ScribbleLive

not sure if this has been posted already, apologies if it has: 'The water level turned out to be lower then 4.000m at the most.

Even the radiation resistant endoscope for 1000Sv got too much noise.

Tepco inserted 2m of the endoscope to reactor2 from the hole called X53 on 1/19/2012. The operation took 6 Tepco employees and 28 workers from subcontract companies. The maximum dose of the worker was 3.07 mSv.

As the result, they could not see the water surface. Because the radiation level was too high, endoscope had too much noise to capture the clear image.

The heat gauge on the endoscope measured 44.7℃ at 9:13. The heat gauge set inside of around X53 measured 42.6℃, so Tepco judged the heat gauges inside are not completely broken.

Unexpectedly, inside was not too steamy but because the evaporated water kept dropping inside, it also prevented the camera from capturing clear image.

The coating inside of the reactor was damaged and ripped off like squama.

From the gap of the pressure between inside of the reactor and suppression chamber, Tepco assumed the water level could be above the grating cover, but they could not see the water at least above the cover.

The height of the cover is around 4.0m from the bottom of the reactor. At least the water level is lower than there.
fukushima-diary.com

While I was gone I had another thought on cultural differences. When you watch NRC meetings for example, the representatives of the operator introduce themselves in the beginning and explain their functions. I have not seen one tepco appearance where someone stood up and said my name is so-and-so, I am directing the recovery program at Fukushima, these are the steps we are planning to take in the next ninety days, and these are the reasons for our decisions. We only get to meet the messenger boys at the press conferences who only announce and never explain the decisions tepco is taking, plus here and there some engineer commenting whose role at tepco remains nebulous. That kind of public relations under such grave conditions would never fly here.

@lillymunster But on the short term that's exactly what happens. Renewable energy plants take a lot longer to deploy than switching the existing coal plants to full power. So, they're not lying there.

...and along my earlier thoughts on tepco PR, I don't believe that the plant director has much influence on recovery planning. The director deals with every day plant ops and may give his input, but I don't think the director does much of the planning. That must be a different set of people at tepco headquarters in Tokyo. I am amazed that tepco does not seem to understand that the way they currently present themselves is no way to rebuild public confidence.

I meant, invested.... my comment was to your other one in response to mine.

And some others enlarge their profits through market speculation at the consumer's cost:

"AA calls for inquiry over cost of diesel"
"Motoring organisations around Europe call for investigation into market manipulation as diesel costs reach record levels" (Terry Macalister) www.guardian.co.uk

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has found 500 tons of highly radioactive water near the crippled No.2 reactor.

On December 18th, Tokyo Electric Power Company workers found radioactive water in an underground tunnel at a facility to store highly contaminated water.

Under the government's direction, this month TEPCO started checking whether radioactive water is collecting in the plant's other underground facilities.

On Thursday, the utility found around 500 tons of contaminated water in a pit near the No.2 reactor. The pit has a valve which is used for pumping in seawater.

The analysis of the contaminated water shows it has 16,200 becquerels of radioactive cesium per cubic centimeter. That represents the highest level of radioactive substances found in this month's survey.

TEPCO also detected 600 tons of water containing 860 becquerels of radioactive elements per cubic centimeter in a pit near the No.3 reactor.

The utility says the radioactive water is unlikely to have leaked into the ocean as the density of radioactive materials in seawater near the No.2 and No.3 reactors has remained unchanged.

The company plans to determine how the contaminated water collected in the tunnels.
Friday, January 20, 2012 06:24 +0900 (JST) www3.nhk.or.jp

2,500 US Walmart Stores Selling "Japanese" Cuisine Pushed by Japanese Food Giant Ajinomoto
since September 2011. There is no critical thinking behind the CNN article below; if there were, the writer would have asked questions like "Where are the ingredients coming from?"
ex-skf.blogspot.com

'Dip in nuclear power support after Fukushima proves shortlived
A new, exclusive opinion poll shows public support for replacing the UK's ageing nuclear plants has recovered, although some citizens are far less convinced than others' www.guardian.co.uk ..Grrrrr!!!!**!!!