The U.S. Navy has withdrawn 10 ships from Japan. They say it’s because they are no longer needed for supply efforts, now that more roads have been cleared.
Most roads and rail systems in the north east of Honshu were destroyed in the 11 March disasters.
The U.S. still has plenty of troops in the area, including a special nuke team sent to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
CNN interviewed Bill Nye about the water leaking out of reactor 2, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. He said he wasn’t worried “yet”, and then pointed out that debris from the three week old tsunami has already reached the Pacific Northwest of North America.
CNN downplayed the water leak by stressing that is is low level contamination. That is not true. When I watch the Japanese media, they continually point out that the water coming from the cracked pit, connected to Reactor 2, is high level contamination, including cesium. In fact cesium-137 levels, off the Pacific Coast of Japan, are now millions of times above safe limits. It is the water that is intentionally dumped from the other reactors, for operational safety, which is the low level stuff.
Bill Nye pointed out that stuff will eventually get to North America. I wrote a little piece, a couple of days ago, about the Black Current, explaining which way the contamination will flow.
Nye went on to say that people need to put pressure on TEPCo to “…pave the thing over.” He doesn’t understand why they’re taking so long with this disaster. Perhaps he hasn’t read some of my posts which explain that, THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING! Even TEPCo contracted employees are saying, in recent interviews on Japanese TV, and with Japanese newspapers, that they have yet to start getting serious with this thing.
NHK has interviewed a worker from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The worker agreed to the interview if his identity was hidden. He says Tokyo Electric Power Company is just at the beginning of their efforts to control the critical plant.
He says what has been done at the plant so far is just prep work: “We have not yet begun to climb the mountain.” Meaning efforts to secure Fukushima Daiichi haven’t even started.
He says radiation levels at the plant are too high to safely work. Radioactive water has been leaking ever since the first hydrogen gas explosions at least three weeks ago. Radioactive debris, including sections of pipes that carry highly radioactive water, are spread all over the plant’s compound.
In Otsuchi, Japan, residents honored one of their long time firefighters, after he saved their lives, but lost his.
Otsuchi is far north of the epicenter of the March 11, 9.0 earthquake. Yet they got hit just as hard by the resulting tsunami. In fact the quake caused the coastal town to lose electric power instantly. That’s when 57 year old Fujio Koshita decided to use an old bell at his fire station, to warn residents of the approaching tsunami.
Fellow firefighters said he ordered them to leave as well. Being the senior firefighter, by age, he had the authority. Toru Suzuki, also a firefighter, said Koshita climbed onto the roof of the fire station and began ringing the old bell as hard as he could.
“It was really loud. The fireman was brave. I’m proud of him.”-16 year old Kaito Yamasaki
Akira Sasaki, another fire fighter who helped factory workers get to higher ground, said he apologized to Koshita. He said Koshita responded by saying “It’s all right. I will take care of it here.”
The sound of Koshita’s bell ringing echoed across the village until the giant waves swept away the fire station, and Koshita.
Fujio Koshita was not the only firefighter in Otsuchi who died. Seven other firefighters are dead or missing. Most were helping seniors and disabled people get to higher ground, some were trying to close the 12 flood gates on the town’s sea wall.
Otsuchi had a population of 15,000, now they are missing at least 10% of their residents.
Fujio Koshita must’ve known how bad the tsunami was, because, according to other firefighters, he violated his own rule about rescue workers; “Don’t die. Rescuers must stay alive” because your job is to help other people.
Koshita’s body, as well as others, have not been found.
”The state will take on the responsibility of providing support for renewal.”-Kan Naoto, Prime Minister
Japan’s Prime Minister Kan Naoto said Japan’s government (meaning taxpayers) will take responsibility in recovery and rebuilding efforts after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi.
Many evacuees told Kan, in a written statement, that nothing is being done to help them with health care, education for evacuated children, daily expenses and employment. But, Kan said Japan must first bring the still critical situation at Fukushima Daiichi under control.
Tokyo Electric Power Company is using a chemical they call “liquid glass” to try and stop the leak of highly radioactive water from Reactor 2 pit, at Fukushima Daiichi.
TEPCo thinks the leak is coming from pipes under the reactors. They injected liquid glass (sodium silicate) into the gravel under the pit for Reactor 2. At this point the water flow has actually decreased, but it’s not known for sure if it’s from the liquid glass or that the source is finally running dry.
TEPCo will also use silt barriers in the water, in front of Reactor 2’s water intake. Radiation is also leaking from the intake, and they hope the silt barriers will block the radiation from spreading in the ocean.
People have petitioned the Japanese government to let them go back to their contaminated homes, to take care of things like livestock and pets.
After the 11 March disasters that damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the government ordered people within a 20 kilometers radius from the plant to evacuate, and those within 20-30km to stay indoors.
One man, who went back in violation of evacuation orders, said livestock and pets are wandering through the streets of towns.
Prime Minister Kan Naoto told the people that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster must be brought under control first. Many of the evacuees say they were led to believe they would be returning home by now.
Kyodo News reporting that cesium-137 has been found in young sand lance fish. The levels are above government safe limits.
The young sand lance is an eel like fish.
Local government officials ordered a stop to the fishing. Ibaraki Prefecture is just south of Fukushima Prefecture.
NHK weather report just said that the coast line, north and south of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, will experience high tides. A high tide advisory in effect.
The double whammy is that the land has sunk due to the 9.0 quake, and there is now huge amounts of cesium-137 in the water.
That means when the high tides hit, they’ll go further inland, and take cesium-137 inland as well. The land, along the coast, is already getting hit with airborne radiation, now it’ll be flooded with radioactive water.
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant operator, TEPCo, says iodine-131 has hit 7.5 million times the set limits in the Pacific Ocean! But even worse, cesium-137 is at 1.1 million times set limits!
Iodine-131 has a half life of eight days. Cesium-137 has a half life of 30 years!
The report was made by Japan’s NHK TV. Tokyo Electric Power Company has been in trouble before for faulty radiation data. Later this month radiation readings are going to be handled by third party organizations, not TEPCo.