Japanese earthquake / tsunami discussion

ilovesleep

Can somebody give me a summary of todays events in Japan please. Dont have access to a radio or tv and am on boards mobile so dont have internet. Got a few peeks at this thread during the day but not much and not for long. There was always someone, something demanding my time.

Duiske

darkman2 wrote: »

BBC

#
1849: A 5.7 magnitude aftershock has just shaken the north-east of Japan, the US Geological Survey reports.

There's been 27 earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater on the planet since midnight last night.
26 of these have been close to the east coast of Japan. The other was a 5.3 close to Tonga.

Overheal

ilovesleep wrote: »

Can somebody give me a summary of todays events in Japan please. Dont have access to a radio or tv and am on boards mobile so dont have internet. Got a few peeks at this thread during the day but not much and not for long. There was always someone, something demanding my time.

More of the same. Earthquakes, disaster-relief, No.1 and No. 3 plants blew their roofs. No. 1 No. 2 and No. 3 all said to likely be undergoing partial meltdown, which has been the story for No. 1 since friday/saturday. Radiation leakage far below catastrophic.

bleg

What's going to have a longer lasting environmental effect and effect on rebuilding and population: the toxic sludge, wrecked towns and wrecked infrastructure or the radioactive material?

maquiladora

Something worth remembering when listening to the official statements from Tepco.

As many people here are well aware (TEPCO) has a history of not being forthcoming about nuclear safety issues, particularly those surrounding earthquake-related dangers. In 2003, all 17 of its nuclear plants were shut down temporarily after a scandal over falsified safety-inspection reports. It ran into trouble again in 2006, when it emerged that coolant-water data at two plants had been falsified in the 1980s.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-japan-quake-scene-20110313,0,7985092,full.story

Overheal

bleg wrote: »

What's going to have a longer lasting environmental effect and effect on rebuilding and population: the toxic sludge, wrecked towns and wrecked infrastructure or the radioactive material?

Jim Lovell once said, "All right, there's a thousand things that have to happen in order. We are on number eight. You're talking about number six hundred and ninety-two."

seamus

bleg wrote: »

What's going to have a longer lasting environmental effect and effect on rebuilding and population: the toxic sludge, wrecked towns and wrecked infrastructure or the radioactive material?

Even if you get a full-blown meltdown in the reactors, there won't be any radioactive materials released. This isn't Chernobyl, the plants are designed differently. Unless someone for the craic decides to go in with a nuke and blow a big ****ing hole in the side of the reactor cores it's physically impossible for any radioactive material to escape after a meltdown. The core walls have been designed to take a 600mph impact from an aircraft, so unless someone decides to be a complete prick and fire a missile into the mess, the core is not going to release any radioactive material.

And before anyone says it, nuclear reactors don't/can't explode like a nuclear bomb. They melt.

The main problem is that cleaning up a meltdown event takes years during which the output of the plant(s) affected is reduced or completely shut down.

Brenireland

Lets not forget another large scale Earthquake is expected tomorrow or Wednesday!,This could be the deciding factor in how Japan & those nuclear plants are going to cope.

They say it could take up to 100 days for the reactors to cool,but should another quake at say mag 8 occur,we could be looking at another Tsunami which could further reek havoc!

May god be with them,is all I can say

maquiladora

Brenireland wrote: »

Lets not forget another large scale Earthquake is expected tomorrow or Wednesday!,This could be the deciding factor in how Japan & those nuclear plants are going to cope.

They say it could take up to 100 days for the reactors to cool,but should another quake at say mag 8 occur,we could be looking at another Tsunami which could further reek havoc!

May god be with them,is all I can say

The chance of that happened has dropped to 40% according to NHK.

o1s1n

seamus wrote: »

The core walls have been designed to take a 600mph impact from an aircraft

How about the floor? China Syndrome?

Turtwig

o1s1n wrote: »

How about the floor? China Syndrome?

It's a round container, but it's comparatively weaker and smaller than TMI's one. China Syndrome no, but a meltdown would be more likely to breach the core than it was at TMI. Still remote tho.

Rob A. Bank

2001: A senior nuclear industry executive has told the New York Times that Japanese nuclear power industry managers are "basically in a full-scale panic". The executive is not involved in managing the response to the reactors' difficulties but has many contacts in Japan. "They're in total disarray, they don't know what to do," the executive added.

Not good news...

Rob A. Bank

2106: More from Prime Minister Kan: He says he will personally lead operations at the joint response headquarters, which will be based at Tepco's main office in Tokyo. The company earlier said fuel rods at Fukushima Daiichi's reactor 2 were once again fully exposed, just hours after it managed to stabilise a similar emergency.

Thats 3 times they have been exposed today...

maquiladora

Rob A. Bank wrote: »

2106: More from Prime Minister Kan: He says he will personally lead operations at the joint response headquarters, which will be based at Tepco's main office in Tokyo. The company earlier said fuel rods at Fukushima Daiichi's reactor 2 were once again fully exposed, just hours after it managed to stabilise a similar emergency.

Thats 3 times they have been exposed today...

Im pretty sure that is a reference to the second time that the fuel was exposed today. The latest I heard is that they have been injecting water again to No. 2 but the water levels werent rising on their instruments.

Thrill

1. 2133: The UN has put together a useful list of must-follow Twitter users on the earthquake in Japan
   
   

opinion guy

Thrill wrote: »

1. 2133: The UN has put together a useful list of must-follow Twitter users on the earthquake in Japan

haha you beat me to it by 1 minute

maquiladora

Japanese Govt Spokesman Edano : The suppression pool of No 2 has been damaged.

Suppression pool is the torus.

http://www.nucleartourist.com/images/bwr-cycle.gif

Run_to_da_hills

They don't want our help.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0314/breaking56.html

shadowninty

maquiladora wrote: »

Japanese Govt Spokesman Edano : The suppression pool of No 2 has been damaged.

Suppression pool is the torus.

not good

Tech3

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

They don't want our help.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0314/breaking56.html

No suprise there.

dreamer_ire

Daisy McAndrew (ITV) has just said as Japan rebuilds the single biggest loser could be our (UK) insurance industry. FFS the single biggest losers are the Japanese, what they have suffered and continue to suffer goes far beyond money. Granted the insurance industry will be facing big payouts but christ almighty that's what premiums are for! I am so annoyed at how some of the media are choosing to report on what can only be described as one of the biggest human tradegies of my lifetime.

kona

dreamer_ire wrote: »

Daisy McAndrew (ITV) has just said as Japan rebuilds the single biggest loser could be our (UK) insurance industry. FFS the single biggest losers are the Japanese, what they have suffered and continue to suffer goes far beyond money. Granted the insurance industry will be facing big payouts but christ almighty that's what premiums are for! I am so annoyed at how some of the media are choosing to report on what can only be described as one of the biggest human tradegies of my lifetime.

Dont Insurance policies not cover acts of god?

maquiladora

Reports of 7.6 aftershock.

Mr Benevolent

dreamer_ire wrote: »

Daisy McAndrew (ITV) has just said as Japan rebuilds the single biggest loser could be our (UK) insurance industry. FFS the single biggest losers are the Japanese, what they have suffered and continue to suffer goes far beyond money. Granted the insurance industry will be facing big payouts but christ almighty that's what premiums are for! I am so annoyed at how some of the media are choosing to report on what can only be described as one of the biggest human tradegies of my lifetime.

With respect, the Boxing Day tsunami rates higher. And the Rwandan genocide. Far more loss of life.

Thrill

NHK warning of impending tremors.

maquiladora

Japan's earthquake early warning center reported a 7.6 aftershock off the country's NE.

Edit : False reading. Smaller quake. 4.4

dreamer_ire

kona wrote: »

Dont Insurance policies not cover acts of god?

I have no clue I'm afraid.

Confab wrote: »

With respect, the Boxing Day tsunami rates higher. And the Rwandan genocide. Far more loss of life.

Agreed, as does Haiti earthquake and a number of other disasters, which is why I said one of the biggest.

yoganmahew

Rob A. Bank wrote: »

How do you wash your lungs ?

20 Major?

But I get what you mean. Caesium is a general buildup toxin while iodine migrates to the thyroid gland. While taking potassium iodine will flush out radioactive iodine, I haven't heard anyone say anything about caesium?

Given that reactor 3 seems to be leaking (according to a report on NHK?) and reactor 3 is MOX, does that mean that plutonium release is a likely next sighting?

Stinicker

dreamer_ire wrote: »

I have no clue I'm afraid.



Agreed, as does Haiti earthquake and a number of other disasters, which is why I said one of the biggest.

The Rwandan Genocide dosen't figure as it was a man made calamity which saw tribal warfare reach epic proportions, being in Africa us in the west are not too bothered as it is out of sight out of mind, plus it contributes very little to our way of life.

Similarly the Haiti disaster vanished out of the picture as it is another African* 3rd world tin pot dictatorship. There were worries for the Dominican Republic in case the winter escape for westerners might be overran. *Haiti is in the Carribbean, however is full of Africans, and the African descendents have kept Haiti in prime 3rd world shape, with dictators, poverty, disease and all manner of problems.

The 2004 Tsunami devastated Indonesia, yet Thailand got most of the attention and sympathy, reason being, it is a friendly nation to the west and sadly many westerners got killed in it. Indonesia on the other hand is Muslim and not a big holiday destination thus we don't care.

Japan is a western country, and actually sets the standards we in the west follow for much of our technological lives, the people are friendly and while they were former enemies they are now very much part of our free world.

Thrill

1. 2146: Katie Hinman of ABC News tweets: "Driving through the wreckage of Sendai, and saw the saddest sight: a bewildered horse standing alone among it all."
   
   

1. 2253: The tweet by Katie Hinman of ABC News about the lonely horse in Sendai (See 2146) prompted Breda Gahan in Dublin to email in: "Can't believe I read this. Please return horse to Natsuko Komura." The BBC's Damian Grammaticas interviewed Ms Komura on Sunday as she searched for her trusty steed near Sendai's beach. She had been riding it when the tsunami approached on Friday, but had not seen it since. "Deepest sympathy to all the Japanese people affected by this terrible tragedy. I am speechless when I see the images," Ms Brehan adds.