Japanese Cabinet Secretary, Edano Yukio, says they have “…explored all possibilities…” regarding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. So far officials are at a loss as to where the radiation leak is coming from.
At this point they can’t tell if the leaking radiation is coming from spent fuel pools, or reactor cores. This is why, earlier in the day, officials announced that they have no way to stop radiation leakage in the short term, and asked people to voluntarily evacuate.
At the most recent press conference a Japanese reporter asked Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, why foreign reporters have been banned from press conferences.
Edano blamed the stressful conditions of trying to deal with the catastrophic disaster.
Thousands of anime (Japanese animation) fans hoping to hit one of the world’s biggest anime conventions will have to wait another year. The event in Tokyo, Japan, was canceled after the 9.0 quake/tsunami. The event center is now being used to house survivors of the disaster.
Convention officials are now working to refund money to those who already bought tickets, and to more than 190 vendors.
NHK reporters made their way to several towns that have NOT received any, or very little, help after the 9.0 quake/tsunami.
What they found is what you’d expect to see after a devastating war. Only a few dozen people in each town working together to survive. In most towns people find food by scavenging through the destroyed buildings. They say the Japanese military came and went, leaving hardly any supplies for them, it’s like they were forgotten by the rescue crews. In one town the people are so angry with the government that they made it clear to the reporters, in a loud way, that the government has done nothing for them. In another town the people made a steam house to keep warm. They used parts they scavenged from their destroyed town, and when asked how they were heating it, one man said he’s burning what’s left of his house.
Something interesting that reporters and rescue crews are finding, most of the survivors are older people, no kids, no young adults.
In response to a reporter’s question, of how they are going to proceed with reactor 3 (with possible core damage), the TEPCo official said they do not know at this time.
This might be another reason why voluntary evacuation has been announced.
TEPCo officials speculate that the contaminated water in the basement of reactor 3, might have come from the reactor core.
It might have been caused by high pressure inside the reactor core. It could have been caused by valves, or the core was “compromised”.
Reporters doing “man on the street” reactions about the radioactive water warnings for infants in Japan, got hit with a common question from mothers, “If I’m breast feeding should I stop drinking the water?”
In an NHK interview a medical expert said that pregnant and breast feeding woman should not drink the contaminated water, even though the levels are deemed safe for adults.
TEPCo officials are echoing the Japanese government’s calls for people to prepare to evacuate. TEPCo officials now say there is no short term chance that they can stop the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant from emitting radiation.
Also, some media are reporting that work on reactor’s 1 & 2 has been stopped because of highly contaminated water, however TEPCo officials say that is not so. Yesterday, 3 workers were sent to the hospital with Beta Burns, caused by highly contaminated water in reactor 3. The water has 10,000 times the radiation levels that are considered normal for the reactor.
Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, that were rushed to the hospital after being exposed to 10,000 times the normal radiation levels, might have been exposed due to previously unknown damage in reactor 3.
The workers were in the basement of reactor 3’s turbine building, trying to reconnect electricity. The basement was flooded with radioactive water, that held contamination 10,000 times normal.
TEPCo officials are now worried that there is unseen damage to the reactor, because there was no water in the basement the day before.
Because of the continued problem, after problem, with trying to get the Fukushima Daiichi plant under control, the Japanese government has told people outside the 20km (12.4 miles) evacuation zone, to voluntarily evacuate, and prepare for mandatory evacuations.
A survey of Japanese businesses that shut down, or reduced production, because of the 9.0 quake/tsunami, shows that at least half blame it on damage to their buildings.
The next biggest reason is destroyed infrastructure: Lack of electricity, destroyed roads/rails.