Saturday, April 30, 2011

Secretive Meteorological Agency the new CIA

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/88604.html

Weather chief draws flak over plea not to release radiation forecasts
The chief of the Meteorological Society of Japan has drawn flak from within the academic society over a request for member specialists to refrain from releasing forecasts on the spread of radioactive substances from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Just unbelievable.

The comments and resignation of Toshiso Kosako from his radiation advisory post

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/04/government-adviser-quits-post-to.html

Government Adviser Quits Post to Protest Japan's Policy on Radiation Exposure for Fukushima Schools.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110430x2.html


TOKYO—A prominent Japanese radiation safety specialist has resigned his governmental advisory post in protest over what he calls "inexcusable" standards for school children in Fukushima Prefecture. The Yomiuri Online news web site reported in Japanese this evening that Toshiso Kosako
Prime Minister Naoto Kan defended his government's handling of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 plant on Saturday, a day after one of his advisers on the emergency vowed to resign in protest at what he called the state's lax response.

Kan told the Lower House Budget Committee the departure of Toshiso Kosako, a professor on antiradiation safety measures at the University of Tokyo's graduate school who assumed the advisory post March 16, is extremely unfortunate.

"We are dealing with the crisis based on the advice that comes as a result of discussions by the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan. Our handling of the crisis has never been impromptu," Kan said.

Kosako told the government Friday he will resign as Kan's adviser.

"The government has belittled laws and taken measures only for the present moment, resulting in delays in bringing the situation under control," Kosako said.

It is extremely rare for an intellectual adviser appointed by the prime minister to resign in protest at measures the government has taken.

Kosako told reporters at the Diet on Friday it is problematic for the government to have delayed the release of forecasts on the spread of radiation from the Fukushima plant, done by the Nuclear Safety Technology Center's computer system, called the System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information (SPEEDI).

He also blasted the government for hiking the upper limit for emergency workers seeking to bring the crippled plant under control to 250 millisieverts from 100 millisieverts after the crisis broke out.

"The prime minister's office and administrative organizations have made impromptu policy decisions, like playing a whack-a-mole game, ignoring proper procedures," the radiation expert said.

He also urged the government to stiffen guidelines on upper limits on radiation levels the education ministry recently announced as allowable levels for elementary school grounds in Fukushima Prefecture, where the radiation-leaking plant is located.

The guidelines announced by the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry "are inconsistent with internationally commonsensical figures and they were determined by the administration to serve its interests," he said.

As the only country to experience an atomic bombing, Japan has long had a powerful antinuclear movement, and such protests have become louder.

Yoshiko Nakamura, 50, a part-time worker, was among 450 who gathered Saturday in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park. The demonstrators beat drums, shouted "No more nukes" and held banners that read "Electricity in Tokyo, sacrifice in Fukushima."

"We knew all along nuclear power was dangerous. I just didn't know how to express myself," said Nakamura, taking part in her second demonstration in two weeks. "This is a great opportunity to send a message and voice my fears."

Such demonstrations have become more frequent, including during the Golden Week holidays, which continue through the weekend and this week. "What I had feared might happen has become reality," said Kenji Kitamura, a 48-year-old office worker. "It is outrageous children are being exposed to such high levels of radiation."

Removing soil to reduce radiation at Fukushima schools

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110427006549.htm

A worker removes surface soil from school yard at Kaoru Primary School in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, on Wednesday.

Hamaoka--fool speed ahead!

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/88438.html

Chubu Electric eyes restarting Hamaoka nuke reactor in July
Chubu Electric Power Co. plans to restart a nuclear reactor at its Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka Prefecture after the present regular checkups in July, the utility said Thursday despite mounting local concerns about the plant's safety amid a nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture.

Japan Coast Guard footage at Sendai Airport and other tsunami sites

Friday, April 29, 2011

"Children of Fukushima need our protection"

OPINION: Children of Fukushima need our protection | Kyodo News
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/87835.html

I was dismayed to learn that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology earlier this week increased the allowable dose of ionizing radiation for children in Fukushima Prefecture.

In Germany, a recent study of 25 years of the national childhood cancer register showed that even the normal operation of nuclear power plants is associated with a more than doubling of the risk of leukemia for children under 5 years old living within 5 kilometers of a nuclear plant.

Increased risk was seen to more than 50 km away. This was much higher than expected, and highlights the particular vulnerability to radiation of children in and outside the womb.

In addition to exposure measured by typical external radiation counters, the children of Fukushima will also receive internal radiation from particles inhaled and lodged in their lungs, and taken in through contaminated food and water.

A number of radioactive substances are concentrated up the food chain and in people. As a parent, as a physician, the decision to allow the children of Fukushima to be exposed to such injurious levels of radiation is an unacceptable abrogation of the responsibility of care and custodianship for our children and future generations.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Cumulative Annual Radiation Doses Calculated

I didn't look up the direct link, but this should indicate to the slow-to-act that a wider evacuation is needed.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20110427p2a00m0na015000c.html

The Japanese government unveiled a map of radioactive contamination on April 26, predicting residents in areas near the troubled nuclear power plant could be exposed to radiation far greater than permissible levels.

According to the contamination map unveiled by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, a cumulative dose of radiation for the year to March 11, 2012 is expected to reach 235.4 millisieverts in Akogi Kunugidaira in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, 24 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.

The cities of Fukushima and Minami-Soma are also predicted to receive more than 10 millisieverts of radiation, 10 times the dose of artificial radiation an ordinary person is allowed to be exposed to a year.

Based on data collected from 2,13...8 monitoring points, the ministry calculated total cumulative doses of radiation between March 12 and April 21 and added them up to expected cumulative doses of radiation for the period thereafter to March 11, 2012. Expected radiation exposure was based on the assumption that the nuclear power plant continues to spew the same level of radiation as that detected on April 22. The ministry assumed that people in each monitoring point spend eight hours outdoors and 16 hours inside wooden houses a day. The ministry assumes the level of exposure to radiation in wooden houses is 40 percent lower than outdoors.

As a result, higher levels of radiation were predicted in areas northwest of the nuclear power plant. On April 11, the government designated areas outside a 20-kilometer radius of the nuclear plant that were expected to receive 20 millisievers per year as "planned evacuation zones." Ten locations in the zones including Namie, Iitate and Kawamata were predicted to receive more than 20 millisieverts of radiation. Ryozen in Date, 48 kilometers northwest of the nuclear plant, was predicted to receive 21.2 millisieverts per year.

The ministry had unveiled a similar map on April 11, but the map released this time predicted radiation levels in wider areas based on larger quantities of data. The ministry plans to update the map regularly and release it twice a month.

Fukushima Nuclear News Link Dump

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110426x1.html
Nuke plants' backups fall way short | The Japan Times Online

Most nuclear reactors in Japan would fail to achieve a stable condition in the event that all regular power sources are lost, even though plant operators have prepared new backup power sources as well as electric generators amid the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, it was learned Monday.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110426x2.html
Farmers herd in for protest | The Japan Times Online
More than 200 farmers brought two cows to Tokyo, where they shouted and punched the air Tuesday in a protest to demand compensation for products contaminated by radiation spewing from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110427a9.html
16 prefectures' pastures face radioactivity checks | The Japan Times Online
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has set allowable radioactive contamination levels for grazing grass and asked 16 prefectures to check fields in areas where higher-than-normal levels of atmospheric radiation have been detected, they said.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110427f3.html
Minamisoma mayor wants to hold rebirth forum | The Japan Times Online
"I want my city to become the (global) center of industries that will transcend nuclear power generation," said Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai.

http://www.nsc.go.jp/mext_speedi/index.html
MEXT is releasing SPEEDI.
http://www.nsc.go.jp/mext_speedi/20110425/20110425.html
It just shows deposition areas in a nasty pdf form.
SPEEDIによる計算結果
www.nsc.go.jp

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110426a2.html
Suits to halt atomic plants have all failed | The Japan Times Online
Since the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant crisis triggered on March 11, criticism is being directed at judges because of their tendency to side with the state and power companies.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20110425p2a00m0na014000c.html
Continued radiation leaks from crippled nuke plant pose serious threat - The Mainichi Daily News
"It's graver than Chernobyl in that no one can predict how the situation will develop," said Atsushi Kasai, a former senior researcher with the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute.

When making purchases, remember that Panasonic and Sharp are the largest solar power companies, Toshiba and Hitachi the largest nuclear power plant makers.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20110422n1.html
Silver lining in sight for makers of solar panels | The Japan Times Online
"Who can really guarantee that they're 100 percent safe? I want nuclear plants to be halted if they're so frail," said the 53-year-old housewife, who's lived in Shizuoka Prefecture for more than 20 years.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Beyond Nuclear

Beyond Nuclear - Home
www.beyondnuclear.org

Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic.

Beyond Nuclear has submitted a Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 2.206 (10CFR2.206) "emergency enforcement petition" to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) urging the suspension of 21 General Electric Boiling Water Reactor ...Mark 1s' operating licenses in the wake of the catastrophic failure of identical containment systems at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Japan. In addition, Beyond Nuclear has petitioned that a total of 24 GE BWR Mark 1 storage pools for high-level radioactive waste in the U.S. be required to install backup power supplies for running cooling water circulation systems in the event of a loss of the primary electrical grid, something they now lack, despite their location outside of a primary containment structure.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

BBC: Fukushima vs Chernobyl

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13050228

BBC News - How does Fukushima differ from Chernobyl?
A table comparing the Chernobyl nuclear disaster with the crisis at Fukushima, Japan.
...
Officials say radiation leaks are continuing and could eventually exceed those at Chernobyl. The priority is restoring adequate coolant to the fuel ponds and the reactors themselves.

www.bbc.co.uk

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Possible Desktop Wallpaper

http://www.fujigoko.tv/live/shotPhoto.cgi?t=1303203771&n=1299462333

Anothr retrospectiv link dump

Japan Radiation map
created by us dept of energy:
http://energy.gov/news/documents/042111__AMS_Data_April_21__v1.pptx
at
http://blog.energy.gov/content/situation-japan/


List of the Mark 1 BWR reactors (cost-saving early 1970s design used in Fukushima) licensed to operate in AL, NC, MN, NY, IA, IL, GA, MI, NJ, some until 2038 (but these licenses are regularly re-re-extended).

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x724479
In the US there are 23 reactors using the MK I containment system that are still operating:
Plant Name     STATE OL Issued OL Renewed OL Expires
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 AL 12/20/1973 5/4/2006 12/20/2033
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 AL 8/2/1974 5/4/2006 6/28/2034
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 3 AL 8/18/1976 5/4/2006 7/2/2036
Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, Unit 1 NC 9/8/1976 6/26/2006 9/8/2036
Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, Unit 2 NC 12/27/1974 6/26/2006 12/27/2034
Cooper Nuclear Station NE 1/18/1974 1/18/2014
Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Unit 2 IL 2/20/1991 10/28/2004 12/22/2029
Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Unit 3 IL 1/12/1971 10/28/2004 1/12/2031
Duane Arnold Energy Center IA 2/22/1974 2/21/2014
Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 GA 10/13/1974 1/15/2002 8/6/2034
Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 GA 6/13/1978 1/15/2002 6/13/2038
Fermi, Unit 2 MI 7/15/1985 3/20/2025
Hope Creek Generating Station, Unit 1 NJ 7/25/1986 4/11/2026
James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant NY 10/17/1974 9/8/2008 10/17/2034
Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, Unit 1 MN 1/9/1981 11/8/2006 9/8/2030
Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit 1 MI 12/26/1974 10/31/2006 8/22/2029
Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 1 NJ 7/2/1991 4/8/2009 4/9/2029
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Unit 2 MI 10/25/1973 5/7/2003 8/8/2033
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Unit 3 MI 7/2/1974 5/7/2003 7/2/2034
Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station MI 6/8/1972 6/8/2012
Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station, Unit 1 IL 12/14/1972 10/28/2004 12/14/2032
Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station, Unit 2 IL 12/14/1972 10/28/2004 12/14/2032
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1 VT 3/21/1973 3/21/2012
http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/bwrfact.htm
23 of these BWRs use a smaller GE Mark I pressure suppression containment conceived as a cost-saving alternative to the larger reinforced concrete containments marketed by competitors.
A large inverted light-bulb-shaped steel structure called "the drywell" is constructed of a steel liner and a concrete drywell shield wall enclosing the reactor vessel--this is considered the "primary" containment.. The atmosphere of the drywell is connected through large diameter pipes to a large hollow doughnut-shaped pressure suppression pool called "the torus", or wetwell, which is half-filled with water. In the event of a loss-of-coolant-accident (LOCA), steam would be released into the drywell and directed underwater in the torus where it is supposed to condense, thus suppressing a pressure buildup in the containment.


The outer concrete building is the "secondary" containment and is smaller and less robust (and thus cheaper to build) than the containment buildings used at most reactors.


As early as 1972, Dr. Stephen Hanauer, an Atomic Energy Commission safety official, recommended that the pressure suppression system be discontinued and any further designs not be accepted for construction permits. Hanauer's boss, Joseph Hendrie (later an NRC Commissioner) essentially agreed with Hanauer, but denied the recommendation on the grounds that it could end the nuclear power industry in the U.S.


...the three original AEC memos, including Hendrie's:


November 11, 1971: outlines problems with the design and pressure suppression system containment.

September 20, 1972: memo from Steven Hanauer recommends that U.S. stop licensing reactors using pressure suppression system

September 25, 1972: memo from Joseph Hendrie (top safety official at AEC) agrees with recommendation but rejects it saying it "could well mean the end of nuclear power..."


In 1976, three General Electric nuclear engineers publicly resigned their prestigious positions citing dangerous shortcomings in the GE design.


An NRC analysis of the potential failure of the Mark I under accident conditions concluded in a 1985 report that Mark I failure within the first few hours following core melt would appear rather likely."


In 1986, Harold Denton, then the NRC's top safety official, told an industry trade group that the "Mark I containment, especially being smaller with lower design pressure, in spite of the suppression pool, if you look at the WASH 1400 safety study, you'll find something like a 90% probability of that containment failing."


...electricity is merely a fleeting by-product of nuclear power plants. The real legacy -- the lasting product of nuclear power plants -- is nuclear waste, which will be a hazard to future generations who will not get one watt of electricity, but will get this toxic legacy for millions of years.
PressTV - 'N-waste to haunt US for generations'
www.presstv.ir
Interview with Paul Gunter, president of Beyond Nuclear in the US.
If they cannot be bothered to find a permanent storage for their waste or even transfer if to dry cask storage now, when they are generating electricity and profits from it every day, what are the chances of that happening in the future when the plant is closed, the people who profited from it long dead or moved away, the area too radioactive to work in? Instead of pushing nukes by subsidizing insurance for tens of billions of dollars, Obama should push them to maximize the dry cask storage as Germany has done.


Some steps by the FDA to protect the food supply
www.fda.gov
FAQs related to Radiation Safety
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm247403.htm


Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant must be shut down - The Mainichi Daily News
34.625,138.143
an even worse location
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110418p2a00m0na007000c.html


Radiation around TEPCO
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/index-e.html
These are monitoring posts around the perimeter of the facility.
Only "South Of Main Building" is near reactor 1.


mdn.mainichi.jp
Kan first visited the Tamura city gymnasium where residents, mainly of Okuma, have been taking shelter. When he was about to leave the evacuation center after spending about 10 minutes there, some evacuees angrily shouted out, "Leaving already?" One evacuee told the prime minister, "You should try living here." "If you're going to visit evacuation centers, you should talk to everyone there," said another.

The only news is that they've set a date. This was formerly "within a month or so". Slowly slowly.
search.japantimes.co.jp
Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government on Friday instructed parts of Fukushima Prefecture outside the 20-km no-go zone around the crippled No. 1 nuclear plant to evacuate by the end of May, saying that cumulative radiation levels may pose a health risk to residents.

www.telegraph.co.uk
The breast milk of four Japanese mothers has been found to contain small quantities of radioactive iodine.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110422b1.html
A case in Kashiwa, Chiba was the worst!


http://allthingsnuclear.org/post/4814761753/susquehanna-spent-fuel-pool-concerns-and-how-i-ended
allthingsnuclear.org
Susquehanna Spent Fuel Pool Concerns, and How I Ended Up at UCS
In November 1992, Don Prevatte and I submitted a report to the NRC regarding our concerns with spent fuel pools...


Cheating the workers:
Meanwhile, the radiation exposure registration center at the
Radiation Effects Association, which keeps track of workers' radiation
exposure, says, "If we apply the general rules to those workers who are
exposed to radiation of 250 millisieverts, we will have to strip them of
chances to work for a considerable number of years. We will treat them
completely separately.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110421p2a00m0na009000c.html
A 30-year-old worker with a subcontractor engaged in restoration work at the nuclear power plant said he had been told by an official of a primary contractor that "the radiation you are exposed to this time will not be shown on your radiati...on exposure record book." He said he had also been told: "Even if you are exposed to 250 millisieverts, if you are to work at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, the 250 millisieverts will be exempted."
=Don't worry about it buddy, nobody's counting! You can still work even if you hit the max!


March 24.
The radiation dose received by one-year-old infants outside of a 30-kilometer radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant since Saturday's explosion at the plant may have exceeded 100 millisieverts, a computer simulation conducted by the government showed Wednesday.
Haruki Madarame, chairman of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, told reporters, ''The figure represents the level that one-year-old infants would have received and accumulated in their thyroids by
midnight Wednesday since the explosion.''
Madarame said the radiation dose accumulated by adults outside the 30-km zone in their thyroids would be lower.

Electricity Forecast



Electricity Forecast

www.tepco.co.jp
* As to "Today's Maximum supply capacity at peak demand" and "the forecasted maximum demand of today", in principle, we are posting figures forecasted the previous day.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/forecast/html/index-e.html

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Fukushima Prefecture school radiation measurements

atmc.jp
http://atmc.jp/school/

Bad news in this map is that schools in Fukushima City and elsewhere with numbers up around 4 to 6 microsieverts per hour are far above the 20 MILLIsieverts per year the govt is setting as an evacuation threshold. Do the math: Anything over 2.3 MICROsieverts an hour will accumulate to more than 20 MILLIsieverts a year. They should err on the side of caution considering: the intl standard for added dose is 1 millisievert annually, not 20; these are children, not adults; there is a possibility of ingesting and inhaling radioactive particles; and emissions and deposition levels are continuing and accumulating. They should evacuate.

One argument against evacuation is that these levels may be temporary, and go down soon, but that is doubtful. Even if so, I think they should temporarily evacuate the cities of Fukushima (290,000ppl), Nihonmatsu (61,000ppl), and Sukagawa (80,000ppl), or, if that is impossible, evacuate at least the children. Note that our levels down here in Chiba are 0.055 microsieverts per hour today, only 1% of what is measured at some of those schools. (compare to 5.5)

If they keep to their stated standard of evacuating places with a risk of accumulating over 20millisieverts/year, then they will announce an evacuation. If they keep to their established precedent of moving slowly (and erring on the side of radiation), the announcement will come in about 2 weeks (and allow another month to take effect).

Monday, April 18, 2011

Up-date

Sorry Blogger, I've been hanging out with a new 61t¢h, initials fb, instead of you--but i dont love her the way i love you, blogger. She's just convenient.

Hot Schools in Fukushima

http://atmc.jp/ has added a national radiation map to their existing database which includes air, soil, rain, food. They have also added a map of radiation at Fukushima Prefecture schools, http://atmc.jp/school/ as measured by the Fukushima Prefecture Disaster Office over three days, at present.

Bad news in this map is that schools in Fukushima City and elsewhere with numbers up around 4 to 6 microsieverts per hour are far above the 20 MILLIsieverts per year the govt is setting as an evacuation threshold. Do the math: Anything over 2.3 MICROsieverts an hour will accumulate to more than 20 MILLIsieverts a year. They should err on the side of caution considering: the intl standard for added dose is 1 millisievert annually, not 20; these are children, not adults; there is a possibility of ingesting and inhaling radioactive particles; and emissions and deposition levels are continuing and accumulating. They should evacuate.

One argument against evacuation is that these levels may be temporary, and go down soon, but that is doubtful. Even if so, I think they should temporarily evacuate the cities of Fukushima (290,000ppl), Nihonmatsu (61,000ppl), and Sukagawa (80,000ppl), or, if that is impossible, evacuate at least the children. Note that our levels down here in Chiba are 0.055 microsieverts per hour today, only 1% of what is measured at some of those schools. (compare to 5.5)

If the govt keep to their stated standard of evacuating places with a risk of accumulating over 20millisieverts/year, then they will announce an evacuation. If they keep to their established precedent of moving slowly (and erring on the side of radiation), the announcement will come in about 2 weeks (and allow another month to take effect).

Using the slider on the school map also reveals wider investigations done on previous days. I guess they are not cumulatively added to the map because yesterday's measurements may have changed by today. There are 2 measurements: at 1cm (above the soil, I assume), and 1 meter.

Measurements of the known VERY radioactive areas were done mostly on the first day.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Streinj Deyz


Streinj deyz haev faund as
Streinj deyz haev traekd as daun
Dhey'r gouing tu distroy
Aar kaezhual joyz
Wii shael gou on pleying
Or faind a nuu taun
Yae!
Streinj aiz fil streinj ruumz
Voisis wil signal dhear taiard end
Dha houstes is grining
Hur gests sliip fram sining
Hiar mii tok av sin
Aend yuu nou dhis iz it
Yae!
Streinj deyz haev faund as
Aend thruu dhear streinj awars
Wii linger aloun
Baadiiz kanfyuuzd
Memariiz misyuuzd
Aez wii ran fram dha dey
Tu a streinj nait av stoun

Friday, April 15, 2011

April 15 link dump... fragments at bottom of vessel

http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/16/world/asia/reactors-status.html

http://mitnse.com/

http://allthingsnuclear.org/

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/emergency-assistance.html

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/nuclear/Fukushima-nuclear-disaster/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami



Melted fuel rod fragments have sunk to the bottoms of three reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant and could theoretically burn through the pressure vessels if emergency water-pumping operations are seriously disrupted, the Atomic Energy Society of Japan said Friday.
The temperature of the fragments is kept low ... (but).. If too many of the melted fuel fragments puddle at the bottom, they can generate enough concentrated heat to bore a hole in the pressure vessel, which would result in a massive radioactive release to the environment.

Radiation Plumes

http://atmc.jp/
has added radioactivity plume forecasts from various (foreign--and domestic!) sources

拡散予測: 日本気象庁 | ドイツ気象局 | オーストリア気象局 | イギリス気象局 | ノルウェー気象局 | 台湾気象局

with translate.google

Diffusion: Japan Meteorological Agency | Weather Bureau Germany | Austria Weather Bureau | Bureau of Meteorology, UK | Norwegian Meteorological Bureau | Bureau of Meteorology Taiwan

JMA finally gets into the act
(excuse was that it wouldn't be very accurate)
and they release pdfs
in English too tho
but this website turned them into an animation (better!).
http://atmc.jp/jma/

Here's the forecast the Germans have come up with to warn people.
http://www.dwd.de/wundk/spezial/Sonderbericht_loop.gif

http://atmc.jp/austria/
go directly there
http://www.zamg.ac.at/
->
http://www.zamg.ac.at/wetter/fukushima/
= the new dedicated link from the Austrians (Österreicheren?)

http://www.eurad.uni-koeln.de/index_e.html
im Kõln
Click on the picture to see the animations

via Taiwan
http://atmc.jp/taiwan/

The Norveegians!
http://atmc.jp/norway/

The UK
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/news/fukushima?LANG=en&VAR=radiationover
This is your webcam on nukeplant
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/news/fukushima?LANG=en&VAR=webcam

(reposted-- from at facebook originally)

Japanquake and radiation

http://www.japanquakemap.com/
Relive the quakes from a different perspektiv visually and spatially.

yet another radiation monitoring site
http://rdtn.org/

JT
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/radiation-levels.html

Thursday, April 14, 2011

TEPCO 3.0





Final (?) edition, with the transparency, 3 colors, and png quality you expect.

TEPCO 2.0





The PNG and the web edition (GIF).

Monday, April 11, 2011

April 10 retrospektiv link-dump

Links I posted on Facebook retroactivly reposted to Blogger with some messy html remaining.
:-(This is May 5 but this post's links were collected prior to Apr 10)-:
This way I won't have to look at facebook for my links either, because I hate (and like) facebook.
My apologies to my reader for the complete lack of posts in the post-earthquake post-tsunami recent past.

http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html
http://english.kyodonews.jp/rss/news_japan_nuclear_crisis.xml
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/nuclear/Fukushima-nuclear-disaster/
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/16/world/asia/reactors-status.html
http://allthingsnuclear.org/
http://mitnse.com/
http://twitter.com/JAPANTIMES
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news.html
http://twitter.com/Reuters
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami
Radiation: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/radiation-levels.html
Water: http://atmc.jp/water/
http://atmc.jp/
Earthquakes: http://tenki.jp/earthquake/
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/radiation-visualization.html


Normally, the public is supposed to only get ONE extra millisievert per year from nuclear-industrial actions, nuclear workers 50 millisieverts.

The Japanese govt is saying 20 millisieverts a year is now OK for the public before they would consider evacuation
(and note that some UNevacuated areas are getting much more than that weekly),
250milliSvrt for nuclear workers (That is actually in line with guidelines for life-saving activities.)
This is a commercial site, but has a good explanation.
http://www.oasisllc.com/abgx/radioactivity.htm

Atoms are not all stable. The excess energy contained in an unstable atom is released in one of a few basic particles and energetic waves. The Greek alphabet is used to name the particles (in the order of their discovery).


Another speedy solution suggested by some experts is to pour concrete or sand over the overheated reactors, not waiting until they cool. The tactic has been dismissed by Japan's nuclear safety agency and other experts have called it risky as the nuclear fuel may melt through the container.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110409/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake_nuclear_endgame

Information is beautiful. Radiation, not so much.

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/radiation-dosage-chart/

I would have said "castle made of sand" (Hendrix tribute)

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110409p2a00m0na001000c.html
A society that depends on nuclear energy is just like a house of cards

A little long but a sign of change, read later?

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/sundayprofile/stories/2011/3173783.htm
Japanese Opposition MP, Taro Kono, has long argued against Japan's reliance on nuclear power, and he says Japan must move to an energy strategy that includes renewables and natural gas. Taro Kono is also on the Liberal Democratic Party's counter-relief committee. The group is examining better ways of responding and preparing for such disasters as this month's earthquake and tsunami.


Hell no, we won't go, hell no, we won't glow.

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/84251.html
Companies dispatching workers to Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are refusing to adopt the government-imposed provisional limit on radiation exposure for those workers at the plant, saying it would not be accepted by those at the site, Kyodo News learned Saturday.

Former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Victor Gilinsky said the Japanese crisis seems far tougher than the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State, regarded as the most highly contaminated nuclear weapons site in the United States. At Hanford, the Energy Department reportedly plans to decommission eight reactors and process about 58 million gallons of radioactive sludge now in leaky underground tanks at a cost estimated up to $130 billion.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/04/07/Disposal-of-radioactive-water-next-issue/UPI-44251302178116/

Possible reason why tapwater cesium and iodine is undetectable now: added filtering.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110408n1.html
Efforts to protect Tokyo's tap water from radiation leaked by the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant have led to a run on Indonesian coconut husks.



http://www.eli.org/pdf/Energy_Subsidies_Black_Not_Green.pdf
Diagram of subsidies to the black energy and green energy industries.

NPR gets critical.

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/06/135175611/in-wake-of-nuclear-crisis-tepcos-plans-questioned
www.npr.org
Experts say that in the weeks following the series of explosions and fires inside the reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, TEPCO made very costly — and avoidable — mistakes. The company, they say, was deeply surprised and overwhelmed by the course of events.

NPR on liquefaction
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/07/135181474/in-japan-shaken-soil-turned-soft-after-quake
www.npr.org
The violent shaking from Japan's March 11 earthquake stirred up the soil, leading to broken water pipes, tilted utility poles and manholes that popped out of the ground. The phenomenon, known as liquefaction, was particularly noticeable in areas built on land reclaimed from the sea.

EXPLOSION!

OK... He probably went a little foo far with the word "explosion" and that idea, but I don't think he was part of the "alarmist" media. I had to work this out and reach my own state of alarm all by myself, only found this much later.
http://dcbureau.org/201103141303/Natural-Resources-News-Service/fission-criticality-in-cooling-ponds-threaten-explosion-at-fukushima.html

dcbureau.orgThe threat of a fission explosion at the Fukushima power facility emerged today when the roof of the number three reactor exploded and fears that a spent fuel pool, located over the reactor, has been compromised.


A powerpoint of a presentation by TEPCO about their plans to put Fukushima Daiichi's admittedly overpacked spent fuel in the pools into dry cask storage up in Aomori, far from Tokyo.

http://www.nirs.org/reactorwatch/accidents/6-1_powerpoint.pdf
Slides 4, 5, 9, 10, and 11 are especially relevant to understanding the fuel amounts (or =the tonnage of radwaste) at Fukushima Daiichi, and how they have re-stacked fuel assemblies beyond the design parameters in the cooling pools.



virtual reality

The plaque that you can see in this panorama with the date 35.5.24 indicates the water level of the tsunami caused by the 1960 (Showa35) May 22 Valdivia, Chile earthquake, a magnitude 9.5 and the largest in recorded history.
360° panorama
http://www.360cities.net/image/damage-in-ohfunato-iwate-pref-2-japan#190.50,1...1.29,10.0

This event at USGS:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1187/

Before:After
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/38195106.jpg
~=~
http://www.360cities.net/image/damage-in-kamaishi-iwate-pref-1-japan#95.39,-5.64,17.5




http://blog.360cities.net/japan-tsunami-and-earthquake-damage/
This post links to a collection of 360° panoramas/VRs from post-tsunami Japan.



Before:After

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/49679345
=
http://www.360cities.net/image/damage-in-rikuzen-takada-iwate-pref-7-japan#177.92,2.10,15.9



Before:After

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/34514560
=
http://www.360cities.net/image/damage-in-rikuzen-takada-iwate-pref-3-japan#-42.90,3.73,33.8



After:Before

http://www.360cities.net/image/damage-in-rikuzen-takada-iwate-pref-5-japan#441.11,23.07,71.9
~=~
http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=ja&geocode&q=%E5%B2%A9%E6%89%8B%E7%9C%8C%E9%99%B8%E5%89%8D%E9%AB%98%E7%94%B0%E5%B8%82%E9%AB%98%E7%94%B0%E7%94%BA&aq&brcurrent=3%2C0x5f88a30facc61139%3A0xd40ddee6af6d4902%2C1&brv=22.25&sll=...39.011886%2C141.631968&sspn=0.005919%2C0.014913&ie=UTF8&hq&hnear=%E5%B2%A9%E6%89%8B%E7%9C%8C%E9%99%B8%E5%89%8D%E9%AB%98%E7%94%B0%E5%B8%82%E9%AB%98%E7%94%B0%E7%94%BA&ll=39.012565%2C141.626902&spn=0.005319%2C0.029826&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=39.012563%2C141.626903&cbp=11%2C0%2C%2C0%2C0&photoid=po-49395267


nuclear industrial complex
nuke boosters


http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110408f1.html

search.japantimes.co.jp
MITO, Ibaraki Pref. (Kyodo) The mayor of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, has criticized the central government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. over their handling of the nuclear crisis in neighboring Fukushima Prefecture.


http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/04/08/1617720/japans-disasters-might-be-the.html

www.thenewstribune.com
TOKYO – Something fascinating is afoot in Japan: anger. People are fuming about the nuclear crisis that put their nation in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/world/asia/06village.html?ref=asia&pagewanted=all

“We have been sacrificed so that Tokyo can enjoy bright lights,” said Takao Takahashi, 68, a tobacco farmer.



‎"Nuclear reactors are inherently dangerous, and will always be vulnerable to the potentially deadly combination of human error, design failure and natural disaster. Governments around the world must commit to a future based on energy efficiency and renewable energy – nuclear power has no place in a modern safe and secure energy system!"

www.greenpeace.org


http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/83604.html

We must deliberate this matter slowly and carefully...
zzzzz
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/83604.html

english.kyodonews.jp The government is reviewing the radiation exposure level currently used to designate the evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, as the nuclear crisis triggered by last month's massive earthquake and tsunami continues to unfold, its top spokesman said Wednesday.

http://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/suidou/souki/documents/sokuteiichiran0402.pdf

Radioactive Cesium in Chiba water peaked around 3-23 or another spike on 3-27 but has been largely undetectable since. Radioactive iodine is well below the 200 bq cutoff for infants. I think i'l go back to tapwater and save the bottled water.

[Chiba has a lot less Iodine-131 and a little less Cesium-137 than Tokyo.]

http://mextrad.blob.core.windows.net/page/13_Tokyo.html