Japan Earthquake

Japan Earthquake | Page 2007

@lillymunster , the way I read it, the purpose of primary containments is foremost to contain radiation in all kinds of form and potentially explosive gases in case the rpv fails. They are not meant to withstand high pressures. Sprayers in the dry well and the suppression pool in the wet well are supposed to keep the pressure low, and if that does not take care of it, the hardened vents were retrofitted. The steel is backed with a thick layer of concrete. I imagine you could replace segments of the steel. However, we know that the wet well was breached at Unit 2. Only we do not know yet whether this happened because of a repair job shoddily done.
by Peter Melzer 7/24/2011 2:27:43 AM

@Cat The more interesting part of the cows is where exactly all the rice hay was located during the blasts. Knowing that could tell lots about what other foods could be also contaminated.
by lillymunster 7/24/2011 2:28:32 AM

When I get too cross I go listen to "Seize the Day" They make me laugh, and publicise big corporation evils as well. www.seizetheday.org
by Cat 7/24/2011 2:29:00 AM

@lillymunster , lthink of the poor farmer who rode on the combine or whatever they use to cut it.
by Peter Melzer 7/24/2011 2:31:26 AM

@Peter Melzer I assumed it was rolled and sitting in the fields?
by lillymunster 7/24/2011 2:33:48 AM

@lillymunster. I thought that they reckoned it came from various places and had been stored outside or in open side barns. Don't you think that all the grazing grass would be as bad. I bet there are loads of contaminated chickens and ducks. I would want to test them, because they don't just eat grasses.
by Cat 7/24/2011 2:34:54 AM

@Cat IF they did cut this hay before they used it as Peter said the poor farmer that cut it probably got a huge dose from all the dust kicked up. They initially told the farmers to use only approved feed that was hard to find because the grass was bad. So they used the rice straw because it wasn't regulated.
by lillymunster 7/24/2011 2:39:01 AM

They eat a range of plants, insects, invertebrates, pond weed etc. I know rural japanese keep a lot of poultry, but I don't know if they keep them penned and fed grain.
by Cat 7/24/2011 2:40:40 AM

@lillymunster. I thought that some at least got irradiated after cutting, but maybe not. I still keep thinking of that Utube vid of the little open back pickup. Something incredibly hot must have been carried in there to make the empty back read off the scale.
by Cat 7/24/2011 2:46:25 AM

@lillymunster , I actually don't know how rice straw is processed. But I believe you are correct in that working with straw kicks up plenty dust. Ever bought a bail of hay from the trailer at the Lowe's or the Home Depot? Since you tried to break your back over a bag of stone, I assume you know what I mean.
by Peter Melzer 7/24/2011 3:02:09 AM

Sleep time. Night folks
by Cat 7/24/2011 3:05:12 AM

nite cat
by lillymunster 7/24/2011 3:05:54 AM

@Peter Melzer I avoid hay bales. The small ones are heavy and it is just dusty stuff.
by lillymunster 7/24/2011 3:06:56 AM

@lillymunster , yep. You know whether the good people where the straw came from and other folks working outdoors there are monitored?
by Peter Melzer 7/24/2011 3:10:27 AM

@Peter Melzer As far as I know there is no monitoring system outside of the fukushima plant workers and the children dosimeter program.
by lillymunster 7/24/2011 3:11:18 AM

TEPCO checks piping of decontamination system

Tokyo Electric Power Company is to examine the pipes of a system to decontaminate radioactive water at its crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant. The system continues to work below its target capacity.

TEPCO says the system, which was designed to treat 50 tons of water per hour, has actually been treating 39 tons on average since it began operating late last month.

It says the operating rate was 53 percent in the past week, far below the target rate of 80 percent.

The utility says it will examine the interior of the system's pipes as sludge and other materials may be clogging the flow of water.

The power company says it will install alternative pipes to reroute the flow and check whether the amount of treated water will increase.

TEOCO says if it's proved effective, it will consider replacing the pipes.

The system, which recycles decontaminated water to cool reactors, has had many troubles, leading to low cleanup rates since the start of its operation.

Sunday, July 24, 2011 11:04 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Edano 7/24/2011 3:12:25 AM

@lillymunster , they are not thinking this crisis through, are they? Did you have any luck with the people's geiger project yet?
P.S: And of course it's "bales" not "bails". I am getting tired.
by Peter Melzer 7/24/2011 3:15:40 AM

@Peter Melzer Rockhopper was talking about that very thing tonight. I gave him the links to strahlentelex . I may try to send some contact emails to them and maybe CNIC and see if they have anything going yet themselves and figure out if they can be a point of contact.
by lillymunster 7/24/2011 3:18:53 AM

It couldn't hurt to write something up explaining how it happened, worked etc. as a piece people could share. The tweet rockhopper did specifically mentioned the fukushima citizens lab. Them and safecast could be ideal groups to take the lead on this since that is already of the people and already doing that kind of thing. I don't think the German citizens group has really made the news at all in Japan so this could be missing info for many people.
by lillymunster 7/24/2011 3:21:17 AM

@lillymunster , unfortunately all I know about Strahlentelex I learned from their website. If we could only show an example of the bulletin with a food test.
by Peter Melzer 7/24/2011 3:32:28 AM

Hi all! just checking in for a sec...been going to the Comic Con with my family here in San Diego and haven't been around. Anything new?
by LM 7/24/2011 4:06:14 AM

@lilly, before I disappear, as to torus weaknesses, I rather suspect that Unit 2's torus cracked not because of botched repair, but because of less than perfect care. I imagine a tepco report one day stating that the torus tore because of a thinning of the steel owing to unexpected electrochemical erosion, :(
by Peter Melzer 7/24/2011 4:08:13 AM

@LM Not lots, more on the food issue. People sound like they are getting fed up. The common pool got hot after power was out for a few hours.
by lillymunster 7/24/2011 4:10:40 AM

@Lilly Thanks for the update. I've got to run again. Night all!
by LM 7/24/2011 4:12:23 AM

@LM my back says time to go crash for the nite!
by lillymunster 7/24/2011 4:15:23 AM

Goodnight lilly!
by bo 7/24/2011 4:37:44 AM

Keeping the board up.
by Panserbjorne9 7/24/2011 6:20:58 AM

greeetings
by elainekirk 7/24/2011 8:03:33 AM

right back atcha
by RadioGuy 7/24/2011 8:05:40 AM

off to bed, though. seeya in a few.
by RadioGuy 7/24/2011 8:09:00 AM

@RadioGuy sleep well
by elainekirk 7/24/2011 8:10:33 AM

The dosimeter comments from goj translated by rockhopper
From Iwaki, Fukushima, @takteck0311 wrote that protective gears & special masks for workers have been burned in the area. @tsunamiwaste
(cont) A rumor in Iwaki says that filters of the high-level radioactive water cleaning system may be burned there. Watch this!
cont) Highly radioactive gears and others may have been burned in a company's facility in Iwaki. @NONUKES_MH

Mr. Kaieda gave an excuse after the TV last night that he didn't know when workers worked at the Fukushima without dosimeter.
(cont) Yet, Mr. Kaieda didn't retract his comment, "We should be proud of the workers who worked without dosimeter"
by elainekirk 7/24/2011 8:39:09 AM

Hi folks
by bo 7/24/2011 10:38:06 AM

hi@bo doing some yard cleaning
by elainekirk 7/24/2011 11:24:25 AM

"We should be proud of the workers who worked without dosimeter" ???????
by Edano 7/24/2011 11:27:01 AM

sometimes i think the japanese are not mature enough.
by Edano 7/24/2011 11:28:41 AM

70% back Kan on nuclear power but support for Cabinet hits record low

TOKYO, July 24, Kyodo

A total of 70.3 percent expressed support for Prime Minister Naoto Kan's call for a society that does not rely on nuclear power in a telephone poll conducted over the weekend by Kyodo News, but public support for his Cabinet sank to 17.1 percent, the lowest level since it was inaugurated just over a year ago, from 23.2 percent in the previous poll.

In the survey, 66.9 percent said they want Kan to quit by the end of August when the parliamentary session ends, while the disapproval rating for the Cabinet climbed to 70.6 percent from 61.2 percent in the last poll conducted June 28 and 29.

The public was split over the decision of Kan's government to double the consumption tax rate to 10 percent by the mid-2010s, with 52.2 percent expressing support and 45.0 percent opposed, according to the poll.

The latest survey was based on replies from 1,014 respondents selected randomly by computer on Saturday and Sunday across the country, except for some areas in disaster-hit northeastern Japan.

On Kan's idea for a society without nuclear power, 31.6 percent expressed support while 38.7 percent expressed qualified support for the idea. On the renewable energy bill that aims to establish a mechanism for power companies to buy solar power at fixed tariffs, 78.2 percent expressed support, while 14.2 percent were opposed.

Support for Kan's Democratic Party of Japan, meanwhile, dropped to 14.7 percent, the lowest since the September 2009 inauguration of the DPJ government. It was down from 21.9 percent in late June. The previous low was 17.4 percent marked in late April. Support for the opposition Liberal Democratic Party rose to 25.9 percent from 22.8 percent.

On the future form of the government after Kan's departure, 51.7 percent said they want the ruling and opposition parties to collaborate depending on specific policy programs, while 30.7 percent said they want a grand coalition formed of the DPJ and the LDP.

Only 7 percent said they favor the current setup of a government led by the DPJ.

Regarding who should be the next leader of the DPJ, 21.2 percent named former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, followed by 15.8 percent who said DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano was favored by 15.6 percent.

==Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano 7/24/2011 11:30:37 AM

No.1 reactor temperature falls below 100 degrees

The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says the temperature at the bottom of the No. 1 reactor is being kept at the lowest level since a new cooling system went into operation late last month.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says the temperature fell below 100 degrees Celsius for 6 consecutive days through Sunday.

It says a thermometer attached to the bottom of the reactor registered between 96 and 97 degrees, the lowest since a new circulatory water injection system was started. The system is the key to stably cool the reactor.

TEPCO says the lower temperature was achieved by raising the amount of water injected into the reactor, and that it wants to maintain the current condition.

Nuclear fuel inside the reactor remains hot and needs to be cooled continuously.

On Monday, TEPCO started implementing a revised work plan for bringing the plant under control. The second step of the plan aims at keeping the temperature of the bottom of the plant's reactors below 100 degrees by January.

TEPCO says the cooling system is still unstable and the amount of water to be injected into the No. 1 reactor continues to decrease. The company says it wants to accelerate work to fix the problems.

Sunday, July 24, 2011 13:05 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Edano 7/24/2011 11:38:44 AM

@Edano does that mean the melt has left the building via the underground?
by elainekirk 7/24/2011 11:40:49 AM

www.houseoffoust.com

in fact, temps are rising again, and below 100° wasn't quite correct.
by Edano via Houseoffoust 7/24/2011 11:41:16 AM

@elainekirk : could well be, elaine !
by Edano 7/24/2011 11:42:06 AM

Decontamination experiment starts in Fukushima

More than 3,500 city employees and citizens took part in an experiment to remove radioactive materials from roads in a highly contaminated area of Fukushima City on Sunday.

The experiment follows the city's decision to clean up all the roads used by elementary and junior high school students.

Participants dug up weeds and removed sludge from roadside ditches, where radioactive materials tend to accumulate.

They used high-pressure washing equipment and scrubbing brushes to clean roads near schools.

A father of 2 elementary school children said he took part to bring down radiation levels for the many children who are still living in the community.

A house in the area was also cleaned for experimental purposes. The roof and plants were washed with high-pressure equipment after city employees measured radiation levels.

A similar experiment will be conducted in another area in the city, where relatively high radiation levels have been measured.

The city plans to review the methods and their effectiveness, and release a decontamination plan and a manual for residents next month.

Sunday, July 24, 2011 16:47 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Edano 7/24/2011 11:45:20 AM

ikrockhopper Itsumi Kakefuda
Fukushima pref has added another human experiment on their list: thyroid gland exam with ultrasound every 2 years for all children <18.
ikrockhopper Itsumi Kakefuda
(cont) Dr. Yamashita, who is in charge of the human experiment, and whom also got sued a few days ago, is proud of the testing.

(cont) If you don't know about Dr. Shun-ichi Yamashita. He is the guy who said "100mSv/year will be fine for health." Mr. 100mSv.

(cont) Anyway, Fukushima pref said that they will monitor all residents' health for their life time on the news.
cont) This means that if current residents move out from Fukushima, they would not be able to get the exams and care. Another psyc threat.
Prevention (evacuation of at least kids) should come first, not Early-detection & early-treatment. This is the basic of heal public health!
Prevention (evacuation of at least children) should come first, not Early-detection & early-treatment. This is the basic of public health!
www.47news.jp
by elainekirk 7/24/2011 11:46:22 AM

@Edano Re growing public support for some form of coalition governance, I recall that early on Kan had proposed to form a coalition with the opposition to help deal with the crisis Japan was facing, and for general cooperation from other parties - they refused.
“We proposed to the opposition to form a cabinet for saving this country -- this is a way of saying, let’s put aside political differences and put all our efforts into rehabilitation and reconstruction,”
www.businessweek.com
by es 7/24/2011 11:49:49 AM