Worst Game of "Well; Actually.." Ever.

Ministry of the Environment: "Tsunami Debris May Have Already Reached North America, Back in February..."  EX-SKF.  Excerpts:


Oops. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution just recently released a paper saying the debris may reach North America in 1 to 2 years (see Huffington Post, 4/3/2012).  Well, actually..

From Jiji Tsushin (4/6/2012):
Ministry of the Environment's Forecast of disaster debris in the ocean: it may have already reached North America
The Ministry of the Environment announced its forecast of the movement of the disaster debris in the [Pacific] ocean after the March 11, 2011 tsunami. According to the forecast, part of the debris floating on the surface of the ocean that is more easily affected by winds may have traveled across the Pacific Ocean and reached the west coast of Canada in February this year.


The Ministry's forecast of 1.33 million tonnes of debris from houses that got swept away, which consists the majority of the debris, shows about 3% of this type of debris, or about 41,300 tonnes, may reach within 10 kilometers off the west coast of North America by February 2013.

I can't find a press release on the subject at the Ministry's website. If the Ministry is to be believed, the first debris took only 11 months, instead of 1 to 2 years (I remember they were counting on two years).


Yeah, so what?  The reactors are all right; Right?  That's what counts!  Well, actually..


Ambassador Murata writes to UN Secretary General: “It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of Japan and the whole world depends on No. 4 reactor” — Appeals for independent assessment team  One word?  Dire.  Two words:  We're fucked.  Three words?  That's all, folks!  Enenews.  Excerpts:


It seems to us that the Nuclear Security Summit was focused on the North Korea nuclear issue and on the issue of common security from a terrorist attack. Our appeal on the need for the independent assessment at Reactor 4 was regarded as less urgent. We predicted this outcome in light of the nature of the Summit. I suppose most participants fully understood the potential disaster which will affect their countries. Nevertheless, they decided not to raise the delicate issue, perhaps in order to not ruffle their diplomatic relationship with Japan.



I was moved by Ambassador Murata’s courage in pressing this issue in Japan. I know how difficult it is for a former career diplomat to do this, especially in my country. Current and former government officials might be similarly restricted in the scope of their actions, as Ambassador Murata is, but it is their responsibility to take a stand for the benefit of our descendants for centuries to come—to pass on a world safer than our ancestors passed us.


If Japanese government leaders do not recognize the risk their nation faces, how could the rest of us be persuaded of the looming disaster? And if the rest of us do not acknowledge the catastrophe we collectively face, who will be the one to act?
..
(From Murata's letter..)

I was asked to make a statement at the public hearing of the Budgetary Committee of the House of Councilors on March 23. I raised the crucial problem. of N0.4 reactor of Fukushima containing1535 fuel rods. It could be fatally damaged by continuing aftershocks. Moreover, 50 meters away from it exists a common cooling pool for 6 reactors containing 6375 fuel rods!

It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of Japan and the whole world depends on NO.4 reactor. This is confirmed by most reliable experts like Dr. Arnie Gundersen or Dr. Fumiaki Koide.

Please allow me to inform you of an initiative being taken by a former UN official who is endeavoring to have the Nuclear Security Summit take up the crucial problem. of N0.4 reactor of Fukushima. He is pursuing the establishment of an independent assessment team. I think his efforts are very significant, because it is indispensable to draw the attention of world leaders to this vital issue.


I am cooperating with him, writing to some of my Korean acquaintances that this issue deserves the personal attention of President Lee Myung-bak. I have written today to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. I asked him to consider taking the initiative of mobilizing human wisdom on the widest scope to cope with the Fukushima reactor No.4 problem, fully taking into account the above-mentioned “independent assessment team”.


Mitsuhei Murata
Former Japanese Ambassador to Switzerland and Senegal
Executive Director, the Japan Society for Global System and Ethics

What about the ocean?   The ocean's not contaminated; Right?  Well, actually..
Study: Radioactive water to reach Hawaii in 2 years  Will 2 years be code for 11 months?  The Asahi Shimbun.  Excerpts:


Water contaminated by radioactivity that entered the sea from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant will reach the Hawaiian Islands in March 2014, according to a computer simulation by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency.


The agency said the radioactivity in the water will be diluted to low levels by the time it has traveled 5,300 kilometers from the Fukushima plant. (They are referring to just cesium, I guess, as no other radioactive substance is mentioned..)
..
The researchers said 18,000 trillion becquerels of radioactive iodine and cesium have leaked from the plant into the sea.


The contaminated water will be carried by ocean currents, and the maximum radioactivity level in cesium-137 will be about 0.04 becquerel per liter when it nears the Hawaiian Islands, they said.


Sweet.  So what kind of levels do you expect for the plutonium, uranium, tritium, and the rest of this nuclear cavalcade of whimsy?  Cesium 137 has a half life of 30 years.  MOX has a half life of 24, 000 years.
No matter, though..  Especially if Reactor 4 goes.. 

Here we are, at what might be the Last Vestiges of Normal Life, and we all continue on, like everything is normal. 

May we continue on, like normal, most still in denial, for at least a little while longer, please.

China builds scores of dams in earthquake hazard zones

Look on the bright side:  At least they're not nuclear plants!  The Extinction Protocol.  Excerpts:

More than 130 large dams built, under construction, or proposed in western China’s seismic hazard zones could trigger disastrous environmental consequences such as earthquakes and giant waves, finds a new report from the Canadian watchdog group Probe International. The report shows that 98.6 percent of the dams being constructed in western China are located in high to moderate seismic hazard zones. The location of large dams near clusters of recorded earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 4.9, and especially when the earthquake focal points are also close to the surface, “is cause for grave concern,” said the report’s author geologist “John Jackson.”
And:
In a worst-case scenario, Jackson reports, dams could collapse, creating a giant wave that would inundate everything in its path, including downstream dams, causing great loss of life and property.

Bright side, China..  Bright side..

Let's Play "One Word Reactions To Global Headlines!"

3-4 N.Korean subs disappear after leaving east coast bases - Troubling.

Which Obama Cabinet Official Was ‘This Close’ To Doing Russian Spy Anna Chapman? - Hillary.

(UPDATE: 12 Tonnes May Have Leaked into the Ocean) Water Leak Again at #Fukushima I Nuke Plant, Waste Water After Reverse Osmosis, Again - Catastrophic.

Whole of Cyprus left without electricity after power grid failure  Thorough!

Falklands protesters attack British embassy in Buenos Aires  Vendetta!

Syntagma Square Suicide Note Ends With Call To Young Greek People To "Hang The Traitors"  Foreboding.

Fukushima One Year Later: Reactor 4 Is In Not-Awesome Shape.

Mainichi Expert Sr. Writer: Gov’t sources say No. 4 pool a grave concern — Storage pool barely intact — We have no time to humor senseless thinking of those who downplay the risks  This is happening now:  A continual erosion of the building's integrity.  Mainichi Daily News.  Excerpts:


[...] One of the biggest issues that we face is the possibility that the spent nuclear fuel pool of the No. 4 reactor at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant will collapse. This is something that experts from both within and outside Japan have pointed out since the massive quake struck. [...] not only independent experts, but also sources within the government say that it’s a grave concern.



(...)The storage pool in the No. 4 reactor building has a total of 1,535 fuel rods, or 460 tons of nuclear fuel, in it. The 7-story building itself has suffered great damage, with the storage pool barely intact on the building’s third and fourth floors. The roof has been blown away. If the storage pool breaks and runs dry, the nuclear fuel inside will overheat and explode, causing a massive amount of radioactive substances to spread over a wide area. Both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and French nuclear energy company Areva have warned about this risk.


(...)A report released in February by the Independent Investigation Commission on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident stated that the storage pool of the plant’s No. 4 reactor has clearly been shown to be “the weakest link” in the parallel, chain-reaction crises of the nuclear disaster. The worse-case scenario drawn up by the government includes not only the collapse of the No. 4 reactor pool, but the disintegration of spent fuel rods from all the plant’s other reactors. If this were to happen, residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area would be forced to evacuate.
And:
“Because sea water was being pumped into the reactor, the soundness of the structure (concrete corrosion and deterioration) was questionable. There also were doubts about the calculations made on earthquake resistance as well,” (Emphasis author)said one government source familiar with what took place at the time. “[...] fuel rod removal will take three years. Will the structure remain standing for that long? Burying the reactor in a concrete grave is like building a dam, and therefore expensive. I think that it was because TEPCO’s general shareholders’ meeting was coming up (in June 2011) that the company tried to keep expenses low.” [...]


That's some pretty awesome short-term, Bottom-Line thinking, yeah?  Is killing your customer base a very sound business strategy?  Fukushima is perilously close to becoming an Undisputed Global Event (If Reactor 4's Spent Fuel Pool does indeed go, believe me, You Will Know..), yet won't drop the cash needed to reign in this Catastrophe of Unknown and Unimaginable Magnitude.  So it's a good bet that something horrible will happen, as really, it's already happening..  Already.

Why should you care?  If you're in the Midwestern United States, chew on this:  Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant is at 37 Degrees North Latitude.  Kansas City, Missouri is at 39 Degrees North Latitude.  I have said this before, but on the good chance you haven't seen it before:  The United States is, globally, downwind from Fukushima.  And it's not like the earthquakes have stopped, either.  And it's not like there's some freak storm coming in from the Sea of Japan..  Wait; There is?  My mistake.. 

(Updated) Japan Meteorological Agency's Highly Unusual Storm Warning on TV: "Don't Go Outside"  EX-SKF.  Don't forget to watch the wind direction video!  Excerpts:

The warning comes from the government agency that prohibited its own researchers from disclosing any information regarding the dispersion of radioactive materials right after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. Many on Twitter are saying, "Why didn't they say the same thing on March 15 and 21 last year and warn us about radioactive plumes from Fukushima?"



Well, the answer is easy. Because issuing warnings about radioactive material dispersions was not in their job description. It still isn't.


Anyway, a highly unusual low is about to sweep through entire Japan from the Japan Sea side, and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) decided to hold a press conference which was broadcasted on TV to warn people in the evening of April 4.
And:
Mr. Uchida said, "The wind speed in Kanto is expected to be 25 meters per second, which is almost like a typhoon wind. We expect the wind to be stronger than in the last weekend. In particular, from 6PM to 9PM, it is possible that the wind will be so strong that people may get knocked down by the wind. Transportation may be affected as it may be dangerous to drive a car. So tomorrow, take ample precaution by going home earlier than usual, or by not going out unless it is necessary to do so."


Side Note:  If Tokyo is irradiated, I say we give Japan Detroit.  The Japanese bring the revenue, the people, and the technology to rejuvenate Detroit.  They remake the city in their technological image.  The Japanese find Safe Haven.  And Detroit rises again.  I like that scenario..  The whole Detroit metro area looking like present day Hiroshima..

Powered by alternative energies, of course..  That's a nice pipe dream, right?

It's A Grimy, Grimy World..

Claire Boucher is fantastic, and so is her new album Visions.  But don't believe me, listen for your damn self..

Perfect pop music from Universe "A."