Posted on 03/15/2011 8:13:35 AM PDT by SE Mom
Latest news from Japan:
From the BBC-
1456: Tepco says it may start pouring water from a helicopter over Fukushima Daiichi's reactor four in the next few days, to cool the spent-fuel pool.
1439: A 30km (18 mile) no-fly zone is in place around Fukushima, says the IAEA.
1436: The IAEA says Monday's blast at Fukushima may have affected the integrity of the containment vessel - there are fears of more serious radioactive leaks if happen.
1435: Following earlier reports, it appears there has been more than one strong aftershock in Japan - AP reports two tremors measuring over 6.0 within three minutes of each other.
Twitter-
-US Geological Survey counts 451 aftershocks since the initial earthquake struck Japan Friday. 238 of them registered magnitude 5.0 or more.
-Despite situations in Japan & Libya, spksmn Jay Carney says Pres Obama's 5-day trip to Brazil, Chile & El Salvador starting Fri night is on.
-FLASH: More U.S. military personnel in Japan testing positive for low-levels of radiation, relief missions to continue - Navy 18 minutes ago via web
Seriously, did nobody in the US supply cchain and the Jap supply line EVER ask themselves, "OK. What happens if we lose power and our diesel backup goes down?"
....not because of the amount of radiation that might be hitching a ride on folks from Japan....
....but because "those" that seek to do us harm....
....might use this distraction to "import" something a little more dangerous....
Maybe they operate on island time.
Don’t get me started ... ;)
Reuters blog:
IAEA: Japan officials say Tepco engineers have successfully laid new external power cable to No. 2 reactor at Fukushima plant - press
- Tepco plans to reconnect power at No. 2 unit after they finish efforts to spray water on No. 3 reactor unit. |
comment by mike edited by Aviva West at 1:42 PM
Two is the high priority item. Then the pools. One is stable and three ain’t as bad as two.
5 and six are separated from the other four. They have no fuel in them. Ponds? Yes, they need cooling.
Watch number 2 though. It has the most serious damage as far as I hve heard from reliable people who know this stuff backwards and forwards.
bookmarking again
Hmmmm. I thought 5 and 6 were put back into the mix a few days back. Don't remember the reasons.
Well, I’m out for a few hrs so I’ll stop ranting :)
Have a good day. I’ve gotta go do some outside stuff myself. Btw, I worked same for last six. TTYL
bump for later
2011-03-17 08:52 (UTC)
TOKYO, March 17 (Reuters) - Three of the six reactors at the earthquake-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northern Japan are now relatively stable, officials said on Thursday.
‘The first unit is relatively stable, for now,’ said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a senior official at the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Administration.
He said reactors 5 and 6 were being powered by a shared diesel generator.
Bungling, cover-ups define Japanese nuclear power
Not sure Japan is giving anyone the straight scoop.
SamaritansPurse
@PaulaAbdul Thanks for the tweet about us, Paula! Updates from our team working in #Japan: http://ar.gy/helpjapan
that is a great link. It is amazing to see the power of water.
A woman identifying herself as a 22-year-old worker inside the Fukushima nuclear plant when the tsunami hit has described the exhaustion, bravery and anguish of her co-workers, including those still inside, fighting to prevent a catastrophe.
“Everyone at the plant is battling on, without running away,” Michiko Otsuki wrote on her blog on the Japanese social networking site Mixi.
Some fellow Mixi bloggers spotted the post and at least one reproduced an English version. The Straits Times, a Singapore newspaper, also translated and published her words.
“In the midst of the tsunami alarm (last Friday), at 3 a.m. in the night when we couldn’t even see where we were going, we carried on working to restore the reactors from where we were, right by the sea, with the realization that this could be certain death,” Otsuki wrote.
The level 9 earthquake hit at 2:46 p.m. Japanese time on Friday and the tsunami shortly after.
“The machine that cools the reactor is just by the ocean, and it was wrecked by the tsunami. Everyone worked desperately to try and restore it. Fighting fatigue and empty stomachs, we dragged ourselves back to work.
“If we could not recover the cooling system, the second plant would have exploded as the first one. But we, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Co.) could manage to prevent it.
“The damage by tsunami was far beyond than (sic) everybody could ever think of. If there is only the earthquake, the explosion of the first plant should not have happened.
“All of us have been working hard without thinking of their own lives.”
Otsuki said her boyfriend is one of those still inside the crippled reactor, a group called the Fearless 50 working under horrendous conditions to try to keep the reactors cool.
“All I can do now is just pray for everyone,” she wrote. “The workers in the plant must have the most fear. Yet they, TEPCO and related companies are confronting it.”
Otsuki included her name, she said, “knowing I will be abused and hurt because of this.”
The blog post has since been taken down. In its place, Otsuki posted an apology, saying she closed the post because others were using her words to fan fear.
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