Posted on 03/26/2011 6:46:40 PM PDT by Yossarian
The regulator overseeing Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex on Saturday announced a sharp elevation in radioactive contamination had been detected in nearby seawater, furthering signs of distress at a plant where officials had cautioned of radioactive leaks near hobbled reactors the day before.
A spokesman said the spike in radioactive iodine—to 1,250 times the legal limit—didn't pose an immediate threat to human health or the area environment, since the material quickly dissipates in the tides and would become diluted before reaching fish and seaweed.
(...)
Saturday's report came a day after efforts to repower key cooling systems at the plant bogged down amid reports of highly radioactive water in puddles at the plant's troubled reactor No. 3. Workers who came into contact with the water on Thursday had to be hospitalized.
Mr. Nishiyama on Friday linked the radioactive puddles in plant No. 3 to a possible breach in pipes or ventilators leading to, but not inside, the vessels that surround the core at plant No. 3. Plant officials said later Friday that puddles at Nos. 1 and 2 also contained high levels of radiat
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I wonder how this will impact Japanese society down the road? Not in terms of radiation issues, but in terms of trust of their national institutions.
According to the article, more than a quarter million people have been evacuated overall in Japan, and the National Police Agency reports 10,489 people had been confirmed dead and 16,621 were missing.
Prayers out.
It is going to have a world wide impact on the use of nuclear energy. The fix to all this is always be prepared for the absolute worse thing that can happen and be ready to apply it almost instantly after a disaster.
Since this particular plant is located next to the ocean, I would suspect that one of the major sources of contamination is run off. The area is not contained anymore and all that water that is being pumped in has got to go somewhere.
I don’t think it has sunk into the general world wide population, what has really happened, yet.
As far as the missing, who reports the people missing when entire families get wiped out. There were a lot of older people living in that area that may no have family contact.
Originally, we were told here that all American citizens had been accounted for, now we are learning that a number of them are dead or missing.
That’s the 64,000 dollar question, isn’t it?
I think that by and large the Japanese public understands that the national government is doing the best it can under the circumstances and I don’t anticipate any long-term trust issues there.
TEPCO, on the other hand, is going to face a lot of hard questions and I would not be surprised if the company is nationalized, at least temporarily. I would also expect to see senior executives charged with a variety of crimes due to the inspection falsifications and other issues. They’re going to be hammered hard.
The stereotypical western view of what a Japanese executive would do if caught in that level of a shameful situation is to commit seppuku. (I think it’s “seppuku” - I remember there’s another form of suicide, and they often get confused.)
Has the top brass of TEPCO acknowledged even a smidgen of responsibility?
Their culture of authority demanding to not be questioned is largely at fault.
I wonder how this will impact Japanese society down the road? Not in terms of radiation issues, but in terms of trust of their national institutions.
Thats a great question...the Japanese have historically been a very compliant people. This could lead to a little more free thinking and even a "question authority" mentality.
One of the things I've been wondering over the last few days is, if this situation might lead people around the world to be more receptive to nuclear power. I know that sounds crazy right now but we keep getting so many "end of the world" headlines that most folks outside of Japan think that millions are going to die from radiation. If, after all is said and done, very few die and the land around the Dai-Ichi plant does not need to be evacuated long term then maybe folks will think that the world can indeed live with nuclear power.
The truth of the matter is that without nuclear power the world will stagnate both economically and in quality of life. If nuclear can be perceived as something that can be controlled and as having issues that are bad but not uncatastrophic then people might be willing to agree to continuing its use.
Yes, this was one of the tragic aspects of Japan from BEFORE the quake. I have been reading articles in my engineering journals about how the Japanese are developing robots to tend to their elderly - truly a horrible mistaken priority for how to allocate effort on technology vs. simple compassion.
(Of course, it is easier to analyze Japan, than look more closely at what ails my own country....)
The local police.
You might want few to read up on the annual checks and surveys the local police make of residents in Japan. They have pretty good lists of everyone in the neighborhood they patrol.
What institutions would you trust in our country anymore to design, build and operate a modern nuclear power plant, with full accountability and transparency, in our modern corrupt era?
I mean, besides the Navy.
~10,000 died in the tsunami. If there are any problems with trust in national institutions, why wouldn’t it be because of that fact, rather than the constantly hyped problems with Daiichi?
No doubt, it is a serious, serious situation. But it seems to be getting better daily. And the biggest problem would be the ongoing Chicken Little-ism and shoddy, over-hyped reporting.
Go back and look at what happened to TEPCO executives in the 2002 scandal. They resigned in shame when the scandal of falsified inspection records came to light.
OK, thanks for the info.
The fact that the Japanese government a few days ago had to tell parents in Tokyo to not let their babies drink tap water tends to undercut your argument.
Are you attempting to conflate the results of the tsunami with the problems at Daiichi? It certainly appears that way. The dead were from the tsunami, and yet you bring up the deaths in a thread about Daiichi.
What institutions would you trust in our country anymore to design, build and operate a modern nuclear power plant, with full accountability and transparency, in our modern corrupt era?
I mean, besides the Navy.
Westinghouse has had a fine record with nuclear plants. Lets face it even here in the USA nuclear power has a very good record. We have over 100 nuclear plants and there has been only one major incident (TMI) and no one got hurt or died in that incident.
I find your argumentation deeply disingenuous at best. Good day.
Yes. Owned by Toshiba, since 2006. Even if the Japanese are our allies, this greatly frustrates me.
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