MELTDOWN DISASTER ESCALATES RAPIDLY - Japan

[Lovelee]

Radioactive water from damaged Japan nuclear plant is leaking into the Pacific Ocean, officials tell CNN.

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

Cover Up: Fukushima Plant Operators Again Ordered To “Review” “Suspiciously High” Radiation Readings

The operators of the crippled nuclear power plant at Fukushima have once again been ordered to “review” and retract their radiation findings where appropriate because Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says they are too high.
While the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has workers on the ground at the facility taking readings, some of whom are thought to only now have hours to live due to radiation exposure, the NISA still maintains that the levels of radiation are too high and that there must be some “mistake”.
TEPCO announced late yesterday that levels of radiation had been recorded in groundwater at TEN THOUSAND times higher than standard safety limits.
The findings have raised fears that underground waterways and drinking water supplies could become contaminated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHJTwAU-M8I&feature=player_embedded

Reporter Alex Kerr says it is “absolutely baffling” that the Japanese governemnt has not expanded the evacuation zone around Fukushima, adding that he can only assume they are “unwilling to accept reality” and are attempting to save face.

Earlier this week, the company also recorded dangerously high levels of radiation in seawater, soil and air concentrations.
Levels double those found after the Chernobyl disaster have been recorded OUTSIDE the evacuation zone.
Elevated levels of radiation have also now been found in beef, as well as vegetables, milk and other food stuffs in the vicinity of the plant.
Despite the findings, officials maintain that there is little risk to public health, repeating ad infinitum that the radiation will “dissipate”.
“We have suspected their isotope analysis, and we will wait for the new results,” said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Japanese safety agency, adding that the agency thinks TEPCO’s numbers may be too high.
In response TEPCO has said that it is possible that there may be an error in the computer program used to analyze the data, however the company also says it is equally possible that their readings are indeed accurate.
TEPCO has been routinely pressured to downgrade it’s findings since the crisis began on March 11.
Last Sunday officials retracted an announcement that radiation levels in the containment building of reactor number 2 had soared to 10 million times above normal.
The retraction came hours after the initial announcement, however, and was corrected to 100,000 times over normal.
It was not made clear what the error was, with TEPCO reporting on its website there was a “mistake in the assessment of the measurement of iodine-134.”
With the discovery of three different types of plutonium in the soil this week, some experts believe that reactor 3 has been in full meltdown ever since it was hit with a massive explosion on March 14th, and that the Japanese authorities are withholding details of the true extent of the crisis.
Fresh reports emerged today that huge concrete pumps are on their way to Japan and that the plant will be buried, an eventuality that was considered the last resort option at Chernobyl some 25 years ago.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/cover-up-fukushima-plant-operators-again-ordered-to-review-suspiciously-high-radiation-readings.html

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

More Bad News

Wow some good pictures in here

Attempt To Pour Concrete On Fukushima Pit Crack Generating 1 Sievert/Hour Fails; New Unmanned Drone Photos Of Reactors

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/attempt-pour-concrete-fukushima-pit-crack-generating-1-sieverthour-fails-new-unmanned-drone-

[Lovelee]

More Bad News

Wow some good pictures in here

Attempt To Pour Concrete On Fukushima Pit Crack Generating 1 Sievert/Hour Fails; New Unmanned Drone Photos Of Reactors

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/attempt-pour-concrete-fukushima-pit-crack-generating-1-sieverthour-fails-new-unmanned-drone-

Hey sexy .. how come theres no reports from CNN for instance on this attempt? 

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

They are a bit slow aye
CNN is a mainstream news they only cover bullshit and government propaganda they are very careful what they say or it might lead to a story that could upset some American company's with huge Japanese investments.
Its all about money and not rocking the official boat.

[Lovelee]

Hmm .. nah .. I reckon this is a BS news item .. not one of the regular news channels are reporting it.

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

Why do you trust the bullshit news channels lovelee ?

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

Japan nuclear struggle focuses on cracked reactor pit


TOKYO | Sat Apr 2, 2011 12:40pm EDT

(Reuters) - Japanese officials grappling on Sunday to end the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl were focusing on a crack in a concrete pit that was leaking radiation into the ocean from a crippled reactor.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said it had found a crack in the pit at its No.2 reactor in Fukushima, generating readings 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour in the air inside the pit.

"With radiation levels rising in the seawater near the plant, we have been trying to confirm the reason why, and in that context, this could be one source," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), said on Saturday.

He cautioned, however: "We can't really say for certain until we've studied the results."

Leakage did not stop even after concrete was poured into the pit, and Tokyo Electric is now planning to use water-absorbent polymer to prevent contaminated water from leaking out into the sea.

Officials from the utility said checks of the other five reactors found no cracks.

Nishiyama said that to cool the damaged reactor, NISA was looking at alternatives to pumping in water, including an improvised air conditioning system, spraying the reactor fuel rods with vaporized water or using the plant's cleaning system.

PM UNDER PRESSURE

As the disaster that has left more than 27,000 dead or missing dragged into a fourth week, Prime Minister Naoto Kan toured devastated coastal towns in northern Japan on Saturday, offering refugees government support for rebuilding homes and livelihoods.

"It will be kind of a long battle, but the government will be working hard together with you until the end," Kyodo news agency quoted him as telling people in a shelter in Rikuzentakata, a fishing port flattened by the tsunami which struck on March 11 after a massive earthquake.

Unpopular and under pressure to quit or call a snap poll before the disaster, Kan has been criticized for his management of the humanitarian and nuclear crisis. Some tsunami survivors said he came to visit them too late.

Kan also entered the 20-km (12-mile) evacuation zone and visited J-village just inside the zone, a sports facility serving as the headquarters for emergency teams trying to cool the six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Operators of the plant are no closer to regaining control of damaged reactors, as fuel rods remain overheated and high levels of radiation are flowing into the sea.

Japan is facing a damages bill which may top $300 billion -- the world's biggest from a natural disaster.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday the Japanese economy would take a short-term hit and it could not rule out further intervention for the yen.
The consequences for the world's third largest economy have already seen manufacturing slump to a two-year low. Power outages and quake damage have hit supply chains and production.

Hundreds of thousands remain homeless, sheltering in evacuation centers, as the death toll from the disaster rises.

Thousands of Japanese and U.S. soldiers on Saturday conducted a search for bodies using dozens of ships and helicopters to sweep across land still under water along the northeast coast. The teams hope when a large spring tide recedes it will make it easier to spot bodies.

Radiation 4,000 times the legal limit has been detected in seawater near the Daiichi plant and a floating tanker was to be towed to Fukushima to store contaminated seawater. But until the plant's internal cooling system is reconnected radiation will flow from the plant.

(Additional reporting by Chizu Nomiyama, Yoko Kubota, Shinichi Saoshiro in Tokyo and Damir Sagolj in Rikuzentakata; Writing by Paul Eckert; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/02/us-japan-quake-idUSTRE72A0SS20110402?pageNumber=2

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

I wonder if those little fish by the power plant get eaten by bigger fish that then get eaten by bigger fish that then get eaten by bigger fish that then get eaten by bigger fish that end up swimming down here and then wind up in our Fish in Chips nooooooooo 

[Lovelee]

From your link Sexy 


The consequences for the world's third largest economy have already seen manufacturing slump to a two-year low. Power outages and quake damage have hit supply chains and production.

Hundreds of thousands remain homeless, sheltering in evacuation centers, as the death toll from the disaster rises.

Thousands of Japanese and U.S. soldiers on Saturday conducted a search for bodies using dozens of ships and helicopters to sweep across land still under water along the northeast coast. The teams hope when a large spring tide recedes it will make it easier to spot bodies.

Radiation 4,000 times the legal limit has been detected in seawater near the Daiichi plant and a floating tanker was to be towed to Fukushima to store contaminated seawater. But until the plant's internal cooling system is reconnected radiation will flow from the plant.

[Lovelee]

When I click the link thats what I got.

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

thats because its in 2 parts sorry

part one

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/02/us-japan-quake-idUSTRE72A0SS20110402

[Lovelee]

 

Hmm seems like Homer Simpson is finally helping them. 

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

This is a bit sad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70ZHQ--cK40&feature=player_embedded

[Lovelee]

Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has started dumping water tainted with low-level radiation from its stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the sea to make space for the storage of highly radioactive water.

The amount of water to be released into the Pacific Ocean will total some 11,500 tons - 10,000 tons currently stored at a nuclear waste processing facility and 1,500 tons in drainage pits at the plant's No. 5 and No. 6 reactors, the company said.

It will take some five days for all the water to be released, company officials said. The water contains a total of 170 billion becquerels of radioactive substances such as iodine-131, and the level of radioactivity is 100 to 1,000 times the government-set limit, the officials said.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10717210

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAEixbcPhG4&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6DZQzY_k2c&feature=player_embedded#at=293

[Lovelee]

Modern sea walls failed to protect coastal towns from Japan's destructive tsunami last month. But in the hamlet of Aneyoshi, a single centuries-old tablet saved the day.

"High dwellings are the peace and harmony of our descendants," the stone slab reads. "Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not build any homes below this point."

It was advice the dozen or so households of Aneyoshi heeded, and their homes emerged unscathed from a disaster that flattened low-lying communities elsewhere and killed thousands along Japan's northeastern shore.

Hundreds of such markers dot the coastline, some more than 600 years old. Collectively they form a crude warning system for Japan, whose long coasts along major fault lines have made it a repeated target of earthquakes and tsunamis over the centuries.

The markers don't all indicate where it's safe to build. Some simply stand - or stood, until they were washed away by the tsunami - as daily reminders of the risk. "If an earthquake comes, beware of tsunamis," reads one. In the bustle of modern life, many forgot.

More than 12,000 people have been confirmed dead and officials fear the number killed could rise to 25,000 from the March 11 disaster. More than 100,000 are still sheltering in schools and other buildings, almost a month later. A few lucky individuals may move into the first completed units of temporary housing this weekend.

Workers at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power complex finally halted a leak of radioactive water into the Pacific on Wednesday, but it may take months to bring the overheating reactors under control.

A natural disaster as large as last month's 9.0 earthquake and tsunami happens perhaps once in a person's lifetime, at most. Tokyo Electric Power Co., the nuclear plant operator, clearly wasn't prepared. Many communities built right to the water's edge, some taking comfort, perhaps, in sea walls built after a deadly but smaller tsunami in 1960.

Many did escape, fleeing immediately after the quake. In some places, it was a matter of minutes. Others who tarried, perished.

"People had this crucial knowledge, but they were busy with their lives and jobs, and many forgot," said Yotaru Hatamura, a scholar who has studied the tablets.

One stone marker warned of the danger in the coastal city of Kesennuma: "Always be prepared for unexpected tsunamis. Choose life over your possessions and valuables."

Tetsuko Takahashi, 70, safe in her hillside house, watched from her front window as others ignored that advice. She saw a ship swept a half-mile (nearly a kilometer) inland, crushing buildings in its path.

"After the earthquake, people went back to their homes to get their valuables and stow their 'tatami' floor mats. They all got caught," she said.

Her family has lived in Kesennuma for generations, but she said those that experienced the most powerful tsunamis died years ago. She can only recall the far weaker one in 1960, generated by an earthquake off Chile.

Earlier generations also left warnings in place names, calling one town "Octopus Grounds" for the sea life washed up by tsunamis and naming temples after the powerful waves, said Fumihiko Imamura, a professor in disaster planning at Tohoku University in Sendai, a tsunami-hit city.

"It takes about three generations for people to forget. Those that experience the disaster themselves pass it to their children and their grandchildren, but then the memory fades," he said.

The tightly knit community of Aneyoshi, where people built homes above the marker, was an exception.

"Everybody here knows about the markers. We studied them in school," said Yuto Kimura, 12, who guided a recent visitor to one near his home. "When the tsunami came, my mom got me from school and then the whole village climbed to higher ground."

Aneyoshi, part of the city of Miyako, has been battered repeatedly by tsunamis, including a huge one in 1896. Isamu Aneishi, 69, said his ancestors moved their family-run inn to higher ground more than 100 years ago.

But his three grandchildren were at an elementary school that sat just 500 feet (150 meters) from the water in Chikei, a larger town down the winding, cliffside road. The school and surrounding buildings are in ruins. The bodies of his grandchildren have not been found.

Farther south, the tsunami washed away a seven-foot (two-meter) tall stone tablet that stood next to a playground in the middle of the city of Natori. Its message was carved in giant Japanese characters: "If an earthquake comes, beware of tsunamis."

That didn't stop some people from leaving work early after the earthquake, some picking up their children at school en route, to check the condition of their homes near the coast.

Many didn't make it out alive. More than 820 bodies have been found in Natori, some stuck in the upper branches of trees after the water receded. Another 1,000 people are still missing.

Hiroshi Kosai grew up in Natori but moved away after high school. His parents, who remained in the family home, died in the disaster.

"I always told my parents it was dangerous here," said the 43-year-old Kosai, as he pointed out the broken foundation where the tablet once stood. "In five years, you'll see houses begin to sprout up here again."



http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_EARTHQUAKE_WARNINGS_IN_STONE?SECTION=HOME&SITE=AP&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[dragontamer]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/japan-earthquake/4862740/Huge-aftershock-hits-Japan

[ssweetpea]

We could use some to those stone tables. More durable than a painted line.

[Magoo]

Poor souls.

[Im2Sexy4MyPants]

Wanted: workers for Japan's danger zone


TEAM EFFORT: Workers from Tokyo Electric Power Co record the status of instruments in a control room at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

As foreign assignments go this must be just about the most dangerous going.

A US recruiter is hiring nuclear power workers in the United States to help Japan gain control of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, which has been spewing radiation.

The qualifications: Skills gained in the nuclear industry, a passport, a family willing to let you go, willingness to work in a radioactive zone.

The rewards: Higher than normal pay and the challenge of solving a major crisis.

"About two weeks ago we told our managers to put together a wish list of anyone interested in going to Japan," said Joe Melanson, a recruiter at specialist nuclear industry staffing firm Bartlett Nuclear in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

So far, the firm has already signed up some workers who will be flying to Japan on Sunday.

Melanson said there will be fewer than 10 workers in the initial group. Others are expected to follow later, he added.

Plant owner Tokyo Electric Power has appealed to the nuclear industry outside of Japan for assistance as the crisis has spiraled beyond their control.

On Thursday, the company said radiation levels in water found in tunnels under the plant was 10,000 times the normal level and radioactive iodine 131 was found in ground water near No.1 reactor of the complex.

Melanson said Bartlett Nuclear had been approached by sub-contractors linked to the General Electric-Hitachi nuclear joint venture. GE designed the Fukushima reactors.

"At first, we had no details about the duration of the job or the positions needed. The only requirement was that you have a valid passport," Melanson said.

But as the job details came in, Bartlett managers scoured the list of volunteers and selected several engineers and technicians "we knew would perform well for us over there".

So just what type of person would go into a damaged nuclear plant that is throwing out dangerous levels of radiation?

Not roughnecks

Melanson said these are not roughnecks prepared to risk their health for a quick paycheck but senior technicians and engineers who have come up through the ranks.

Some have families. "Anytime we have international business, it's up to the workers to square it with their wives."

Japan has put in an exclusion zone of 20 kilometres around the plant. Several experts have recommended that zone should be expanded.

Melanson could not say for certain where the workers would stay but said initially they would be based in Tokyo and drive the 480 kilometre round trip to the Daiichi plant. Translators will be provided so they don't have to speak Japanese.

"The pay will definitely be better than the average pay (for a nuclear technician) over here," Melanson said, but declined to specify exactly what the average salary would be. It is not clear how long they will be working in Japan, but Melanson estimated it would be at least a month.

The workers are not expected to come into contact with the highest levels of radiation.

"These are not 'jumpers' rushing into a room. TEPCO is bringing in robots to help limit human exposure to high levels of radiation," he said."Jumpers" is the industry term for people who enter highly radioactive environments to quickly perform a task. The practice was common in the United States in the 1970s and early 80s.

"It's still a job that exists but it's much rarer than in the past - the job is mostly performed mechanically with engineered robotics these days," said Rock Nelson, staffing manager at Nelson Nuclear Corp in Richland, Washington, who has worked in the nuclear industry for almost 30 years.

Melanson said the workers would receive all the equipment needed to do their jobs and safeguard their health.

The roles include ground water and radiation specialists, and spent fuel experts.

Other international nuclear firms have also sent workers to Japan, including France's Areva SA and US-based Westinghouse.

Some experts think the crisis could take months to resolve.

"Tepco will be facing specific and unique problems in each plant," said Nelson.

"Each specific problem may require the engineering of a specific piece of machinery. They will almost certainly have to send a jumper or two in but only as a last resort. This is going to run on for weeks if not months."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/japan-earthquake/4838263/Wanted-workers-for-Japans-danger-zone

[Lovelee]

Magnitude   7.1 (Preliminary magnitude — update expected within 15 minutes)
Date-Time   

    * Monday, April 11, 2011 at 08:16:16 UTC
    * Monday, April 11, 2011 at 05:16:16 PM at epicenter

Location   36.915°N, 140.723°E
Depth   10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region   NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Distances   

    * 23 km (14 miles) SW (223°) from Iwaki, Honshu, Japan
    * 65 km (40 miles) NNE (19°) from Mito, Honshu, Japan
    * 94 km (58 miles) SSE (166°) from Fukushima, Honshu, Japan
    * 164 km (102 miles) NNE (32°) from TOKYO, Japan

Location Uncertainty   Error estimate not available
Parameters   NST= 16, Nph= 16, Dmin=228.7 km, Rmss=1.69 sec, Gp=137°,
M-type="moment" magnitude from initial P wave (tsuboi method) (Mi/Mwp), Version=1
Source   

    * West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center/NOAA/NWS

Event ID   at00ljhaz3

[Lovelee]

EVALUATION
 NO DESTRUCTIVE WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS BASED ON
 HISTORICAL EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI DATA.
 HOWEVER - EARTHQUAKES OF THIS SIZE SOMETIMES GENERATE LOCAL
 TSUNAMIS THAT CAN BE DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS LOCATED WITHIN
 A HUNDRED KILOMETERS OF THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER. AUTHORITIES
 IN THE REGION OF THE EPICENTER SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS
 POSSIBILITY AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION.
THIS WILL BE THE ONLY BULLETIN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

[Lovelee]

Japan's nuclear safety agency has raised the severity rating of the crisis at its nuclear plant to the highest level, on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

An official with the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, speaking on national television, said Tuesday the rating was raised from 5 to 7.

The official, who was not named, said the amount of radiation leaking from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant was around 10 percent of that in the Chernobyl accident.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_EARTHQUAKE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-04-11-22-11-13



Dont get any worse than that!

[Lovelee]

The 1986 Chernobyl accident in the former Soviet Union also rated a 7 on the International Nuclear Events Scale, which equates to a "major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects requiring implementation of planned and extended countermeasures."