... and and and ...

what about rising the level as they did for the workers?

Edited March 19, 2011 by elcent

[Maestro]

The fight against the Gau is not over yet...

Since the German acronym GAU hasn't made it into English dictionaries yet, let me explain that it stands for "worst-case scenario", in the context of this topic a total meltdown.

[Crushdepth]

Radiation-contaminated farm products pose no immediate health risk: Edano16:18 19 March

It's probably true. But unfortunately it is difficult to trust the word of the authorities any more.