Tag Archives: unemployment

Fukushima

Japanese Police being sent in to evacuate more people, Radiation levels too high at Fukushima Daiichi!

Cabinet Secretary, Edano Yuki, announced that national police are being sent in to 20-30km evacuation/disaster zones.

Edano said that radiation levels are so high at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that work must be halted until the contamination can be removed. Soil samples around the area show rapidly increasing radiation contamination.

Japanese government will now evacuate those who want to voluntarily evacuate, but don’t have the means to do so. The national police will try to contact people who are still in the zones that have been designated “stay indoors” zones.  All options open.

Medical teams from around the world are now being sent into the zones.

Japanese government expects more “difficulties”.  Japanese government admitting that financing for any recovery from the nuclear disaster will be a problem.

 

 

Fukushima, Technology

Local governments in Japan lost all documentation in Tsunami, computers no help

The coastal towns along the north east coast of Honshu, lost all official documentation regarding their cities, and residents.

Not only “hard copies”, but everything stored on computers. All computers were destroyed by Mother Earth. Basically you would’ve had to store everything of importance inside a old fashioned bank safe.

So much for high tech.

Fukushima, Technology

Retail stores cutting back on power, shoppers in the dark

In Japan, in order to cut back on the usage of electricity, many retail stores are cutting back on operating hours, and on lighting.

Japanese consumers have less time to shop, and in some stores, are shopping in the dark.  Stores are keeping most of their lights turned off.

Consumers say they don’t mind, especially because they know it’s due to the triple whammy of disasters that have struck their country.

Fukushima

Bill Nye the Science Guy slams Experts who say this is not another Chernobyl, Bill Nye says yes it is another Chernobyl!!!

Interviewed by CNN Bill Nye the Science Guy was asked if he was calling Fukushima Daiichi another Chernobyl. His answer: “I am, yeah!”

Nye explained that the only way the reactors can be emitting such high levels of radiation is that deadly plutonium is getting out.  Plutonium is created when the uranium fuel is “jolted” during the production of electrical power.

His answer to the problem? Dump concrete on the reactors,  just like the Soviets did with Chernobyl.  Nye explained there is no way to “repair” damaged reactor cores.  This is the main problem with nuclear reactors!

I’m saying this is worse than Chernobyl, because Chernobyl involved ONE reactor.  Fukushima Daiichi has THREE reactors showing signs of damaged cores!  From the beginning of this nuclear disaster, the Russians and Ukrainians (who have first hand experience with Chernobyl) have been saying Fukushima Daiichi will be worse than Chernobyl!

Fukushima

No longer trying to get water in, now trying to get water out of Reactors

For weeks nuclear officials wanted to get water into the reactors, of the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Now they’re trying to get it out.

It looks like the problem is that they used salty sea water to cool the reactors. It helped to keep the reactors cool enough, but it created pressure inside the reactor chambers. Now it looks like the three reactor cores have sprung leaks, flooding the basements of the reactors with highly radioactive water. Already 3 people went to the hospital, at least two of them had Beta Burns.

The radioactive water is flooding into the Pacific Ocean.  Any further work on the reactors is held up because of the high levels of radiation.

International

No more Daylight savings for Russia

“the need to adapt [to the time change] is connected with stress and illnesses.”-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

This spring is the last time Russia will change its clocks. Come October they’ll be no daylight savings to deal with. In 1981 the Soviet Union started a daylight savings program. Russia continued the program, but more and more health studies, in Russia, are pointing to daylight savings as a cause of stress. Other scientists question those studies.

That fact is that, even here in the United States, a lot of people hate daylight savings.

In the U.S. the idea of daylight savings has been around since Benjamin Franklin. Since 1916 many countries have been experimenting with it.  And many of them think it’s time to get rid of it.

Fukushima

Diesel powered Locomotives brought back to life after Japan Disaster, Low Tech saving High Tech!

The recent catastrophic disaster in Japan, which tore up many rail lines in northern Honshu, has brought back to life retired diesel powered locomotives.

That’s because, even on the rail lines that have been fixed, there is no electric power to run Japan’s modern electric trains. Electric power is going to be an issue for long time, because of the failed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Rail officials must be glad they didn’t get rid of their old diesel powered locomotives.  About a dozen 40 plus year old engines have been brought out of retirement.

A relatively short rail line, from the west coast of Honshu, to the eastern prefectures, has been restored. The diesel engines have started running, bringing diesel fuel, and other supplies, to help people in those areas.

One of the engineers was around when they retired the diesel locomotives, and he’s glad they’re back.  Low tech to the rescue of a high tech society.

 

Fukushima

Video of Liquefaction in Action near Tokyo Disneyland, found the video on Youtube

I found the home video of liquefaction near Tokyo Disneyland, in Chiba Prefecture, on YouTube.

The two minute 39 second video shows sidewalks splitting, length wise, then moving in opposite directions. Water then begins to surge up from under the sidewalks and streets.  The person doing the videography starts running as more water comes up everywhere, even asphalt streets start to split.

People are down on the ground, screaming.  Keep in mind that Chiba Prefecture is between 137 and 200 miles from the where the 9.0 quake hit.

Tokyo Disneyland is still closed, after suffering damage from liquefaction.

 

Fukushima, International

Official Tsunami evacuation point was Death Trap, warnings were made

In an area of Sendai city, in north east Honshu, Japan, there are survivors who are glad they refused to go to the official tsunami evacuation point, an elementary school.  They are alive, but most of the people at the elementary school are not.

Based on computer modeling, disaster officials designated the elementary school as safe from tsunami.  The computer model said tsunamis would not reach so far inland, so the school was safe.  One survivor said he never understood that because the school is near sea level, he ran to a road that was much higher than the school, and survived. He says the tsunami went over the school’s second floor, people were inside.

A scientist, named Otomo (? think that’s his name), has been warning people for at least a year about the faulty claims by disaster officials.  Otomo uses geologic evidence, which shows that tsunamis did indeed reach far inland, past the school.  Officials ignored Otomo’s warnings.

This is an example of high tech ignorance, and arrogance.