Japan hit by powerful earthquake

[*Shinzon*]

I see cool, better explanation than I supposed what was available on any news website including Reuters.

[guartz]

No reports of corium, so things are relatively safe still.

[MaachaQ]

Hmm... just when we thought things were under control...

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/21...-pills-monday/

[6:26a.m. Monday ET, 7:26 p.m. Monday Tokyo] White smoke rose early Monday evening from the No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a Japanese nuclear and industrial safety agency said. The cause of the smoke was not immediately known, Hidehiko Nishiyama said.

[5:37a.m. Monday ET, 6:37 p.m. Monday Tokyo] Hidehiko Nishiyama, an official with Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said officials did not know what was burning Monday in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant reactor No. 3. He said the smoke was coming from the building's southeastern side, where the reactor's spent nuclear fuel pool is located.

[5:18 a.m. Monday ET, 6:18 p.m. Monday Tokyo] Very high levels of radioactive iodine have been detected in the tap water at Iitake village, part of the same Fukushima prefecture where the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is located, Japan's Health Ministry said.

Village authorities urged residents not to drink the tap water, if possible, according to a statement from the ministry. Measurements showed 965 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive iodine in the water, which is well above the 300 becquerels per kilogram maximum standard.

[4:13 a.m. Monday ET, 5:13 p.m. Monday Tokyo] The detection of high levels of radioactivity in certain Japanese foods - and the nation's subsequent clampdown on their sales - signals the food safety situation is "more serious" than originally thought, a World Health Organization official said Monday.

[4:12 a.m. Monday ET, 5:12 p.m. Monday Tokyo] Smoke emanated Monday afternoon from the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a Tokyo Electric Power Company official said.

[2:53 a.m. Monday ET, 3:53 p.m. Monday Tokyo] After more than a week of blowing from the northwest, winds in and around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan have now shifted - threatening to blow more radioactive emissions over more populated areas to the south.

The current pattern, with winds blowing from north/northeast through much of Japan, is expected to continue through Tuesday, according to CNN meteorologist Jennifer Delgado. That could carry more radioactive material onshore from the facility, which is 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

The plant has suffered at least partial meltdowns in several of its reactors, leading to the emission of unknown quantities of radioactive material.

[2:27 a.m. Monday ET, 3:27 p.m. Monday Tokyo] Officials were training workers Monday to spray the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's stricken reactors with concrete - one of several efforts underway to curb the release of more radioactive material.

[1:04 a.m. Monday ET, 2:04 p.m. Monday Tokyo] Iodide pills will be made available Monday to U.S. military families and their dependents at four locations around Japan, according to the U.S. Navy's commander in Japan.

The potassium iodide pills, which are commonly prescribed to curb the ill effects of radiation exposure, will be made available starting at noon Monday at U.S. military facilities in Yokosuka, Ikego, Negishi and Atsugi, according to a Facebook posting with information from the Navy's Japan operations.

The message told people not to take the pills "until notified," and added that "there is enough potassium iodide in Japan for all" U.S. military personnel there.

[12:31 a.m. Monday ET, 1:31 p.m. Monday Tokyo] The death toll from the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami has climbed to 8,649, Japan's National Police Agency said. In addition to the deaths, 13,262 are confirmed missing and 2,644 are injured.

[10:20 p.m. Sunday ET, 11:20 a.m. Monday Tokyo] Stars and Stripes, the independent news organization covering the U. S. military, reports more than 7,900 U.S. residents at bases in northern and central Japan want to leave on military-sponsored flights.
Post by: CNN's Brad Lendon, The CNN Wire Staff

[Mojo]

It's the usual fact or two about isolated radiation levels being higher than recommended but not high enough to warrant serious health concerns mixed in with mostly wild speculation.

[Hyan]

So, uhh, with my vast experience about nuclear factories I'd guess that's just steam (with some radiation in it)?

[Mojo]

That's what it was the last time the media reported on the "white smoke."

[Salodin]

The area that is supposed to be relatively safe from harm (from the plants) has severely contaminated water to the point where you aren't supposed to drink it, and there are no serious health concerns? The people within the village are pretty much SOL unless they move elsewhere or the gov starts shipping in large amount of water daily for them, which I'm sure is next to impossible atm.

"Don't worry guys, I know it's been awhile since we asked but can you move a little farther away? It's still good, it's still good!"

[Fottiti]

3x the max normal levels is still extremely low. If the levels were serious and widespread (965 is probably the highest reading they got) they would shut off supply. The severity of exposure varies a lot on whether it is external/internal so people are still fine to be washing/cleaning with it, it isn't as if it has a green glow when its coming out the tap.

There is also no indication as to whether the source has been contaminated or whether it is happening as a water main passes near the plant. This may well be a short term hike in levels as it seems unlikely a village has an independent supply.

[chiyio]

The people within the village are pretty much SOL unless they move elsewhere or the gov starts shipping in large amount of water daily for them, which I'm sure is next to impossible atm. "

With the way you react to everything, if you hear they are shipping in large amounts of water I'd expect you to reply with "But what if they ship them so much water they wash the village out to sea, what then!?!?!"

Why are you so sensational about everything, heh?

[Kuya]

Salodin, are you from jamaica by any chance?

[Kryssan]

The area that is supposed to be relatively safe from harm (from the plants) has severely contaminated water to the point where you aren't supposed to drink it, and there are no serious health concerns? The people within the village are pretty much SOL unless they move elsewhere or the gov starts shipping in large amount of water daily for them, which I'm sure is next to impossible atm.

"Don't worry guys, I know it's been awhile since we asked but can you move a little farther away? It's still good, it's still good!"

Um, where do you get this stuff from? IAEA is reporting that out of 46 analyzed sites, only 6 were above non-detect levels. They advise people not to drink the water because they don't want them getting any contamination. Prevent everything and anything. The limits are really really low for a reason - prevent everything and anything.

That is not to say you can't drink the water - in a famous nuclear power example feat Admiral Rickover drank a cup of radioactive coolant right after they pulled it from a loop and cooled it to room temperature without any ill effects. Not advisable or recommended, but doable.

Moreover, and in response to your 'levels at the site', NISA released a report showing the amount of radioisotope concentrations they found at the Daiichi site itself, where only one isotope (I-131) was found to have exceeded airborne radiation worker limits.

Now, onto the stuff they've found away from the plant in the seawater, the drinking water, and the food.

They're measuring this in becquerels. Becquerels for crying out loud! Not Curies, but becquerels! It's so, so, so, so, so retardedly small. Of course the numbers are higher than before, of course you can say that levels have increased by X large number - because they weren't there before. For example, contamination levels were reported at 55000 Bq/kg in a sample of food, where the limit is 2000 Bq/kg. 55000 from 2000 is 27.5x the limit. OMG.

Wait a sec. I forgot for a moment that I had a brain and a computational device (I use a sliderule, so only 3 sig figs, deal with it and get a calculator if you want more). 55000 Bq/kg... that's 0.00000149 Ci/kg (1.49 uCi/kg). Can you count the zeros to the right of the decimal with me? Contamination on the ground as surveyed is shown to be around 0.2 to 0.9 MBq/m^2 within 16-58km of the plant. OMG! MegaBecquerels! Oh wait. That's ~5.41 uCi/m^2 to ~24.32 uCi/m^2 in that range.

Now, I'm not saying you would want to intentionally subject yourself to any amount of radiation or contamination. Contaminated food is not a good thing, no matter how little the contamination is. But that doesn't mean it's going to drastically affect your life, either. Breathing in radioactive particulate any moreso than you already do from living on planet Earth is 'probably' not good for you, but it's also not proven to hurt you either unless you take in a lot of it. You could drink the worse-level contaminated milk they've found so far for an entire year and receive an internal dose equivalent to a cat scan. The spinach is even less.

I know that this sucks and that the fact they couldn't prevent this from happening is going to leave one hell of a black eye on nuclear power, despite any good those workers are doing and how well the plant materials held despite it all. Not to mention everything we're going to learn to help safeguard current reactors of the same setup from experiencing the same casualties of Daiichi - they will make new failsafes to handle these problems in the future, count on it. This is not a zomg crisis panic situation, in any way shape or form - so please stop trying to make it one. The news already gets paid to do that apparently.

[Jb1210a]

The restaurant I work at usually has FOX news on all day, (I despise that station) and it had headlines that stated "Factory Workers Flee Scene" and "US Naval ships depart Japan harbor amid radiation scare." The amount of shit that station spews is embarrassing, it's even more embarrassing that half of the people that eat there eat FOX news right up.

Pretty amazing that this BG news thread is more credible than FOX news.

[Maaglin]

It's not just Fox. It's every major news network. It really is embarrassing and I find it appalling that the responsiblity to teach and educate people about the facts isn't what these "trusted" networks are doing.

[Kaylia]

Wait a sec. I forgot for a moment that I had a brain and a computational device (I use a sliderule, so only 3 sig figs, deal with it and get a calculator if you want more). 55000 Bq/kg... that's 0.00000149 Ci/kg (1.49 uCi/kg). Can you count the zeros to the right of the decimal with me? Contamination on the ground as surveyed is shown to be around 0.2 to 0.9 MBq/m^2 within 16-58km of the plant. OMG! MegaBecquerels! Oh wait. That's ~5.41 uCi/m^2 to ~24.32 uCi/m^2 in that range.

Saying it's a small number is kinda fallacious though. You always need to put it in context with the number at which it become dangerous, or at least statistically significant.

Sometime, that's what the limit is for, why people are worried.

[Salodin]

Its not that im trying to sensationalize, its that for as bad as the media gets blowing this up larger then it is, a lot of people are blowing -eveerything- off as nothing "serious". I get the feeling that anything short of a total meltdown, with a hurrricane blowing radioactive material around the pacific, will be labeled as insignificant. The entire situation is significant, and any level above what was there pre tsunami is having an effect on everything, even down to the people displaced by the event. Dont believe me? Ask any one who cant return home (if they still have one) because of the evacuation near the plants. Sure, its not cherynoble, but the situation tself is significant.

Pardon spelling errors, replying on phone.

[Maaglin]

The situation and its potential is significant.

Trying to incite people to panic is irresponsible.

[Jb1210a]

This ^

[Salodin]

i dont think any one disagrees that the news is reporting irresponsibly.

[Kryssan]

Saying it's a small number is kinda fallacious though. You always need to put it in context with the number at which it become dangerous, or at least statistically significant.

This is the problem though. I can't give exact specifications because they don't tell us which isotopes in particular are being found at these locations. I can make the numbers equivalent to a known isotope, but that is more than likely to cause confusion than understanding. This is why I made reference to the milk example again. I guess I could have made mention that the 55000 Bq/kg example came from spinach. But then of course someone will just say 'well what if I ate a whole lot of spinach and nothing but?'

But since you ask - Ci/M/R rule: the gross oversimplification for Co60 equivalent dose (which can be generally used since Cobalt-60 gammas are very high energy) -- which happens to come out to approximately 1 in the old system of units. For Co-60, a common activation product gamma emitter in reactor applications, Γ is about 1 R/hr at 1 m from a 1 Ci pt. source. 1 Curie = 3.7x10^10 Bq (A GigaBecquerel would be 10^9, for reference).

So using Co-60 instead of Iodine-131 or whatever else, you can see that this would yield a very, very, very small dose. Of course, we could get into the debate of point/line/plane source approximations not to mention different energy emission levels et cetera. It's just not something I can easily quantify.


Also, I've stated multiple times that this isn't a good thing, nor is it something that will be overlooked. A nuclear power plant has suffered multiple failures and released contaminates to the environment and increased background radiation levels for km around the site. That is by no means a 'good' thing. At the same time though, the level of the nuclear disaster to the public's eyes right now is grossly misproportioned, and your and mine ideas of 'concern' are very different.

[Binkie]

People have been evacuated from the area around the plant so that if the possible significant event happens, it isn't a HUGE significant event. Same as the food, you could eat it, but don't just in case.