ScribbleLive

@fitter MarkFm was talking earlier today about the CODECs etc. related to the videos and the quality of the original vs. TEPCO's version and what gets released through back channels like cryptome and you tube. There is a very obvious pattern of TEPCO releasing the worst possible version as in they degrade the hell out of it before they post it to their website.

@dean are you out there

@Jo Lindien Dry as a bone, and not a speck of damage. I did what I could with the degraded versions TEPCO released that Cryptome had larger sized ones of them. I raised the brightness to try to pull out some of the details in the dark. They still looks suspiciously clean, at least the ones they claim are from building 3 www.houseoffoust.com

Looking at the METI reading today, you would think that by now they would have figures out how to lower a temp sensor into the SFP at #4 by now ?

@all been chained to my laptop since 7am. Need to go run and errand. Should be back in about 45min.

@wtm if they can get a water sample they HAVE a temp, we just don't..... not rocket sience

@fitter: robots pics artefact look like "standard" compression ones. I guess the amount of memory embedded in the robots is limited, so data are compressed as much as they can.
Remember that shielded electronics components used to go higly radioactive area are not powerfull as today ones; shielded processors I know about were designed in the 80's or early 90's...

@Jo Lindien MarkFM thought they should have the same camera capability as the drone and he mentioned the drone had a pretty high quality camera on it. So either TEPCO is degrading these images as they have to other images & vid or the radiation was messing with the robots equipment.

@Nancy: you cannot have the same quality on the robot: all electronic components here have to be insensitive to radiation which means they are shielded and use old technology: nowadays technologies are too sensible to be used there.
The technologies used are the same as the ones used for spacecrafts; hard drives cannot be used, magnetic tapes are still common, flash memory is a new technology in this area (it's a 25 years old technology for computers), ...

@ifz: PowerPC 440 is a very advanced technology there ! Only a 10 / 15 years old design !
133 MHz is a high speed... Only 83 MHz in space when operating from -55°C to 125°C...
I'd like to know the size of a transistor on the die... Not really like the same as our computers...

No idea on hydrogen. They were at least measuring oxygen, no clue on h2.

@James Ward: what I mean is that radiation hardened electronics component are old and slow designs; this is a need for those components to operate under high level of radiations: nowadays technologies would just collapse at once or have random behavior in such cases...
Then we cannot expect getting beautiful hi-res film / pics from those equipments.

In Finland the deposition of strontium-89 (90Sr) and strontium-90 (90Sr) has been monitored since the early 1960s. The measured ***ulative 90Sr deposition in 1963–2005 is on average 1200 Bq m−2, of which 150 Bq m−2 originates from the Chernobyl accident. Adding to this the deposition in 1945–1962 produces a value of 2040 Bq m−2 for the ***ulative deposition in Finland. The nuclear explosion-derived deposition up to 1985 obtained in this study, 1850 Bq m−2, is in good agreement with the zonal 90Sr deposition of 1740 Bq m−2 in the 60°N–70°N latitude band estimated by UNSCEAR. The regional deposition patterns of 89Sr and 90Sr following the Chernobyl accident resemble those of the refractory nuclides such as 239,240Pu and 95Zr. The total deposition of Chernobyl-derived 90Sr in Finland was about 5.3 × 1013 Bq. This activity corresponds to 0.027% of the reactor core inventory and 0.66% of the atmospheric emissions from the accident. The corresponding figures for 89Sr are 4.5 × 1014 Bq, 0.023% and 0.56%, respectively. www.sciencedirect.com

French company to decontaminate Daiichi water
French nuclear reactor maker Areva says it has agreed with the Tokyo Electric Power Company to build a facility to decontaminate radioactive water at the compound of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. CEO Anne Lauvergeon told reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday that Areva -- one of the world's largest nuclear energy firms -- will build the facility to remove radioactive substances from the contaminated water.
The facility is to use chemical agents to remove radioactive iodine and cesium from contaminated water. The concentration of the radioactive substances is to be reduced to one-one thousandth to one-ten thousandth of the current level. A similar system is already in place in France. Lauvergeon said it is most important to decontaminate the water at the plant, and that her company will try to do this in every possible way. TEPCO told reporters on the same day that it has adopted Areva's proposal. The company says it will first transfer the contaminated water into a waste processing facility at the plant, and then decontaminate 1,200 tons of the water per day. It hopes to use decontaminated water to cool the reactors. TEPCO hopes to start operating the decontamination facility in June.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 21:47 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp

SDF personnel sent to nuclear zone flees in panic A Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force member who'd been assigned to work near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been dismissed for fleeing in panic.
The Defense Ministry says the 32-year-old sergeant was sent from Tokyo to Koriyama city, in Fukushima Prefecture, 2 days after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami to help decontaminate local emergency shelters. On the next day, he drove away without permission in one of his unit's trucks. He was later arrested by a Self-Defense Force police unit on suspicion of theft. The sergeant has reportedly told investigators that fear of the nuclear accident made him panic. He was dismissed on disciplinary grounds on Tuesday.

The commander of the Ground Self-Defense Force's First Division, Yoshiaki Nakagawa, expressed regret at what happened while so many SDF personnel are working hard in the disaster zone. He pledged to tighten discipline and prevent a recurrence.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 18:54 +0900 (JST) www3.nhk.or.jp

MODERATOR: I click on the above unmoderated board, www.scribblelive.com, and the page that pops up says: 'Sorry, that live event was not found.' 'That live event doesn't seem to exist or has been deleted.' Would you please check into this? Thanks.
Hi Mary w try this link www.scribblelive.com

The robots used at the plant to go in are iRobot 510 packbot. No camera specs on it, seems able to use multiple cameras www.irobot.com The t hawk is what they are using for the fly arounds. You can see the shadow of it in the new video en.wikipedia.org Can't find camera specs for either one yet

Gov't to set up study group on tap water safety
Japan's health ministry is to set up a panel of experts to discuss ways to safeguard tap water from radioactive contamination. The move comes after radioactive iodine at levels higher than national limits was detected temporarily in tap water in parts of Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures amid the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. The ministry on Tuesday held a meeting of advisors including environment experts and water utility industry representatives to discuss countermeasures. Some participants asked that tap water safety be promoted publicly whenever radiation levels are low. Others said water in rivers and reservoirs should also be tested for radiation. The advisors agreed that a panel of radioactivity experts should be set up to discuss effective ways to prevent radioactive contamination of tap water through rainfall and other routes. The panel is also to discuss a long-term inspection system for tap water. The panel is to start discussions next week and come up with a report on specific measures by around June. Advisory council leader Sinichiro Ogaki, who heads the National Institute for Environmental Studies, says radioactive levels in tap water have stabilized. But he says he hopes to see the panel work out effective prevention measures and a proper inspection system so that everyone, from babies to adults, can safely drink tap water. Some municipalities of Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures advised against tap water consumption by infants after radioactive iodine-131 at levels higher than 100 becquerels per liter was detected at water purification plants. Such advisories were also issued in Tokyo and neighboring prefectures after iodine levels at water purification facilities were found to exceed the safety limit for infants. But the advisories were all lifted by the end of March.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 18:10 +0900 (JST) www3.nhk.or.jp

@Nancy I think it is for the RPV cap. I think it is used to remove all the nuts that hold it down