BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 11:09 AM

Here's a link to a lot of information from a "worst case" scenario prepared by the UK government in the early stages of the Fukushima-1 disaster: click here for report!

The inventory of high level nuclear waste and fuel at this plant is "nearly double" what was at the Chernobyl nuclear complex but the British thought the environmental impact would be less if there were an explosion because it wasn't encased in graphite, i.e., the resulting plume would not rise as high in the air.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 21 Jun 11 - 10:14 PM

Just spent part of the afternoon with some American refugees from NW of Tokyo here in Maine. Their parents convinced them to come home a month ago. It's all very sad because it takes a lot of effort to secure a job in Japan and then have to abandon it. But it was the right call, sad to say. There's no way that anyone can trust TEPCO or the Japanese Government to acknowledge what is really happening in and around Fukushima-1. And the family has young children.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 21 Jun 11 - 06:10 PM

They have to do so. Unfortunate but required.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 09:18 PM

So the citizens in Japan are within acceptable radiation limits even if those limits only cause 14,000 cancers 20 years from now.


oooo I think think they are exaggerating downwards.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jack Campin
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 04:30 PM

Peter's last link was wrong, presumably a copy/paste slip.

The IAEA report for its factfinding commission (24/5/2011-2/6/2011) is here:

PDF document, 2.7MB

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 04:06 PM

NHK...

Residents in 2 areas in Fukushima Prefecture are being asked if they want to temporarily leave their homes to avoid high levels of radiation.

The 2 areas, in Iwaki City, are about 30 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. They are outside the evacuation zone. However, radiation of more than 3 microsieverts per hour has been recorded in the districts.

Three microsieverts per hour is about 5 times the level of radiation in controlled areas that are designated as off-limits for civilians.

The residents are being asked to submit their answers by June 24th.

An elderly man who lives in one of the districts says he feels sorry for his grandchildren who stand to suffer the most from radioactive contamination.

Monday, June 20, 2011 22:02 +0900 (JST)

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 03:50 PM

IAEA Report on Fulushima

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 20 Jun 11 - 02:29 PM

Guardian article outlines the UK government assessment and emergency plan of the Fukushima disaster. The worst case scenario expecting more radiation released to exceed that of Chernobyl.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jack Campin
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 07:06 PM

Here is the official FAA flight restriction for Fort Calhoun:

http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_1_6523.html

It only covers a fairly small area, and has been in place since June 6. Any new restrictions should appear here:

http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr2/list.html

The restrictions aren't wide enough to make photography of the site impossible, so it doesn't look like they're covering anything up, yet anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jack Campin
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 05:34 AM

Scary pictures of the Nebraska flood here:

http://cryptome.org/eyeball/ne-npp-flood/ne-npp-flood.htm

It appears to be one fat rubber tube away from catastrophe.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jack Campin
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 04:58 AM

I don't know what to make of this:

more on the Nebraska fiasco

somewhat calmer report frm a Pakistan paper based on the same info

Somebody is panicking, but whether it's for good reason I can't make out.

One obvious moral, though: River flooding is the US's equivalent of a tsunami hazard. Somebody needs to map the risks.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 05:29 PM

There were reports a few days ago of radiation ..not much..found in whales off the coast of Japan.

and our idiots here refuse to be testing fish at least for baseline purposes. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 01:51 PM

Charley's link... "But they never end."

Chilling words.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 01:18 PM

Water treatment halted because the radiation level of the 'component' to absorb caesium exceeded its limit and required replacement. Tepco sats the delay 'will be short."

Japan Times and BBC.

Japan industry minister Kaieda called for restart of suspended nuclear reactors in order to meet demand for summertime electricity.
He said "appropriate action" has been taken to insure safety.
Local governments, however, were more cautious in their remarks.
Japan Times, June 18, 2011.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 01:14 PM

If this article reviewing what has happened at Fukushima-1 from Al Jazeera doesn't keep you awake all night nothing will: click here for report!

This is way beyond the script of what is supposed to happen if a melt-down occurs, according to the nuclear industry.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 12:09 PM

Nebraska!

Flooded out! Ugh!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jim Martin
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 05:32 AM

Yet another problem with the clean-up!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13819767

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 17 Jun 11 - 10:09 PM

Gee whiz!

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jack Campin
Date: 17 Jun 11 - 08:34 PM

Meanwhile in the US...

loss of cooling for fuel rod store in Nebraska

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Jun 11 - 10:44 AM

Here's a link from a new release from long-time anti-nuclear activist Karl Grossman castigating the nuclear industry recent attempts to cover up the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster: click here for statement

Karl Grossman, professor of journalism at the State University of New York/College at Old Westbury, has long specialized in doing investigative reporting on nuclear technology. He is the author of Cover Up: What You Are Not Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power. He is the host of the nationally aired TV program, Enviro Close-Up (envirovideo.com).

There are lessons to be learned in this disaster but not the ones that the nuclear industry wants us to learn.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Jun 11 - 09:16 AM

Here's a relatively optimistic update from TEPCO:

"TOKYO (Dow Jones)--The roadmap for bringing Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to a safe condition and stopping all radiation releases is proceeding as planned, with no change in the overall timetable, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) said Friday.

In releasing its latest update to the plan, Tepco said it was still confident it could meet its target of achieving a "cold shutdown" of the three most-damaged reactors within its six-to-nine month schedule, which would mean completion by mid-January.

Tepco also said that it hopes to achieve stable cooling of the spent fuel pools at all six reactors within the next month. The pools are where fuel is stored when it is removed from the main reactor units. The fuel must be covered with water and kept below boiling point over an extended period.

The utility also said that radiation levels at the plant in northern Japan are continuing to fall steadily, reducing the risk of radiation exposure to the region and making it less hazardous for workers at the site as they try to bring the plant under control."

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Jun 11 - 09:12 AM

Well, I'm glad that the Japanese are doing a full review of their other nuclear plant sites. Lord knows the impact of Fukushima-1 is bad enough.

Evidently the test of the new radioactive water processing system was acceptable at Fukushima-1 and they are gearing up for full operation. However, they really will need several plants that size to do more than keep pace will the huge volumes of radioactive waste water being produced every day.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jack Campin
Date: 17 Jun 11 - 06:42 AM

Meanwhile elsewhere in the country:

Nuclear vulnerability in Kansai region

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Jun 11 - 07:23 PM

Strontium-90 has a half-life of about 29 years, meaning it doesn't decay to background levels for 290 years. Nasty stuff indeed!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 14 Jun 11 - 07:23 PM

Sorry, but I am just not doing snippets tonight.

NHK...

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says a cesium absorption device that it has started testing is working well.

Tokyo Electric Power Company began using the US-made equipment early on Tuesday morning to process low-level radioactive water at its planned water treatment facility.

Suspending the work about 10 hours later to analyze the treated water, TEPCO found that levels of cesium-134 had been reduced to about one-2,900th, and cesium-137 to about one-3,300th.

More than 105,000 tons of highly radioactive water is building up within the plant, and the utility says it may run out of space to store it in about 2 weeks.

TEPCO also plans to begin using a French-made chemical agent for decontamination at the facility on Wednesday.

As the start of testing was delayed for 4 days due to a series of malfunctions, TEPCO says it will shorten the test-runs by one day, and begin treating highly radioactive water from Friday.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011 19:58 +0900 (JST)
************************************************
(Whatever in hell THAT means!?)

The operator of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant says tiny amounts of plutonium have been detected in samples of soil in the plant's compound.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, announced on Tuesday that an independent research institution has analyzed soil samples taken on May 30th at 3 locations.

The utility said plutonium was detected in samples collected near a recreational ground 500 meters from the Number One reactor. Plutonium was also detected in samples from near a waste disposal facility, also 500 meters from the reactor.

The utility said all the amounts of the detected plutonium are too small to pose risk to human health.
This is the third time that plutonium has been detected in soil samples at the plant since the nuclear accident began on March 11th. TEPCO said the levels of plutonium detected within the compound following the accident were about the same as those detected in Japan after atmospheric nuclear tests carried out by foreign countries during the Cold War era.

The utility said the level of plutonium-238 detected near the recreational ground was 0.19 becquerels per kilogram and the figure is down from the 0.26 becquerels detected in April.

Once plutonium is taken into human lungs and other organs, it can stay in the body for a long period of time and carries the risk of causing cancer.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011 22:35 +0900 (JST)
****************************************************
NHK has learned that 16 prefectures in Japan have detected radioactive material in sludge since the crisis began at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March.

NHK has found through interviews that at least 22 of Japan's 47 prefectures have been testing sludge for radioactive material. 16 of them, ranging from Hokkaido to Osaka, have actually detected radioactive substances.

The level of radioactive cesium was highest in Fukushima city, at 447,000 becquerels per kilogram. This was followed by Tokyo at 55,000 becquerels and Maebashi, north of Tokyo, at 42,800 becquerels.

Rain-soaked soil containing radioactive substances has turned into contaminated sludge and is being stored at waste treatment plants.

Maebashi has designated area around its waste treatment plant a radiation danger zone, after radiation levels at 2 storage sites for incinerated sludge exceeded the government set-safety level.

Japan has had no safety guidelines for contaminated sludge, which is a new problem.

Last month, the government decided on an emergency measure to incinerate and store sludge that's been found to contain 100,000 becquerels or more of radioactive materials.

But the measure applies only within Fukushima Prefecture, prompting other prefectures and municipalities to demand that the government quickly set guidelines on how to handle contaminated sludge.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011 19:13 +0900 (JST)

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 09:04 PM

Wellll that is truly nasty. Not just for them but for the oceans and thereby for all of us.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 08:26 PM

Strontium has been found in groundwater near Fukushma's No. 1 and 2 reactors.
Near an intake, radioactive strontium up to 240 times the limit has been found in seawater samples.

Strontium accumulates in bones and is believed to cause cancer and leukemia.
Japan Times, June 13, 2011.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 05:26 PM

NHK...

The company began full-fledged operation of 2 filtering devices on Monday after a series of test-runs.

TEPCO says each device is capable of treating up to 30 tons of seawater per hour. Tests showed the machines reduced cesium levels by 20 to 30 percent. The company says it will find ways to increase filtering capability.

*******************************************************************

Tokyo Electric Power Company has further postponed the test-run of a new system to treat highly radioactive water that threatens to overflow from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The operator says it wants to conduct the test-run on Tuesday or later -- more than 4 days behind schedule.

TEPCO had initially planned to start the test-run of the water decontamination system last Friday. The 4 devices include one made by a US firm to remove cesium.

********************************************************************

Yeah... I know... ???

********************************************************************

Some more workers have been exposed to high levels. One guy "forgot his mask" while working outside.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 12:03 PM

gnu-

Thanks for the updates.

Sure would be nice to get some better news.

Charley Noble, back in Maine

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 12 Jun 11 - 05:20 PM

NHK snippets...

A series of anti-nuclear demonstrations were held across Japan on Saturday. The rallies coincided with the 3 month anniversary of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami that resulted in the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

********************************************************************

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been forced to reconsider its plan to cool the spent fuel storage pool of the No.4 reactor.

Water injection from a special vehicle has not been intense enough to cool the water in the pool, allowing the temperature to remain at more than 80 degrees Celsius.

*********************************************************************

The equipment failure that has delayed the test of a system to treat highly radioactive water at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has apparently been resolved.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says it will carry out a test-run after checking the equipment once more on Monday.

*********************************************************************

Treatment of highly radioactive water at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is likely to be delayed by a problem with the flow of water.

The system being installed at the plant includes a device to remove cesium using zeolite, as well as equipment that settles out radioactive substances using specialized chemicals.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, said on Sunday that it has found that water does not flow in one of the 4 units as expected.

********************************************************************

Yes, I know, but it is not clear. As has been the case from the start.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 03:39 PM

CNN reports that the average West Coast American breathes 5 to ten hot particles into their lungs that originated at the Fukushima disaster. The particles are euphemisticly called fuel dust.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 03:38 PM

Horseshit. And rather rude. And, what has that got to do with this thread? Rhetorical question eh wha.

Just he facts Maam.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 03:17 PM

The Mother thread is an elite retreat far from the bustling shores of the unwashed public. The secret societies therin reside in annominity, unpraised, unsung and unwept, for they are the originals, the pioneers and founders of all that is the primordial mudcat.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 02:45 PM

I hope it never becomes the Septic Sea Music Festival.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 02:39 PM

Did I mention that I expected this thread to have a long half-life, several thousand years?

By then it may rival the Mother of All Mudcat Threads.

That's the good news.

I'll be off to the Mystic Sea Music Festival from Thursday to Monday.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 02:22 PM

NHK...

The Tokyo Electric Power Company is studying a plan to decontaminate seawater pooled at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant and discharge it into the sea.

***********************************************************

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will release air from inside the No.2 reactor building after lowing its intense radioactivity and high humidity, which have been hampering the work to restore its cooling system.

The No.2 reactor building has 99.9 percent humidity and high levels of radioactivity, which make it hard for workers in protective gear to work inside it for long periods.

*************************************************************

A Japanese robot has been built... the robots used so far are US made.

**************************************************************

More than 3,200 people killed themselves in Japan last month, exceeding the 3,000 mark for the first time in 2 years.

***************************************************************

Tokyo Electric Power Company says it is making final preparations to activate special purification equipment to treat radioactive waste water at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The company plans to start up the system on June 15th.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 01:41 PM

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110607005367.htm


Just as I thought.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 09:27 AM

Peter-

That's exactly what actually happened at Three Mile Island in 1979 but the public didn't hear about it until 8 years later, and those who actually learned something from reading the short article were about 6.

So now we know that the hydrogen exhaust valve system is defective in the Mark-1 reactor, and that the spent fuel pool positioned for convenience above and to one side of the reactor vessel makes radioactive water spills more likely in the event of an explosion. Do you suppose the NRC is going to order the 23 US nuclear plants that are operating with that design to close for retrofitting? Stupid question! The NRC still hasn't rescinded its order to extend the license of Vermont Yankee for another 20 years; only the courageous actions on the part of the Vermont Legislature and its Governor have stalled this order.

It's also little comfort that the warnings of several courageous whistleblowers (two affiliated with the Union of Concerned Scientists) has been vindicated in spades.

RANT, RANT! expletives deleted

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 03:42 AM

Japanese authorities admit melt-through rather than meltdown likelihood in report to IAEA. Fuel rods in reactors 1,2 and 3 are likely to have breached their inner containment vessels and accumulated in the outer steel containment vessels.

Radiation leaked in the first week of the disaster may be at least double the original estimates.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 09:37 PM

The Pacific is a big ocean but what's at the Fukushima site is a huge volume of radioactive waste. Some has already drained into the bay (no one even knows how much at this point). Once the longer half-life radioactive Cesium is absorbed by small sea life, the radioactivity will become more concentrated in the tissue as it passes up the food chain. What do you have at the top of the food chain, beside us? Well, there are swordfish, tuna, whales, sharks, all of which will have their lives if not their species compromised by this nuclear disaster.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jack Campin
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 09:05 PM

So far, they probably haven't released enough radio-isotopes into the sea to cause serious damage.

Release a significant proportion of what they have on-site and it's bye-bye to the fishing industry in the entire Northern Pacific for centuries.

Look at the ocean current patterns.

There is a much weaker link to the southern Pacific, down the coast of the Americas and via the equatorial currents. That would have a more delayed but much more catastrophic effect - the anchovy fishery off Peru is used in animal feed worldwide. Dunno the figures now, but a few years back it accounted for half the landed weight of ALL fish caught anywhere, nearly all processed into fishmeal for animal feed. Eliminate that and a large fraction of the world's intensive animal rearing would go with it, including most of the American cattle industry.   It might take a century for a significant amount of Japanese nuclear pollution to get into the southern Pacific circulation, but that's the real biggie.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 08:06 PM

Soooo.... if this shit gets in the ocean are we looking at the possibility that the sea life... whales, seals, fish, plankton, seaweed, kelp and EVERYTHING else along the coast of NA could be "altered" (read fucked)?

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 04:30 PM

Yet another admission announced on CNN today that raioactivity from the disaster is about twice what TEPCO reported two weeks ago that admitted to under reporting from the start. They are clutching to the lie that Fukushitstorm is only a fifth of the Chernobyl disaster.

My contention is that it is in total many times a Chernobyl disaster.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 03:58 PM

Areva (contracted by Japan) can remove radioactive materials from water, but the volume that can be handled is overwhelmed by the water needed by three reactors. The amount of storage is mind-bogling.

The Japan Times reports that additional areas are under study for evacuation.Hot spots are considered to be those in which radiation exposure would exceed 20 millisieverts in the course of a year.

Beaches-
"The government will examine radiation levels in assessing water quality at bathing areas in seas, rivers and lakes, said chief Cabinet Secretary Edano.
Local governments had already started their own checks.

A government spokesman said that there was "still hope that cleanup could be completed by the end of January." HMMMMMM!
(Statement heard on a BBC news broadcast).

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 07:58 AM

Jack-

Yes, the current reports are certainly more revealing, as we might expect, and this continuing event was indeed a "disaster" within the first 24 hours.

The initial posts on this thread make interesting reviewing, as posters speculated on what might or might not be occurring. Of course, it took us about a month to convince "Mudcat Central" to change this thread name from "Nuclear Plant Disaster Looming" to "Nuclear Plant Disaster."

Currently the Fukushima-1 nuclear complex is being overwhelmed with huge volumes of radioactive sea water, mixed with oil and other debris, and the new processing plant is not scheduled to be on-line for another two weeks. It's unclear to the Union of Concerned Scientists whether this plant will be capable of keeping up with new volumes of radioactive water pumped in each day, let alone reducing the inventory of what has accumulated in the various turbine halls, basements, trenches, and holding tanks; it is at least a start.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jack Campin
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 06:33 AM

The meltdowns started much sooner than TEPCO has recognized so far, and with twice as much radiation emitted in the first few hours than they noticed at the time:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13678627

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 04 Jun 11 - 10:26 AM

Tepco reports a rise in radiation in reactor 1 today. 4000 MS/H was measured by a robot working inside the building.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 10:07 AM

More trouble brewing at the Fukushima-1 nuclear complex. You know, if you keep pouring water into a container it tends to fill and overflow:

NIRS (Nuclear Information & Resources Service)

UPDATE, Thursday, June 2, 2011. Concern is growing that radioactive water in the reactor buildings and other facilities at Fukushima Daiichi may again be released into the ocean. Water levels have been rising, partly as a result of continued pumping of water for cooling and partly as a result of heavy rains last weekend from Typhoon Songda, which fortunately only grazed the Fukushima site. A Tepco spokesman said today that radioactive water could begin to overflow trenches within 5-7 days.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 01:09 AM

I like to think that we could get food and water to the firemen, say for example. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 08:57 PM

mg-

"Please tell me again to take a deep breath."

Not today! TEPCO's actions have scored miserably on almost every level and the sooner they are taken over by some more responsible entity in Japan (there's got to be one somewhere!) the better.

The construction standards for resisting earthquakes were inadequate.

The tsunami wall was inadequate.

The improvised actions of the workforce were inadequate, and well beyond their training.

The management of top TEPCO officials was pitiful if not criminally negligent.

Could we do better if a similar natural disaster happened in coastal California? I seriously doubt that given what we have learned about this type of boiling water nuclear plant, and recent action by the NRC to approve the extension of Vermont Yankee's license to operate.

Charley Noble