The Fire and Disaster Management Agency has announced that 15 patients and an ambulance were exposed to radiation at a hospital within seven miles of the plant, Kyodo News Agency reported.

​

I wonder just what is in that cloud? Is the radiation already spreading?​

http://www.heimishheadlines.com/2011/03/imminent-meltdown-in-japanese-nuclear-reactor/​

 

Yet another reactor in Japan's Fukushima nuclear-power complexes has lost its cooling, bringing the total number of problematic reactors in northeastern Japan after Friday afternoon's megaquake to six.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/13/japanese_nuclear_site_update/

 

i have always been against nuclear power for this reason, but everyone says they are safe. nothing is safe fom mother nature when she is on the rag

 

Nice to see some folks are really keeping it classy.

Payback for Pearl Harbor
i.imgur.com

 

Aint that the truth.

 

Wow...I've never heard natural disasters described quite like that before...

 

So many good posts here! I have got a lesson(s) in myth-Atlantis(I thought they found it in the Atlantic, near Gulf Of Mexico!), geology and nuclear science.

lol@ mother nature on the rag!

I concur with Stumb, thanks PP for your regular good posts, (and of course many other contributors here)you often get it(same info) posted before me, but no worries, as long as its there for all to read.
Time to check the news again soon, I hope things are going better for the people of Japan today

OAM ps does anyone else see the weird blur on the listings for GD for some of these threads? It's not just me, right?
hah! it seems to be gone now, odd that.

 

Hydrogen is actually quite combustible. Helium is the one that doesn't react. The explosion was caused by fuel containers getting too hot and blowing their lids. Wasn't in the core though, and from the sounds of things none of the materials involved were radioactive. It was more a result of the cooling system not functioning.

As far as I've heard, none of the cores are threatened. Yes, they are pumping in sea water, but that's because none of the mechanical systems are working at the moment. Getting them on line is a bit of a chore, so they're focusing on containment for the moment.

As for a matter of perspective: One of the common claims is that the power plant are now releasing a "thousand times the normal radiation."

For a quick comparison:

Average exposure of a plant is .1 millirem for a year.
Average exposure for smoking a pack and a half a day is 1,500 millirems a year.
Average exposure to an industrial worker is about 500 millirems a year.

http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/...cercenter/prevention/preventionradiation.html

Nuclear power plants are deliberately over built to keep radiation in. Smoking is deadlier than one of these things are. So even at a thouand times the exposure, people should be fine. My suspicion is that the people who got hospitalized picked more up from direct exposure to the smoke. As the smoke rises, it will disperse down to less dangerous levels.

 

So I finally managed to hear from my friend in Tokyo. It appears he was completely smashed out of his gourd, three sheets to the wind passed out when the quake hit, and barely conscious for the tsunami.

I would call bullshit if it wasn't for the fact I know him and he probably was drunk out of his mind.
His main concerns now are running out of scotch, saki, and japanese beer, but other than that he says he's fine.

 

This is good news, and at least he's making the best of it,and if booze is his only present concern, things cannot be too bad, at least for him.

Good post by Foe, some facts that put things in perspective.

 

Glad to hear that some of you are hearing from your friends, relatives/family. My prayers go out to those who haven't heard from their loved ones.

I wish them a safe journey and sincerely hope that they are alive.

It must be a sad day in Japan

Satellite photos:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381865,00.asp


And according to http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...ulting-from-japan-tsunami-disaster-table.html

the highest death tolls are coming from Iwate (about 266), Miyagi (about 244) and Fukushima (about 206). (as of March 12)


AND: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698
Key points

1. The government has warned of a possible nuclear meltdown in another reactor at the earthquake-damaged Fukushima 1 power station, which was hit by a big explosion on Saturday. It said the cooling system had failed at the No 3 reactor and the fuel rods inside had been exposed
2. More than 200,000 people are being evacuated from the area around Fukushima 1 and its sister plant, Fukushima 2 (both are in Fukushima prefecture)
3. Officials say more than 1,300 people are thought to have died but, with 10,000 people unaccounted for in one port town alone, the death toll seems certain to rise significantly
4. A mammoth relief operation has swung into action to help those affected by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami
5. Police say 300,000 people have fled their homes
6. Live page reporters: Patrick Jackson and Joe Boyle
7. All times in GMT

 

please allow me to calm fears about the nuclear power plants. you have to take what you are seeing on the news right now about it with a grain of salt. 90% of the news reports right now either don't actually understand what is going on, or are deliberately misrepresenting it.

see http://www4.ncsu.edu/~seskutni/fukushima.html for an accurate discussion on the situation, and why there is no need for panic.

 

Thanks Dekker, this is a good read, and confirms some of the things I knew already.
I don't know about any `misrepresentation' going on, but I do know that governments don't want to unduly alarm people, and thus keep certain details withheld for a time.

 

Who are you to say there is no need for panic?? I don't think they know what they're doing and are desperate.

 

The Crippled Japanese Nuclear Reactors

some good pictorals and diagrams, info.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...plosion-at-the-japanese-reactor.html?ref=asia

They walk you through things, and show through pics what has happened, a very good simple presentation in my view.

 

Very informing there Wayfarer.

So they are expecting another blast:

Hydrogen buildup may cause blast at No.3 reactor

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says that a second hydrogen explosion may occur at the No.3 reactor building of No.1 power plant in Fukushima prefecture. But he emphasized that an explosion should not cause health problems for evacuated residents.

He said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon that a large amount of hydrogen may have accumulated in the top portion of the No.3 reactor building because cooling of the reactor was insufficient at one point.

Edano said a valve was opened to ease pressure in the reactor and fresh water was injected to cool it down. He said because of trouble with the pump, seawater was pumped in instead, but the flow became unstable, causing the water level to drop dramatically.

He said although the water began to rise again, a large amount of hydrogen may have been generated inside the reactor building while cooling was insufficient.

Edano said that a similar explosion as the one which occurred at the No.1 reactor building on Saturday may take place.

He emphasized that even if an explosion occurs, the impact should not affect the pressure vessel and containment vessel.

He said that the health of residents who have already evacuated should not be affected.
Sunday, March 13, 2011 17:07 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/13_27.html

 

I was watching some news network (I think it was CNN) and an expert on nuclear facilities said these Plants were designed to withstand this stuff and there was no real danger. Then some woman called in and said her husband works at one of these facilities, and that he got cut up from broken glass, insulation, all kinds of shit falling apart. The expert said that sounded like stuff that shouldn't be happening in a properly built facility. What the hell?

 

How bad is it?

RADIATION Japanese officials on said Saturday that radiation levels per hour at the site at one point were 1,000 times the amount an individual should be exposed to in a year — posing severe health risks to workers at close proximity.
At least nineteen individuals in the area had shown possible exposure to some level of radiation, and an official with Japan’s nuclear safety agency said that number could rise to as high as 160.