Toyota thinks they might have enough parts built up to open more of its Japanese factories.
Toyota hopes to open more plants, in Japan, by late April. However, they point out that they will not be able to run at full production, and, if parts supplies continue to be a problem then all bets are off.
On 22 March 2011, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency reported rain water contamination numbers for Idaho. Do you understand them?
The EPA reported 242 pCi/L of I-131. Understand? pCi means Picocuries. I-131 means iodine-131. L means liters. 242 Picocuries per liter of iodine-131. Should you be worried? Yes!
The Federal government set safe levels of iodine-131, in drinking water, at 0.111 Becquerels per liter. Using a Picocurie to Becquerel conversion program I discovered that the March 22 readings worked out to 8.954 Becquerels per liter, more than the government’s safe limits.
The EPA levels were in rain water, but rain water is used for livestock, and ends up in many municipality’s water systems.
Tokyo Electric Power Company saying Reactor 1 showing signs of damaged reactor core. They believe hydrogen gas is building up inside. An explosion is immanent unless the hydrogen gas can be counteracted.
They plan on injecting nitrogen gas into the reactor core tomorrow morning.
So far TEPCo does not have a good track record with any of their attempts to control the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant.
University of California Berkeley is reporting that their own testing on rain water revealed radiation contamination 181 times safe limits.
The Federal government’s max safe level of iodine-131 allowed in drinking water is 0.111 becquerels per liter. The UC Berkeley test showed iodine-131 at 20.1 becquerels per liter. Again, that was a test of rain water. Eventually the rain water will end up in municipal water supplies.
Who better to know when a nuclear situation is real bad, then those who dealt with Chernobyl. Russia, back then part of the now extinct Soviet Union when the Chernobyl disaster happened, says Japan is in trouble.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the situation at Fukushima Daiichi is showing no signs of improvement. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says the situation is still out of control.
From the very beginning of the nuclear disaster in Japan, Russian nuclear engineers have warned that the type of design used at Fukushima Daiichi (by the way, designed by General Electric) is dangerous if damaged in a natural disaster. Basically it can not be saved.
NHK (Nippon Housou Kyoukai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation) has run several reports that show local prefectural governments, near the damaged nuclear pant, but outside the 20km (12.4 miles) evacuation zone, are encouraging their residents to evacuate.
Some residents are leaving. Some local governments have even booked hotels for mass evacuations to begin next week. One hotel said they were booked up for two months.
The Japanese fishing industry is demanding compensation from Tokyo Electric, after most fishermen report that ALL their catches are being refused by fish markets. The reason is the high level of radiation in the water, and the fact that sand lances (a type of eel fish) have test positive for cesium-137.
NHK reporting that one of their helicopter news crews took video of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, after Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that they stopped the contaminated water leak from Reactor 2 pit.
Not only does the video show water still pouring into the ocean, but it shows smoke coming from reactors 2, 3 & 4.
An analyst interviewed by NHK said the water still pouring out could be from other leaks not yet discovered.
TEPCo admitted that the smoke might be caused by continued build up of hydrogen gas inside the containment vessels. They are going to try to inject nitrogen into Reactor 1, to prevent an explosion by hydrogen gas. If another explosion happens, this time it will rupture the reactor’s containment vessel.
In a joint report between The Washington Post and Foreign Policy, it’s been revealed that while Rome burned Tokyo Electric Power Company fiddled.
Apparently, instead of trying to figure out what to do after two of their reactors suffered hydrogen gas explosions, and continued to spew radiation, TEPCo officials were trying to figure out how to build two new reactors!
On March 26 they presented the Fukushima Prefectural government with their plan for new reactors. “It was just unbelievable.”-Nozaki Yoichi, Fukushima Prefectural Planning and Coordination Department
After getting the cold shoulder from local authorities, TEPCo submitted the plan to the Japanese central government on 31 March. They got the same reaction.
TEPCo is so hated now, in Fukushima Prefecture they’ve covered up their signs for their offices, because they’ve been getting threatening phone calls, and employees are being harassed.
Fukushima Prefectural officials told TEPCo “…to sort out problems on the ground first and stop thinking about new reactors.”
TEPCo officials now say they made a mistake in asking for the new reactors now, and they claim the plan was made before the 11 March disasters. If that’s so, why did they wait until 26 March to present the plan?
What corporate arrogance, to ask for government backing for two new reactors while the ones you have are blowing up and spewing radiation. Baka!
It might be due to the bad world economy, or the fact that the rest of the World thought Japan was the best prepared for disasters, but donations are still lagging behind the Haiti quake, and Hurricane Katrina.
According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s count, U.S.$161 million has been raised, in the past three weeks. Compare that to the first two weeks after last year’s Haiti quake; $528 million, and Hurricane Katrina; $1 billion.
The Los Angeles Times is also reporting that the Japanese Red Cross is dragging its feet on getting help to people. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano blasted the Japanese Red Cross for not handing out any of the $1 billion they claim to have raised. Edano ordered the Japanese Red Cross to get busy on handing out help this past Sunday.
Is it me, or does it seem that every organization is just one big failure after another, when it comes to dealing with the Japanese disasters?