Japanese Self Defense Forces report that several of their helicopters are testing positive for radiation contamination. Even after decontamination procedures.
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U.S. sending World’s largest Concrete Sprayers to Japan
Claimed to be the largest concrete spraying trucks in the world, they will be on their way to Japan, after upgrades in California and South Carolina.
The two trucks are made in Germany, for spraying concrete for skyscrapers.
Kelly Blickle, a spokeswoman at Putzmeister America Inc., says similar types of trucks were also used on Chernobyl in 1986.
Officially the trucks will be spraying water, but if necessary, can spray concrete to entomb the reactors.
TEPCo admits not protecting workers
Tokyo Electric Power Company admitted that they did not provide radiation monitoring devices to sub-contractors. This is part of the reason three workers ended up in the hospital a little more than a week ago.
Japanese regulations requires all workers in nuclear power plants to have their own radiation monitor.
TEPCo officials said most of their radiation monitoring devices were washed away by the tsunami. Yet their is no evidence that they tried to get new monitors after the tsunami, in fact TEPCo officials say they will NOW get more radiation monitors. This will reduce work at the damaged nuclear plant, until the new radiation monitors arrive.
Just more proof that you can NOT trust corporations. And should we really trust what officials are saying about radiation levels?
Japanese scientists say most Tsunami damage occured with Backwash
Japanese scientist, going over the damage from 11 March tsunami, say buildings made of the toughest concrete, and several stories tall, were totally destroyed by the tsunami. That included building that were thought to be safe for use as emergency shelters, of course most people in those shelters died.
The scientist say the most damage was not caused by the in rushing tsunami, but by the tsunami rushing back out to sea. They point out that anything that rushes uphill, will go faster when it rolls back downhill. They say the same is true with tsunami, and of course, the bigger the tsunami the more dangerous its backwash is.
The strongest buildings, that were wiped out, show evidence that they were destroyed by the tsunami backwash.
Power Blackouts will hurt Japanese Industry more than thought
A Japanese industry analyst, interviewed on NHK, said most of Japan’s industries will be hurt more than thought by rolling blackouts.
For several days NHK has been running reports on different industries that would be affected by power outages. Some of those industries, like bread factories, would have to shut down for longer than the planned 3 hour blackout. This is because of the process for making bread. The bread factory official said they would end up being shut down for 6 hours.
Most factories need to control heat processes for a long period of time, and they can’t do that with power outages. It’s also interesting to see that most factories in Japan do not have any back up power source. Most of Japan’s industries are totally dependent on nuclear power.
The analyst said on NHK, that Japan’s industry must be prepared to move factories to other parts of Japan, or even to other countries. In the future Japan’s industries must be built so that they can operate independently of any single power source.
Set back for Toyota, telling dealers to make in house repairs
Due to continued parts supply shortages caused by the 11 March disasters, Toyota is now telling dealers NOT to replace damaged parts.
Toyota wants dealer auto shops to make in-house repairs of damaged parts, when possible. Toyota says there could be at least 233 parts that are not available. They did not specify which parts, but could involve parts for suspensions and air bags.
Honda steps up production cut backs, parts shortage will now affect Auto Mechanics
Starting March 30, Honda will cut back on production within Canada and the United States.
Honda officials say the cut backs are due to prolonged shut down of parts suppliers in Japan. They do not know how long their production cut backs will last.
Honda has also warned car dealers that parts for their auto repair shops are dwindling. They told the dealers to expect shortages.
Honda did not give specifics regarding their production cut backs, but they hoped it would be enough to avoid total factory shut downs.
“Grand Vision” reconstruction of Japan will rely on Clean Green Energy
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yukio Edano, says the “Grand Vision” of reconstructing Japan will include clean energy.
Edano made it clear that reconstruction planning is on the back burner due to the current disaster, but that clean energy will be one of the “pillars” of the plan.
He mentioned bio-fuels and solar power, as being examples of the type of clean energy that will be used.
Evacuation Preperations Ramping Up in Japan, Condition Dire
Japanese Cabinet Secretary, Yukio Edano, says people living in the nuclear disaster zones are in “…dire condition…”, and a Disaster Management Special Task Force is being created, for evacuations, and decontamination.
The task force will prepare to begin accepting evacuees, and establish decontamination sites.
Also, temporary housing will be established for the thousands of people that will be affected.
Chrysler joins Ford in cancelling color options
Thanks to the ongoing nuclear power plant disaster in Japan, Chrysler is now limiting color options on their cars.
Ford already announced the unavailability of Tuxedo Black, and three shades of red. They rely on pigments from Japan.
Chrysler is also doing the same thing, except they haven’t specified which colors are going to be affected, only that it will affect ten color options.