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Tepco's motto: We may be small, but we're slow! And overly optimistic. ENENEWS:
Title: In Japan, a nuclear ghost town stirs to life
Source: NBC News
Author: Kyle Drubek
Date: July 26, 2012
[...]
Takahashi Kei, a former cooling system worker at the plant now working as a radiation survey volunteer, said [Tepco's] executives are portraying the situation in the best possible light.
“There are leaks everywhere, wreckage too. It’s not as simple as they portray,” he said.
[...]
TEPCO acknowledges that three reactors at the plant remain full of melted and re-solidified fuel that must be removed and that spent fuel pools elsewhere on the grounds must be kept cool to prevent them from releasing radiation again. It estimates it will take about 40 years to completely decommission the site.
[...]
40 years? Again with the optimism..
1. Mystery Continues: Professor theorizes black substance on roads is actually radioactive particles — “Phenomenon occurs even in regular soil containing no cyanobacteria” — All roadside dirt can have high radiation, regardless of color. Enenews Excerpts:
There are two major theories on why the cyanobacteria in the black soil has such high levels of radiation, but nothing has been confirmed.
One theory posits that the radiation becomes concentrated in the cyanobacteria. There is scientific evidence that cyanobacteria absorbs cesium, but confirmation has yet to be made on whether such radiation concentration has occurred in the cyanobacteria found in the black soil samples.
Hayakawa’s theory is that the high radiation levels are due to radioactive cesium from the Fukushima nuclear accident that was pushed by rain and wind and accumulated along roads. He believes that the phenomenon occurs even in regular soil containing no cyanobacteria.
According to Hayakawa’s theory, all dirt along roads is capable of recording high radiation levels, regardless of the color of the soil.
2. Good news/Bad news: Tepco: New 60-ton cover on top of Unit No. 4 fuel pool installed (PHOTOS) /[JNN live camera] Red light between reactor 4 and 3
3. BREAKING: Typhoon Guchol to cross Tokyo and then on to Fukushima - this could be it! Maybe.. This is a good thread to refer back to, as they'll keep up with the typhoon's direction until it hits Tokyo and Fukushima, or veers off onto another course in real time. Remember, this is a model, but couple the storm's potential with this little nugget: Fukushima worker “Tepco is having difficulty to increase tanks because of poor ground” Fukushima Diary. Excerpts:
Related to this article..Possible uneven settlement of reactor 4
Tepco postponed the construction to increase tanks for the contaminated water.
They were planning to start the construction in July but it will be postponed to August.
Tepco explains it is for the construction scheduling and there is still enough capacity of the tank, but actual Fukushima worker, Happy11311 tweeted like this below
I think the construction of the new tanks is behind the schedule and it’s not for what Tepco explained. I think that’s because of the ground. They are taking time to build the base of the tanks.
Typhoon-style rain on already unstable ground will make the ground more or less stable?
The end is nigh, bitches.. Natural News. Excerpts:
A lot of people believe the world as we know it is going to end on December 23, 2012. Nonsense, I say. The far more honest answer is that the end of the world as we know it has already begun. And it doesn't mean the end of the world; it means the closing of one era and the birth of a new one. It is a transition between the ages. This particular transition, however, promises to be the most tumultuous and costly transition humankind has ever seen.
But don't wait around for December 2012 to look for the signs. Here are 14 signs that the world as we know it is unraveling right now. We are living through the end of one era and the birth of a new one. In the future, they'll look back and call this all one moment in history, but when you're living through it, it seems to move forward at almost a snail's pace. But make no mistake: We are living through the opening chapters of the end of the world as we know it, and on the other side of all this will emerge a new world that's very different from the one we know today.
#1 - Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis
#2 - The silence of the bees (Colony Collapse Disorder)
#3 - The failure of nuclear science (In a word, Fukushima..)
#7 - The runaway destruction of the world by energy companies (Ahh.. Delicious Corexit!)
#11 - The plummeting intelligence of the masses
#13 - The ongoing pharmaceutical pollution of our world
#14 - The radioactive contamination of the global food supply
Get the whole list and descriptors at the link. It's a tad disturbing to see them all grouped together like this, but then again, maybe more people will understand the severity of our collective situation. Probably not, though..
Radiation renders Japanese fish unsafe? From YouTube. Short (1:39)
Radiation And Jet Stream Forecast Monitoring Sites From Rense.
Tiny amounts of radiation from Japan reach Nev. Note the down-play.. Excerpts:
..Hartwell said he's certain the isotopes came from Japan because they're not usually detected in Nevada. But he said the readings were far below levels that could pose any health risks.
..
California, Colorado, Hawaii and Washington have also reported tiny amounts of radiation from the Japan accident. Officials have said those levels also are not harmful.
..
Nevada health officials have said they do not expect any risk to the state from Japanese radiation releases because of the distance the materials would have to travel.
"Any material released must travel 10,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean, during which time it will be dispersed and diluted in the atmosphere to levels that might eventually be detectable, but which will not present a health hazard nor require any protective actions," said Eric Matus, radiation physicist for the Nevada State Health Division.
These readings and explanations would be better accepted as valid, provided the event was fully contained, and these were the final readings. They Are Not. When you read these stories, keep in mind, this situation is: 1. An Ongoing Event. 2. Increasing in Size, Scope, and Intensity. 3. Deteriorating. 600 people standing between us and ELE have been working nonstop in a highly radioactive situation. They won't live much longer. Soon, the ratio of People Averting Disaster to Disaster will be changing drastically, towards Disaster's favor.
Globally, Japan is fucking downwind from North America. When the readings continue to increase, and the effects become clearer, what will officialdom say six, ten, twenty four months from now?
Japan has short and long term impact From icis.com. Excerpts:
..quite apart from the impact detailed above to global supply chains as key manufacturers and component suppliers are knocked out, it is also having some unexpected short-term and possible long-term effects.
One immediate impact is that the country is now sucking in imports of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) as local production shutdowns hit supplies. Demand is primarily for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) used mainly for food packaging, as well as commodity PP in the automotive sector.
Expect to see more unexpected shortages as supply chains and components dry up, spread, and manifest throughout the global markets. Knocking the world's third largest economy off its foundations will be globally felt, quickly, and comprehensively. These anomalous-looking shortage events are just the beginning of the spike.
Ships steer clear of Japan's biggest ports From the Brisbane Times. Excerpts:
THE economic disruptions from Japan's crisis have cascaded into another crucial link in the global supply chain, cargo shipping.
Fearing the potential impact on crews, cargo and vessels worth tens of millions of dollars, some of the world's biggest container shipping lines have restricted or barred their ships from calling on ports in Tokyo Bay because of concerns about radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.
And:
Big Japanese ports much farther south of Tokyo, like Osaka and Kobe, are still loading and unloading cargo. But the Tokyo Bay ports of Tokyo and Yokohama are normally Japan's two busiest, representing as much as 40 per cent of the nation's foreign container cargo. If other shipping companies join those already avoiding the Tokyo area, as radiation contamination spreads from Fukushima 225 kilometres north, the delays in getting goods in and out of Japan would only get worse.
The shipping industry's fears have escalated since port officials in Xiamen in China detected radiation on a large container ship belonging to Mitsui OSK Lines last week. The vessel, which is under quarantine, had sailed down Japan's north-eastern coast and reportedly came no closer than 130 kilometres to the damaged nuclear plant.
Official gag does little to help clarify nuclear debate From The Nation/Thailand.
When the quake and tsunami hit Japan, the spillover effects were thought to be economic ones, stemming from Japan's need for funding to rebuild the disaster-hit areas.
No one thought about the spillover effect from nuclear power, particularly the energy authorities in Thailand.
..
The incident in Japan raises the question of how can developing countries deal with a crisis of this proportion, when the country with the best security measures is facing great difficulties. Nearly two weeks after the quake, the reactors in Fukushima remain in a precarious state with the likelihood that reactor No 3 could suffer a meltdown.
Elevated radiation found in rainwater From Boston.com. Excerpts:
Low levels of radioactive iodine linked to the nuclear disaster in Japan were detected in a sample of rainwater in Massachusetts, state health officials announced yesterday.
The concentration of radioiodine-131 found in the sample is very low and did not affect the health of the state’s drinking-water supplies, said John Auerbach, commissioner of the Department of Public Health. (Again; At the moment/Right now)
The rain sample was taken during the past week in Boston as part of regular monitoring by the US Environmental Protection Agency. No detectable increases in radiation were discovered in the air that was tested in the same location where the rainwater was collected, Auerbach said at a press conference yesterday at the William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute in Jamaica Plain.
Comparing Japan's Radiation Release to "Background Radiation" Good stuff frrom Washington's Blog. Excerpts:
Apologists for the type of old, unsafe nuclear reactors which are leaking in Japan argue that the amount of radiation released from Fukushima is small compared to the amount of "background radiation".
There Are NO Background Levels of Radioactive Caesium or Iodine.
Seismic Disaster, Nuclear Catastrophe, Continuing, Immediate, and Short-Range Dangers, Global Implications
Post-Tsunami Situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan: Facts, Analysis, and Some Potential Outcomes Excerpts:
A special feature of the Mark 1 design is that the used fuel, also called spent fuel, is stored within the reactor building in a swimming pool-like concrete structure near the top of the reactor vessel. When the reactor is refueled, the spent fuel is taken from the reactor by a large crane, transferred to the pool, and kept underwater for a few years. This spent fuel must be kept underwater to prevent severe releases of radioactivity, among other reasons. A meltdown or even a fire could occur if there is a loss of coolant from the spent fuel pool. The water in the spent fuel pool and the roof of the reactor building are the main barriers to release of radioactivity from the spent fuel pool.
An explosion associated with Unit 1 occurred on March 12, at 3:36 p.m.2 At first the authorities stated that this was in the turbine building next to the reactor building. However, it is the reactor building roof and part of the walls near the roof that were completely blown off leaving only a steel skeleton at the top of the building. This indicates an explosion inside the reactor building – probably a hydrogen explosion, since hydrogen is much lighter than air, it would accumulate near the top of the building. The explosion therefore seems to have occurred near the level where the spent fuel pool would be located in a Mark 1 reactor.
..While Japanese authorities have stated that the reactor vessel is still intact, there has been no word regarding the status of the spent fuel pool structure, except indirectly (see below). Is it still intact? This is a critical question as to the range of potential consequences of the reactor accident.
The Idiocy and Hubris of Engineers: Will GE Get Whacked for the Catastrophic Failure of its Nuke Plants in Fukushima?
GE, the company that boasts that it “brings good things to life,” was the designer of the nuclear plants that are blowing up like hot popcorn kernels at the Fukushima Dai-ichi generating plant north of Tokyo that was hit by the double-whammy of an 9.1 earthquake and a huge tsunami.
The company may escape tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in liability from this continuing disaster, which could still result in a catastrophic total meltdown of one or more of the reactors (as of this writing three of the reactors are reported to have suffered explosions and partial meltdowns, and all could potentially become more serious total meltdowns with a rupture of the reactor container), thanks to Japanese law, which makes the operator--in this case Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) liable. But if it were found that it was design flaws by GE that caused the problem, presumably TEPCO or the Japanese government could pursue GE for damages.
In fact, the design of these facilities--a design which, it should be noted, was also used in 23 nuclear plants operating in the US in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Vermont--appear to have included serious flaws, from a safety perspective.
Remember: Any ONE of these events would be catastrophic. Combine them, then throw in some secondary economic impacts. The micro to macro perspective of this unfolding event is staggering, even if the best possible-ending occurs.
Wind patterns have changed,Tokyo in direct wind of Fall out, Rad levels rising Wind direction simply explained.
VIDEO: Now There's A Volcano Erupting In Japan
Global Jet Stream Forecast (March 13-21st)
Fukushima Reactor 2 Hit By Loud INTERNAL Explosion
At 6:14 a.m. a loud thud rocked Reactor 2 of Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant, quite unlike the previous two blasts that blew apart the surrounding structures. This time the explosion occurred inside the steel containment chamber that surrounds the core reactor. The containment chamber captures and holds runoff water and condensed steam that escapes from the core reactor.
TEPCO and the nuclear safety agency have not explained the process that led to the blast.
In Monitor 3, the chemistry of splitting water molecules into hydrogen gas and supercharged oxygen was explained. In the first two blasts, these volatile gases recombined outside the reactor unit and blew apart the concrete rooms.
This third and latest blast is one of internal combustion.
At Japanese nuclear plant, a battle to contain radiation (Video)
Japan's prime minister says radiation has leaked from damaged reactor (Video)
Radiation Leaps After Reactor Fire; Tokyo Gets Warning
Japan warned radioactive levels had become "significantly" higher around a quake-stricken nuclear power plant on Tuesday after explosions at two reactors, and the French embassy said a low-level radioactive wind could reach Tokyo within hours.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged people within 30 km (18 miles) of the facility north of Tokyo to remain indoors, underscoring the dramatic escalation of Japan's nuclear crisis, the world's most serious since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.
Other than some random human interest stories, there seems to be no good news coming from anywhere in Japan.
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