Japanese abandon six nuclear reactors

[boedicca]

I haven't seen any news articles or reports claiming that deadly radiation is threatening Tokyo.

There are articles mentioning radiation in Tokyo. Just pointing out that there is a lot of media hype going on. The folks in charge in Japan don't fully understand what is/has happened because it's still unfolding so how the media can print things like 'Chernobyl Happening' and the like need to be taken with a grain of salt.

The press has not hyped anything.

There are six nuclear reactors in trouble with damaged rods, explosions, and releases of radiation.

B'loney. The press has sensationalized this tragedy and encouraged people to fear another Chernobyl. As has been oft noted by me and others recently, the Japanese reactors are of a very different design with layers of safeguards which Chernobyl lacked.

The bigger danger to the Japanese from the destruction of these reactors is the lack of power causing millions to live in freezing conditions. 10,000 are dead due to the earthquake and tsunami. The survivors lack food, water, and power. The sewage has either been disrupted or destroyed, which is going to enable a big host of nasty diseases to flourish.

But it's much more important to scare people in CA to pay $500 for 14 Iodine tablets (which won't do anything as the delivery of radiation is often via tainted milk, which won't show up until any radiation works its way through the food chain). And the chance of radiation reaching the U.S. is highly unlikely.

 

[Synthaholic]

Reactors 4, 5, and 6 all have containment vessels. What they do not have is the outer building that houses the containment vessels. Your knowledge of science is matched only by your ignorance of anything past the edges of your keyboard.

The spent rods are not in a containment vessel.

Sorry, you are the one who is ignorant.

The spent rods are also not in reactors. That is why they are called spent rods, Idiot.

Want to try again?

The spent rods are being kept in a containment pool of water. After that, they are moved outside the facility to an onsite area.

 

[Synthaholic]

For what? Pointing out that your ignorance is so boundless that even when someone points out how vast it is you cling to it?

Since the reactors pose 0 danger the fact that the suppression pool poses more danger than the reactors does not really surprise me. Nor does the fact that the media prefers to over hype the danger rather than present the facts. If it becomes necessary the Japanese can bury the pool under concrete and eliminate all potential danger.

I figured as much.

The spent rods have no containment vessel as I said.

And the reactors pose "0 danger"?

That's a hot one...

I posted the informed opinion of a man with a PhD in Nuclear Engineering to back up my points, all you have done is rant and cry about the stories you get from ill informed and uneducated reporters. Why is it that you think you have any type of solid ground to stand on.

Admit you are wrong and move on.

 

[Synthaholic]

Let's see. We are now facing three reactors with melting cores, two of which have the possibility of having their inner containment vessel breaches. A holding area with more fuel rods than it should have in it continues to catch fire on and off, and a couple more storage areas may be at risk.

No need to worry folks, just business as usual.

Private industry demonstrating it's greater competence over government once again.

 

[Synthaholic]

Recognizing the obvious dangers in the horrendous situation in Japan is not the same thing as being an undue alarmist.

The quake did hit followed by the tsunamis. The nuclear facilities WERE damaged, obviously, and there have been fires, explosions, radiation leakage and the situation is still FAR from being even close to "under control." As time passes, the risks increase and a complete core meltdown (or more than one of them) continues to get progressively less and less avoidable.

There are very likely going to be major environmental impacts from this, as well as a spike in radiation illnesses, cancers and deaths.

Does this mean that we need to toss up our hands and abandon nuclear as an alternative energy source? Nope. But does it mean that we have damn good reason to consider imposing major design and construction requirements on all such facilities, maybe even going so far as to do retrofit plants already in operation? I say, "yes."

In the meanwhile, the most immediate and pressing concerns are the human victims of this almost unbelievable triple hit of disasters.

Even if it raises taxes? Because, as we've been told over and over by well-meaning Republicans: we have no money!

 

[Ravi]

Zoomie...people ARE leaving Tokyo. That isn't hype, it is a fact. They are leaving because they fear radiation. Some airlines are refusing to even go to the Tokyo airport.

 

[Valerie]

Zoomie...people ARE leaving Tokyo. That isn't hype, it is a fact. They are leaving because they fear radiation. Some airlines are refusing to even go to the Tokyo airport.

Yeah, I don't know why people are blowing this off as if it's just "hype".

It's an extremely serious situation that is still unfolding and even the experts aren't sure what will happen...It's just smart to stay informed. Many of us have loved ones over there or are simply just concerned for the fate of the Japanese people.

 

[dilloduck]

Zoomie...people ARE leaving Tokyo. That isn't hype, it is a fact. They are leaving because they fear radiation. Some airlines are refusing to even go to the Tokyo airport.

Yeah, I don't know why people are blowing this off as if it's just "hype".

It's an extremely serious situation that is still unfolding and even the experts aren't sure what will happen...It's just smart to stay informed. Many of us have loved ones over there or are simply just concerned for the fate of the Japanese people.

It's all relative. The danger of the radiation to those who live there is much less than the deaths that have already occured as a result of a natural phenomenon of nature. The dangers to anyone outside of Japan is minute.

 

[Ravi]

Zoomie...people ARE leaving Tokyo. That isn't hype, it is a fact. They are leaving because they fear radiation. Some airlines are refusing to even go to the Tokyo airport.

Yeah, I don't know why people are blowing this off as if it's just "hype".

It's an extremely serious situation that is still unfolding and even the experts aren't sure what will happen...It's just smart to stay informed. Many of us have loved ones over there or are simply just concerned for the fate of the Japanese people.

Exactly. It's a decision people just have to make for themselves. Maybe the radiation will get worse, and maybe it won't. But a rational decision would be to leave...I sure as hell would.

These are the very same people that criticize those that didn't believe the "hype" before Katrina...

 

[dilloduck]

Zoomie...people ARE leaving Tokyo. That isn't hype, it is a fact. They are leaving because they fear radiation. Some airlines are refusing to even go to the Tokyo airport.

Yeah, I don't know why people are blowing this off as if it's just "hype".

It's an extremely serious situation that is still unfolding and even the experts aren't sure what will happen...It's just smart to stay informed. Many of us have loved ones over there or are simply just concerned for the fate of the Japanese people.

Exactly. It's a decision people just have to make for themselves. Maybe the radiation will get worse, and maybe it won't. But a rational decision would be to leave...I sure as hell would.

These are the very same people that criticize those that didn't believe the "hype" before Katrina...

Leave and go where and with what ? Tens of thousands of these people have nothing. They have strong emotional ties to thier country and their neighbors. It's far easier to help them if the remain in shelters that are not in danger of radiation.

 

[Valerie]

Zoomie...people ARE leaving Tokyo. That isn't hype, it is a fact. They are leaving because they fear radiation. Some airlines are refusing to even go to the Tokyo airport.

Yeah, I don't know why people are blowing this off as if it's just "hype".

It's an extremely serious situation that is still unfolding and even the experts aren't sure what will happen...It's just smart to stay informed. Many of us have loved ones over there or are simply just concerned for the fate of the Japanese people.

Exactly. It's a decision people just have to make for themselves. Maybe the radiation will get worse, and maybe it won't. But a rational decision would be to leave...I sure as hell would.

These are the very same people that criticize those that didn't believe the "hype" before Katrina...

Yeah, and the looting comparison to Katrina bugs me too, BTW. As if that is the true standard of American behavior in a crisis.



Yes, as far as the hype and supposed over reaction...Let's not forget the people in the second WTC tower were told to go back to their desks as they learned the plane had only hit the other tower and they were not at risk. Those who did not listen to that official announcement and left the building anyway are the ones who lived to tell the tale.

Yesterday with the winds suddenly blowing from the northeast and the precipitation weighing down the radiation, it was just another terrible twist of fate for Japan.

I know people who live in Tokyo and they are now leaving...

 

[Valerie]

Reporter's notebook: After disasters comes the exodus from Tokyo

Lines at Tokyo's Haneda Airport weave back and forth across the departure terminal. Families fill the seats, awaiting flights to Japan's southern and northern islands.

It's a similar scene at Tokyo's largest airport, Narita International, but with bigger crowds, numbering into the thousands.

It is an unprecedented, albeit orderly, mass exodus out of one of the world's most populated cities amid the growing nuclear emergency at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant.

International residents are the ones able to leave quickly, like French citizen Matthew Delboe. "I think when you're praying for the winds to go one way, it's time to go," says Delboe, traveling out of Tokyo to the southern island of Kyushu.

The French foreign ministry says that the first plane of French people evacuated from Japan landed in Paris. The French government says it will have information about additional planes in the upcoming days.

Reporter's notebook: After disasters comes the exodus from Tokyo - CNN.com

 

[skeptic]

Leave and go where and with what ? Tens of thousands of these people have nothing. They have strong emotional ties to thier country and their neighbors. It's far easier to help them if the remain in shelters that are not in danger of radiation.

It's looking more and more like several hundred thousand people will need to be relocated not only because of local radiation but because of cumulative infrastructure collapse.

I wouldn't be surprised if the 20 km evacuation circle is maintained for months or years.

 

[dilloduck]

Leave and go where and with what ? Tens of thousands of these people have nothing. They have strong emotional ties to thier country and their neighbors. It's far easier to help them if the remain in shelters that are not in danger of radiation.

It's looking more and more like several hundred thousand people will need to be relocated not only because of local radiation but because of cumulative infrastructure collapse.

I wouldn't be surprised if the 20 km evacuation circle is maintained for months or years.

I bet very few will leave Japan and they will be encouraged to go to selected sites that have the resources and room for them. Just yelling "run" ain't a great idea.
Americans should familiarize themselves with their own evacuation plans for their area.

 

[skeptic]

Japan isn't exactly brimming with unclaimed land. If 200K have already been evaced from a region that they may never be able to return to, and several whole towns have been leveled, a massive relocation sounds requisite.

 

[dilloduck]

Japan isn't exactly brimming with unclaimed land. If 200K have already been evaced from a region that they may never be able to return to, and several whole towns have been leveled, a massive relocation sounds requisite.

The Gobi desert has lots of land but I don't think that would be the greatest of relocation sites either. I believe they will continue to use larger evacuation centers for the short term as they are logistically easier to supply with vital life support needs. As they recovery progresses they will gradually spread out into places that are relatively safe.

 

[KissMy]

Tokyo & Chiba Japan radiation levels are declining.

Amateur Radiation Detection & Experimentation: Radioactive Dust

Did you know that the dust that's in the air and settling all over your house (and computer monitor) is radioactive? It's true, it contains radioactive decay products from naturally occuring Uranium and Thorium.

As an experiment, I wiped some dust from the TV screen onto a tissue, and placed it in front of the radiation detector. The reading went from a background reading around 10 CPM to around 1300 CPM, or 130 times the reading!

I was doing laundry one day, and decided to check out the lint that collects in the lint filter in the clothes dryer. It produced counts around 240 CPM, again much higher than the background readings. This is probably due to the numerous uranium/thorium atoms and daughter products that are floating in the air, which get stuck to your clothes, and are sucked into the dryer.

When you fly in an airplane, you're up above much of the Earth's atmosphere. It's the air that protects us from a lot of radiation due to cosmic rays coming from outer space. Recently I took a transcontinental flight, and of course a GM-10 Radiation Detector came along for the ride! The CPM (Counts Per Minute) went from about 12 on the ground to 360 in flight.

Tokyo, Japan Live Geiger-Counter Link

Chiba, Japan Live Geiger-Counter Link

Tokyo = 13.83cpm
Chiba = 0.18 I think it is reading in SV so it = 18.00cpm
These readings mean the radiation is barely above normal everyday background radiation.

Stress from people thinking they were exposed to radiation has killed more people than actual radiation ever has.

 

[Valerie]

Yes, we are all exposed to certain levels of radiation from various sources all the time.

In Tokyo yesterday there was a measurement of ten times more radiation than normal which is what suddenly got everyone more concerned than the day before.

Radiation levels in Tokyo, one of the world's most populous cities, rose 10 times above average Tuesday evening, spreading fear among many of the 33 million residents in the metropolitan area.

The best advice experts could give them was to stay indoors, close the windows and avoid breathing bad air -- steps very similar to those for handling a smog alert or avoiding influenza.

While these steps may sound inconsequential, experts said the danger in Tokyo, while worrisome, is slight - at least for now.

Radiation poses only slight risk to nervous Tokyo: U.S. experts | Reuters

 

[polarbear]

Where have you been?!?!?

You heard any confirmation on whether they evacuated or not? At the press conference, they said they had, now there is confusion.

See the wind? Right back on them

What the hell is the matter with You? Can`t wait to gloat over higher victim numbers?

See the wind? Right back on them

Just the way You like it!.....Bastards like You should be shoved head first down a toilet!



Where the F... have You been?

+++ Liveticker +++: Dritter Fukushima-Reaktor offenbar intakt - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten - Panorama

Dritter Fukushima-Reaktor offenbar intakt

"Intakt" translates to undamaged...as a visual inspection @ 14:51 today revealed
There is absolutely no damage to the containment
And that is the same reactor You have been gloating over,
since You started posting Your despicable accident rubber necking crap here

What the F...are You reading ? The National Enquirer with fat bloody red ink headlines ?

Assholes like You and Your friends here don`t want to hear that, You just want to gloat over the worst possible news...

And for today the worst possible news is that the plan to water bomb the No. 4 Daiichi complex with a helicopter the way You combat a forest fire failed.

I don`t want to check and I won`t have to, to know what freaks like you wrote during the Gulf Oil Spill...each time an attempt failed every Al Gore asshole-licker was jubilant ....
and it totally fucked up Your perverse jollies when the well head was sealed.

Assholes like You would have loved it, had the chopper crashed and You could gloat over yet another "nuclear explosion"...
fuck people like You are disgusting!

 

[Valerie]

BTW...As for the OP...Not sure if anyone has already posted this yet, but the evacuation of the workers was only temporary...

Japan grateful to 'hero' nuke workers


The heroes risking their lives on the front line of Japan's nuclear crisis - some 50 workers at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant - are being watched by a grateful and anxious nation.

The workers are tasked with keeping cooling water flowing into the six reactors at the Fukushima plant, four of which have overheated since Friday's quake, raising fears of a meltdown.

Explosions and a fire at the plant, 250 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, have unleashed dangerous levels of radiation, forcing the operator to pull out hundreds of workers and leaving just a few dozen behind.

The staff were briefly evacuated on Wednesday after smoke rose above the plant and radiation levels spiked, but then were allowed to return to continue their work - amid jitters about eventual widespread contamination.

"The people working at these plants are fighting without running away," Michiko Otsuki, an employee at the separate Fukushima No.2 plant who also has been evacuated, wrote in a post on Japanese social networking site Mixi.

"Now I can only pray for the safety of everyone... Please don't forget that there are people who are working to protect everyone's lives in exchange for their own lives."

Japan grateful to 'hero' nuke workers - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)