Fukushima officials say they are asking for help from the Japanese Self Defense Forces. Situation rapidly changing at Fukushima plant 1 (Daiichi).
Smoke from reactor 3. Radiation levels increasing. Officials admit they are having trouble making clear which unit of measurement they are using for radiation levels. Containment vessel in reactor 3 might be damaged. Cause unknown at this point. Confirming damage to reactor 2 suppression chamber.
Reuters, and NHK, reporting that the white smoke from Fukushima Daiichi, is coming from reactor 3. It is suspected to be coming from the Spent Fuel Rod Pool of reactor 3.
NHK reporting another fire at the plant. No details on the new fire.
A Miami Herald article says people living on the West Coast of the United States are buying up anti-radiation pills.
nukepills.com, in North Carolina, has sold 6,500 orders of iodide pills (it is still being incorrectly called iodine pills) in four days. Normally they sell only 100 in the same time period. Most of the orders came from Washington state, Oregon and California.
The problem with Iodide, is that it can be a health hazard if misused. Iodide builds up in the thyroid, and can cause health issues. Another problem is that the more Iodide is used the less effective it is. Radioactive Iodine-131 causes thyroid cancer.
When Iodide and oxygen mix you get Iodine. So Iodine is a byproduct.
Radiation emitted by the Fukushima plant include the following four types: iodine-131, cesium-137, strontium-90 and plutonium-239.
Iodine-131 causes thyroid cancer, even with the smallest of amount of exposure.
Strontium is similar to calcium, so the body absorbs it into the bones thinking it is calcium. Strontium can remain in your bones for years, and can cause cancer like leukemia.
Cesium is like potassium, in that it circulates to every part of the body. It causes cancer in your body’s organs.
Plutonium-239 is what makes up most of a nuclear fuel rod. Causes lung cancer.
All these radiations are active for years. Plutonium is active tens of thousands of years. This is why the area directly surrounding Chernobyl is still off limits, since 1986. Also, there are islands that had been used in nuclear testing during the Cold War, that are still off limits.
On 13 March 2011, the French embassy in Japan told French citizens to leave.
The memo described a worst case scenario that had most of Japan being hit by radioactive clouds. The memo also warned of overuse of Radiation Pills (Iodide), “Excessive repeated use can be harmful to your health.”
NHK reporting that there is a constant stream of white smoke coming from the Fukushima nuclear plant 1 (Daiichi).
NHK has a helicopter about 30km away from the plant, transmitting live video. The Japanese government has declared a no fly zone over the plant, because of the radiation.
“Radioactive Iodine is a natural product of the nuclear fuel decay. Radioactive Iodine accumulates in the thyroid and it causes high doses that can be accumulated by this organ. And as we know from Chernobyl, thyroid cancer was one of the major consequences.”
Vladimir Saenko from Nagasaki University
The International Nuclear Events Scale has just raised the Fukushima Daiichi disaster to 6, out of a total of 7. 7 is the worst, which is what the 1986 Chernobyl disaster is ranked. The 1979 Three Mile Island incident is ranked at 5.
This ranking contradicts many “expert’s” claims that Fukushima was not serious.
The Japanese government has authorized nuclear plant workers to be exposed to higher levels of radiation. This might be in order to allow workers to fight the new fire at reactor 4, which is emitting deadly radiation levels and preventing fire fighting efforts under current radiation exposure rules.
Chris Hope, of Ririe, Idaho, is back home after escaping from the Fukushima Daiichi plant during the 9.0 earthquake.
He works for an East Idaho software company, and was in Japan upgrading software programs at the Fukushima plant. Hope said he had experienced smaller quakes in Japan, even found them exciting, but this quake caused him to fear for his life.
He and other people at the plant had to literally fight to get out of the building. Outside it was like a disaster movie. Plant officials went to great effort to get Hope to Tokyo, so he could return to Idaho. He says the best example of how hard it was to get to Tokyo is the movie “Planes, Trains & Automobiles”.
Despite what is going on with the Fukushima nuclear plants, Hope says he still trusts nuclear power.
NHK is reporting that Fukushima plant 1 (Daiichi), reactor 4, is on fire for a second time. NHK is also reporting that currently no flames are visible.
Late last night/early this morning officials said the fire burned itself out.
Plant officials are saying they can not fight the fire because of the high levels of radiation. They are asking for firefighting help from the government.
There is a growing number of nuclear experts, around the world, that are becoming extremely concerned over the fact that spent fuel rods are exposed and/or burning.
Earlier today NHK reported that reactor 4 has 783 spent rods stored in a “pool” above the reactor. Spent rods are still highly radioactive. It has also been admitted that the survivability of the spent fuel rod pools, in event of natural disaster, was never taken into account.
An official interviewed by NHK admitted that they don’t really know what is going on. This makes sense because there is a skeleton crew at the plant (which probably have been exposed to deadly levels of radiation), and the “officials” are not at the plant. Most employees evacuated the plant after the earthquake.