Tag Archives: unemployment

Idaho National Laboratory sending Radiation Robots to Japan

The Idaho National Laboratory is sending robots hardened against radiation, along with hardened cameras to Japan.

That’s according to officials with the U.S. Department of Energy.  The robots will be used where radiation levels are too high for people, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.  The statements by Energy Department officials, about the INL robots, were made to a U.S. Senate panel on 29 March.

The U.S. department of Energy has sent, or is sending, 70 employees, along with tons of equipment, to help fight the nuclear disaster.

Just remember, this nuclear disaster is due to the lax disaster preparations of a Japanese capitalist corporation, and yet, the taxpayers of Japan are paying for it, and we taxpayers in the U.S. are paying for it. Corporations suck!

Japan now on “Maximum Alert”!

The situation at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant now has Japan officially on maximum alert.

To give an idea of just how much highly contaminated water they must try to remove before any more work can continue on the damage plant: Just one of the tunnel/trenches under the reactors holds 6,000 cubic meters of contaminated water, more than two Olympic swimming pools.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano Yukio says they have no choice but to keep pumping water in, to keep the reactors from melting down.

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.

Idaho not reporting any Radiation from Japan

As of 28 March 2011, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is not reporting any increase in radiation levels in Idaho, on their RadNet site.

Also, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare believes that currently the risk of high radiation levels, from Japan, is still low.

The IDHW has a Japan situation page that lets Idahoans know about monitoring, food safety and FAQs like; “Should I start taking Iodide?”

(don’t take iodide unless you’re real close to a nuclear disaster ’cause to much iodide is bad for you)

 

 

Reactor turbine rooms like Radiators on a Car, and it’s time to change the fluid

Officials are struggling with the latest set back at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant; flooded turbine rooms.

The turbine rooms are where the coolant is cooled, basically giant heat exchangers, or radiators. The problem is that the rooms have flooded with water that has mixed with fuel rods in the reactor cores, making the water highly contaminated.  Before they can do anymore work they have to get the water out.

Tokyo Electric Officials were thinking of pumping the contaminated water into the turbine condenser (it’s like a radiator on a car), but, oh yeah, the condensers already have water in them.  The contaminated water is so bad that it’s basically nuclear waste. You can’t just let it drain out into the ground water , or ocean.

So they are trying to drain the condensers, and then pump the contaminated water into the condensers. They’ve already begun on reactor 1 turbine room. Reactor 2 turbine room has radiation levels of 1,000 millisieverts per hour. TEPCo officials don’t know when they can attempt to drain reactor 2 turbine room because of the radiation levels.

They’re also dealing with a tunnel/trench found under the reactors, and found filled with contaminated water.

“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.

 

Cesium-137, watch out

A U.S. nuclear expert, in Japan, stated that no one should get to worried about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster, until cesium starts showing up.

Cesium (aka Caesium) is the main reason people can not live near Chernobyl, even 25 years after that disaster. The expert said cesium was spread all over, and in huge amounts, by the Chernobyl reactor melt down. Cesium-137 has a half life of 30 years.

Cesium-137, and many other cesium isotopes, are used in nuclear power plants (as well as other applications, like dirty bombs).

Has cesium been detected following the Fukushima Daichi disaster? Yes. The University of Nevada has detected cesium-137 between 17-21 March.  The levels were small, but they represent the early days of the nuclear disaster in Japan, things have gotten worse since.  On 29 March, South Korea reported that they have detected cesium-134 & 137.

Cesium builds up in soil and plants. Cesium ingested by people can kill. Tests were done on dogs, and it killed them within three weeks.

Besides Chernobyl, there was another nuclear disaster involving cesium.  It did not involve a nuclear power plant. It was outdated radioactive medical cesium chloride, in Brazil in 1987.  Four people were killed, 245 were contaminated, by a thimble sized amount.

Japanese Government creating task force for Long Term efforts to contain Nuclear Disaster

Cabinet Secretary Edano Yukio said they are putting together a task force, to focus on the LONG TERM care of workers fighting the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi.

They will also provide rest shelters, basically mobile homes, so the workers will have a place to live.

Edano also said they will have to begin replacing the workers currently struggling to contain the nuclear disaster.