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If this is true? Then, Wow.. Here it comes. From Zero Hedge. Excerpts:
The debt crisis in Greece has taken on a dramatic new twist. Sources with information about the government's actions have informed SPIEGEL ONLINE that Athens is considering withdrawing from the euro zone. The common currency area's finance ministers and representatives of the European Commission are holding a secret crisis meeting in Luxembourg on Friday night.
Greece's economic problems are massive, with protests against the government being held almost daily. Now Prime Minister George Papandreou apparently feels he has no other option: SPIEGEL ONLINE has obtained information from German government sources knowledgeable of the situation in Athens indicating that Papandreou's government is considering abandoning the euro and reintroducing its own currency.
Alarmed by Athens' intentions, the European Commission has called a crisis meeting in Luxembourg on Friday night. In addition to Greece's possible exit from the currency union, a speedy restructuring of the country's debt also features on the agenda. One year after the Greek crisis broke out, the development represents a potentially existential turning point for the European monetary union -- regardless which variant is ultimately decided upon for dealing with Greece's massive troubles.
Will Greece indeed be the first to leave? The Euro Zone crisis is already in motion - The question is: Who topples the domino, how disastrous and complicated is the resulting chain reaction, and how and where will it end? But the free fall hasn't even started yet, and wondering about the future is pointless when the near term present will be crazy enough.
A failing nation state attempting to decouple from a failing Union. Again, if true: This is a big deal.
Email from Japanese gov’t officials says high density radiation will be released May 8 if situation continues
The Phantom Draft Energy Agency, Taro Kono, member of Japan’s House of Representatives, May 5, 2011:
The Google translation is choppy, but this one is offered by a reader of the site..
My partner who is Japanese brought this blog post to my attention. It is from Taro Kono, who is in the house of representatives (LDP, opposition to current government):
In particular this section:
“エネ庁の若手官僚から添付ファイルが３通ついたメールが来た。 その一 ５月１日の政府・東電統合本部全体会合の議事録。 『このままいくと８日にも高濃度の放出が行われる。』 『細野補佐官から，本件は熱交換機の設置といった次のステップに進む上で非常に重要である，また，（今後，放射性物質が外に排出され得るという点で，）汚染水排出の際の失敗を繰り返さないよう，関係者は情報共有を 密に行い，高い感度を持って取り組んで欲しい，とする発言があった。』”
Translation (non-literal and our understanding):
I received 3 emails with attachments from junior government officials in the energy department.
The first email:
Minutes of meeting between TEPCO and the government on the 1st May. “If the current situation continues, high density radiation will be released on the 8th May.” “Mr Hosono said: It is very important to go to the next step regarding the installation of the heat exchanger machine. For the concerned parties, be careful of the sharing of information with high sensitivity so that the same mistakes aren’t made again like the release of the radiated water previously.
The second and third emails aren’t related so we didn’t translate it. It isn’t clear from the text the way the radiation will be released. ie airborne or via water.
The aforementioned energy department English homepage is this: http://www.enecho.meti.go.jp/english/index.htm
Perhaps those who are following the work and/or parameters of the reactors could hypothesise what they are thinking about doing.
"High Density Radiation" is a very unsettling term. I'm hoping it's less serious than it sounds.
Fukushima Groundwater Contamination Worst in Nuclear History Latest video from Arnie Gundersen.
Ventilation system started at Fukushima No. 1 reactor
Report: More lax safety management exposed at Japan nuclear plant
Some 800 workers at a damaged Japanese nuclear plant only recently began to receive medical checkups, nearly two months after the nation's worst nuclear accident started, a news report said Saturday.
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For almost two months,they did not undergo regular health checkups, Kyodo News reported citing TEPCO officials.
The Health Ministry had initially only required checks to be performed after the crisis was over, assuming a short-term emergency, Kyodo reported.
Thirty workers have been exposed to more than 100 millisieverts of cumulative radiation and many of them received their first examinations only this month, the officials said.
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Although six workers had been exposed to more than 100 millisieverts of radiation as of March 19, no checkups were conducted, prompting the ministry to issue its updated directive more than a month later, the officials said.
Japan's Prime Minister Shuts Nuclear Plant in Earthquake Danger Zone
TOKYO, Japan, May 6, 2011 (ENS) - For fear of earthquakes, Prime Minister Naoto Kan has asked for a shut down of all active reactors at a nuclear power plant on Japan's Pacific coast.
The Prime Minister Friday asked Chubu Electric Power Co., operator of the Hamaoka nuclear plant to halt two operating reactors and not to restart a third, which is offline for a regular inspection. The plant's other two reactors are shut down for decommissioning.
"If there were a major accident at the Hamaoka nuclear plant, it would have an enormous impact on the entire Japanese society," Kan told reporters in a televised news conference.
Hamaoka's five reactor complex is in Omaezaki City, in the Tokai region of Shizuoka prefecture. Japan's science ministry has projected an 87 percent chance of a magnitude 8.0 quake striking the Tokai region within the next 30 years.
6.1 Quake Off Fukushima Area - No Damage Reports
No Protection For Fukushima's 'Expendable' Citizens Or Us
The fact that both the US and EU raised radiation levels is surely not co-incidental. Raising the maximum radiation exposure doses for humans and also for our entire food supply is another way that we are being deliberately duped. It isn't bad enough that the corporate-controlled media lies; it is also pervasive throughout agencies and governments. Manipulating figures or data and juggling toxic exposure levels are more indications that our lives count for nothing. The entire globe continues to be heavily contaminated by on-going radiation levels from Fukushima, from the 600,000 spent fuel rods, the meltdowns of the reactors and release of radioactive elements, and dumping of 11,500 tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. When are we going to wake up collectively and really see through their lies and deceit? When will we really understand the massive harm to which they continue to subject us? When are we going to hold them accountable?
Temporary Inventory Shortage of High-Quality Resveratrol Products Expected as Nuclear Crisis in Japan Worsens
WHITE PLAINS, NY, May 06, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Yahuurs LLC's all natural Res-JUVENTA contains vitis vinifera resveratrol and quercetin harvested from the Spanish Blue Grape, a rich source of antioxidants. Supplements like this have been found to promote cardiovascular health and weight loss, as well as slow down the aging process of organisms.
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In regards to the recent tragic events in Japan, resveratrol may become an important supplement to the already administered iodine pills, designed to limit the body's intake of radiation. "Currently there are no drugs on the market that protect against or counteract radiation exposure," according to Dr. Greenberger. He and his team are conducting further research to determine whether acetylated resveratrol may eventually be translated into clinical use as a radio-protective agent.
Meanwhile, at yet another nuclear plant, Tokyo Electric says valve at nuclear plant not working properly
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said Friday it had found an abnormality in one of the valves at a nuclear plant in central Japan used to inject water into reactors in case of an emergency, a news report said.
TEPCO said it did not expect a leakage of radioactive substances from its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture, Kyodo News reported.
The company said did not expect any impact on the outside environment.
Rebuilding Japan: Special scorn for 'flyjin' foreigners who fled country
As Japan continues to grapple with its nuclear emergency, special scorn has been reserved for the "flyjins", foreigners who made their living in the country but fled in the wake of the March 11 earthquake.
This could be big. The Examiner via Godlike Productions. Excerpts:
A few minutes ago on May 5, 2011, Arab TV announced that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini requested Iran's President Ahmadinejad to step down from his post. This has not been confirmed nor verified by Western media as yet, however, it has been reported that several of his close aides are already under arrest.
The UK Guardian reported today that many of Ahmadinejad's aides were accused of using 'supernatural powers', including invoking jinns (spirits) in an attempt to further the president's agenda against Khameini. This includes Irani Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei,
The timing is curious, as protests in Iran have cooled, and Ahmadinejad seemed fairly stable at the helm. Israel had made noises about an imminent attack on Iran, and the timing of this episode seems calculated to de-stabilize the country. This could be the beginning ignition of a pretty serious Flashpoint.
I'm a sucker for Mystery Cosmic Rays Zapping anything.
Cosmic rays zapping the Earth over the South Pole appear to be coming from particular locations, rather than being distributed uniformly across the sky. Cosmic ray "hotspots" have also been seen in the northern skies too, yet there is no source close enough to produce this strange pattern.
"We don't know where they are coming from," says Stefan Westerhoff of the University of Wisconsin, who used the IceCube neutrino observatory at the South Pole with a team of colleagues to create the most comprehensive map to date of the arrival direction of cosmic rays in the southern skies.
IceCube detects muons produced by neutrinos striking ice, but it also detects muons created by cosmic rays hitting Earth's atmosphere. These cosmic ray muons can be used to figure out the direction of the original cosmic ray particle.
Between May 2009 and May 2010, IceCube has detected 32 billion cosmic-ray muons, with a median energy of about 20 teraelectronvolts (TeV). These muons revealed, with extremely high statistical significance, a southern sky with some regions of excess cosmic rays ("hotspots") and others with a deficit of cosmic rays ("cold" spots).
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One of the hotspots seen by IceCube points in the direction of the Vela supernova remnant, a possible source of cosmic rays, but it's almost 1000 light years away. Its source supernova exploded about 800 light years away in the southern constellation, Vela. The Vela pulsar, made by astronomers at the University of Sydney in 1968, was the first direct observational proof that supernovae form neutron stars.
..The Vela pulsar is a neutron star. More massive than the Sun, it has the density of an atomic nucleus. About 12 miles in diameter it spins 10 times a second as it hurtles through the supernova debris cloud. The pulsar's electric and magnetic fields accelerate particles to nearly the speed of light, powering the compact x-ray emission nebula revealed in the Chandra picture. The Vela pulsar and the supernova remnant was created by a massive star which exploded over 10,000 years ago.
Cosmic rays coming from such large distances should be constantly buffeted and deflected by galactic magnetic fields on route, and should thus have lost all directionality by the time they reach Earth. In other words, such long-distance cosmic rays should appear to come from all parts of the sky.
Milagro has also seen hotspots that appear to come from implausibly distant sources. As an explanation, Felix Aharonian of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies in Ireland and colleagues have suggested that there could be a "tube" of magnetic field lines extending between the source and our solar system, funnelling the cosmic rays towards us. However, Aharonian admits the theory is highly speculative.
So many simultaneous, large scale discoveries, so little time or peace to process, integrate, and apply to the collective psyche. With each bit of information, the understanding of our reality expands and morphs into something new, the endpoint a place of which we can't yet imagine, but will eventually, as the pieces continue to interlock and the unifying picture emerges.
From NASA Science News Excerpts:
Einstein was right again. There is a space-time vortex around Earth, and its shape precisely matches the predictions of Einstein's theory of gravity.
Researchers confirmed these points at a press conference today at NASA headquarters where they announced the long-awaited results of Gravity Probe B (GP-B).
"The space-time around Earth appears to be distorted just as general relativity predicts," says Stanford University physicist Francis Everitt, principal investigator of the Gravity Probe B mission.
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Time and space, according to Einstein's theories of relativity, are woven together, forming a four-dimensional fabric called "space-time." The mass of Earth dimples this fabric, much like a heavy person sitting in the middle of a trampoline. Gravity, says Einstein, is simply the motion of objects following the curvaceous lines of the dimple.
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The idea behind the experiment is simple:
Put a spinning gyroscope into orbit around the Earth, with the spin axis pointed toward some distant star as a fixed reference point. Free from external forces, the gyroscope's axis should continue pointing at the star--forever. But if space is twisted, the direction of the gyroscope's axis should drift over time. By noting this change in direction relative to the star, the twists of space-time could be measured.
The only thing you really need to know..
For readers who are not experts in relativity: Geodetic precession is the amount of wobble caused by the static mass of the Earth (the dimple in spacetime) and the frame dragging effect is the amount of wobble caused by the spin of the Earth (the twist in spacetime). Both values are in precise accord with Einstein's predictions.
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The results of Gravity Probe B give physicists renewed confidence that the strange predictions of Einstein's theory are indeed correct, and that these predictions may be applied elsewhere. The type of spacetime vortex that exists around Earth is duplicated and magnified elsewhere in the cosmos--around massive neutron stars, black holes, and active galactic nuclei.
I have so many questions, but I really don't know the language of physics well enough to ask them. But I'm still excited, though..
Workers enter Japan nuclear reactor building
Workers entered one of the damaged reactor buildings at Japan's stricken nuclear power plant Thursday for the first time since it was rocked by an explosion in the days after a devastating earthquake, the country's nuclear safety agency said
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said workers are connecting ventilation equipment in Unit 1 in an attempt to absorb radiation from the air inside the building. The work is expected to take about four or five days
The utility must lower radiation levels inside the reactor before it can proceed with the key step of installing a cooling system that was knocked out ..
Workers have not been able to enter the reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, about 140 miles northeast of Tokyo, since the first days after the tsunami. Hydrogen explosions at four of the buildings at the six-reactor complex in the first few days destroyed some of their roofs and walls and scattered radioactive debris.
In mid-April, a robot recorded radioactivity readings of about 50 millisieverts per hour inside Unit 1's reactor building — a level too high for workers to realistically enter.
The decision to send the workers in was made after robots last Friday collected fresh data that showed radiation levels had fallen in some areas of the reactor, said Taisuke Tomikawa, a spokesman for TEPCO.
Staff back to work at stricken Japanese nuclear plant This Is London. Excerpts:
Workers have returned to one of the damaged reactor buildings at Japan's stricken nuclear power plant Thursday for the first time since it was rocked by an explosion in the days after a devastating earthquake, the country's nuclear safety agency said.
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said workers are connecting ventilation equipment in Unit 1 in an attempt to absorb radiation from the air inside the building. The work is expected to take about four or five days.
Japan Is Not Alone, the Whaling Nations of Europe and Iceland Are Also Exposed to Radioactive Contamination
Emissions Still Pouring From Wrecked Fukushima Nuclear Plant
Japanese Government Finally Divulges What It Has Been Hiding: SPEEDI Radiation Simulations from March 12
Now, after more than 50 days and after so much contamination of soil, water, air and ocean with radioactive iodine, cesium, strontium, plutonium, americium, curium, among other yet to be disclosed nuclides that have exposed the residents in Japan to heightened internal and external radiations, the Japanese government simply dumps the SPEEDI simulation data on the Ministry of Education's website.
What is, really, the point of telling us now? To say... what? They're sorry that they didn't tell you about the simulation when the radioactive materials were coming at 10,000 terabecquerels/hour and they knew it but were afraid people would freak out? I suppose the people in the administration and in the government would rather have a significant increase in cancer and other illnesses several decades down the line, because by that time they may be no longer in the government or no longer in this world.
Professor Toshiso Kosako, who quit the job as the PM's special advisor in protest of the government response to the Fukushima I accident, said in his resignation statement that there was another program called WSPEEDI, which can cover much wider area ("several thousand kilometers", according to Professor Kosako). WSPEEDI can probably cover the entire Japan (except for outlying islands).
The Japanese government is still sitting on WSPEEDI simulations, if any exists as Professor Kosako says.
Sorry, But I Don’t Believe This Gonzalo Lira breaks down troublesome aspects of the bin Laden mythos. Excerpts:
My readers know I don’t truck in conspiracy theories. I believe Elvis is dead, I believe Paul never died, I believe 9/11 was a terrorist incident, and I believe Neil Armstrong did in fact land on the moon.
But I don’t believe Osama Bin Laden was killed over the weekend.
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Just to be clear, I do not believe Bin Laden is still alive. I believe what a lot of intelligence analysts have been privately saying for a long time now: That Bin Laden died of kidney failure in December 2001, and that he was buried by his followers in an unmarked grave in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
After all, it was a known fact that Bin Laden had severe kidney problems. People who spoke with him in 2000 and 2001 said how sick he looked, and described symptoms that matched kidney failure. From these accounts, the international intelligence community was pretty much in agreement that he had some sort of severe kidney problems. Without dialysis or a kidney transplant—neither which would have been available to him in the aftermath of 9/11—he wouldn’t have much chance of long term survival.
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Bizarre: That the mastermind of the most egregious terrorist attack in U.S. history—the worst mass killing of American citizens on U.S. soil since the Civil War, as I understand it—was treated so la-di-da by the American defense and intelligence communities.
Yet after 2003, for the next eight years, the American military offered up a mere token effort to find him “dead or alive”. An attitude that makes absolutely no sense at all—
—unless you already know that the man is dead, and that his body will likely never be found.
This was my impression: The American defense and intelligence agencies knew he was dead, and knew they would never likely find his body. In fact a couple of intelligence types I know privately confirmed this line of thinking.
And:
The whole story smells: Where he was supposedly located; how he was shot twice in the head, rather than captured; how he was buried at sea; how there’s (so far) no picture of his corpse.
The American military might claim that they held on to bits of DNA samples of the corpse they say is Osama Bin Laden’s. They might claim that this is proof positive that he is dead. But as far as I’m concerned—and I’m a non-conspiracy, fairly skeptical sort—I’ll never believe them. A lab report is not the same as an actual corpse.
To insist: I do not for a second doubt that he is indeed dead. I just don’t believe that he was killed this past weekend. I believe that he died quite some time ago—years ago, in fact.
In my mind, whoever was killed this weekend was not Osama Bin Laden.
And, most importantly..
Someone might argue that, if what I think is true—that Bin Laden died years ago, and this is some big old hoax—then what would be the point of this hoax?
Yup. One might argue that.
This isn't advice for you to act upon, but personally, I'm still a firm buy/hold. Silver will prevail. So pop some popcorn and get comfortable before the movie starts..
Commodity prices rise with global issues in flux Second week of April.
Investors poured money into oil, metals and agricultural products despite the uncertainty of what may lie ahead for the United States, Europe's financial problems and uprisings in Libya and neighboring countries.
An added incentive was a weaker dollar. Commodities are priced in dollars so a weaker dollar makes them more appealing to investors using other currencies.
Gold Settles Above $1,557, Silver Off Lows After Bin Laden CNBC. Excerpts:
Silver [XAG= 42.16 0.52 (+1.25%) ] was down 2 percent at $46.86 an ounce, having fallen as much as $5 to a two-week low of $42.58.
Silver's sell-off began last week when U.S. futures margin requirements were raised twice, and as the metal's failure to extend record highs above $50 an ounce triggered technical selling. Trade data also showed speculators had scaled back their bullish bets recently.
Silver tumbled as much as 11 percent, its steepest fall since late 2008, hit by increased margins for futures trading and a technical overhang after a 170 percent rally over the last 12 months to a record high last week.
"News about Osama and the 13 percent margin increase — the second in a week (Read: Moving the Goalposts..) — hit the market at the worst possible time," said Ole Hansen, senior manager at Saxo Bank. "Also,(there was) news Friday evening that professionals scaled back silver exposure by 26 percent as of last Tuesday.
"We are seeing volatility at an unprecedented level here," he said.
Kitco chart from Urban Survival.
Silver's Shine Is Fading Fast CNBC.
Silver's shine is fading fast, and the market for the precious metal may have reached a top in a speculative, mad dash by ETF investors.
"The last move higher over the last month or so has really been driven by the strength of the retail investment demand, so the levels up here are not supported," said Suki Cooper, precious metals analyst with Barclays Capital.
"At levels above $40, we've seen some concern rising on the industrial demand side. The last leg higher has been investment-driven, rather than fundamentally supported. In that respect, the correction was due. I would say from a demand support point of view, we have levels that have been tested in other metals, but we haven't had a chance to test that in silver," said Cooper. "I think now prices are going to test where physical support comes in."
All of which presumes the Dollar will remain at least stable or gain in strength. So when the Dollar inevitably seizes, precious metals will spike with the rapidity the word "spike" infers. Again, not advice, but I'm not going anywhere..
Nuke Refugees Face Uncertain Fate IPS News. Excerpts:
KUSATSU, Japan, May 4, 2011 (IPS) - Tadanori Anzai and his wife Michiko left their town in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture, more than a month ago to escape the radioactive contamination spewing from the earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant located close to their home and tiny eatery.
Along with sixty others, the Anzai couple and their grandchild travelled by bus to this snowy hot spring town 150 kilometres west of Minamisoma on Mar. 25, after the local government invited them over.
"I survived the terrible earthquake and tsunami that hit Fukushima that fateful day. But today, I feel my situation is far worse than those who have lost everything in the natural disaster," said the 58-year-old Anzai.
Referred to popularly as nuclear refugees, the Anzai family are among thousands of people who have left radiation affected areas, some still crammed into hastily prepared evacuation sites, in line with the Japanese government’s new regulation to clear the 30-kilometre area around the nuclear plant.
Taiwan to hold nuclear, natural disaster drill I'd wager they'll be focusing on "procedures," and "accurate damage assessment."
Pacific radiation levels keep rising From Press TV. Excerpts:
The levels of highly radioactive water keep rising on the Pacific seabed in close proximity to Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), said on Tuesday that the seabed samples collected three kilometers from Minamisoma and another three kilometers from Naraha, both in Fukushima Prefecture, contained 98 to 190 becquerels of radioactive iodine per kilogram and 1,200 to 1,400 becquerels of radioactive cesium, Kyodo news agency reported.
The high levels of radioactive materials were detected from samples collected last Friday from the seabed at points 20-30 meters deep.
TEPCO said that the radioactive substances may have gone down into the sea after being released into the air from the plant, or may have been carried by contaminated water that seeped from the plant. Either/Or, they're not sure, or don't care..
The Fukushima plant has leaked radiation into air, soil and the Pacific Ocean ever since it was hit by a 9-magnitude earthquake and a devastating tsunami on March 11. Since March 11th. We're coming up on two months! What a magical seven weeks it's been..
TEPCO begins repairs on Japan plant China Daily. Excerpts:
Workers at Japan's crippled nuclear plant began putting up equipment on Tuesday to allow the start of repairs to its cooling systems, key to bringing reactors under control after they were badly damaged in the March 11 quake and tsunami.
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The company said it had begun constructing special tents at the entrance of turbine buildings so workers can move in and out. It is also installing fans with filters at the No 1 reactor to reduce radiation inside to one-twentieth of current levels within days.
Cables Show U.S. Concern on Japan’s Disaster Readiness
In March 2008, the American ambassador in Tokyo sent a classified cable to Washington that contained a prophetic warning about the disaster preparedness of Japan, the United States’ most important ally in Asia.
The cable, sent by Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer, said Japan was preparing for earthquakes and even cyberattacks, but that it might prove less adept at responding to unforeseen disasters. “Compartmentalization and risk aversion within the bureaucracy, however, could increase Japan’s vulnerability to threats for which it is less prepared,” warned the cable, dated March 18.
Bureaucratic decision making has been cited as a factor in Japan’s lack of preparedness, almost exactly three years later, for the record-breaking tsunami that crippled the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and set off the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. While the cable offers few specifics about the weaknesses in Japan’s disaster planning, it does go on to warn that a blow that disables the country could have catastrophic consequences for global trade and finance.
Japanese nuclear plant a time bomb?
In the wake of Japan's nuclear crisis, fears are mounting that disaster could also strike the country's Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant.
"The Hamaoka plant is potentially even more dangerous than Fukushima," Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the Social Democratic Party of Japan, was quoted by The Christian Science Monitor newspaper as saying.
Situated on the Pacific coast in Omaezaki, about 112 miles southwest of Tokyo, Hamaoka is in an area where a magnitude-8 earthquake is strongly projected to hit.
"It should be closed down now," Fukushima said. "Scientists say the region in which Hamaoka is located is due for a major earthquake. If we wait until that happens, it will be too late."
Fukushima - What They Aren't Saying From Rense. Excerpts:
Pouring water on those reactors may keep them from getting worse - but it doesn't make them any better. And it creates the potential of another earthquake dumping millions of gallons of radioactive water all over the Pacific. They can't continue to create highly radioactive water at the rate of 21 cubic meters per hour for 200 years but the minute they stop the fuel goes critical again. There is no way to stop it except burning it up all at once with a few nukes.
So this report, which makes the situation sound less and less serious as the days pass, isn't telling the full story. Part of it simply isn't true. They have been pumping that amount of water every day for months now but they reported 60,000 tonnes on April 11 and the total amount in the facility has officially remained at 'a little less than 70,000 tonnes' ever since. That cannot be unless they are dumping it in the ocean and lying about it.
Did I read that smoke is still coming from two of the reactors? Yep. So the problem still exists in a big way - it's just been relegated to the back page.
Data monitor failed at Japan's nuclear plant, report says
A monitoring system at Japan's damaged nuclear plant failed in the power outage which took out the plant's cooling systems after the March quake and tsunami, depriving authorities of vital data to predict contamination, a news report said Tuesday.
The loss of data from the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) probably delayed the evacuation order around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant around 250 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, Kyodo News agency quoted an anonymous source as saying.
The ERSS monitors pressures and temperatures in and around the reactors, and runs predictions to assess how much radioactive material might be released in various failure scenarios.
Is is meant to provide that data to another system, which then calculates how that radioactive material might spread to contaminate the surrounding area in the event of an accident.
Ya know, like; not a big deal.. and stuff..
Where is all that Fukushima radiation going, and why does it matter? Video.
Fukushima radiation levels rise to highest levels yet World Socialist Web Site. Excerpts:
Robots sent into the Number 1 reactor building have recorded the highest reading of radioactivity so far found at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant since the emergency began almost two months ago. Two robots found 1,120 millisieverts of radiation an hour was being emitted from the stricken reactor. This level of radiation is more than enough to cause immediate radiation sickness if a human being were exposed to it. The Tokyo Electrical Power Company (Tepco) which runs the Fukushima facility has begun to use robots because it has become impossible to send workers into the plant for long enough to take accurate readings.
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The Japanese nuclear industry as a whole is now facing a general crisis as the potential workforce is reduced because of the high exposure levels of the Fukushima workers. The Health Ministry is expected to uprate the legal limit for nuclear workers next month. The current level for non-emergency workers is 50 millisieverts per year. This is expected to be raised allowing workers not directly engaged in emergency work to be exposed to greater levels of radiation.
And:
The high radiation levels have serious implications for long terms measures to stabilize the plant and bring the four overheating reactors to cold shut down. Tepco had planned to flood the steel containment vessel of number 1 reactor with water, to speed up the cooling process. The high readings suggest that this will not now be possible because the source of the high readings cannot be identified.
The implication is that the containment vessel of reactor 1 is compromised in some way and that the steel structure itself or the seals on pipes connecting to it are damaged. In either case it would be impossible to flood the containment vessel without causing even more contaminated water to collect in the reactor building and potentially flow into the sea. Highly contaminated water is currently flowing into the Pacific Ocean through a leak which Tepco has been unable to plug.
Professor Hironobu Unesaki of Kyoto University said, “Tepco must figure out the source of high radiation. If it’s from contaminated water leaking from inside the reactor, Tepco’s so-called water tomb may be jeopardized because flooding the containment vessel will result in more radiation in the building.”
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The full extent of the environmental and health impact of the Fukushima nuclear accident cannot yet be assessed. Some scientists are pointing to serious long-term global concerns. Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates, who has spent 39 years working in the nuclear industry and now acts as an expert witness, has suggested that the explosion in Number 3 building at Fukushima on March 14 may have been more serious than has so far been admitted.
Belated release of radiation forecast data Video.
Fukushima parents dish the dirt in protest over radiation levels Via Rense. Excerpts:
Furious parents in Fukushima have delivered a bag of radioactive playground earth to education officials in protest at moves to weaken nuclear safety standards in schools.
Children can now be exposed to 20 times more radiation than was previously permissible. The new regulations have prompted outcry. A senior adviser resigned and the prime minister, Naoto Kan, was criticised by politicians from his own party.
Wow.. Tourists visit Fukushima despite crisis
On a windy, chilly day near the top of a volcano known as "little Mount Fuji," the Ryan family of Florida described the fuss at home before they left.
"People thought we were crazy," said Kerry Ryan, 52, of Cape Coral, Fla.
"They said we'd come back glowing," 10-year-old granddaughter Isabelle Ryan added.
But the Ryans, who had never traveled overseas, decided to stick to their destination: Fukushima, Japan.
The name is now synonymous with the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which lost power and spewed radiation (Uhh.. Still spewing) after a massive tsunami devastated Japan's northeast coast.
And:
When the earthquake hit March 11, the family feared they would have to miss his wedding in Japan. But news of the nuclear plant faded from headlines in the U.S., and the situation appeared to be calmer, said the groom's father David Ryan, 55.
For a majority of the world's populace, perception is reality; period.
More Rain for Already Flooded Arkansas, Ohio Valley
More flooding is inevitable from Arkansas to the Ohio Valley since the already water-logged region will not be able to handle the additional rain that will pour down through Tuesday.
The potential exists for 3 to 5 inches of rain to soak the corridor from northeastern Texas to the Ohio Valley tonight into Tuesday.
That amount of rain would alone raise concerns for flash flooding. But with the ground already saturated and rivers severely flooding, new flooding issues are inevitable.
Army Corps prepares to blow up Missouri levee
The Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday began moving barges into position to blow up a levee along the Missouri side of the Mississippi River after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene, removing the last legal barrier.
Floodwaters could be released as early as Monday afternoon.
Missouri had tried to stop the levee's destruction but lost in lower courts. The high court decided not to hear the state's appeal, said Robyn Ziegler, spokeswoman for the Illinois attorney general's office. ..
Army Corps Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh ordered a start to preparations to blast a 2-mile-wide section of the levy near Birds Point, Mo., as rain continued to swell the Mississippi past already record levels, spokesman James Pogue said.
No place else for floodwaters to go -- Mississippi now past 41 feet
The officials emphasized that the last chance to stem the rising Mississippi River ran out today, as reservoirs that hold the Tennessee River back from the Ohio River filled to capacity
The Ohio flows into the Mississippi River, which is expected to crest Wednesday in Cairo at 61.5 feet.
The perfect storm of heavy rain combined with the rising Mississippi River is causing the local tributaries to flood areas around the county. The Mississippi was at 41.44 feet as of 6 p.m. Sunday, and its high waters are now colliding with the inflow from swollen tributaries, giving that surge of water no place to go.
Remember, this is only the first days of May. There will be much more water in our future. The situation is way past dire, and the outlook continues to deteriorate as the water continues to rise..
#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Ishikawa of JNTI Talks about Reactor Core Conditions
"I believe the fuel rods are completely melted. They may already have escaped the pressure vessel. Yes, they say 55% or 30%, but I believe they are all melted down. When the fuel rods melt, they melt from the middle part on down.
"I think the temperature inside the melted core is 2000 degrees to 2000 and several hundred degrees Celsius. A crust has formed on the surface where the water hits. Decay heat is 2000 to 3000 kilowatts, and through the cracks on the crust the radioactive materials (mostly noble gas and iodine) are escaping into the air.
"Volatile gas has almost all escaped from the reactor by now.
"The water [inside the pressure vessel] is highly contaminated with uranium, plutonium, cesium, cobalt, in the concentration we've never seen before.
And:
"It is imperative to know the current condition of the reactor cores. It is my assumption [that the cores have melted], but wait one day, and we have water more contaminated with radioactive materials. This is a war, and we need to build a "bridgehead" at the reactor itself instead of fooling around with the turbine buildings or transporting contaminated water."
Cesium found in sludge NHK via Rense.
The prefecture's investigation found that the sludge contained 26,400 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram.
The solidified slag made from it contained 334,000 becquerels per kilogram, which is 1,300 times the level before the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Weather chief draws flak over plea not to release radiation forecasts Via Rense.
The chief of the Meteorological Society of Japan has drawn flak from within the academic society over a request for member specialists to refrain from releasing forecasts on the spread of radioactive substances from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Subscribe to read the rest..
Fukushima still a threat: senior officials Read it or watch the video. Via Rense.
Two senior Japanese officials have warned that there is still a real risk of a catastrophic disaster at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Since Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami seven weeks ago an army of emergency workers has stabilised two of its six reactors but the other four remain volatile.
The head of the emergency operation at the plant, Masao Yoshida warned: “If a similar strength earthquake or tsunami hits us it would cause fatal damage, especially a tsunami.”
Japan to build tsunami wall at N-plant
The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has planned to construct a wall in an attempt to protect its biggest atomic power station from probable tsunamis in the future.
TEPCO said the wall would be built at a height of about 10 meters above sea level, made of rocks contained by wire mesh, designed to resist waves by an 8-magnitude quake, AFP reported Monday.
The operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant has also set plans to triple the number of staff, nuclear workers and subcontractors from 1,000 to 3,000 to share the burden and reduce the individuals' exposure to radiation.
So, they're going to build a wall to withstand a quake magnitude surpassed by the 9.0 quake, and to a smaller tsunami height than the one recorded.
I'm sure everything will be fine..
Global back channel current events just got really interesting, but not for any of the official reasons..
Osama Bin Laden Killed by US Forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan The Official Story.
Bin Laden Is Dead ... But Why Didn't We Kill Him 10 Year Ago? Washington's Blog. Links from article, color emphasis mine. Excerpts:
According to the U.S. Senate - Bin Laden was "within the grasp" of the U.S. military in Afghanistan in December 2001, but that then-secretary of defense Rumsfeld refused to provide the soldiers necessary to capture him.
This is not news: it was disclosed in 2005 by the CIA field commander for the area in Afghanistan where Bin Laden was holed up.
In addition, French soldiers allegedly say that they easily could have captured or killed Bin Laden in Afghanistan, but that the American commanders stopped them.
And:
Postscript: Of course, some people claim that Bin Laden was actually killed years ago. But as I pointed out in 2009, whether or not he was alive or dead was less important than the fact that the American government pretended that he was a supremely powerful boogeyman who justified an endless and all-consuming war on terror:
Many people claim that Bin Laden died a long time ago. According to Israeli intelligence, Pakistani intelligence, and other sources, Bin Laden is dead.
According to video experts and and top Bin Laden experts, recent Bin Laden videos are fake.
So if Bin Laden is alive, American leaders have to explain why they have repeatedly chosen not to pull the trigger.
And if he is dead, they have to explain why they are claiming that he's alive and authenticating his videos.
Really interesting-bordering-on-prophetic-timing.. Nuclear hellstorm if Osama bin Laden is caught or killed: Al-Qaeda Dated April 25/Telegraphing the punch? Excerpts:
Al-Qaeda terrorists have threatened to unleash a "nuclear hellstorm" on the West if their leader and world's most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden is nabbed.
A senior al-Qaeda commander has claimed that the terror group has stashed away a nuclear bomb in Europe which will be detonated if bin Laden is ever caught or assassinated, according to new top secret files made public by internet whistleblower WikiLeaks.
..
The documents have been released to select European and US news outlets and reveal that the day 9/11 terror killings took place in United States, the core of al-Qaeda was concentrated in a single city of Karachi in Pakistan.
The War on Terror Is Over The Daily Beast. Excerpt:
Even before the U.S. killed bin Laden, the Arab Spring had already rendered him irrelevant. President Obama now has his best chance since taking office to acknowledge some simple, long-overdue truths. Terrorism does not represent the greatest threat to American security; debt does, and our anti-terror efforts are exacerbating the problem. We do not face, as we did in the 1930s, a totalitarian foe with global ideological appeal. We face competitors who, in varying ways, have imported aspects of our democratic capitalist ideology, and are beating us at our own game.
It's a ratings bonanza! Osama bin Laden’s death drives traffic spike
Akamai’s Net Usage Index for News, which monitors global news consumption, showed a peak of almost 120,000 page views per minute to news sites just before midday AEST.
It may correspond to ‘heavy’ traffic in Australia, but it was nothing compared to worldwide figures; some 4,118,000 pages were being viewed each minute as President Obama made his speech.
Hinkyhinky hinkyass hinky.. Official: Bin Laden buried at sea From Google via Godlike Productions.
Not even Day One! Hour.. Six? This one's gonna get crazy!
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