Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor

[pedro01]

Actually Brahmburgers - Japan is not tops in terms of professional responsibility.

Japanese corporate culture prevents anyone from being responsible for anything. This has a lot to do with the mis-management at the plant both prior to and after the Tsunami.

[atsiii]

http://online.wsj.co...3520924172.html

The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a statement saying it had found large samples of radiation outside the Japanese government's official evacuation zone around the plant, and suggested a possible expansion of the perimeter.

Early Thursday morning in Japan, the IAEA issued a statement saying that large amounts of harmful radioactive elements were found in soil samples in the village of Iitate , located 25 miles northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The government has evacuated the area 12 ½ miles around the plant, and suggested residents within 19 miles stay indoors. Iodine-131 and cesium-137 were found at levels exceeding the IAEA's key criteria. The agency advised the Japanese officials to "carefully assess the situation" and received a response that they were already doing so. A Japanese government spokesman said Thursday morning the government had no immediate plans to expand the zone.

Meanwhile, officials recorded the highest radiation level yet in the ocean next to the damaged plant. The readings showed toxic water from the site—government officials said they weren't sure exactly where—was reaching the ocean, and marked a setback.

Edited March 31, 2011 by atsiii

[elcent]

Photo Gallery: 13 Photos AFPIn a SPIEGEL interview, peace activist and author Jonathan Schell discusses the lessons of the Fukushima disaster, mankind's false impression that it can somehow safely produce electricity from the atom, and why he thinks the partial meltdown in Japan could mark a turning point for the world.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Schell, what unsettled you the most about the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe?

Schell: Clearly this whole accident just went completely off the charts of what had been prepared for. If you look at the manuals for dealing with nuclear safety accidents, you're not going to find a section that says muster your military helicopters, dip buckets into the sea and then try as best you can to splash water onto the reactor and see if you can hit a spent fuel pool. There's going to be no instruction saying, go and get your riot control trucks to spray the reactor, only to find that you're driven back by radiation. The potential for total disaster was clearly demonstrated.

http://www.spiegel.d...,753777,00.html

Edited March 31, 2011 by elcent

[atsiii]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/31/us-japan-quake-snapshot-idUSTRE72P0FT20110331

* UN watchdog suggests widening of the exclusion zone around Fukushima nuclear power station after radiation measured at a village 40 km from the facility exceeds a criterion for evacuation.

* The level of radioactive iodine found in seawater near Japan's stricken nuclear power plant was 4,385 times more than the legal limit on Thursday, the nuclear safety agency said. That was the highest recorded since the crisis began.

[Crushdepth]

Heck, every time there's an armory explosion or guns & ammo go missing from a military arsenal in Thailand, essentially no one gets disciplined.

And it just keeps happening. The Pak Chong armoury has even blown up twice.

Japanese corporate culture prevents anyone from being responsible for anything. This has a lot to do with the mis-management at the plant both prior to and after the Tsunami.

In Thailand it is always the "third hand" that did it :-)

Edited March 31, 2011 by Crushdepth

[animatic]

Sad to say we may be seeing how prescient all those 60's horror films will be about nuclear radiation and sea creatures near japan. Sure no Godzilla, but what affects will happen to the near Japan food chain and then across the pacific. It's not like we can block off the ocean with fences. Yeah it is big, but we have managed to spread less lethal pollution world wide in the oceans.... I think back to Minimata and the sad deformed humans that Japanese industrial pollution caused.

[elcent]

Radiation in seawater at new high

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says 180 becquerels per cubic centimeter of radioactive iodine-131 has been detected in seawater sampled on Wednesday at a location 330 meters south of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The level is 4,385 times higher than the legal standard, and far above the 3,355-times level detected on Tuesday.

Thursday, March 31, 2011 12:06 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/31_17.html

Why is it that there's only one radioactive substance reported? Normally it comes along with about 8 substanes (more or less)

[elcent]

Plant workers rushing to remove contaminated water

The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, is stepping up efforts to remove radioactive water pooled around reactors at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The water has been hampering work to cool the reactors.

Water contaminated by high-level radiation has been found inside turbine buildings at the No.1 through No.4 reactors, as well as in tunnels outside the buildings.

On Thursday, workers began transferring about 150 tons of contaminated water from the No.1 reactor tunnel to a storage tank to prevent it from flowing out to sea. They have so far lowered the water level in the tunnel by about one meter.

They're also expected to finish emptying tanks into which water from turbine condensers would be transferred, so the condensers could then take contaminated water from the turbine buildings at the No.1 through No.3 reactors.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says work to remove contaminated water from the No.3 reactor turbine building basement finished on Thursday morning.

Tepco continues to transfer radioactive water from the turbine building at the No.2 reactor.

Thursday, March 31, 2011 12:57 +0900 (JST) http://www3.nhk.or.j...lish/31_14.html

The news coming out of the site is annoying. No details mentioned. Do they pump the water that was left in the containers right into the ocean? At least some I guess. I see another scandal looming.

I can imagine that they get rid of the less radioactive water that was left in the containers and pumped it into the ocean and to fill the containers with the very high radioactive waters.

Oh my ...

HiTech

Edited March 31, 2011 by elcent

[elcent]

IAEA reports high radiation outside exclusion zone

The International Atomic Energy Agency says radiation levels twice as high as its criterion for evacuation were detected in a village 40 kilometers from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

This is outside the 20 kilometer exclusion zone and the 20-to-30 kilometer alert zone where the Japanese government advises voluntary evacuation.

The nuclear watchdog reported the findings at a meeting of its members in Vienna on Wednesday.

The IAEA said its experts measured levels of Iodine 131 and Cesium 137 in soil around the plant between March 18th and 26th.

It said measurements in Iitate Village, 40 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima plant, was double the IAEA operational criteria for evacuation and that it has advised Japan to carefully assess the situation.

In Tokyo on Thursday, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters that the government has been notified by the IAEA of its radiation findings.

Edano said the reported radiation levels in Iitate will not have an immediate impact on human health but could be harmful if exposed over a long period of time. He said the government will closely assess the long-term impact and take appropriate action.

Thursday, March 31, 2011 13:29 +0900 (JST)

Now the IAEA needed to act and came up with something. Here it is ... They are all under the same blanket. They look for something less and announce it to cover up the real missteps and more serious issues.

Evacuation was adviced 2 days ago but it got brushed away because it came from GreenPeace.

[Crushdepth]

" IAEA Says "There Might Be Re-Criticality At Fukushima"

I've seen the mention in the Bloomberg article but I can't find an authoritative link about the IAEA press conference where this was supposedly said. Anyone got one?

[atsiii]

http://search.japant...20110331x1.html

Up to 1,000 bodies left untouched within Fukushima no-go zone

Radiation fears have prevented authorities from collecting as many as 1,000 bodies of victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami from within the 20-km-radius evacuation zone around the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, police sources said Thursday.

One of the sources said bodies had been "exposed to high levels of radiation after death." The view was supported by the detection Sunday of elevated levels of radiation on a body found in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, about 5 km from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Elevated levels of radiation detected on the victim in the town of Okuma last Sunday forced local police to give up on retrieving the body.

They initially planned to inspect the bodies after transporting them outside the evacuation zone, but the plan is being reconsidered due to the concerns over exposure. Even after the bodies are handed over to the victims' families, cremating them could spread plumes containing radioactive materials, while burying the victims could contaminate the soil around them, according to the sources.

Edited March 31, 2011 by atsiii

[atsiii]

" IAEA Says "There Might Be Re-Criticality At Fukushima"

I've seen the mention in the Bloomberg article but I can't find an authoritative link about the IAEA press conference where this was supposedly said. Anyone got one?

The Bloomberg article referenced the IAEA's website: http://www.iaea.org/ so you might look there. Good luck!

[MikeyIdea]

I will answer. Let me first qualify by telling you that I run a subsidiary of a Japanese multinational here in Thailand. I have lived there for a year and I have also lived in the US. I still spend at least a month a year in the US but less time in Japan. Still I am working with Japanese on a regular basis and have done for the last 13 years.

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. If you have a good idea and put it forward in a meeting in Japan it will be dismissed immediately, this is done to help prevent you being blamed later on. What you have to do is put out the seed of the idea and let the group develop it. If they don't go your way, best forget about it. So - in Japan, it takes an incredibly long amount of time to get through a meeting even for the simplest of decisions. Any farang that spends time out there will tell how frustrating this was - as they didn't know how to play the game at first. In regular business planning, it's doing the Japanese OK. In an emergency situation, this is going to be a terrible burden.

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.

What will take days to decide in Japan will take hours in the US.

The reason the head of Tepco is crying is NOT because of the deaths he has contributed towards. He is crying because he is having to admit to failure. His feelings are about his self, how he will be viewed by friends, colleagues and family. I would not be at all surprised if he commits suicide. He has lost face and this is something to be avoided at all costs.

Pedro, excellent sum-up in the above post.

I was thinking of this statement from IAEA

"The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a statement saying it had found large samples of radiation outside the Japanese government's official evacuation zone around the plant, and suggested a possible expansion of the perimeter."

How is that IAEA statement going to affect a possible expansion of the perimeter? speed it up, slow it down, stall it?

[atsiii]

Heck, every time there's an armory explosion or guns & ammo go missing from a military arsenal in Thailand, essentially no one gets disciplined.

And it just keeps happening. The Pak Chong armoury has even blown up twice.

Japanese corporate culture prevents anyone from being responsible for anything. This has a lot to do with the mis-management at the plant both prior to and after the Tsunami.

In Thailand it is always the "third hand" that did it :-)

5555... I don't mean to make light of serious things, but with all this tragedy going on--we must look for a little levity where we can.

You have to admit, If you were a cartoonist I think you could have a lot of fun drawing cartoons of Thai Nuclear Plants. I can envision cartoons with miles and miles of electrical cable spaghetti--more than half of which is unused--strewn haphazard around and hanging so low workers are forced to duck under it. Or the Thai security guard at the front gate with--white gloves and epaulets--waving through a caravan of terrorists or Russian Mafia just because they have lights flashing and sirens blaring and look important. Or scooter taxis everywhere--weaving in and out of countless food vendors that are washing their woks in the cooling pool--as they pick up and drop off employees with Official Clearances in the highly secure compound.

Of course the plant wouldn't have a physical address that uniquely identified it as a place on the earth, so in the case of an emergency, people calling 1-9-1 would try to explain on whose family's land the plant was built three years before, or that it was just past the 7-11 on Rama-something Road near the British Club (or some such equally well-known landmark).

Okay, okay... I'll stop; I've poked enough fun. Be it known--If I didn't love Thailand, I wouldn't live here.

[unblocktheplanet]

http://search.japant...20110331x1.html

Up to 1,000 bodies left untouched within Fukushima no-go zone

Even after the bodies are handed over to the victims' families, cremating them could spread plumes containing radioactive materials, while burying the victims could contaminate the soil around them, according to the sources.

Seems I remember lead-lined caskets. Looks like this will be a growth industry...

A humourous take: http://forum.woodenb...range-blue-glow

The Batesville Casket Store, outsourced to India, stocks models from Italy, China, India and the US at wholesale prices:

http://www.millerdesignonline.com/funeral-casket/buy-casket.htm

[atsiii]

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/31_16.html

Death toll as of Thursday morning

The death toll from the March 11th quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan rose to 11,417 as of Thursday morning. The National Police Agency says 16,273 others are listed as missing, bringing the number of dead or missing to nearly 28,000.

The largest number of deaths -- 6,959 -- have been confirmed in Miyagi Prefecture, along with 3,349 in Iwate and 1,049 in Fukushima.

[pedro01]

I will answer. Let me first qualify by telling you that I run a subsidiary of a Japanese multinational here in Thailand. I have lived there for a year and I have also lived in the US. I still spend at least a month a year in the US but less time in Japan. Still I am working with Japanese on a regular basis and have done for the last 13 years.

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. If you have a good idea and put it forward in a meeting in Japan it will be dismissed immediately, this is done to help prevent you being blamed later on. What you have to do is put out the seed of the idea and let the group develop it. If they don't go your way, best forget about it. So - in Japan, it takes an incredibly long amount of time to get through a meeting even for the simplest of decisions. Any farang that spends time out there will tell how frustrating this was - as they didn't know how to play the game at first. In regular business planning, it's doing the Japanese OK. In an emergency situation, this is going to be a terrible burden.

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.

What will take days to decide in Japan will take hours in the US.

The reason the head of Tepco is crying is NOT because of the deaths he has contributed towards. He is crying because he is having to admit to failure. His feelings are about his self, how he will be viewed by friends, colleagues and family. I would not be at all surprised if he commits suicide. He has lost face and this is something to be avoided at all costs.

Pedro, excellent sum-up in the above post.

I was thinking of this statement from IAEA

"The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a statement saying it had found large samples of radiation outside the Japanese government's official evacuation zone around the plant, and suggested a possible expansion of the perimeter."

How is that IAEA statement going to affect a possible expansion of the perimeter? speed it up, slow it down, stall it?

Good question. To be honest, it's too complex for a westerner like me to figure out how they'll react to anything specific like this.

I think a lot depends on whether it's TEPCO or the government calling the shots on this as they have very different priorities.

[atsiii]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/world/asia/31japan.html?src=mv

The isotope, cesium 137, was measured in one village by the International Atomic Energy Agency at a level exceeding the standard that the Soviet Union used as a gauge to recommend abandoning land surrounding the Chernobyl reactor, and at another location not precisely identified by the agency at more than double the Soviet standard. The measurements were made between March 18 and March 26, the agency said.

The international team, using a measure of radioactivity called the becquerel, found as much as 3.7 million becquerels per square meter; the standard used at Chernobyl was 1.48 million. Dr. Lyman said that if a plume of contaminants had drifted with the wind, a large amount could have been dumped in one spot by a rainstorm. “I think it’s not surprising that there would be local concentrations that high,” he said. But Japan should expand the evacuation zone, now set at 19 miles, he said, and the International Atomic Energy Agency should release data faster.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said Wednesday that seawater collected about 300 yards from the Fukushima Daiichi station was found to contain iodine 131 at 3,355 times the safety standard. On Sunday, a test a mile north showed 1,150 times the maximum level, and a test the day before showed 1,250 times the limit in seawater taken from a monitoring station at the plant. On Thursday, iodine 131 rose to 4,385 times the statutory limit.

[unblocktheplanet]

"Kenzaburo Oe, the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, said that going ahead with nuclear power in Japan is a betrayal of the victims of Hiroshima."

[Chopperboy]

Pressure to widen evacuation zone

UN nuclear monitors have advised Japan to consider expanding the evacuation zone around the stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

An exclusion zone with a radius of 20km (12 miles) is currently in place but the UN says safe radiation limits have been exceeded 40km away.

Meanwhile, radioactive iodine levels in seawater near the plant reached a new record - 4,385 times the legal limit.

It was the highest reading since the quake which hit the plant on 11 March.

Radiation may be leaking from the damaged plant continuously, the country's nuclear and industrial safety agency (Nisa) said.

Edited March 31, 2011 by Chopperboy

[Chopperboy]

Evacuees Refused Treatment Amid Fear Of Radiation

Hundreds of evacuees from the area around Japan's stricken nuclear power plant are being turned away by hospitals and temporary evacuation centers because of fear they may be carrying radiation, a British newspaper reported.

Hundreds of evacuees from the area around Japan's stricken nuclear power plant are being turned away by hospitals and temporary evacuation centers because of fear they may be carrying radiation, a British newspaper reported.

The Daily Telegraph said that officials were demanding that evacuees provide certificates proving they have not been exposed to contamination.

The newspaper said a clinic in Fukushima City refused treatment to an 8-year-old girl for a skin rash. Her family was living in a shelter after abandoning their home in Minamisoma, 18 miles from the nuclear plant.

The newspaper noted that the prejudice was similar to the ostracism that survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 experienced.

[Chopperboy]

Bloomberg -- Fukushima Prefecture, epicenter of the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986, accused Japan’s central government of sowing confusion and hampering recovery efforts through poor communication.

"The people of Fukushima are worried about the situation, so make sure you’re keeping us informed of what the government is doing," Governor Yuhei Sato said today in a heated exchange with Shingo Naito, deputy director general for industrial safety at the Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry.

Sato’s criticism was echoed by the mayor of the Fukushima city of Minami Soma, whose residents were forced to leave because of quake damage and their proximity to the crippled facility, which is leaking radiation.

"The government tells us to be ready for further evacuation orders in case of a ‘worst-case scenario,’ but I wonder what that suggests?" Minami Soma Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai said in a telephone interview. “We want to get on with rebuilding our city. We just don’t have the sort of information we need from the government.”

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-30/radiation-threatened-fukushima-accuses-japan-of-information-void.html

[elcent]

Swissnuclear received a letterbomb today. Two women hurt and hospitalized.

Swissnuclear is a lobby-group.

[elcent]

Bomb targets Swiss nuclear lobby group

Report: Attack may be politically motivated; two workers injured

• x

FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP - Getty Images Policemen approach the entrance of Swissnuclear in Olten, Switzerland, on March 31, 2011. Two people were injured when a letter bomb exploded, local police said.NBC, msnbc.com and news services NBC, msnbc.com and news services updated 23 minutes ago 2011-03-31T10:44:03 GENEVA — Two people were injured when a parcel bomb exploded in the offices of a group representing the Swiss nuclear power industry, police said Thursday.

The explosion happened shortly after 8 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) as staff were opening mail in the Swissnuclear's office in the northern city of Olten, police spokeswoman Thalia Schweizer said.

Swissnuclear is a lobby group representing national power companies Axpo, Alpiq and BKW.

Schweizer said the two staff members were taken to a hospital but their injuries appeared to be superficial.

Swiss news agency SDA reported that the attack may be politically motivated.

Opponents of nuclear power in Switzerland have become more vocal in recent weeks as images of the stricken Fukushima reactor in Japan appear on the evening news bulletins daily.

Switzerland has five nuclear reactors currently in operation.

Earlier this month, Switzerland suspended the approvals process for three new nuclear power stations so safety standards could be reviewed.

Switzerland derived about 10 percent of its energy from nuclear generation in 2009, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.

The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC News' Andy Eckardt contributed to this report.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42354509/ns/world_news-europe/

[Chopperboy]

Japan activist rams gate of nuclear plant near stricken reactors

31 Mar 2011 12:11

Source: reuters // Reuters

March 31 (Reuters) - A man drove his truck into the compound of a nuclear power plant on Thursday just miles from Japan's quake-stricken reactors, managing to evade police for two hours and embarrassing the country's already heavily criticised nuclear authorities.

He had driven inside the government's 20 km (12.5 mile) evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant which has been leaking radiation after it was by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

"Being refused entry at the main gate there, he went around to the western side gate, rammed it, and entered," said Nishiyama, who looked surprised at the interest shown by reporters in the incident.

The man had driven around the area briefly before leaving. He was eventually caught two hours later after a police chase.

Asked whether this raised questions about security, Nishiyama said: "At both Daiichi and Daini, everything possible is being done on the security front. But there is the radioactivity, and there is some question as to whether every nook and cranny in the area was secure."

[elcent]

Fukushima nuke crisis to be discussed at G8 summit

The Japanese and French leaders say they have agreed that the crisis at the quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will be high on the agenda of the G8 summit scheduled for May in France.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan and French President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke to reporters on Thursday after meeting in Tokyo.

Kan thanked Sarkozy for visiting Japan at a time of considerable difficulty to embody international solidarity as the head of France, which now holds the rotating presidency of the G8 summit talks.

The 2 leaders confirmed that Japan will work with France, which has the second largest number of nuclear power stations in the world, and other members of the international community to solve the crisis in Fukushima.

Kan added that Japan is responsible for accurately informing the world of its bitter experience to prevent similar occurrences in the future, and to help discuss new international nuclear safety standards.

Thursday, March 31, 2011 19:10 +0900 (JST)

Below: Final countdown?

US to send emergency response unit to Japan

The US military is sending Marines specialized in responding to nuclear emergencies to Japan to help deal with the trouble at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Japan's Self-Defense Force Joint Chief of Staff Ryoichi Oriki announced the measure on Thursday.

Oriki said US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has approved the sending of the 140-member Chemical Biological Incident Response Force.

The unit is trained in search-and-rescue operations and clearing highly radioactive nuclear materials.

Oriki said the unit will not necessarily take immediate action, and that the Self-Defense Forces hope to share information with them and study how it can be put into use when needed.

The US military has provided a barge capable of carrying large volumes of fresh water to keep reactors at the plant cool. It has also sent nuclear experts to Japan as part of efforts to resolve the crisis.

Thursday, March 31, 2011 19:36 +0900 (JST)

Something crawling in the cartons?

G20 calls for assistance to Japan

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 economies have called for joint efforts to stabilize the foreign exchange system and to help Japan recover from the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami.

The officials met on Thursday in the Chinese city of Nanjing for a seminar on international monetary system reforms. The event was organized by France, which holds G20's chairmanship this year.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in an opening speech that G20 nations must cooperate by learning a lesson from the major effects of Japan's earthquake on the global economy and energy policy.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan said that global economic recovery from the 2008 financial crisis remains fragile and Japan's earthquake has further intensified uncertainties about prospects for the global economy.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the G7 joint market interventions on March 18th were intended to prevent extreme movements of the Japanese currency, which could harm Japan's economic recovery.

Thursday, March 31, 2011 16:42 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/index.html

[brahmburgers]

It's no mystery why there are v. high levels of radiation in sea water near the stricken plant. Tons of water has been sprayed on the reactor buildings for over a week. The water has to go somewhere. Very little seeps in to the ground or is lost to evaporation, ...and if there are any containment pools, they were probably overflowing within a short time. So the tainted water simply flowed downhill and in to the sea.

Actually, I don't know the terrain there, but from photos, it doesn't look like there are tidal pools to speak of, or else we would have seen or heard of them by now.

Several times, during these discussions, I have recalled how the US space agency deals with mishaps during a mission. When there's a problem in space, an astronaut will talk with an assigned person at mission control, and that person has a back-up, but there's only one person on the phone connection with the astronaut at any one time. Behind the assigned 'helper' and his/her assistant, is a whole team of experts, who are going gang-busters trying to find a solution to any glitch that may present itself in space. That scenario was made famous in the Apollo 13 movie, but was also a scenario during the final fixing of the Hubble Telescope. A glitch showed up with a screw which wouldn't come loose for a metal 'arm' which was blocking an access panel. Everyone remained calm, while all sorts of possible fixes were considered by the experts on the ground. After a tense hour or so, it was decided to physically break the arm off - even though there was a risk the force, in zero gravity, might damage the astronaut's suit or helmet. It worked, and the Hubble was fixed.

[JulianLS]

Japan activist rams gate of nuclear plant near stricken reactors

31 Mar 2011 12:11

Source: reuters // Reuters

March 31 (Reuters) - A man drove his truck into the compound of a nuclear power plant on Thursday just miles from Japan's quake-stricken reactors, managing to evade police for two hours and embarrassing the country's already heavily criticised nuclear authorities.

He had driven inside the government's 20 km (12.5 mile) evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant which has been leaking radiation after it was by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

"Being refused entry at the main gate there, he went around to the western side gate, rammed it, and entered," said Nishiyama, who looked surprised at the interest shown by reporters in the incident.

The man had driven around the area briefly before leaving. He was eventually caught two hours later after a police chase.

Asked whether this raised questions about security, Nishiyama said: "At both Daiichi and Daini, everything possible is being done on the security front. But there is the radioactivity, and there is some question as to whether every nook and cranny in the area was secure."

Must have been from greenpeace, taking readings

[elcent]

Image of gravity which makes the looks of our planet diferent. Wonder if the European Sattelite will be able to make visuals oft tectonic constellation in the near future.

Enjoy the potato while you can.

Edited March 31, 2011 by elcent

[elcent]

Radiation monitors not given to each worker

NHK has learned that Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, has not provided every worker at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant with radiation monitors, breaking government rules.

High levels of contamination have been detected at the Daiichi power complex following a series of hydrogen explosions that have scattered radioactive substances.

TEPCO says the quake destroyed many radiation monitors, so in some work groups only leaders have them, leaving others struggling to manage exposure.

The government requires companies to provide each individual worker with a radiation monitor when working under such conditions.

One worker who helped restore electricity to the plant, says each man must have been exposed to different levels of radiation, and that he has no idea how much contamination he was exposed to.

TEPCO says that those without monitors are assigned to low-radiation work, and that safety measures are in place.

The health ministry says exposure to large amounts of radiation is always a possibility during a nuclear power plant accident. It adds if the claims are true it is a serious problem, and that it plans to investigate the company's safety management.

Thursday, March 31, 2011 19:37 +0900 (JST) http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/31_31.html