Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor

[jfchandler]

Guys, just a gentle reminder, there is a separate TV thread running about the proposed Thai nuclear reactors.... Discussion about the Thai projects/plans would be more appropriate there...

The discussion here is on Japan....

[jfchandler]

Jd and Julian, thanks for the interesting posts re the radiology of cesium (and plutonium) in the environment...

But it's early morning, and my reading eyes are still bleary, so can one of you give me the non-tech shortcut on those things???

It's OK to drink plutonium in lethal doses, but don't eat cesium contaminated pidgeon breasts???

Who eats pidgeons anyway???

[jfchandler]

Did I miss a discussion by you guys about this? CNN just had a Breaking News on it. They said black smoke is coming out and the plant has been evacuated.

Yup, you missed it, 99....

The world is coming to an end. Armageddon is here...

CNN will have breaking new on it.... tomorrow...

[JulianLS]

Jd and Julian, thanks for the interesting posts re the radiology of cesium (and plutonium) in the environment...

But it's early morning, and my reading eyes are still bleary, so can one of you give me the non-tech shortcut on those things???

It's OK to drink plutonium in lethal doses, but don't eat cesium contaminated pidgeon breasts???

Who eats pidgeons anyway???

Sorry, cant find any simple links on the topic. But key points re: caesium vs iodine are:

- Cs is excreted from the body over a period of months. It's not stored within the body.

- with the 30 year half life of Cs137, it means that most of it would not decay within the body (hence not emit radiation) and would be harmlessly excreted still as Cs137.

- but still, continuous ingestion of Cs137 could pose a long term radiation risk, dependent upon the amounts and duration.

- cf iodine, which is stored in the thyroid and given the short half life, will decay and will emit radiation.

With regards to pigeon consumption, that's more or less the conclusion that BNFL reached In fact, better to avoid them totally, cos the feathers showed a much higher radiation level than the meat!

[jfchandler]

NHK reporting this morning that work has resumed on restoring the electrical systems and cooling systems on the Fukushima Daiichi reactors -- after being suspended yesterday due to smoke coming from Reactor No.3.

NHK says TEPCO managed to restore power to the control room Reactor No. 1 on Thursday morning, similar to doing so with Reactor No. 3 a couple days ago. That said, I'll be more interested when they report that they've been able to restore working cooling systems -- still none of them operating normally at any of the four reactors.

Meanwhile, NHK had a funny story this morning about worried Tokyo area residents today calling authorities after finding a yellow powder type substance deposited on their roofs and car tops...thinking it might be radioactive emissions from the Fukushima plant...

Turned out, the yellow powder wasn't radioactive at all, but rather, was the pollen from cedar trees that had been washed down by a recent rainfall.....

[JulianLS]

Could someone please explain to me how pouring masses amount of water on the OUTSIDE of the containment vessel can make the pressure rise INSIDE the containment vessel?

Am I being dumb here? But it sounds to me like the increased pressure is more related to the temperature rise, ie. something going on with the fuel inside the reactor containment vessel.

Pressure rises inside No.1 reactor container

Tokyo Electric Power Company is taking measures to reduce pressure inside the No.1 reactor containment vessel at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The power company began injecting more water into the No.1 reactor on Wednesday, after temperatures on the reactor surface reached about 400 degrees Celsius, exceeding the safety limit of 302 degrees.

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says the influx of massive amounts of water has raised the pressure inside the reactor containment vessel.

The power company cut back on the water injection early on Thursday. This resulted in pressure inside the container dropping to 0.3585 mega-pascals, below the safety limit of 0.528 mega-pascals.

The reactor temperature also dropped to 243 degrees as of 5:00 AM on Thursday.

Source: NHK website

Edited March 24, 2011 by JulianLS

[Jdietz]

Hi,

By -injecting- they mean they are pumping seawater directly into the reactor core.

When they talk about dousing, they are spraying water over the building, hoping some of it will hit the storage pools.

[jfchandler]

Julian, ya, like Jd said...

There are different kinds of watering going on...

One kind, which I guess you could call POURING, is the operations going on to pour water directly into the (now open/un-enclosed) spent fuel cooling pools in at least Reactors 3 and 4 from the outside, using the crane type trucks...

Then separately, I believe, they're injecting water directly into the reactors themselves in Reactors 1-3, to take the place of the reactor cooling systems that aren't working... And when I say this, I'm recalling the earlier discussions about how the reactor fuel rods were entirely uncovered from water at some points, partly uncovered at other points, due to the failing cooling systems. And to the extent they remained uncovered from water, that meant they could overheat and eventually melt down.

So I'm assuming it's this latter kind of water injection into the reactors themselves that impacts the reactor pressures...

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[vont]

NHK reporting this morning that work has resumed on restoring the electrical systems and cooling systems on the Fukushima Daiichi reactors -- after being suspended yesterday due to smoke coming from Reactor No.3.

NHK says TEPCO managed to restore power to the control room Reactor No. 1 on Thursday morning, similar to doing so with Reactor No. 3 a couple days ago. That said, I'll be more interested when they report that they've been able to restore working cooling systems -- still none of them operating normally at any of the four reactors.

Meanwhile, NHK had a funny story this morning about worried Tokyo area residents today calling authorities after finding a yellow powder type substance deposited on their roofs and car tops...thinking it might be radioactive emissions from the Fukushima plant...

Turned out, the yellow powder wasn't radioactive at all, but rather, was the pollen from cedar trees that had been washed down by a recent rainfall.....

After having traveled, talked, meddled around and seen so many different countries and their leaders in private and in action and in public,

I would in the referenced matter above reserve my opinion as to what those yellow powder is, for the time being.

Most leaders including the G7 would say and agree on something in private, but act opposite in public, which I believe appears to be the norms in any political arena, particularly in Southeast Asia.

Surely hope and pray the yellow powder is just what the expert said it is.

[elcent]

Excellent post, confirming much of what was previously speculated, but with numbers and background material. Thanks!

Radiochemical analysis of the breast muscle from the pigeons showed significant levels of plutonium and americium-241 isotopes (table 4 and table 5) but of much lower radiological significance than caesium. These isotopes would only contribute a few percent of the dose to any consumer of that due to caesium - 137.

Eat that, plutonium scaremongers

To expand on that: http://www.atomicins...tonium_eff.html

During the Manhattan Project in 1944 and 1945, 26 men accidentally ingested plutonium in quantities that far exceeded what is now considered to be a lethal dose. Since there has been a consistent interest in the health effects of this brand new substance (first discovered by Glenn Seaborg's team at the University of California in 1940), these men were closely tracked for medical studies.

As of 1987, more than four decades later, only four of the workers had died and only one death was caused by cancer. The expected number of deaths in a random sample of men the age of those in the group is 10. The expected number of deaths from cancer in a similar group is between two and three.

(...)

It has to be considered important, however, to know that at least 22 men have been able to live more than 40 years after ingesting "the most toxic substance known to man." It should make one question the motives and accuracy of Ralph Nader, a public figure who has actively promoted such an obviously inaccurate statement.

Finally, a plutonium 'fact-sheet' can be found here: http://www.wipp.ener...s/plutonium.pdf

It's like someone saying in 1968 that nobody had died of radiation in Chernobyl.

Looking forward of a radiant life.

[elcent]

a recent image of controlling station in unit 3.

[JulianLS]

Thanks Jd, Jeff. I understand now.

I guess when I read "massive amounts of water" I assumed they meant the ongoing spraying/dousing/pouring. Rather than the reactor emergency injector system that they have been using to get water inside the reactor. I guess their assumption was that the rapid temp rise must have meant the rods were exposed - again - so they topped it up.

Have they identified any sources of the grey smoke? I did wonder whether it resulted from re-connecting electrical supplies, and various components going "pop" due to the presence of sea water.....

[elcent]

A word to activism as some here complain about ...

Secrecy, blinding tactics, using billions for advdertisement, lobbying, distortions, hiding serious accidents and so much more is seriously dangerous activism.

Seems as if GE and others get a class action law suit coming their way. So far to nukes at the coastal areas. They should have denied that location. Just common sense ...

Edited March 24, 2011 by elcent

[elcent]

good question

Who controls nuclear control agencies?

As Japan struggles to confront a nuclear disaster that could be the worst in history, it seems clear that any discussion about the safety of nuclear energy should address the independence of regulatory agencies.

On Apr. 26, 1986 a series of explosions and fires at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine released radioactive fallout that spread over eastern and western Europe, particularly affecting Ukraine itself, Byelorussia (now Belarus) and Russia, all Soviet republics at the time.

Twenty-five years later, Chernobyl's reactor number 4 continues to emit high levels of radioactivity even though it is buried under a thick but decaying layer of concrete.

Europe and the United States are trying to raise more than $2bn to build a permanent sarcophagus to contain the radiation.

The Chernobyl disaster is usually attributed to obsolete technology and the secrecy characteristic of the Soviet regime.

Japan's crisis

The accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant was triggered by the damage resulting from the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11.

But "TEPCO doesn't have the best record for safety or disclosure of information," said Mycle Schneider, a Paris-based energy and nuclear policy analyst who also works in Japan.

In 2002 TEPCO was caught falsifying safety records and was forced to shut down all 17 of its reactors, including those at the stricken Fukushima I facility, located some 240km north of Tokyo in eastern Japan, on the Pacific coast.

TEPCO executives admitted to over 200 submissions of false technical data in the previous two decades. The only reason TEPCO was caught was because a US nuclear engineer working at TEPCO came forward with the information, Schneider said.

A smaller 6.6 earthquake in 2007 forced TEPCO to shut down all seven reactors at the world's largest nuclear power station on the west coast of the country. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility was closed for 21 months for repairs and additional earthquake-proofing. Only four of seven reactors have been restarted.

"There is no location in Japan that isn't prone to earthquakes," said Schneider.

Japan obtains one third of its electricity from 55 nuclear reactors, behind France with 59 and the United States with over 100. Japan has no oil, natural gas or coal deposits and is a major energy user. The country has plans to build 15 more nuclear reactors.

There have been a number of accidents at other Japanese nuclear facilities.

These include a 2004 incident that killed five workers and another in 1996 where radioactive fallout drifted over the northeastern suburbs of Tokyo. The latter went largely unreported due to a government ban on press coverage of the incident, alleged journalist Yoichi Shimatsu, former editor of the Japan Times Weekly, in a report published by The 4th Media.

Regulatory problems

Japan's environmental activists have long complained about the inadequacy in government regulation and a culture within the industry's management of covering up mistakes.

The problem is that nuclear power companies like TEPCO and the government regulators are "essentially one and the same," says Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, a civil society organisation.

This is the situation not only in Japan but in Canada, the United States and other countries, Edwards said.

"There are few independent nuclear experts in the world. Everyone either works in the industry or used to and are now regulators," he said.

Canada has a large government-owned nuclear industry with 17 reactors providing 15 per cent of the country's electricity. The Canadian government has sold its CANDU nuclear reactors to several countries, including Argentina and, most recently, China.

Canada's nuclear plants have been plagued with costly repairs and shutdowns, mainly due to leaking pipes. There have not been any fatalities, but repair costs have been in the billions of dollars.

The industry and regulators are not interested in educating the public or policymakers, Edwards says. "They never explain that radioactivity can never be turned off. They don't explain that even when a reactor is shut down it still generates an enormous amount of heat that has to be removed to prevent a meltdown," he stressed.

A clear example is TEPCO's Fukushima I reactor number 4, which had been shut down since December, but its used or spent fuel in storage pools threatened to go critical because the cooling system failed after the earthquake.

Canadian connection

The reactor buildings at Fukushima held up well, but there clearly was a problem with the back-up power for the cooling systems, says John Luxat, professor and Industrial Research Chair in Nuclear Safety Analysis at McMaster University, near Toronto.

Canada has a robust public safety regulator in the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), Luxat said in an interview.

The government appoints experts from the industry and other sectors to run the Commission and enforce safety standards. Any additional safety standards add considerably to the cost, acknowledged Luxat, who used to work in the Canadian nuclear industry.

"In 2008, when the president of the CNSC (Linda Keen) tried to bring Canadian nuclear safety regulations in line with international standards, the government fired her," said Shawn-Patrick Stensil, a nuclear analyst at Greenpeace Canada.

One of the changes proposed by Keen was to mandate back-up diesel generators to provide electricity in the event of power failure following an earthquake, Stensil said.

"The independence of the Commission has been compromised with the appointment of a pro-nuclear industry president," he said.

The CNSC and the nuclear industry refuse to release their safety studies for independent peer review, claiming it is too risky to make them public, says Stensil.

"The industry is always overstating the safety and benefits and understating the costs and risks," said Mark Mattson of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, a local environmental NGO.

"It's impossible to get them to provide evidence to support their claims," he said.

Most of Canada's nuclear reactors are in the Greater Toronto region, where nearly six million people live.

Public hearings are being held next week for the construction of two more reactors. However, the decision to build has already been made at the political level, said Mattson.

"We don't actually need the additional energy. The only reason this is going forward is to support the industry," he said.

A version of this article first appeared on Inter Press Service news agency.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/03/201132317958260690.html

[unblocktheplanet]

good question

Who controls nuclear control agencies?

Twenty-five years later, Chernobyl's reactor number 4 continues to emit high levels of radioactivity even though it is buried under a thick but decaying layer of concrete.

Europe and the United States are trying to raise more than $2bn to build a permanent sarcophagus to contain the radiation.

...The problem is that nuclear power companies like TEPCO and the government regulators are "essentially one and the same," says Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, a civil society organisation.

..."We don't actually need the additional energy. The only reason this is going forward is to support the industry," he said.

A version of this article first appeared on Inter Press Service news agency.

http://english.aljaz...7958260690.html

This article sure exposes the greedheads. It's all about the money, people.

"Trying to raise" 2billion?!? The US defence budget is $685.1 billion. The US spends almost $2billion a day on war. Take a day off, fer Chrissakes! We're not talking about a charity bakesale.

[Jdietz]

A word to activism as some here complain about ...

Secrecy, blinding tactics, using billions for advdertisement, lobbying, distortions, hiding serious accidents and so much more is seriously dangerous activism.

Seems as if GE and others get a class action law suit coming their way. So far to nukes at the coastal areas. They should have denied that location. Just common sense ...

Not thread related, though if you know where I can send my bill, please -do- tell.

Now can we get back on topic, being the -current- situation and developments with the incidents at the Japanese nuclear reactors at the TEPCO Daiichi plant, and some minor US bashing?

Edited March 24, 2011 by Jdietz

[geriatrickid]

A word to activism as some here complain about ...

Secrecy, blinding tactics, using billions for advdertisement, lobbying, distortions, hiding serious accidents and so much more is seriously dangerous activism.

Seems as if GE and others get a class action law suit coming their way. So far to nukes at the coastal areas. They should have denied that location. Just common sense ...

Seems as if GE and others get a class action law suit coming their way? On what basis? Because you say so? The GE plant design was from the 60's. It was state of the art at that time. 50 years later, what do you expect? Are automobiles from 1965 as technologically advanced as those built in 2011? Hello?Instead of posting childish nonsense pick up a legal journal and read up on class action lawsuits in Japan. It's Japan not the USA. Who are you to say they should have denied that location? Stop playing the blame game. It is easy to point a finger at energy desperate Japan saying should've done this should've done that. They acted based upon their beliefs and technology of that era.

[geriatrickid]

Sorry, but I do not rely on al jazeera for factual information about the Canadian nuclear industry. The fact is that you posted a misleading and inaccurate article I therefore question your motives. Here are the facts;

1. Linda Keen's contract was terminated for just cause because she had bungled the safety upgrade process at Chalk River. It related to the fiasco surrounding her shutdown of the medical isotope reactor in Chalk River, not because of back up generators. She did not consult nor advise the medical authorities. The Chalk River facility provided most of the world's medical isotopes. Because of the prolonged shutdown tens of thousands of Canadian lives were put in peril and hundreds of thousands of people around the world faced medical treatment issues. The health authorities around the world were furious at the Canadian government because it had allowed Ms. Keen the authority to shut the facility down without taking into consideration that tens of thousands of lives in any given month were dependent upon the isotopes produced at Chalk River. She made a unilateral decision. There was a cost benefit analysis to be made and it wasn't done.

2. This claim about not having backup generators is crap. It is also obvious that you are clueless as to the CANDU reactor design. It is considered one of the safest designs in the world and is different than the GE, Westinghouse, Chinese and French designs. For example, at the Pickering plant, each pair of reactors has three stand-by generators, each of which would be enough to power the cooling systems. They also have auxiliary and back-up generators. Greenpeace is not a reliable source of information on the Ontario public utility plants. Rather, I suggest you read any one of the open hearing reports.

Yes there have been problems at the plants, but the fact of the matter is that the safety systems picked it up and the information was made public. If you want to post unsubstantiated allegations, then please go to one of the conspiracy websites.

FYI, Ontario like Japan has an energy shortage and has to rely on coal and oil fired plants if it cannot obtain access to nuclear sources. The emissions from those plants are far more dangerous to public health than the nuclear plants.

And btw, I am opposed to nuclear energy. I am however also opposed to those that resort to wild claims to make a point.

Edited March 24, 2011 by geriatrickid

[Jdietz]

Tokyo Hackerspace has set up a live Geigercounter (a real old clunker, hacked to update to the internet). Data available here: http://www.pachube.com/feeds/21289

[jfchandler]

Back in the neighborhood...

Nice to see everyone's been busy here...while I've been away...

Now how about some serious stuff on the topic de thread...

NHK

2 nuclear plant workers hospitalized

Japan's nuclear safety agency says 2 workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were taken to hospital on Thursday after being exposed to high-level radiation at the Number 3 reactor.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says the workers were standing on a flooded basement floor while working to reconnect power lines in the turbine building adjacent to the reactor. As a result, their feet were exposed to 170 to 180 millisieverts of radiation. (see add below)

The workers were taken to a local hospital before being moved to the National Institute of Radiological Sciences for treatment.

A third worker was also exposed to the higher-level radiation but apparently did not require treatment.

The maximum level of radiation exposure allowed for nuclear plant workers in Japan is normally 100 millisieverts. But the health and labor ministry has recently raised that limit to 250 millisieverts for emergency crews at the Fukushima plant.

Thursday, March 24, 2011 16:46 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.j...lish/24_41.html

Is that what you'd call getting a nuclear hot foot??

Add:

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says workers at the Fukushima nuclear power plant should take extra precautions to prevent exposing themselves accidentally to high levels of radiation.

Edano said it is extremely regrettable that 2 workers at the plant were hospitalized on Thursday after they inadvertently stepped onto a floor flooded with highly radioactive water.

He said the workers were carefully monitoring radiation levels in the air, but apparently were not fully aware of the danger of radiation exposure from water on the floor.

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

NHK

Tokyo lifts advice against tap water

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says it has lifted its advice against using tap water for consumption by infants in Tokyo's 23 wards and 5 adjacent cities.

The government said the level of radioactive iodine-131 in water at the Kanamachi purification plant on Thursday morning had dropped to 79 becquerels per liter -- below the recommended limit of 100 for infants under 1 year old. The government added that the level has been falling for 3 days.

The advisory had been issued after levels above the limit were detected at the plant on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Friday, the government plans to continue testing the level at the plant and distribute 240,000 bottles of water to households with infants, following similar distribution on Thursday.

Thursday, March 24, 2011 17:12 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.j...lish/24_40.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

NHK

Steam rising from 4 reactors at Fukushima plant

An NHK helicopter crew has confirmed what appears to be steam rising from No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 reactor buildings at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

This is the first time that steam has been seen coming out of the No.1 reactor.

The helicopter crew was filming from a location more than 30 kilometers from the plant shortly before 7:00 AM on Thursday.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company says that black smoke seen rising from the No.3 reactor building on Wednesday was no longer visible as of 6:00 AM Thursday.

Thursday, March 24, 2011 09:31 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.j...lish/24_18.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[unblocktheplanet]

I don't accept any POV as necessarily true or factual. But we do need to access all the information from everywhere and sift and sort for ourselves. It is undeniable that secrecy and media spin exacerbated a lot of fear. Govt and industry needs to just start telling the truth! That's not too much to ask.

Rather anecdotal report in The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker...currentPage=all

Makes an interesting comparison of US reliance on its military industry and Japan relying on its nuclear.

[jfchandler]

NHK

Nations restrict Japanese food imports

The radiation contamination caused by a quake-stricken nuclear power plant in Fukushima has prompted several countries to ban food imports from the surrounding area.

The response follows Japan's decision to halt shipments of some vegetables from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures and raw milk from Ibaraki due to radiation concerns.

The United States has stopped imports of dairy products, fruit and vegetables from the 4 prefectures.

US authorities are also screening other food and animal feed from the affected area for radiation before allowing them to be distributed in the country.

Canada has said it will not allow the entry of milk products, fruit or vegetables from the 4 prefectures without acceptable documentation verifying their safety.

Singapore and Australia have announced similar import suspensions.

Hong Kong is suspending imports of vegetables, fruit, and dairy products from the 4 prefectures and Chiba Prefecture, south of Ibaraki. Authorities said the measure covers Chiba after traces of radiation exceeding safety limits were detected in a sample of spinach from Chiba.

Other countries in Europe and Asia are also stepping up their monitoring of food imports from Japan.

Thursday, March 24, 2011 17:45 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/24_35.html

[jfchandler]

NHK

Foreign airlines resuming flights to Narita

Germany's Lufthansa airlines will resume flights to and from Narita Airport near Tokyo on Friday. The flights had been suspended after the earthquake 2 weeks ago.

Lufthansa flights were being re-routed to international airports near Osaka and Nagoya in central Japan, since the March 11th earthquake and nuclear crisis.

Lufthansa says it has considered safety and other factors in its decision to resume regular flight schedules.

But the company says it will not station crews at Narita, and that flights to and from Narita will be via the South Korean capital of Seoul.

Italy's Alitalia also says it will resume flights into and out of Narita on Friday.

Japan's transport ministry says the relevant United Nations agency has confirmed there is no medical basis for limiting international flights into and out of Japan.

The ministry says it will keep airline companies well informed about the nuclear power plant emergency in northeastern Japan.

Thursday, March 24, 2011 17:44 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/24_43.html

[jfchandler]

NHK:

Temperatures fall to less than 60 degrees Celsius in spent fuel pools

Japan's Defense Ministry says that the temperature of spent fuel rod pools in 2 reactors of a seriously damaged nuclear plant has fallen below 60 degrees Celsius.

The Ministry has been using helicopters to take infrared surveys of the surface temperatures of facilities at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant since Saturday.

The 3rd survey was done for half an hour from around 9 AM on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry, the surface temperature of the spent fuel rod pool at the No. 3 reactor was 57 degrees Celsius. The rod pool at the No. 4 reactor was recorded at 22 degrees Celsius.

The first infrared survey on Sunday found temperatures under 100 degrees Celsius in the same facilities.

The surface temperature of the container vessel for the No. 3 reactor was 35 degrees Celsius, down from128 degrees on Sunday.

The surface temperatures of the buildings of all 6 reactors at the plant were below 40 degrees Celsius.

The Defense Ministry says the effort to cool the spent nuclear fuel rod pools contributed to the temperature falls.

It was revealed on Wednesday that the temperature of the core in the No. 1 reactor had reached about 400 degrees Celsius. The ministry says the surface temperature of the building housing the reactor was 38 degrees on Wednesday, as observed by aerial survey.

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

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/24_05.html

[jfchandler]

People [in 20 to 30 Km zone] may be urged to move further from nuclear plant for convenience

TOKYO, March 24, Kyodo

The government is reviewing whether to continue its current directive for people living 20 to 30 kilometers away from a troubled nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture to remain indoors, with an eye on possibly recommending they relocate further away to make their everyday life easier over the long term, the top government spokesman indicated Thursday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano noted in a news conference that reconsidering the directive does not mean the risk of radiation leaks from the plant is increasing.

''We are reviewing whether people can continue living under the current conditions,'' Edano said.

People within the 20 to 30 km range have been inconvenienced by increasingly limited goods available for living such as gasoline and foods, as trucking companies are shunning the government-designated area.

Edano noted that people in the area have been getting supplies from the Self-Defense Force troops.

After the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and caused radiation leaks, directives were issued for people living in a 20-kilometer radius of the plant to evacuate and those in the 20-30 km range to stay indoors.

Edano emphasized that a revised order of this kind must be dealt with cautiously so as not to create a misperception that danger from the radiation leaks is spreading.

http://english.kyodo...1/03/80777.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

M6.1 quake jolts Miyagi Prefecture, vicinity

TOKYO, March 24, Kyodo News

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 jolted Miyagi Prefecture and its vicinity on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. A change in the sea level may occur following the 5:21 p.m. quake but no damage is expected, the agency said.

The quake measured lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in central Miyagi Prefecture and 4 in several locations in Iwate, Miyagi and Akita prefectures, according to the agency.

Coastal areas of Miyagi were devastated by a massive tsunami following a magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11.

http://english.kyodo...1/03/80754.html

Edited March 24, 2011 by jfchandler

[elcent]

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.

[jfchandler]

I don't know what this is about, and I don't see any followup or further detail as yet:

Kyodo News: TEPCO asks some workers at troubled nuke plant No. 3 unit to evacuate

17:21 24 March (that's 3:21 pm Thai time today)