The United States military is issuing Potassium Iodide pills to helicopter crews flying operations in Japan. The crews take the pills before their missions.
U.S. nuclear experts now in Japan will start taking their own radiation readings. Officially this is to “help” Japan with the Fukushima nuclear disaster, but I think it’s because U.S. officials don’t trust what TEPCo, and Japanese officials, are reporting.
An NHK interview has revealed failures in Japan’s emergency plans. Possibly lack of planning, or implementation.
Survivors are being stressed by confusing reports, lack of reliable information, and due to being forced to move from one shelter to another.
Many survivors from smaller cities and towns say no emergency drills were ever practiced where they lived. Others say the emergency drills they took part in never addressed anything like the current situation. This contradicts the accepted belief that Japan is the best prepared for natural disasters.
Survivors say it has become clear to them that they can’t trust what their officials are saying, especially since the survivors have witnessed, or experienced things that don’t match the official statements.
Survivors being moved from one shelter to another is the result of lack of food and water, fear of radiation exposure, and lack of heating capabilities. Temperatures in northern Honshu are still around freezing.
In an NHK interview, an official said that using water on the Fukushima fuel rods is meant to buy time, until other alternatives to cooling the rods could be figured out.
Plant officials say they’re going to attempt to use boric acid. They’ve received a sample from Korea. If the test is successful South Korean officials say they are prepared to send the bulk of their boric acid to Japan.
Officials with TEPCO, said radiation levels from Fukushima Daiichi plant are down. This is contradictory because they also say that they can not put out the spent fuel rod fires.
I noticed that they continue to give radiation levels from specific points around the plant, like the “main gate” to the factory. I believe the radiation checks are being done at ground level. Fuel rod fires, along with the reactor explosions, spew radiation up into the air, where it is carried away by the winds. At the beginning the winds were blowing eastward, towards Hawaii.
Chinese analysts have pointed out that no one is checking radiation levels at sea. Also, the U.S. Navy moved away from the area after two helicopters were hit by a radiation cloud. Also, it is clear that radiation levels are high around the reactors because on Tuesday all workers were pulled back for a short time, and the JSDF had to stop dropping water by air because of high radiation levels.
Winds have changed several times, blowing to the south, then to the west, and then to the southeast. Wind speed and direction would also affect radiation level readings, depending on where they are taken.
I conclude that the claims of safe radiation levels are misleading, due to the actions of those plant workers, and military personnel, trying to suppress the fuel rod fires. As well as to the way radiation readings are being taken and reported. Also, the statements made by government officials regarding staying indoors, and not drinking even the tap water, is an indicator of how bad the situation is.
Toyota announced that not only is it halting operations in Japan (due to the Fukushima disaster), but in the United States as well.
This is because most of the parts used in U.S. factories come from Japan, and parts production has come to a halt.
South Korea is willing to send Japan 53 tons of Boric Acid to Japan, to help fight the nuclear disaster.
That amount of boric acid is almost all that South Korea has.
Boric acid is an antiseptic, insecticide, flame retardant, and it’s used in nuclear power plants to control the fission rate of uranium.
TEPCO officials want to use it at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. They said they will test a one kilogram sample from Korea on Wednesday.
Airlines from around the world are adjusting to the situation in Japan.
Many airlines are shifting to airports that are further away from Tokyo.
A photographer who flew to Tokyo from London said “I’ve never been on such an empty flight. It was a (300-seat Boeing) 777 with barely 20 people on board.”
Flights out of Japan are packed. More and more foreign governments are telling their staff to leave, as well as foreign companies.
NHK interviewed an economic official (analyst?) who said the economic situation in Japan is now a matter of national security, as a result of the Fukushima disaster.
Some Japanese companies have announced plans to re-start operations, but that is contingent upon the ongoing situation with aftershocks, infrastructure issues and nuclear problems.
Toyota announced that its Japanese factories will remain closed for another week. Toyota will not increase production at foreign factories.
Three prefectures are asking for 33,000 temporary homes. The emergency shelters are overwhelmed.
The Bank of Japan continued to flood billions of cash into the finance and investment markets.
Electronics industry analyst are warning that if parts supply from Japan is down for a few weeks it will drastically raise prices for electronic items.
Economic losses for Japan are predicted to hit $200 billion.
A number of countries are closing their embassies in Tokyo, due to fears of radiation exposure. Other countries are moving their embassy staff away from the Tokyo area. Travel bans and warnings have also been issued.
Iraq, Bahrain and Angola are closing their embassies. Austria and Panama are moving their staff.
The Japanese government is asking foreign governments to remain calm.
Japanese Self Defense Forces stopped dropping water by helicopter because radiation levels above the plant are too high, exceeding 50 millisieverts.
The United States military said it was sending two water trucks to help spray water on the reactors from the ground.