BREAKING NEWS: Japan Nuclear Crisis

[irishspirit]

NEWS ADVISORY: Spinach from Tochigi Pref. detected with high radioactive substance (22:32)

[irishspirit]

Traces of radioactive iodine were detected in Tokyo and the surrounding Kanto region after an investigation of radioactivity in precipitation and dust was conducted following the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the government said Sunday.
Radioactive iodine was found in Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Yamanashi, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said, while traces of cesium were also detected in Tochigi and Gunma in the samples collected in the 24-hour period from 9 a.m. Friday.


The ministry added that the levels detected in the investigation alone would not affect human health. It also said that a separate research has already shown that radioactive materials in the air and tap water in Tokyo and the five prefectures pose no threat to human health.
Tochigi, Gunma and Niigata prefectures border Fukushima Prefecture.


The amount of iodine detected in Tochigi was 1,300 megabecquerel per square kilometer, 230 megabecquerel in Gunma, 51 megabecquerel in Tokyo, 64 megabecquerel in Saitama, 21 megabecquerel in Chiba and 175 megabecquerel in Yamanashi.
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/79731.html

[irishspirit]

TOKYO, March 20, Kyodo


The death toll from last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami is expected to top 15,000 in Miyagi Prefecture alone, the local police chief said Sunday, while Self-Defense Forces personnel and firefighters fought to cool hobbled nuclear power reactors in Fukushima Prefecture.


As the death toll from the disaster steadily climbed on Day 10 and exceeded 5,000 in Miyagi alone, a 16-year-old boy and an 80-year-old woman were rescued from a flattened house in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, according to the police.


The woman and her grandson survived the cold and hunger by subsisting mostly on foods left in a refrigerator, the police said, drawing from the boy's account.
About 35,500 evacuees continued to endure cold weather at makeshift shelters in 15 prefectures, including Tokyo, as relief materials such as blankets arrived in Japan from overseas.


http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/79809.html

[irishspirit]

The USO said about 200,000 U.S. personnel are being evacuated from Japan to U.S. West Coast cities including San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle/JBLM.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/27248974/detail.html

Number keeps going up, but it is ok folk's, everything is so safe in Japan.

[Swami]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/package...es/zones-5.png

[irishspirit]

Radioactive substance detected in 'shungiku' leaf vegetable in Chiba (22:45

[Swami]

Japan Warns Fukushima Crisis Unlikely to Be Resolved Quickly

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ce=twitterfeed

[Swami]

Japanese police investigating into TEPCO

http://disasternewscorp.blogspot.com...ting-into.html

[WhiteStar]

Makhijani, a longtime watchdog over the nuclear power industry, recalled that workers at Chernobyl shoveled chunks of radioactive material into dumpsters to reduce radiation emissions and save the lives of others.

"Most of the workers are dead," he said, "but you know there'd be a lot more people dead if they hadn't done it."

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2011/03/19/176563...#ixzz1H92vURQw

Thank you Richard for that important post.

What incredibly generous and caring Souls humans CAN be, when they are prepared to risk their lives and lose everything they hold dear, to help others survive.

Bless those beautiful Souls for they are an example of what all humans can be.

"Fukushima's reactor No. 3 has been of special concern because it uses reprocessed nuclear weapons fuel containing traces of plutonium, far more lethal than the deadly radiation in other reactor waste."


"The worst case is, you dump more water on that spent fuel pool, and it drains," said Najmedin Meshkati, a nuclear safety expert who teaches at the University of Southern California. "And then the zirconium cladding of that fuel bundle will interact with this hot water, and it will release hydrogen. Then there may be fire or an explosion."


Because part of the roof of that building has been blown off by an earlier hydrogen explosion, he said, "all of that radioactive cloud ... may get released into the environment. It's very potent."

[irishspirit]

Thank you Richard for that important post.

What incredibly generous and caring Souls humans CAN be, when they are prepared to risk their lives and lose everything they hold dear, to help others survive.

Bless those beautiful Souls for they are an example of what all humans can be.

Nicely put. I would change the could be to should be.

[irishspirit]

NEWS ADVISORY: Temperatures at all spent fuel pools at Fukushima plant below 100 C: Kitazawa (22:55)

[irishspirit]

This is in slow motion

[irishspirit]

http://owni.fr/2011/03/15/revelations-areva-au-coeur-du-reacteur-de-fukushima/

Green Peace documents that are well worth a read, some eye opening information on these. Must read.

[Swami]

New explosion at Fukushima strikes No. 2 reactor, containment vessel damaged

http://www.naturalnews.com/031770_Fu...explosion.html

[Swami]

Stabilisation at Fukushima Daiichi

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS...1.html#nuclear

[irishspirit]

(Reuters) - The head of the Japanese power company at the center of one of the world's worst nuclear disasters has all but vanished from the public eye.
And many Japanese, on a knife edge waiting to see if the nuclear power plant and radiation leaks can be brought under control, are beginning to ask where he is and questioning how much he is in control of the crisis.


Masataka Shimizu, chief executive of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), has not made a public appearance in a week.
And he has yet to visit the crippled nuclear power plant north of Tokyo that was badly damaged in the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck on March 11, and where 300 workers are desperately trying to find ways to cool down the reactors.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...72J2DK20110320

[Swami]

The Amount of Radioactive Fuel at Fukushima DWARFS Chernobyl

Specifically, Tepco very recently transferred many more radioactive spent fuel rods into the storage pools. According to Associated Press, there were - at the time of the earthquake and tsunami - 3,400 tons of fuel in seven spent fuel pools plus 877 tons of active fuel in the cores of the reactors.

That totals 4,277 tons of nuclear fuel at Fukushima.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/...fukushima.html

[Swami]

Japanese Earthquake Update (20 March 2011 14:00 UTC)

http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/...iupdate01.html

[WhiteStar]

Don't trust the mainstream media? This will explain the details of Japan's failing nuclear reactors. This is the most detailed article explaining the situation

UPDATED EVERY DAY OR AS NEEDED

According to the Wall Street Journal, it has now been reported that Japan's health ministry said Saturday that an abnormal amount of a radioactive material was detected in spinach grown about 110 kilometers (about 70 miles) northeast of Tokyo.

The Wall Street Journal also reports that U.S. government officials repeatedly declined to give details of radiation measurements at Fukushima nuclear complex, saying the situation is shrouded in a "fog of war." Most information on the Fukushima plant containment efforts is classified right now and the public is being TOLD what the government thinks it can handle unless it is dire.

Information is taking up to 48 hours to be relayed to the public while Japanese and US Officials review the information first. The Hydrogen explosion on Monday was not fully disclosed until Wednesday night, for example.

THANK GOODNESS FOR PEOPLE LIKE IRISH SPIRIT, SWAMI AND OTHERS WHO STRIVE TO GET THE TRUTH TO US, SO WE CAN THINK FOR OURSELVES!

Singapore is recommending all citizens within 100 km of the Fukushima plant should evacuate the area.

"...the public is being told what the government thinks it can handle"

Oh, how kind and thoughtful of the government.

Aren't they nice to be so concerned about the public,
while they bomb and kill people?

YOU PATHETIC, EVIL PARASITES!

Thank you for your concerns, but I believe I can THINK for myself and know you are creating another war
to draw attention away from the MASS MURDER WHICH YOU ENGINEERED!

NWO Report updated daily here

[Swami]

Total information blackout on Fukushima Unit 4 reactor raises serious questions about truth of situation

http://www.prisonplanet.com/total-in...situation.html

[Swami]

Latest Fukushima Nuclear, March 20th: External power connected to reactors 5 and 6, dose equivalent down from 3.44 mSv/hr to 2.75mSv/hr; Fuel ponds temperatures reduced: reactor 5 (from 68?C to 43?C), reactor 4 (from 57?C to 52?C). Reactor 3 pressure built up but no need for significant venting (sources: world nuclear news)

http://www.taintedgreen.com/general/...About+Green%29

[irishspirit]

Celtic V Rangers about to start, gotta go watch. Later fiolk's.

[Janos]

So far no NUCLEAR explosion.

What blasted was either:

*Auxiliary diesels fuel
*Nitrogen byproducts store
*elements of steam/cooling instalations

No raise in contamination levels was reported, beside caesium after the emergency venting procedures.
So far core meltdown and runaway chain reaction are off the books - as long as moderation medium is there.
(Better it stays that way, crossfingers)

In major "nuclear events" - 3mile/USA and Chernobyl the moderation medium (graphite rods) were not lowered, which resulted in runaway fission. According to known sources, this is not the case in Japan.

There might be a problem with coolant, but they risk seawater contamination BEFORE any airborne event will take place.

With all due respect, ye are very off base here. The 'spent' (95% radioactive) fuel rods were stored on TOP of the reactors that blew sky high. The West Coast is getting this radiation in spikes that you won't see on your local news or any mainstream news, unless it is so over the top that it actually makes people sick in short order.

The 'airborne' event has already taken place, and the radioactive Iodide (I131) and radioactive Tritium will continue to literally RAIN down in that massive storm that is washing over CA right now. This is known as a 'rainout' and brings this stuff straight down and will form 'hotspots' that are more radioactive than other places.

[Janos]

Is 'duck and cover' still the best we can do?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/03/2...ex.html?hpt=C2

Editor's note: CNN contributor Bob Greene is a best-selling author whose books include "Late Edition: A Love Story" and "Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen."

(CNN) -- How worried are you feeling about radiation?

For self-evident reasons, your answer may be a little different from what it was when this month began. The terrifying events in Japan have sharply focused thinking about the subject in the United States. First came the earthquake, then the tsunami, and then, against all expectations, the dreadful events at the nuclear energy plants. During the first weekend of the crisis in Japan, CNN.com, on its main page, asked readers the question:

"Do you have confidence in U.S. disaster preparedness?"

More than 375,000 voted. Eighty percent answered no -- they said they did not have confidence.

What exacerbates public tension is the confusing trajectory of the story. One moment there will be dire predictions from experts on nuclear issues, the next moment there will be contradictory pronouncements. Somber warnings from government officials will be followed by optimistic assurances. Someone's going to end up being wrong.

Ever since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, there has been a nervous ambivalence in the U.S. about the dangers of radiation when weighed against its benefits.

Older Americans may remember the fluoroscope machines in shoe stores in the early part of the last century; customers, often children, would try on a pair of shoes, insert their feet into a slot in the bottom of the machine, and peer down a tube to see the bones of their feet glowing an eerie shade of green. The X-ray machines were considered fun, even a treat. They disappeared when state governments, and insurance companies, began to worry about the wisdom of allowing such contraptions to be used so

The power of radiation became a constant part of the national conversation when, in the late 1940s, the Soviet Union developed the capability to build its own atomic bombs. The United States was well aware of the devastating destructive potential of the bombs; the U.S. government, after all, designed and built the first ones. So what was the nation to do about the new reality that the bomb, with its deadly radiation, might be dropped here?

One answer was a film that is astonishing to watch even now. Produced in 1951, under the auspices of the Federal Civil Defense Administration, it was intended to be viewed in every school in the country. It was shown in classrooms, at special lunchtime programs in school auditoriums -- it was deemed essential to U.S. preparedness.

It was called "Duck and Cover," and it is poignant in how much it unintentionally says about the impotence against nuclear radiation we were conceding.

The film starts with a cartoon turtle wearing a Civil Defense helmet. A cheery musical jingle sounds: "There was a turtle by the name of Bert, and Bert the turtle was very alert." Bert, when he sensed danger, was shown withdrawing his head into his shell.

The friendly voice of a male announcer -- he sounds a little like the dad on the television series "Leave It To Beaver" -- tells the children: "Be sure and remember what Bert the turtle just did, friends, because every one of us must remember to do the same thing."

The cartoon portion of the film ends; it is replaced by black-and-white footage of real schoolchildren learning to duck and cover. They are shown leaping under their desks, covering the backs of their necks with their hands. This is supposed to be their defense against nuclear attack.

"We all know the atomic bomb is very dangerous," the soothing voice says. Over outdoor footage of a small town, the voice says, "You'll know it when it comes. ... A bright flash, brighter than the sun, brighter than anything you've ever seen!" The viewers are instructed to cover their flesh with a sheet of newspaper: "You know how bad sunburn can feel. The atomic bomb flash can burn you worse than a terrible sunburn."

The entire subtext of the instructional film is that lethal radiation may appear at any moment, in a surprising flash, and that other than ducking and covering, there's not much that can be done about it. A boy and girl identified as Paul and Patty are shown walking blithely through their town on a spring day; the narrator says: "No matter where they go or what they do, they always try to remember what to do if the atom bomb explodes right then. It's a bomb! Duck and cover!" The film shows them diving low beside a brick wall.

"Here's Tony, going to his Cub Scout meeting," the voice says. "Tony knows the bomb can explode any time of the year, day or night. He is ready for it." On the screen, there is a sudden flash. The boy jumps from his bike, flings it to the street, and curls up next to a low wall. Within seconds, a uniformed Civil Defense warden arrives to give him instructions.

Whatever amusement value the old government film may provide now is outweighed by the new suspicion that we may still not know quite what to do against the power of radiation unleashed. Almost lost in the news from Japan on the Friday the earthquake hit was this, from Washington:

The Transportation Security Administration ordered that all of those radiation-emitting full-body scanners that have recently been introduced in U.S. airports be retested. An internal review, it was reported by CNN's Mike M. Ahlers, showed "calculation errors, missing data and other discrepancies on paperwork by contractors who routinely check the machines' radiation levels."

Sen. Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, rejected the TSA's contention that these were merely record-keeping errors. Collins said that there were "gross errors about radiation emissions. ... This is completely unacceptable when it comes to monitoring radiation. If TSA contractors reporting on the radiation levels have done such a poor job, how can airline passengers and crew have confidence in the data used by the TSA to reassure the public?"

All these years later, all these words.

Yet there is a nagging sense that, in the end, what we may be left with is:

Duck and cover.

[WhiteStar]

IMPORTANT COMMENT FROM JAMES HORAK in reply to a post here

Two things challenge this planet now. Radiation and the structural integrity of the crust. Both attributable to
the tamperings of mankind. There is no point in discussing solutions until you rid yourself of tptb that will
merely seek new madness in which to embroil you. You want to do something remedial with your minds?
Have the courage to do something remedial about the CAUSE. After you've faced it and quit the woo woo.
JCH