I know an employee of the Ontario, California, Toyota North American Parts Center distribution warehouse.
He says they have been ‘requested’ to take “leave without pay”, due to the parts shortage in Japan.
While they are enjoying time with their families they are concerned about how long their time off without pay will last, they can’t […] Continue Reading…
Stores are running out of beer.
Sapporo Breweries Ltd. and Asahi Breweries Ltd. each had two beer factories damaged by the March 11 disasters. Kirin Brewery Co. had its Sendai factory in hardest-hit Miyagi Prefecture damaged.
A manufacturer of materials for beer cans is affected as well. Sapporo switched to using bottles only, but then […] Continue Reading…
A couple of weeks ago the governments of North and South Korea met over the resurrection of a dormant volcano, Mount Paekdu (Baekdu). The Korean volcano stirred to life after the 9.0 quake off the Pacific Coast of Japan on March 11. The last time it erupted was in 1903.
Korean officials have decided the […] Continue Reading…
The following is from Kyodo News.
Radioactive iodine-131 has a half-life of eight days, meaning that its effect will be reduced to half in eight days, one-fourth in 16 days and one-sixteenth in 32 days.
Half life for cesium-137 is 30 years.
A Tokyo Electric Power Company employee refused to reveal how much radiation he’s been exposed to in the past three and a half weeks.
”I can’t tell you. It’s private information as well.”-Murata Yasuki
Recently Murata was allowed to take one day off to visit his wife and son.
Workers at the critical Fukushima Daiichi plant live […] Continue Reading…
Haiti was hit by a 7.0 quake in January 2010, which devastated several cities. Donations came in, officially anyway, but according to the UN (United Nations) only a fraction has gotten through.
Donations to Japan, after their catastrophic disasters on March 11, still lag behind the official donation numbers reported for Haiti. Japanese media is […] Continue Reading…
Tokyo Electric Power Company says there are signs that the injection of nitrogen into Reactor 1 is working to prevent an explosion. But it might be too soon to tell, the nitrogen injection operation will take six days.
Fukushima Daiichi’s Reactor 1 core began build up of hydrogen gas, probably caused by the melting of […] Continue Reading…
Honda will cut back production in the United Kingdom. Due to lack of parts Honda will reduce production at its Swindon, England, plant by 50%.
NHK interviewed a nuclear analyst, who pointed out that just because contamination readings are within safe limits does not mean that it’s ‘OK’.
He said officials are mistaken for telling people that it does not pose a threat to health. What it means is that you must begin “…limiting your exposure…” to radiation contamination, because […] Continue Reading…
The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan said their survey of the sea floor, between 40km to 130km off Miyagi Prefecture, moved 5.6 meters to 15 meters towards the east-southeast.
The Japanese Coast Guard says they confirmed sea floor movement with their seabed observation points. They say the sea floor moved 23 meters (75 feet) east-southeast, […] Continue Reading…