Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor

[jfchandler]

The water in Tokyo gets better, but meanwhile...

Japan hit by radiation-tainted water

TOKYO, March 24, Kyodo News

Water with radiation levels considered to be unsafe for infants to drink has been found at several purification plants outside of Tokyo, local officials said Thursday, while Japanese authorities have been stepping up their efforts to increase the supply of bottled water in light of the drawn-out crisis at a quake-hit nuclear power plant.

The city of Hitachi in Ibaraki Prefecture said it detected traces of radioactive iodine more than twice the stipulated safe limit for infants in water taken from a purification plant on Wednesday.

The city said levels of iodine-131 rose to 298 becquerels per 1 kilogram of water at the plant. The amount detected is almost on par with the 300-becquerel limit for people other than infants.

Chiba prefectural officials also recommended that residents not give tap water to infants as levels of the iodine rose to 220 becquerels per 1 kilogram of water at one of its filtration plants and 180 becquerels at another facility. The samples were taken on Wednesday from the two plants located both in Matsudo.

The city of Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture said the iodine rose to 120 becquerels per 1 kilogram of water at its treatment facility on Tuesday, adding that the levels on Thursday have stayed below the limit of 100 becquerels for infants.

Kawaguchi officials said tap water in the city is safe enough and they would not issue a warning on its consumption.

http://english.kyodo...1/03/80778.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

Kyodo News Advisory - 19:56 JST / 5:56 pm Thai time

TEPCO reports 17 workers thus far at Daiichi plant exposed to radiation exceeding 100 millisievert (mSv)

[jfchandler]

Kyushu Electric defers booting up 2 nuclear reactors

FUKUOKA, March 24, Kyodo News

Kyushu Electric Power Co. said Thursday it has decided to delay rebooting two nuclear reactors at its Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture it had suspended for servicing in view of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Toshio Manabe, the regional utility's president, told a news conference his company has decided to postpone rebooting the No. 2 and No. 3 reactors from their originally scheduled times of late March and early April.

''At this stage, we have not yet decided'' when to restart the reactors at the Genkai plant in the southwestern Japanese prefecture, he said.

Manabe said the situation at the Fukushima plant is not heading toward stability and that a string of accidents there since March 12 have prompted the government to start reviewing steps to ensure safety at nuclear power plants.

In late 2009, the No. 3 reactor at the Genkai plant started generating power by burning plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel, becoming the first reactor in Japan to generate power using such fuel. One of the reactors at the troubled Fukushima plant also uses the plutonium-mixed fuel.

Manabe said, ''We have not yet set a clear schedule (for rebooting the reactors), so we would like to decide what measures to take after the government announces its own policies'' on this matter.

http://english.kyodo...1/03/80796.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

Kyodo News' report on the injured workers today:

3 workers exposed to high radiation, 2 sustain possible burns

Three workers were exposed to high-level radiation Thursday while laying cable at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, and two of them were taken to hospital due to possible radiation burns to their feet, the nuclear safety agency and the plant operator said.

The three men in their 20s and 30s were exposed to radiation amounting to 173 to 180 millisieverts at around 12:10 p.m. while laying cable underground at the No. 3 reactor's turbine building.

The two hospitalized are workers of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s affiliated firm and had their feet under water while carrying out the work from 10 a.m., according to the utility known as TEPCO and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

The two, who were diagnosed with possible beta ray burns at a Fukushima hospital, will later be sent to the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Chiba Prefecture, the agency said.

TEPCO said radioactive water may have seeped through the workers' radiation protective gear, causing radioactive materials in the water to stick to their skin. The burns are caused by direct exposure to beta rays, the utility added.

Following the incident, workers at the first and the basement floors of the No. 3 reactor's turbine building were told to evacuate the area. [This explains the earlier Kyodo advisory about some workers being ordered to evacuate.]

The radiation levels the three were exposed to are this time lower than the maximum limit of 250 millisieverts set by the health ministry for workers tackling the ongoing emergency at the Fukushima plant. The accumulative amounts of radiation to which they have been exposed are also below this criteria, TEPCO said.

Usually in Japan, the upper radiation exposure limit for nuclear plant workers is set at 50 millisieverts per year, or 100 millisieverts within five years, but the level comes to a cumulative 100 millisieverts in the event of a crisis. The health ministry has further relaxed these standards to deal with the crisis in Fukushima, the worst in Japan.

With the latest exposure cases, the number of workers who have been exposed to radiation exceeding 100 millisieverts at the plant comes to 17, the operator said.

http://english.kyodo...1/03/80799.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[elcent]

'We Are Looting the Past and Future to Feed the Present'

Leading German climate scientist Hans Joachim Schellnhuber talks to SPIEGEL about the lessons of the Fukushima disaster, the future of nuclear energy in Germany and why our society needs to be transformed. "We consume as much oil in one year as was created in 5.3 million years," he warns.

SPIEGEL: Who or what is to blame for the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima?

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber: The earthquake was merely the trigger. The crazy logic we apply in dealing with technical risks is to blame. We only protect ourselves against hazards to the extent that it's economically feasible at a given time, and to the extent to which they can be controlled within the normal operations of a company. But the Richter scale has no upper limit. Why is a Japanese nuclear power plant only designed to withstand a magnitude 8.2 earthquake, not to mention tsunamis?

SPIEGEL: Presumably because otherwise electricity from nuclear power would have been too expensive.

Schellnhuber: The entire affluence-based economic model of the postwar era, be it in Japan or here in Germany, is based on the idea that cheap energy and rising material consumption are supposed to make us happier and happier. This is why nuclear power plants are now being built in areas that are highly active geologically, and why we consume as much oil in one year as was created in 5.3 million years. We are looting both the past and the future to feed the excess of the present. It's the dictatorship of the here and now.

SPIEGEL: What's your alternative?

Schellnhuber: We have to stop constantly ignoring the things that are truly harmful to our society. This includes nuclear accidents, but also the prospect of the Earth becoming between 6 and 8 degrees Celsius (11 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer by the year 2200. Only when we have taken the possibility of maximum losses fully into account can we decide whether we even want a specific technology.

SPIEGEL: Up until now, you haven't been one of the vocal opponents of nuclear power.

Schellnhuber: But neither was I a supporter of nuclear power. My position was: Let's take advantage of the cost benefits of the existing nuclear plants to quickly develop renewable energy systems. It was my hope that something good would emerge from something bad.

SPIEGEL: How do you feel about the government's plans to temporarily shut down seven nuclear power plants in Germany?

Schellnhuber: It's the right thing to do. Something resembling what happened in Japan could also happen in Germany if one of the countless possible chains of unfortunate events were to occur. It's the unavoidability of the improbable. But the way the government approached the issue was not very beneficial for Germany's political culture.

SPIEGEL: Why?

Schellnhuber: Last year they decided that German power plants are safe. This allows for only two possible conclusions: Either the full truth wasn't recognized at the time, in which case it was bad policy, or they are reacting in a purely opportunistic fashion now, against their better judgment. That's even worse policy.

SPIEGEL: Are you worried that the government's new anti-nuclear course will lead to higher CO2 emissions because more coal will be burned once again?

Schellnhuber: Actually, I'm convinced that this is precisely what Chancellor Angela Merkel will not allow. Now everyone is starting to realize that society's entire fossil-nuclear operating system has no future and that massive investments have to be made in renewable sources of energy.

SPIEGEL: Do you feel that the government's abrupt change of course in relation to its energy policy is adequate?

Schellnhuber: No. It can only be the beginning of a deep-seated shift. The German Advisory Council on Global Change, which I chair, will soon unveil a master plan for a transformation of society. Precisely because of Fukushima, we believe that a new basis of our coexistence is needed.

SPIEGEL: What does that mean?

Schellnhuber: We need a social contract for the 21st century that seals the common desire to create a sustainable industrial metabolism. We must resolve, once and for all, to leave our descendants more than a legacy of nuclear hazards and climate change. This requires empathy across space and time. To promote this, the rights of future generations should be enshrined in the German constitution.

SPIEGEL: And specifically?

Schellnhuber: For example, we have to stabilize energy consumption at a reasonable level. If we would finally start exploiting the full potential for energy efficiency in Germany, we could get by with at least 30 percent less energy input -- without being materially worse off.

SPIEGEL: How do you intend to convince society of the need for an upper limit to energy consumption?

Schellnhuber: It can only be achieved with cultural change. To that end, society needs to have an entirely different discussion than before. This sort of change is one of the most difficult things I can imagine.

SPIEGEL: Belt-tightening hasn't exactly been popular in the past.

Schellnhuber: All it costs is a few percentage points of economic output to turn away from the dangerous path that would otherwise lead to more nuclear accidents and unchecked climate change. Green investments would only delay the growth of affluence between now and the year 2100 by six to nine months. Is that really too high a price to pay?

SPIEGEL: Why is it that your messages haven't been all that well received until now?

Schellnhuber: I'm neither a psychologist nor a sociologist. But my life experiences have shown that the love of convenience and ignorance are man's biggest character flaws. It's a potentially deadly mixture.

Interview conducted by Katrin Elger and Christian Schwägerl.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,752474,00.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by elcent

[jfchandler]

Probably because the pesticides in Thai food will kill you faster than anything from Japan....

Thailand has no immediate plans to ban food imports from Japan: PM

BANGKOK, March 24, Kyodo News

Thailand has no immediate plans to restrict imports of Japanese food products but authorities have conducted random checks on food imports from Japan, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thursday.

''We will go by the results of our monitoring and detection and obviously any recommendation coming out from Japan as well,'' Abhisit said in a meeting with Japanese reporters.

He said Thailand's Food and Drug Administration has so far found no traces of abnormal levels of radiation from Japanese food products.

FDA officials said Thursday they have closely screened seafood, fruit and vegetable imports from Japan. Thailand imports no dairy products from Japan, they added.

''We have not detected any radiation that will be harmful to people's health. So I think we will make our decision by looking at the results from the continuing monitoring process,'' Abhisit said when asked if the Thai government will place restrictions on foodstuffs imported from Japan.

Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Canada have placed restrictions on the imports of Japanese food products after the United States slapped an import ban on dairy products and vegetables produced on farms contaminated by Japan's crippled nuclear power complex in Fukushima Prefecture.

Regarding the vegetables and milk showing high levels of radiation, Abhisit said he believed the Japanese government has banned all the shipments.

The Thai premier said contaminated tap water in Japan should be monitored closely as it could enter the food chain.

Abhisit said the automobile and electronics industries in Thailand might be affected in the short term as they have relied on parts and components from the earthquake-affected areas in Japan.

''I hope that the radiation problem can be contained...so that it wouldn't actually disrupt trade and investment between Thailand and Japan,'' he said.

''Given the short term technical disruptions, we still view that the prospect for continued growth from trade investment and tourism should not be disruptive of the recovery process,'' he said.

Abhisit said the Thai government will consider measures to assist Japanese firms in Thailand if they are affected by parent companies in Japan.

''We will make sure that the companies which have committed to Thailand can weather this crisis,'' he said.

In a direct message to people affected by the disaster in Japan, Abhisit said, ''I'd like to also express my heartfelt sympathy and condolences and also our admiration for the way these people try to overcome the situation. I think the whole world has been impressed by the resilience and determination and discipline that your people have shown.''

The Thai government has pledged to donate 205 million baht (about $6.8 million) while the Thai public and private sector have actively promoted donation campaigns as relief for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

http://english.kyodo...1/03/80794.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[elcent]

Kyodo News Advisory - 19:56 JST / 5:56 pm Thai time

TEPCO reports 17 workers thus far at Daiichi plant exposed to radiation exceeding 100 millisievert (mSv)

173 - 180 mSv according to NHK

[elcent]

There is no telling when the disaster will be contained - Edano

[elcent]

first radiation sickness reported. It's like burns and blisters on the skin. It takes 7 days - several weeks before the sickness is visible.

[jfchandler]

Australia, others ban food imports from Japan's contaminated farms

TOKYO, March 24, Kyodo

Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Canada and Russia have placed restrictions on the imports of Japanese food products after the United States slapped an import ban on dairy products and vegetables produced on farms contaminated by Japan's crippled nuclear power complex.

Other countries, including South Korea, say they are considering similar measures. Meanwhile, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thursday that Thailand has no immediate plans to restrict imports of Japanese food products but authorities have conducted random checks on food imports from Japan.

In Taiwan, the Atomic Energy Council said Thursday that iodine-131 was detected in a shipment of burrowing clam known as a geoduck, notable for its trunk-like protuberance from the shell, but the reading was well within the legal limit.

The Japanese government says leafy vegetables and milk produced in farms in Fukushima and three other nearby prefectures have been contaminated by radiation released from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Australia's food safety agency said Thursday that ''as a precautionary measure, and consistent with approaches internationally,'' quarantine authorities have been asked to halt imports of Japanese seaweed, seafood, milk products and fresh produce originating from Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures, where authorities have detected above-normal levels of radioactive substances.

MORE: http://english.kyodo...1/03/80803.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

Guess who'll end up paying the bill for this one?

Gov't eyes higher tax on utility providers to offset nuclear crisis

TOKYO, March 24, Kyodo News

The government is considering raising a tax on utility providers to secure funds for possible compensation following a nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan, officials said Thursday.

The government could be forced by a law to pay up to 240 billion yen (about $3 billion) over problems with two atomic power plants in Fukushima Prefecture, which have led to the evacuation of nearby residents, suspension of corporate activities and fears of food contamination due to radiation.

It eyes raising the tax that is designed to collect funds to help development in areas where power stations are located.

The move reflects the government's intention to avoid any additional burden on taxpayers as a result of the disaster. However, electricity firms could pass a tax hike on to consumers by raising power charges.

The relevant law stipulates a nuclear plant operator must be held responsible for any plant accident. But if the accident is caused by a natural disaster, the government will have to share the obligations by paying up to 120 billion yen per plant.

http://english.kyodo...1/03/80780.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[Chopperboy]

Guess who'll end up paying the bill for this one?

electricity firms could pass a tax hike on to consumers by raising power charges.

Proving yet again that nuclear is the "cheapest" power generation option.

[elcent]

Guess who'll end up paying the bill for this one?

electricity firms could pass a tax hike on to consumers by raising power charges.

Proving yet again that nuclear is the "cheapest" power generation option.

... and in about 55 years the region cleaned. I even doubt that and it may be a way longer than that at $ 2,000,000,000 per year and rising. But then again, no guarantees can be made.

[TheWalkingMan]

The food contamination is a scary part, to the populace, of this whole nuclear crisis/meltdown. The big reason for the scariness is that Japan is not exactly the best place to trust food labeling. There have been many incidents where vendors have labeled food as being sourced from one area, but actually from a different area.

TheWalkingMan

[jfchandler]

Radioactive iodine 146.9 times higher in seawater near nuke plant

TOKYO, March 24, Kyodo News

Abnormally high levels of radioactive materials were again detected in the sea near the crisis-hit nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, its operator said Thursday, warning the radiation levels in seawater may keep rising.

According to Tokyo Electric Power Co., radioactive iodine-131 146.9 times higher than the legal concentration limit was detected Wednesday morning in a seawater sample taken around 330 meters south of the plant, near the drain outlets of its troubled four reactors.

The level briefly fell to 29.8 times the limit on Tuesday morning from 126.7 times on Monday, but rose to its highest so far in the survey begun this week apparently due to rain and water sprayed at spent fuel pools from outside that caused radioactive materials to seep into the sea, it said.

The firm also said it found both iodine-131 and cesium-137 in a sample taken from near the drain outlets of the plant's No. 5 and No. 6 reactors that stabilized Sunday in so-called ''cold shutdown.''

Iodine-131 19.1 times higher than the limit was also detected Wednesday afternoon in a sample taken some 16 kilometers south of the nuclear power station, up from 16.7 times on Tuesday.

The current radiation levels in seawater do not pose an immediate risk to human health, an official of TEPCO told reporters, but added, ''We have to continue to monitor whether (radioactive materials in seawater) will keep rising.''

Following a magnitude 9.0 quake and ensuing tsunami on March 11, the cooling functions failed at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors and their cores are believed to have partially melted, while their and the No. 4 unit's spent fuel pools also lost cooling functions, and the No. 2 reactor suffered a rupture in its containment vessel, leading to the release of radioactive materials into the atmosphere and the sea.

http://english.kyodo...1/03/80810.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[elcent]

The food contamination is a scary part, to the populace, of this whole nuclear crisis/meltdown. The big reason for the scariness is that Japan is not exactly the best place to trust food labeling. There have been many incidents where vendors have labeled food as being sourced from one area, but actually from a different area.

TheWalkingMan

when it reaches the sea with high radiation levels, what then? Looks like unit 3 is melting through the earth's crust. already, or at least not far from that point.

Today "Foundation for National Disaster Warning Council chairman Smith Dharmasaroja declares that Thailand needs nuke energy. - How much did he get paid for that?

Oh forgot for a moment that there's no investigative journalism here in LOS.

[Jdietz]

Tuning out of this thread until we can get it on topic again, the incessant scaremongering is getting tiresome.

[James3212]

''We have not detected any radiation that will be harmful to people's health. So I think we will make our decision by looking at the results from the continuing monitoring process,'' Abhisit said when asked if the Thai government will place restrictions on foodstuffs imported from Japan.

I was just wondering... How do you separate foodstuffs from stuff? Do you place it far enough from the other stuff so that it becomes stuffs?

[elcent]

Fact sheets of known missteps by TEPCO and the whole N-Industry

• • During the 1980s and 1990s, in several instances Tepco falsified data in voluntary inspections, including the number of cracks in the reactor pressure vessels.

  • In 1991 and 1992, the safety vessel of Reactor 1 at the Fukushima plant, which had gone online in 1971, was tested for leaks. According to Tepco, workers pumped air into the safety vessel in order to reduce the rate of leaks.

  • In 2000, a reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant had to be shut down because of a hole in a fuel rod. Similar incidents had already occurred in 1997 and 1994 in which radiation had been released.

  • In 2002, cracks in water pipes were discovered at the nuclear power plant.

  • In 2002, an engineer with the US firm General Electric, which manufactured three of the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, also raised the alarm bell. Inspeactions had not been carried out at a total of 13 reactors at Tepco power plants. He showed the Japanese nuclear regulatory authority 29 instances of falsified data and cover-ups, a development that led to the resignations in 2002 of top Tepco executives.

  • In 2006, radioactive steam leaked from a pipe at the Fukushima plant.

  • The company was also accused the same year of falsifying data about coolant water temperatures in 1985 and 1988. The data had then been used during mandatory inspections of the plant in 2005. In 2007, further falsified reactor data from Tepco emerged.

  • In 2007, at least eight people died when the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant was badly damaged in an earthquake. Pipes burst, fire broke out and radioactive water leaked from a spent fuel pool. Tepco had to decontaminate the affected building. The nuclear power plant remained closed for one year so earthquake safety -- which had allegedly already been good enough -- could be improved. Later it was determined that Tepco had missed 117 inspections at the site.

  • In March 2009, another fire broke out at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, resulting in one employee injury.

  • On March 2, 2011, just days before the start of the current earthquake catastrophe, Japan's nuclear regulators lobbed accusations of mass negligence against Tepco. It alleged that Tepco had failed to inspect 33 pieces of equipment at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant, one of the sites of the current catastrophe, including central cooling system elements in the six reactors, and spent fuel pools that hadn't been inspected according to regulations. The company has since admitted to having made the errors.

  • At the same time, Tepco also reported to the nuclear regulatory authority that it had not only failed to do the 33 inspections at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant, but also 19 further inspections at the nearby Fukushima-Daini plant.

  • Some experts had already been warning since the 1970s that the Mark 1 reactor type, produced by US manufacturer General Electric and also called the "Fukushima design," was not constructed to survive a combination of an earthquake and tsunami. Only days after the earthquake, two engineers who helped build the plant confirmed at a press conference that serious construction errors had been made. Many backup systems for emergencies had not been built at the plant.

  http://www.spiegel.d...,752704,00.html more there

Edited March 24, 2011 by elcent

[jfchandler]

Closing in on 10,000 dead...

NHK

Japan disaster: over 27,000 dead or missing

More than 27,000 people are officially dead or missing after the earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan on March 11th.

According to the National Police Agency, 9,811 people are confirmed dead as of 9 PM on Thursday.

The agency says it has received reports of 17,541 people missing.

Most of the dead and missing are from the 3 hardest hit prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima.

The number of confirmed deaths in Fukushima totals 839, far smaller than the more than 5,800 in Miyagi and about 3,000 in Iwate. This may be due to the suspension of search operations in areas within 20 kilometers of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, because of radiation leaks.

Figures appear almost certain to rise because of the absence of family members to report the dead and missing. In some areas, entire families appear to have perished in the tsunami that followed the magnitude 9.0 quake.

Emergency shelters are accommodating more than 200,000 people, mostly from the prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima, according to NHK figures. More than 30,000 people, mainly from Fukushima, have fled their hometowns to other prefectures.

Some survivors who have returned to their homes in areas where essential services have been restored are suffering from shortages of supplies, and are having to seek food at shelters for local residents.

The National Police Agency says at least 18,000 houses were destroyed by the quake and tsunami, and more than 130,000 homes were damaged.

Thursday, March 24, 2011 03:01 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/24_01.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[JulianLS]

If the Japanese govt banned its population from living within the region 5km from the coastline, it might save more lives than cleaning up the radioactive fall out..

The tsunami has killed somewhere in the region of 25,000 people within a period of days. Probably more. That makes Chernobyl look feeble.....

Why do we escalate man-made risks but just accept earthquakes and tsunamis as something out of our control? Because we have someone to blame? Whereas there is no one to blame for an earthquake or a tsunami.... But both are risks that can be managed.

So then, tsunami victims cannot be helped by us but maybe we can help those facing the consequential risks. It's a laudable to collate and spread information so people have the latest and best information. No issue question regarding the huge efforts by some on this thread to share accurate information. It is sorely needed.

But before we rally for no more nuclear power, let's also consider the merits of "no more living by the coast" (in Japan). I am not pro or anti nuclear power. I just want to see the whole picture and have efforts focussed on the best result.

[jfchandler]

One of the Japanese coastal towns years back built a 10 meter high tsunami wall after getting hit in the past... It was supposed to be like the tallest of its kind.... And, the town still got thrashed by the recent tsunami, which went right over the wall... Though I guess they would have been worse off without it.

[JulianLS]

One of the Japanese coastal towns years back built a 10 meter high tsunami wall after getting hit in the past... It was supposed to be like the tallest of its kind.... And, the town still got thrashed by the recent tsunami, which went right over the wall... Though I guess they would have been worse off without it.

Yes, I think they might have been worse off without it. But they got trashed nevertheless, and so the point you make is spot on. In fact they have been wiped out 3 times previously (in modern history alone), hence the wall that was twice the assumption of the Fukushima plant.... but still not enough.

And it will happen again in Japan, that is a certainty. Somewhere between now and 2080. The problem is that the collective memory is shorter than the disaster timespan.

Sumatra got hit by a 30m tsunami, causing a much greater loss of life in coastal regions than Japan. But some tribal peoples, isolated from modern society and more in tune with their past, escaped the disaster because their collective memory was retained. They read the warning signs and headed for the hills, and were safe.

Japan can rebuild its towns on the coast. Or it can move them up the hill. This is probably the most important decision for the well-being of the Japanese people on the east coast....

[James3212]

If the Japanese govt banned its population from living within the region 5km from the coastline, it might save more lives than cleaning up the radioactive fall out..

The tsunami has killed somewhere in the region of 25,000 people within a period of days. Probably more. That makes Chernobyl look feeble.....

Why do we escalate man-made risks but just accept earthquakes and tsunamis as something out of our control? Because we have someone to blame? Whereas there is no one to blame for an earthquake or a tsunami.... But both are risks that can be managed.

So then, tsunami victims cannot be helped by us but maybe we can help those facing the consequential risks. It's a laudable to collate and spread information so people have the latest and best information. No issue question regarding the huge efforts by some on this thread to share accurate information. It is sorely needed.

But before we rally for no more nuclear power, let's also consider the merits of "no more living by the coast" (in Japan). I am not pro or anti nuclear power. I just want to see the whole picture and have efforts focussed on the best result.

Not escalation, but i do agree that lots of media had put in too much sensationalism and this is not such a huge disaster yet. South Japan and Tokyo are safe thanks to the wind...

That said, radiation is not something to ignore or joke about, and this is a serious incident, even if not as huge as they say on the news. For example if this blows up or if 2-3 powerplants with multiple reactors blow up and the contamination is enough ... Lets say the containment vessel cracks up under a huge eatrhquake or the tsunami or pressure etc, and you have a 3SV/hour radiation at a single point... you can say bye bye to Japan and some of the countries near by perhaps for quite some time, maybe even thousands of years... And the particles might be scattered throughout the world causing contamination all around the globe. Look what happened with Chernobyl and if something happens again of course it can be worse than that too... I really fail to see how people can't understand this... In theory if someone wanted to destroy the majority of life on earth it would be pretty easy right now even with the several n-powerplants around the world...

Anyways even the situation now doesnt seem that bright as Fukushima's soil is contaminated and other provinces too. Its good that plutonium was not released but I really wonder why would we risk to have another potentially worse accident like that? Think about other accidents also, example, if the meteor strikes France's few nuclear powerplants, doesnt all have to come from tsunami, but also earthquakes can be strong enough to wreck havoc, especially if they are nearby... I am not saying that it will happen and the possibility is not large but why even have that possibility? Why gamble with the future of earth?

This is why I don't like nuclear stuff, or stuff that contaminates the earth and makes it uninhabitable for humans. Can cause lots of health problems and deaths, potentially influencing the generations to come in random ways...

I am all pro solar power and we should develop it i think. Perhaps EU will be the first to adapt and push the alternative power sources....

Anyways i think we should also develop decontamination chemicals or something in case someone also uses nuclear power and doesnt want to stop using it. So that after people can protect themselves and clean the soil from contamination... That would certainly be good...

[brahmburgers]

a recent image of controlling station in unit 3.

What's going on in that photo? Is there fission going on in there with those people - are they having a barbecue in the office? Or is it a giant screen monitor, or what? Gives new meaning to roasting marshmallows.

Guess who'll end up paying the bill for this one?

electricity firms could pass a tax hike on to consumers by raising power charges.

Proving yet again that nuclear is the "cheapest" power generation option.

Right, that's just one of many bullshit claims by nuclear promoters. No way is it the cheapest way to generate electricity, what a sick joke. That's like saying a bonfire is the simplest way to dry out damp socks. The same people say it doesn't generate greenhouse gases - another sick joke? or do they believe their own hype? ...or are they really that dumb to not see the gargantuan amounts of greenhouse gases generated by every phase of nuclear plants: their construction, maintenance, damage control, processing and bringing fuel to the plant, dealing with spent fuel and other radioactive waste, decommissioning the plant. Just for decommissioning, a well-run plant with no glitches needs to put aside about a half million dollars PER DAY - just for that inevitability.

[endure]

a recent image of controlling station in unit 3.

What's going on in that photo? Is there fission going on in there with those people - are they having a barbecue in the office? Or is it a giant screen monitor, or what? Gives new meaning to roasting marshmallows.

Get yourself a camera and take a picture of an electric light. It's called 'flare'

[brahmburgers]

a recent image of controlling station in unit 3.

What's going on in that photo? Is there fission going on in there with those people - are they having a barbecue in the office? Or is it a giant screen monitor, or what? Gives new meaning to roasting marshmallows.

Get yourself a camera and take a picture of an electric light. It's called 'flare'

Are you saying you think that's an uncovered electric bulb (incandescent?) hanging in the foreground of the photo? Like in a funky old basement or garage? It looks to me like something big hot and bright, surrounded by crew.

[jfchandler]

NHK reports that radioactive cesium exceeding the government's standard has been found for the first time in a vegetable grown in Tokyo. The broadcaster said cesium of 890 becquerels was measured in Japanese mustard spinach grown at a research center, above the government's limit of 500 becquerels. The vegetable there was not being grown for commercial sale.

[geriatrickid]

When I was young I was probably lucky. I was able to spend a full day in a nuclear research center doing readings of radiation that time. My impression was as it is today. There's no way of safety that could be guaranteed. Radiation plumes can arise with the slightest change of works done on the reactor itself.

When even Canada admits that they don't need this energy but they do it to support the industry, I suppose they mean the nuclear industry, says it all. (read my previous post above #2152 elcent )Lots of checks must be changing hands for this nonsense. Pretty a telling activism going on in that industry.

You have again posted a misleading statement presenting your biased opinion as "fact".

Please cease and desist from posting from posting statements that are false and that are essentially lies.

Canada has never "admitted that it doesn't need nuclear power". Energy generation policy is a provincial responsibility. The Canadian Federal government does not have the authority to decide on provincial energy policy. Do you understand that it is a provincial responsibility and each province has its own specific energy policy? Therefore "Canada" would not make the statement.

Nuclear energy provides over 50% of the province of Ontario's electrical energy. Without nuclear power, the province wold collapse. It is a long standing public policy to support and promote nuclear power in Ontario. The Conservatives, the Liberals and the socialist NDP all supported nuclear energy when their respective parties were elected to lead. Ontario is the principal user of nuclear energy because it does not have sufficient hydro electricity generating abilities. Aside from the 2 plants in Quebec and one over the border in New Brunswick, all of the nuclear powered generating facilities are in Ontario.

That is why your statement is misleading and downright dishonest.

[geriatrickid]

Are you saying you think that's an uncovered electric bulb (incandescent?) hanging in the foreground of the photo? Like in a funky old basement or garage? It looks to me like something big hot and bright, surrounded by crew.

Yes it is a light source. It is a common occurrence. If you wish to claim that the personnel are standing in front of a glowing reactor core or combusting substance, then please note that the personnel would have collapsed and died within a short period of such exposure. Where do you think they hid the bodies?