Japan Earthquake

Japan Earthquake | Page 1976

the workers are being treated badly
sunnysunnynismo TSさん
Please resend the message. After contacting Mr. Electric Power will teach you. @ Kaerutaicho : @ Sunnysunnynismo　sad too. 追I詰Mezu yourself. Toka video that I feel better send something? Now, one single protein bars and dried fruit cardboard, send your box of jelly in the Widder
kanbou_tyoukan 感冒长官
by sunnysunnynismo
Spread Hope "to suit the primary workers who want moisture, we desire to wear a plastic bottle with a straw for salt supplementation, leave the dead in this get heat stroke. We strongly urge people to improve the working conditions of clothing workers, including disaster prevention. Please help us send your mail to the Government # Genpatsu # Minsyu
by elainekirk 7/20/2011 10:46:21 AM

absolutely nothing from Tepco
by elainekirk 7/20/2011 10:55:03 AM

Morning all (afternoon - evening)

@Elaine. Who in the govt to we complain to? Their labor ministry?
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 11:26:46 AM

"MONTPELIER, Vt. -- A federal judge said Monday he would not order that Vermont's only nuclear plant be allowed to remain open while a lawsuit to determine its long-term future plays out." Story: www1.whdh.com

Read more: www1.whdh.com
by Diane_NJ 7/20/2011 11:27:40 AM

@elainekirk, good afternoon, yesterday you asked about soft shutdown and a radiation clean up system that reduces operator doses. I never heard soft shutdown mentioned in relationship with Units 1 - 4. I also have not found that clean up upgrade described in the link you posted implemented at Units 1 - 4.
An operator shut the one isolation condenser in use at Unit 1 down roughly 15 minutes after the seismic scram, because according to tepco manual the RPV was cooling down too fast and may have cracked. The operators could not restart the isolation condenser afterwards. The extent of the damage after the quake should have overruled the operator's manual in my book. In sum, OPERATOR ERROR caused the rapid meltdown of Unit 1. brainmindinst.blogspot.com
by Peter Melzer 7/20/2011 11:31:48 AM

@Peter Melzer If they tossed the manual do the operators have enough experience or knowledge to wing it?
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 11:34:34 AM

@Peter Melzer thank you I did think the same as you although assume the operator would have been working to the 'keep cooling slow because we didnt want to spend the money on an upgrade and fast cooling will create a mess in our reactor' rulebook
#6 once more rings alarm bells...what was #6 being used for because my head sees it too often and not often enough
by elainekirk 7/20/2011 11:36:18 AM

I finally got an answer late last night on the debris that fell through #3 None of the workers that tweet are sure what made the big hole. But there has also been very limited access to that building.
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 11:39:30 AM

I also was sent these listings from June of broad tests of isotopes. Original in Japanese www.meti.go.jp
In English twitdoc.com

In Japanese from Asahi Shimbun on Savechild.org savechild.net
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 11:40:53 AM

@elainekirk, unit 6 is the most powerful, youngest and 'most modern' of the lot at 1F. Its technology is of a different generation than the others.
by Peter Melzer 7/20/2011 11:44:05 AM

Found this just now. It will let you hold bi-lingual conversations online www.google.com
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 11:45:55 AM

@lillymunster , either the isolation of the turbine from the RPV did not work and highly radioactive water poured into the building or a big chunk from the reactor fell in. Make your pick!
by Peter Melzer 7/20/2011 11:46:33 AM

@Peter Melzer the million dollar question is what chunk or part was it.
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 11:53:55 AM

picking up the tail end of Steve Hermans report on meeting
Question now about further potential damage to "tilting" spent fuel pool at #Fukushima-1.
TEPCO's Aizawa: Reactors 1-4 analysis shows structures durable & there is no tilting. But anxiety about Reactor-4...
But more reinforcements done of that pool, although was no critical structural danger there.
Question to TEPCO: Why are you still injecting nitrogen? Is there still a threat of hydrogen explosion at #Fukushima-1
TEPCO's Aizawa: "Almost close to not necessary to inject nitrogen, but we want to feel re-assured." #Fukushima
Bloomberg asking to TEPCO why it has "consistently refused to release the Fukushima-1 accumulated nuclear radiation data."
Bloomberg reporter says no such data released since April 12.
TEPCO's Aizawa says that a Nuclear Safety Commission report, not from TEPCO (or NISA, which is also passing the buck).
NISA officials says Japan NSC issued report until April of totally accumulated radioactive materials.
NISA official speculates technical reasons with lack of changes of "density" in nuke radiation thus no need to release subsequent data.
Bloomberg reporter rebuts, says he is asking about NISA's not NSC's total radiation data report.
NISA: Initial data was needed for IAEA report & latter data would come from TEPCO.
Bloomberg team refutes again, asks for clarification from NISA why no total radiation data released to public for past 4 months?
NISA's Hiroshi Yamagata: Going through "trials & errors" on measuring total radiation levels & it's very difficult.
Reporters now totally baffled & moderator asking if there's a total accumulated number for radiation released since 3/11 by
NISA's Yamagata: Radiation data until April 6 from NSC. Since then "data is lacking." Data "will be taken again.
TEPCO's EVP Aizawa: It was difficult to accurately monitor fradiation or a while due to "rubble & wreckage" at #Fukushima-1

That concludes my live tweeting from FCCJ.
W7VOA Steve Herman
After listening to that I've retreated to the FCCJ's Masukomi sushi bar to drink #Fukushima sake (I'm not joking). #kanpai
by elainekirk 7/20/2011 11:54:03 AM

@Elaine. WTH? At least reporters were pressing them on it. It sounds like some of the citizen groups are growing more worried about plutonium being in the mix.
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 11:57:18 AM

Contaiminated beef may have been exported www.bloomberg.com
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 12:02:18 PM

got the start of the meeting so will post up to tail end below
W7VOA Steve Herman
News conf. at 1845JST (0945GMT) by the #Japan gov't minister in charge of nuke recovery & a TEPCO EVP at FCCJ. I'll live tweet.
Will live tweet in abt 15 mins. FCCJ news conf. by Goshi Hosono, #Japan state minister in charge of handling the nuclear crisis.
Hosono will be joined by TEPCO exec. VP Zengo Aizawa & others.
#Japan state minister Hosono says country "now on the right track" to restoring the situation caused by the #Fukushima-1 NPP meltdowns.
Hosono at FCCJ: radiation "gradually decreasing" at #Fukushima-1 NPP, has reached 1/200 of peak & heading towards target.
Hosono: Cold shutdown of crippled #Fukushima reactors in 3 to 6 months.
Hosono: Goal is to have cold shutdown achieve radiation emissions below Japan legal limit. #Fukushima

W7VOA Steve Herman
#Japan state min. Hosono: Construction of "shield wall" for underground water system to begin in autumn. (But not even designed yet).
Hosono: Need to revisit what kind of water filtration system will work long term at #Fukushima-1.
Hosono to Tokyo correspondents: Will soon evaluate methods to decommission the #Fukushima-1 nuke reactors.
Hosono says Japan might need continued support from int'l community to achieve #Fukushima reactors' decommissioning.
Goshi Hosono at FCCJ: #Japan gov't committed to monitoring radiation exposure for workers at #Fukushima-1 NPP.
Moderator clarifies: Hosono at FCCJ: radiation at #Fukushima-1 NPP, has reached 1/2,000,000 of peak.
TEPCO Exec. VP Zengo Aizawa now beginning his remarks at FCCJ to correspondents. #Fukushima
TEPCO's Aizawa: Wants to see nuke evacuees able to go home as quickly as possible. (My sources say inner zone maybe off limits for years.
TEPCO's Aizawa: Step 2 of #Fukushima recovery road map begins today.
German freelance reporter asking to Hosono & Aizawa if question of "criminal responsibility" for #Fukushima-1 being examined by them.
Hosono avoids any mention of criminal responsibility in his answer.
Aizawa also punts on answering saying investigation is ongoing.
@jakeadelstein asking technical question about whether true cause of #Fukushima meltdown was coolant design flaw, not tsunami.
@jakeadelstein tweeted earlier that NISA knew #Fukushima Mark 1 Reactors were defective for 20 years & did nothing.
TEPCO Exec. VP punts on @jakeadelstein question on reactor design flaw but says he's heard report claiming that.
Hosono answering that both TEPCO and Japan gov't doing analyses. So far, seems tsunami did the major damage, not the quake.

W7VOA Steve Herman
Hosono says he knows that int'l professionals orgs pointed out weaknesses of Mark 1 reactor design.
Hosono: Stress tests will help monitor whether reactor designs flawed
I just asked Hosono question about failure on repeated promises to ensure safety of #Japan food supply from #Fukushima.
Hosono in response to my Q: "This is a major, major problem."
Hosono: "There was lax analysis of the feed that was given to cattle" in #Fukushima.
Hosono mentions how Japan instituted beef ID tracing system since BSE scare thus can track where the Cs-137 beef went.

W7VOA Steve Herman
Hosono: "This is impacting entire food safety system" so clear & transparent info is gov't responsibility.
Hosono says he today ordered further reinforcements of Japan's food safety system.
Hosono: "We have taken the necessary measures" regarding beef contaminated with Cs-137. #Fukushima
Hosono says reality is that'll be difficult to build any new nuke plants in #Japan.
Hosono: #Japan stress tests will check safety of existing nuclear reactors and strengthen existing regs re nuke plants.
State min. Hosono: Stress tests might reveal new problems at nuke plants previously deemed safe, could lead to less reliance on nuke energy.

W7VOA Steve Herman
Hosono: Japan will devise a "realistic" energy policy taking into account fossil fuels & alt energy sources.
Questioning returns to the "wall shield" for reactor waste water.
Hosono says wall shield will address possibility of underground waste water leaking into the sea. #Fukushima
Hosono: No "major" leak from Fukushima water into the sea but need to ensure it's zero risk, thus underground shield needed.
Evaluating depth and material for the shield wall, says Hosono.
Japan gov't will be involved in shield plan to ensure no more highly radioactive water leaks into Pacific, says Hosono at FCCJ.
Hosono says he needs to leave #FCCJ now, but TEPCO's Aizawa staying.
by elainekirk 7/20/2011 12:04:17 PM

@lillymunster sorry lilly couldnt reply cos I was having a tweet harvest stopped of from laundry to collect that so must go catch up
by elainekirk 7/20/2011 12:05:11 PM

@elainekirk , this is a highly intriguing news conference. The Bloomberg people put GoJ very much on the spot. Obviously the gov. guys were not very familiar with their own reports. The NISA report to IAEA contains estimates of radioactivity released until end of May. The other important upshot is that GoJ is fairly incompetent in protecting public health. According to them, they implemented a sophisticated beef tracking system, but in this case they did not use the data. The same happened with SPEEDI. The system seems to be permeated by systemic flaws: sophisticated tools for data collection exist, but the information is not used for timely action, as if there was no rush.
by Peter Melzer 7/20/2011 12:26:58 PM

contaminated hay found in Shizuoka (south of Tokyo) jen.jiji.com
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 12:27:22 PM

@lillymunster @elainekirk Saw your discussion regarding female radiation exposure at Daichi and other NPP. Gotta say those are ecellent controlled results for womans exposure. Might be primarily due to the womans role in the workplace in Japan, don't know. Here (US)a female, capable of reproduction is limited to 5 mSv/9 mo, until sign a form after a neg pregnancy test. Limited to 5 mSv over the gestation period. The issue isn't eggs, they aren't growing and aren't over suseptible to radiation damage, the issue is rapidly developing fetus IS overly radiosensitive.
by RBeaner 7/20/2011 12:28:56 PM

This contaminated beef problem makes me think back to right after the disaster when the central government was pushing Fukushima food products and telling the public to buy them to support the region. Were they that stupid or did they know what they were doing to people?
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 12:29:29 PM

@lillymunster @elainekirk The Male exposure at Daichi is definitely a little high, but not overly so. Those are old plants. Soft shutdown requires slower temp changes. This prevents thermal shock to components. Thermal shock would "release" more tightly adhered radioactive products from the fuel, RPV and coolant system surfaces. Basicly a good idea, but may have caused a bad decision when shutting down on the 11th.
by RBeaner 7/20/2011 12:32:34 PM

@RBeaner your going to see fewer female contractors and TEPCO seemed to take employee doses far more seriously than contractor doses. There was a noticeable difference in contractors vs. employees
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 12:32:55 PM

@lillymunster @RBeaner @Peter Melzer I think we have wiser reporters on the case now. many went into Japan without prior knowledge and with the language barrier headed quickly for the easier pickings , in the UK there is an obscene determination to keep the news international saga running it makes life easy, overheads low and government are happy to play along with the 'bury the bad news' policy. Steve and Bloomberg etc give hope that the fuku story may yet grab back the headlines
by elainekirk 7/20/2011 12:34:24 PM

@lillymunster like I said, my Guess, based on my limited understanding of Japonese culture, is that woman are not often doing real "radiological Work". The limit for the unmonitored general public, is (used to be) 1 mSv / year from nuclear plants.
by RBeaner 7/20/2011 12:35:46 PM

@Lilly re: the beef contamination...any got a number on cows or a weight paricually, I am counting around 798 + 637 from just the last two stories posted, by my experience that's about 380 tone of possibly contaminated beef from just those two stories!!! Alarm bells....
by Thunder 7/20/2011 12:35:47 PM

slightly OT, green tunnel for cooling. Something like this would be useful over all the concrete sidewalks etc. www.asahi.com
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 12:38:54 PM

@lillymunster All companies like happy employees. Contractors of all co get the crappiest work. They are easily replaceable and won't be around long enough to cause bitch and complain problems. I've seen that in several industries I have been associated with.
by RBeaner 7/20/2011 12:39:02 PM

@RBeaner It is common in other countries, doesn't make it right or even ok when it starts to involve endangering health. The "they chose it" line doesn't fly either. Many of these contractors did not understand the risks and were not informed of them.
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 12:40:16 PM

@Thunder From what I have read so far your numbers seem about right. It is hard to keep up with so many stories and new contamination being found.
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 12:41:57 PM

@lillymunster I believe in informed consent. I believe the risk associated with radiation at these levels are minimal and can be reasonably compared with risks of every day life and other occupations. You know, workers build car batteries (lead and acid), workers mine coal, workers wave flags during highway maintenance and they shovel snow off roofs. These are all dangerous things, with actual, provable death statistics.
by RBeaner 7/20/2011 12:48:11 PM

@All I have to go to sleep, but before I go on the beef trace back system, usually they have an electronic ear tag, it gets scanned by a gate or an operator at the slaughter house, enters the computer system and the sides are tagged, tags are scanned upon boning of the beef sides and then when packed and labelled the boxes are linked to this scan time so they can't trace an individual cow to a box or primial cut just a group time and can then retain that group for testing of whatever. Also due to BSE all abbatoirs run a retain where if something is suspect they will seperate it and pack it seperately, lock it away and test before sending! Maccas USA will not accept any cow that will not enter the knock box for any reason as it is considered suspect for bse. If any one hasn't guessed yet that's from experience, I work in an abbatoir, main export market for my plant.....high grade Japanese beef! @Lilly as I say a guess from experience and quick numbers....Oh and does everyone relaize beef products aren't just food, there's tendons for medicine, pancreases for medicine, inedibile beef fat(tallow) goes into makeup, blood and bone fertilizer and the list continues.....
by Thunder 7/20/2011 12:48:38 PM

@Thunder oh i had not thought of byproducts! Can you say stronium bone meal?
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 12:56:36 PM

spray on solar cells by 2013 www.asahi.com
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 12:58:41 PM

@Lilly yes and the contamination goes full circle, to some where not suspected and totally undetected, I really don't think they will be retaining SFA of the by's from those plants, and not to mention I wouldn't cut up tainted beef, no friggin way!!! The workers at those beef plants sucked up god knows what while processing that beef, I have become use to it but when I first worked there I could always taste blood while boning or slicing, not to mention getting sprayed in the eye or mouth, ect! So many unsuspecting victims.....falcon punch all of the TEPCO board!!!! @All gota go! Stay well!:-)
by Thunder 7/20/2011 1:02:10 PM

Coming to think of it, the German reporter asked a good question at the press conference. Tepco leadership delayed the injection of salt water for many hours. The hydrogen built up in the buildings was the result of ill-conceived design. There is sufficient cause for an investigation into possible criminal negligence and perhaps bodily injury. I wish we knew a Japanese layer.
by Peter Melzer 7/20/2011 1:13:11 PM

@All couldn't sleep without saying this.... it's an opinion so @mod can feel free to delete it but my feeling on the food subject is they had one maybe two weeks at the most to isolate and contain it from the food loop...after that all bets were off and there actions really only made it worse, unfortunately contain has gone imho, sustain is the only option.....which is not pretty, it basically means for a japanese person having tested every scrap of food you put into your mouth that was produced loacally for the next 150 years or living life like a cigarette smoker...."oh well maybe this one will give me cancer"....fantastic! Sorry if that opinion upsets anyone, it's just how I see it!
by Thunder 7/20/2011 1:15:44 PM

@Thunder with you on that , sleep well
by elainekirk 7/20/2011 1:18:53 PM

@Peter Melzer so many questions ...
by elainekirk 7/20/2011 1:20:31 PM

Thunder, totally agree with you. The food situation is insane. I can't imagine trying to live under that situation. The central govt. actions took it from bad to worse. Someone needs to develop a quick radiation test for food.
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 1:25:12 PM

Morning all! I think it's wonderful that this scribble seems to be represented by so many different fields. I love it! Speaking to what Thunder said...I use Shiseido's products and was wondering if all of them were produced in Japan. Luckily they have plants here in the US. Hopefully..they don't use parts from Fuku. Just another scary thing to think about. Yikes!
by LM 7/20/2011 1:29:52 PM

@lillymunster @LM I just realised this amount of media exposure is very sudden does anyone think it possible that we are actually being fed peanuts whilst the full sccope of the contamination remains within the worlds governments/industry private network
by elainekirk 7/20/2011 1:35:03 PM

vid of reporters who went to Futuba and two hospitals in the evac zone on March 13, their rad dectectors max out at both locations. www.youtube.com
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 1:39:39 PM

@LM byproducts end up all over. Remember the dog food melamine scare? I found out doing some health research that almost all vitamin C supplement now is produced in China. So it is hard to say where those by products will end up.
by lillymunster 7/20/2011 1:47:30 PM