Tag Archives: fukushima

Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Japan’s own government experts blame the government for lack of response to nuclear disaster at Fukushima! Only 2 reactors now operating in Japan

Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency is being questioned by their own experts regarding the safety of nuclear reactors.  The Agency responded by censoring their own experts!

A publicized debate held by Agency experts was cut short, when it became clear that the consensus was that the government was accountable for the lack of response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, and that the current “stress tests” were also lacking.

The censorship happened specifically because of criticisms of the Agency’s approval of stress testing done at the Ohi nuclear plant.

Experts were pissed: “I feel deceived!”-Ino Hiromitsu, Professor Emeritus University of Tokyo

“The panel started to fully review plant safety to prevent another Fukushima!  Why are you rushing for a conclusion?”-Goto Masashi, Shibaura Institute of Technology

An official with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency basically said they’re getting impatient, when he pointed out that the experts have already met eight times about nuclear safety.

Japan is now down to just two operating nuclear reactors, out of 54 total.  Most reactors have been shut down for routine maintenance and inspections, but, local governments are the only ones who can OK restart, and so far they all say ‘no way’.

Japan’s major industries rely on electricity from nuclear power plants.  Japan’s crashing economy is being caused in large part to its major industries struggling to operate with so little power plants on line.  The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency is probably being pushed to convince local governments to get those power plants back on line.

 

Fukushima

Pale Green Horse & Fukushima: Damaged GE reactors still spewing radiation almost a year later!

On 20 February 2012, the Japanese media was given a short tour of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The tour was quick because the disaster reactors are still emitting high levels of radiation.

To give you an example; just at reactor 4, daily radiation levels are higher than the yearly safe limit for the civilian population!

The safe limit is one millisievert per year.  Reactor 4 is still pumping out 50 microsieverts per hour!  That’s 1,200 microsieverts, or 1.2 millisieverts per day!

Remember, that’s just from one of the four damaged reactors.

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Fukushima

Pale Green Horse & Fukushima: Almost half of population exposed to execesive radiation levels! Woman contaminated with 23 years worth of radiation in just 1 year!

20 February 2012, Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture released the results of their own radiation contamination study.  The study did not include people working at nuclear plants, or other employment where contact with radiation is part of the job.

42% of the people living in Fukushima Prefecture have been exposed to more radiation than the official safe limit. The safe limit is one millisievert per year.

The radiation is coming from the damaged General Electric designed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

At least 71 people have been exposed to 10 millisieverts (or ten years worth of radiation), and one woman has been exposed to 23 millisieverts (or 23 years worth of radiation)!

The study is still ongoing as Fukushima prefectural officials have not been able to screen everyone, and the Fukushima Daiichi reactors are still spewing radiation.

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Fukushima

Government/Corporate Incompetence: General Electric designed Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2 hits 96.4 Celsius on 13 February 2012!

Reactor 2, of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, continues to see increased temps, despite increased water injection.

At 10:00 hours on the morning of 13 February 2012 (Japan time) Tokyo Electric Power Company reported that the temperature hit 91.2 Celsius (196 Fahrenheit), by noon it was 96.4 C (205.5 F)!

TEPCo officials are hoping the thermometer is defective!  If the Reactor 2 hits 100 Celsius it will no longer be in cold shut down, and re-criticality is a possibility.

Two other thermometers are showing temps hovering between 30 to 35 Celsius.  However, TEPCo has just revealed there are three other thermometers, positioned about four feet lower down on the reactor, and they show temps dropping.  It sounds like all their thermometers are faulty!

TEPCo says all their eyes are on Reactor 2, and they’re working to get an accurate temp reading.  Reactor 2 is the only reactor, that went critical after the 11 March 2011 quake and tsunami, that did not explode.  Reactors 1, 3 and 4 exploded.

Fukushima

Government/Corporate Incompetence: Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2 heats up, again, still don’t know why. Can you say Re-Criticality?

12 February 2012, Tokyo Electric Power Company (now effectively state owned due to running out of money) reporting that Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2 is still heating up, despite efforts to cool it down.

Temps are now at 80 degrees Celsius (176 Fahrenheit).  TEPCo had increased cooling water injection to 14.6 tons per hour!

On 05 February, TEPCo reported temps up to 73.3 Celsius (163.9 Fahrenheit), and began injecting 10.6 tons of water per hour.  At first they thought the rise in temperature was due to recent plumbing work.

If the reactor exceeds 100 Celsius it will no longer be in “cold shut down”, and could experience re-criticality.

TEPCo is now revealing that the thermometers used on the reactors are not accurate, they have a margin of error of 20 degrees! Also, two other thermometers, on Reactor 2, are indicating temps of 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), or lower.  So which thermometer is correct?

TEPCo has taken gas samples and said xenon levels are normal for the cooler temperatures, so they are now hoping that the thermometer reading the high temps is defective.  To be safe they plan to increase water injection to 18 tons per hour.

Fukushima

Japanese government reveals just how bad General Electric designed Fukushima Nuclear accident could have been (or might still be)!

Two weeks after the nuclear disaster started, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission submitted a worst case scenario to the government.

It could have been (and might still be) worse than the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The official reason why the report was not made public, is because government officials did not consider it an official document!  The real reason is that the report was quickly dismissed by officials, and then forgotten, until it was discovered in an office of the Atomic Energy Commission, at the end of 2011.

Currently there is a 20 km (12 miles) mandatory evacuation zone around Fukushima Daiichi, some experts say it should be expanded.  Under the worst case scenario it should be 170 km (105.6 miles)!

The scenario also called for voluntary evacuations out to 250 kilometers (155 miles).  That would include all of Tokyo!

The nuclear reactors are considered in cold shut down, but they are far from stable.  Currently, Reactor 2 keeps heating up and Tokyo Electric Power Company officials don’t know why!

 

Fukushima

Japan Modern Day Atlantis round 7 & What Economic Recovery? People fleeing Nuclear disaster in Japan destroying the local economy and local governments

The Japanese National Police Agency have released the latest numbers regarding people leaving the disaster hit areas of Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures.

At this point more than 150,000 people have left the Tohoku region (where the affected prefectures are).  Just a few weeks ago, in January, is was reported that 31,381 people left Fukushima Prefecture alone.  But now, February 11, that number has jumped to 53,000!

Local officials are now saying if people keep leaving at that rate the local economy will be destroyed, along with tax revenues.

Earlier in the week, the Japanese national government reported that reconstruction efforts are not taking place because contractors can not find enough workers who are willing to work in the nuclear disaster area.  This too will destroy the local economies.

And it’s not just people fleeing the Tohoku Region, back in October, 2011, the Japanese Foreign Ministry reported that a record 1.1 million people left the entire country of Japan, just seven months after the March 11 disasters!

At this point the Japanese National Police say 15,787 people have been confirmed dead, and 3,302 are still missing, from the March 11, 2011 disasters.

JAPAN MODERN DAY ATLANTIS ROUND 6: NE HONSHU TO BE HIT BY ANOTHER MAGNITUDE 8+ QUAKE

Fukushima

What Global Warming? Mother Earth to the Rescue? Record snowfall in Japan will help clear radiation contamination. Don’t eat the yellow snow!

Despite claims of overall global warming, Europe and Japan are still getting hit with record low temps.  In Japan record snowfall could actually help fight the radiation contamination from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster reactors.

The heavy snow would help sweep the air of radiation, and sweep the surfaces of buildings, plants, cars and the ground of “external” radiation.  But this in turn would make the snow radioactive, so a new twist on the joke about not eating yellow snow!

Another problem is that any snowmelt getting into the ground will be absorbed by plants, making them “internally” contaminated.  It would be a good idea for Japanese to test the snow for contamination.

 

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Reactor 2 at Fukushima Daiichi heating up, possibly due to a plumbing screw up!

On 27 January 2012, the temperature in reactor 2 was at 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). On 05 February it’s at 73.3 Celsius (163.9 Fahrenheit).

Tokyo Electric (now effectively state owned due to running out of money) reports that the rise in temp could be due to some recent plumbing work.  Hello!

Another problem is that two separate thermometers are giving cooler temp readings, so they’re not sure which ones to believe.  To be safe they’re going with the higher temp readings.

TEPCo is now pumping 10.6 tons of water per hour, trying to keep the General Electric designed Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2 from overheating.

Fukushima

What Economic Recovery? 130,000 Japanese flee 11 March 2011, disaster areas!

The Tohoku region, which has three of the prefectures hit hardest by the 11 March 2011 disasters, saw 129,385 people leave.

The prefectures affected are of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima.  Fukushima had the most people leave; 31,381.

Believe it or not, people did actually move into the region.  88,159 people moved in, making the net loss of population 40,000. According to Japan’s Internal Affairs Ministry, that’s still the biggest decline in population, in that region, since 1970.