The US government is encouraging all Americans in Japan to stay at least 50 miles away.
Might be a good idea for Japanese citizens to do the same.
There is no magic safe distance in cases like these, since winds can carry contamination great distances in one direction, while the another direction may be safe at close range.
I think the Chernobyl "Zone of Alienation" is a 30 mile radius. And how eerie is that name?
I also read today that there are still a few stray people living in Chernobyl after all these years.
True. It has also become an "oasis" for rare animals and criminals hiding from the law.
Man, I hope the Japanese hook up that power line asap.
5 have died, 2 missing, 21 injured. 1 was subjected to a high dose of radioactive steam while attempting to release a steam valve. The nation rests collectively in the hands of these brave men/women.
Double post.
I'm checking my news on Asahi.com, which is one of the bigger newspapers in Japan, and one older Japanese guy at work was calling TEPCO, the Japanese gov't, and quite possibly these media outlets as "information manipulation".
There is a lot of information being thrown around right now. Truth be told, I'm not sure what to believe at this point. I do think there's a level of...reserve going on with TEPCO and the Japanese MSM to save face and keep the public calm. If you look at what they're reporting vs. what the EU/US is saying, there's some pretty extreme differences.
Who really knows what's going on.
Via Reuters: Japan nuclear operator -- Do not know what caused explosion at Fukushima Daiichi plant reactor no.4 as there was water in fuel pool
Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, asserted that there was now little or no water in the pool storing spent nuclear fuel at the No. 4 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, leaving fuel rods stored there exposed and bleeding radiation into the atmosphere.
should be noted that the 5 fatalities you refer to were not due to radioactivity, but from the impact of the explosion at very close range!
let's try not to build things more than the media has already done
There is a lot of information being thrown around right now. Truth be told, I'm not sure what to believe at this point. I do think there's a level of...reserve going on with TEPCO and the Japanese MSM to save face and keep the public calm. If you look at what they're reporting vs. what the EU/US is saying, there's some pretty extreme differences.
what should be noted to all here, is the underlying political agenda that deeply engrosses this situation!
Let's just say that those lobbying against nuclear power are having a field day with this. Yet they fail to really address the issues at hand.
It may have been poor judgement in some sense with position 6 reactors in close proximity to boost efficiency.......In addition, the designers obviously failed to imagine a tsunami of these proportions and the backup power is brought in by multiple outside power lines, there are banks of diesels to produce backup power, and finally, banks of batteries to back that up, all were disabled.
Still, given many opinions from highly regarded nuclear experts (not the ones parading around on US television), there is a slim chance of this turning into what has already been churned out in sensationalist headlines......
Let's not always believe what we see on the news, or read in papers.....especially when the statistics never seem to be concrete or agreed upon.
should be noted that the 5 fatalities you refer to were not due to radioactivity, but from the impact of the explosion at very close range!
let's try not to build things more than the media has already done
I don't think anyone is trying to do that. In fact if you look at what Aser wrote, the only mention of radioactivity was someone who was exposed to it.
I agree that people should not be freaking out about this (ESPECIALLY in the states), but there is legitimate cause for concern for the safety of Japan. That said, hold your head and continue to use common sense. Stay safe over there.
The number of immediate deaths from the tsunami dwarfs the likely (immediate) dangers from these power plants.
Yet, they have totally derailed the US media and our conversation here.
The most important thing for us is doing what we can to help the displaced, and mourn for the loss of life.
There is a sticky at the top of the page with donation info.
It may be complete, but still someway to getting the coolers online. They will hopefully have this in effect within the next 15hours. At the moment, monitoring the local radiation level, amidst other logistical red tape, is slowing the process.
the success of this will potentially make critical differences to the overall outcome.
Again, let's also remember that, as mentioned above, the Tsunami devastation should not be overshadowed
You Can Stop Worrying About A Radiation Disaster In Japan -- Here's Why:
I repeat, there was and will *not* be any significant release of radioactivity from the damaged Japanese reactors.
By "significant" I mean a level of radiation of more than what you would receive on - say - a long distance flight, or drinking a glass of beer that comes from certain areas with high levels of natural background radiation...
...followed by a bunch of inaccurante crap that's supposed to sound knowledgeable but clearly isn't since there is no way around admitting that his asessment "I repeat, there was and will *not* be any significant release of radioactivity from the damaged Japanese reactors" was wrong.
Still, the exact same people who were and are still complaining of a media hysteria and as Tokyobeats puts it "those lobbying against nuclear power are having a field day with this" re-posted Dr. Josef Oehmen's nonsense (which originally was a private email) all over the net.
Within the past couple of days the Japanes government has doubled the degree of radiation that is considdered a serious health risk. The European news media calls it a fact that reactor 2 has a leak in the inner containment vessel and is releaseing radioactivity in the environment but they're just being hysteric, right? More recent pictures show that the Fukushima plant is little more than a smoldering radioactive ruin:
Now there are reports of radioactive particles originating from Fukushima being found on the US West Coast, of course "at a level that could not pose any risk to humans".
Now we can read that "Barack Obama has appealed for calm today after a UN agency predicted that a nuclear plume from Japan is set to hit the U.S. West Coast by tomorrow."
There is no media hysteria and there is no "lobby against nuclear power". There is a lot of downplaying and a disturbing lack of information. Where are those photographs that supposedly were shot by a US drone a day or two ago? Which lobby do you think is responsible for holding them back from being released?
MIT has reposted that -Dr. Josef Oehmen- article with some changes/updates, and has posted more articles explaining what's going on. It's been the easiest to understand of anything I've read so far -- hopefully it's reliable.
I'm in agreement with those seriously concerned and outraged at what's happening. It baffles me how people can excuse any amount of pollution as acceptable or no big deal. Planet Earth rename Planet Superfund Site.
There's more to it than Chernobyl and Three Mile. Interesting read.
MIT has reposted that -Dr. Josef Oehmen- article with some changes/updates, and has posted more articles explaining what's going on. It's been the easiest to understand of anything I've read so far -- hopefully it's reliable.
^ This.
According to MIT, "Dr. Josef Oehmen's main research interest is in risk management in the value chain". Since when does this make him an expert in nuclear science?
His innitial article started with a headline and introduction that only 24 hours later proved to be a tragically and completely wrong.
So then some other smart people re-edit this nonsense and re-post it? What's that supposed to mean? Who would give a rat's ass about a mis-informed and wrong statement that then after the fact was re-edited so it appears somewhat less wrong?
MIT has reposted that -Dr. Josef Oehmen- article with some changes/updates, and has posted more articles explaining what's going on. It's been the easiest to understand of anything I've read so far -- hopefully it's reliable.
^ This.
According to MIT, "Dr. Josef Oehmen's main research interest is in risk management in the value chain". Since when does this make him an expert in nuclear science?
His innitial article started with a headline and introduction that only 24 hours later proved to be a tragically and completely wrong.
So then some other smart people re-edit this nonsense and re-post it? What's that supposed to mean? Who would give a rat's ass about a mis-informed and wrong statement that then after the fact was re-edited so it appears somewhat less wrong?
Frank - be honest now..
You never even read those articles, did you?
Its okay.
It just really doesnt seem likely there will be severe radioactive contamination.
In fact, thankfully - day by day the situation seems to be more and more under control.
Best for everyone to focus on the aid and recovery needed post quake and tsunami
rather than having a hysterical OMG OMG nuclear disaster / conspiracy fit, however tempting and exciting that may seem.
MIT has reposted that -Dr. Josef Oehmen- article with some changes/updates, and has posted more articles explaining what's going on. It's been the easiest to understand of anything I've read so far -- hopefully it's reliable.
^ This.
According to MIT, "Dr. Josef Oehmen's main research interest is in risk management in the value chain". Since when does this make him an expert in nuclear science?
His innitial article started with a headline and introduction that only 24 hours later proved to be a tragically and completely wrong.
So then some other smart people re-edit this nonsense and re-post it? What's that supposed to mean? Who would give a rat's ass about a mis-informed and wrong statement that then after the fact was re-edited so it appears somewhat less wrong?
Frank - be honest now..
You never even read those articles, did you?
Its okay.
It just really doesnt seem likely there will be severe radioactive contamination.
In fact, thankfully - day by day the situation seems to be more and more under control.
Best for everyone to focus on the aid and recovery needed post quake and tsunami
rather than having a hysterical OMG OMG nuclear disaster / conspiracy fit, however tempting and exciting that may seem.
Exactly where do you get your condescending attitude from?
I read enough into the "article" you posted to notice that this guy didn't know what he was talking about. He didn't know that at least one of the reactors was running with plutonium enriched fuel, that one of the inner containment vessels was already ruptured with the surrounding structure also compromised and radioactive material leaking into the atmosphere. The presence of cesium was a clear indicator that a meltdown was in progress and that there was a leak. These were already known facts at the time you posted this garbage.
This wasn't even an article that was supposed to be made public but a private email. It obviously was highly inaccurate and proven wrong by actual events at the time it was first made public.
I don't know where you get your asessment " thankfully - day by day the situation seems to be more and more under control." from. This plant is a wreck. The operator of the plant has a long pre-disaster history of falsifying reports and lying to the public and even they are now talking about having to seal the entire ruin under concrete. Why should they do this? Maybe they've also throwing a "OMG OMG nuclear disaster fit". Maybe they also need your help to refocus and realize that how you put it "It just really doesnt seem likely there will be severe radioactive contamination."
All we can do from where we are is donate money (which I'm sure you've done, right?). Where our focus is other than that won't change a thing. But I don't think we should put our focus on obviously wrong pseudo-scientific statements like the ones you have been posting so I would suggest you better put some more attention to the quality of your sources before worrying about the focus of others.
You are instrumentalizing a humanitarian crisis to try and tell people it's somewhat out of place to talk about the biggest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. And no, that is not okay!
http://www.nihonkizuna.com/
My friend put together a 49 Artist compilation to help people in Japan. The dude showed up in tokyo the day of the quake i believe. Lots of fresh new music from people in Japan and all over the world.
100% of the money goes to red cross japan because bandcamp waived their 10% fee. Enjoy some cool music and help a good cause.
Our trip is a month away and everyone is telling me not to go. It's really tough to make out what is hype and what is serious. All I know is there are a lot of people that still need help.
Comments
Man, I hope the Japanese hook up that power line asap.
There is a lot of information being thrown around right now. Truth be told, I'm not sure what to believe at this point. I do think there's a level of...reserve going on with TEPCO and the Japanese MSM to save face and keep the public calm. If you look at what they're reporting vs. what the EU/US is saying, there's some pretty extreme differences.
Who really knows what's going on.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/world/asia/17nuclear.html
Kinda sums it up.
let's try not to build things more than the media has already done
Let's just say that those lobbying against nuclear power are having a field day with this. Yet they fail to really address the issues at hand.
It may have been poor judgement in some sense with position 6 reactors in close proximity to boost efficiency.......In addition, the designers obviously failed to imagine a tsunami of these proportions and the backup power is brought in by multiple outside power lines, there are banks of diesels to produce backup power, and finally, banks of batteries to back that up, all were disabled.
Still, given many opinions from highly regarded nuclear experts (not the ones parading around on US television), there is a slim chance of this turning into what has already been churned out in sensationalist headlines......
Let's not always believe what we see on the news, or read in papers.....especially when the statistics never seem to be concrete or agreed upon.
I don't think anyone is trying to do that. In fact if you look at what Aser wrote, the only mention of radioactivity was someone who was exposed to it.
I agree that people should not be freaking out about this (ESPECIALLY in the states), but there is legitimate cause for concern for the safety of Japan. That said, hold your head and continue to use common sense. Stay safe over there.
Yet, they have totally derailed the US media and our conversation here.
The most important thing for us is doing what we can to help the displaced, and mourn for the loss of life.
There is a sticky at the top of the page with donation info.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12779512
It may be complete, but still someway to getting the coolers online. They will hopefully have this in effect within the next 15hours. At the moment, monitoring the local radiation level, amidst other logistical red tape, is slowing the process.
the success of this will potentially make critical differences to the overall outcome.
Again, let's also remember that, as mentioned above, the Tsunami devastation should not be overshadowed
http://park18.wakwak.com/~weather/geiger_index.html
Might take off for the long weekend with wifey just to have a couple days with no aftershocks and less nuclear worries.
Hang in there!
Still, the exact same people who were and are still complaining of a media hysteria and as Tokyobeats puts it "those lobbying against nuclear power are having a field day with this" re-posted Dr. Josef Oehmen's nonsense (which originally was a private email) all over the net.
Within the past couple of days the Japanes government has doubled the degree of radiation that is considdered a serious health risk. The European news media calls it a fact that reactor 2 has a leak in the inner containment vessel and is releaseing radioactivity in the environment but they're just being hysteric, right? More recent pictures show that the Fukushima plant is little more than a smoldering radioactive ruin:
Now there are reports of radioactive particles originating from Fukushima being found on the US West Coast, of course "at a level that could not pose any risk to humans".
Now we can read that "Barack Obama has appealed for calm today after a UN agency predicted that a nuclear plume from Japan is set to hit the U.S. West Coast by tomorrow."
There is no media hysteria and there is no "lobby against nuclear power". There is a lot of downplaying and a disturbing lack of information. Where are those photographs that supposedly were shot by a US drone a day or two ago? Which lobby do you think is responsible for holding them back from being released?
^ This.
And also...
Why fukushima daiichi wont be another chernobyl
This is an article posted yesterday in New Scientist, in their Physics and Math section.
That might help to clear things up.
I'm in agreement with those seriously concerned and outraged at what's happening. It baffles me how people can excuse any amount of pollution as acceptable or no big deal. Planet Earth rename Planet Superfund Site.
There's more to it than Chernobyl and Three Mile. Interesting read.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42112536?slide=8
According to MIT, "Dr. Josef Oehmen's main research interest is in risk management in the value chain". Since when does this make him an expert in nuclear science?
His innitial article started with a headline and introduction that only 24 hours later proved to be a tragically and completely wrong.
So then some other smart people re-edit this nonsense and re-post it? What's that supposed to mean? Who would give a rat's ass about a mis-informed and wrong statement that then after the fact was re-edited so it appears somewhat less wrong?
Frank - be honest now..
You never even read those articles, did you?
Its okay.
It just really doesnt seem likely there will be severe radioactive contamination.
In fact, thankfully - day by day the situation seems to be more and more under control.
Best for everyone to focus on the aid and recovery needed post quake and tsunami
rather than having a hysterical OMG OMG nuclear disaster / conspiracy fit, however tempting and exciting that may seem.
Exactly where do you get your condescending attitude from?
I read enough into the "article" you posted to notice that this guy didn't know what he was talking about. He didn't know that at least one of the reactors was running with plutonium enriched fuel, that one of the inner containment vessels was already ruptured with the surrounding structure also compromised and radioactive material leaking into the atmosphere. The presence of cesium was a clear indicator that a meltdown was in progress and that there was a leak. These were already known facts at the time you posted this garbage.
This wasn't even an article that was supposed to be made public but a private email. It obviously was highly inaccurate and proven wrong by actual events at the time it was first made public.
I don't know where you get your asessment " thankfully - day by day the situation seems to be more and more under control." from. This plant is a wreck. The operator of the plant has a long pre-disaster history of falsifying reports and lying to the public and even they are now talking about having to seal the entire ruin under concrete. Why should they do this? Maybe they've also throwing a "OMG OMG nuclear disaster fit". Maybe they also need your help to refocus and realize that how you put it "It just really doesnt seem likely there will be severe radioactive contamination."
All we can do from where we are is donate money (which I'm sure you've done, right?). Where our focus is other than that won't change a thing. But I don't think we should put our focus on obviously wrong pseudo-scientific statements like the ones you have been posting so I would suggest you better put some more attention to the quality of your sources before worrying about the focus of others.
You are instrumentalizing a humanitarian crisis to try and tell people it's somewhat out of place to talk about the biggest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. And no, that is not okay!
Because I got it like that.
My friend put together a 49 Artist compilation to help people in Japan. The dude showed up in tokyo the day of the quake i believe. Lots of fresh new music from people in Japan and all over the world.
100% of the money goes to red cross japan because bandcamp waived their 10% fee. Enjoy some cool music and help a good cause.
This shit is crazy...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367684/Nuclear-plant-chief-weeps-Japanese-finally-admit-radiation-leak-kill-people.html
A lot of that shit is BS.