This is the National Post’s special report page on the atomic plants in Japan. You can see in the lower right corner a map of the jet stream which seems to point the radiation toward the U.S. I have no idea if that is the correct interpretation. There is a lot of interesting stuff on it. You can probably see it better here at their web site.
James Pilant
Japan nuclear agency: Evacuation order of plant workers lifted at 0230 GMT after radiation falls
This came in later —
I am very pleased.
James Pilant
Workers at a quake-damaged atomic power plant briefly suspended operations and evacuated Wednesday after a surge in radiation made it too dangerous to remain there, dealing a setback to Japan’s frantic efforts to stem a nuclear crisis.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said work on dousing the overheated reactors with water was disrupted by the need to withdraw.
“All the workers there have suspended their operations. We have urged them to evacuate, and they have,” Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Edano said, according to a translation by NHK television.
The workers were allowed back into the plant after almost an hour when the radiation levels had fallen.
It’s possible that evaporation from reactor No. 3 may have caused the temporary surge, Edano said, although that can’t be immediately confirmed.
This popped up on Yahoo news just as I had finished posting that the Japanese government had abandoned the nuclear station after the radiation became too dangerous for the workers.
I suppose comment is not necessary at this time.
James Pilant
From Yahoo News –
President Barack Obama on Tuesday defended the use of nuclear energy despite the calamity in Japan where a nuclear power plant leaked radiation in the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The president told Pittsburgh television station KDKA that all energy sources have their downsides but that the U.S. — which gets 20 percent of its electricity from nuclear power — needs to look at the full array of them.
The president said facilities in the U.S. are closely monitored and built to withstand earthquakes, even though nothing’s failsafe. Proponents of nuclear power fear their efforts to win over the public to the safety of their industry have been dealt a tremendous blow by the disaster in Japan.
By ERIC TALMADGE and SHINO YUASA, Associated Press –
Japan suspended operations to prevent a stricken nuclear plant from melting down Wednesday after a surge in radiation made it too dangerous for workers to remain at the facility.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said work on dousing reactors with water was disrupted by the need to withdraw.
The level of radiation at the plant surged to 1,000 millisieverts early Wednesday before coming down to 800-600 millisieverts. Still, that was far more than the average
“So the workers cannot carry out even minimal work at the plant now,” Edano said. “Because of the radiation risk, we are on standby.”
Experts say exposure of around 1,000 millisieverts is enough to cause radiation sickness.
There is no one there to pump water into the plants. A meltdown is inevitable at all four plants. The two others, No. 5 and No. 6, will be in danger from the crisis at the other four. I have no idea whether or not they will be damaged or not.
James Pilant
From ABC News –
Only 26 percent of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll say they’re optimistic about “our system of government and how well it works,” down 7 points since October to the fewest in surveys dating to 1974. Almost as many, 23 percent, are pessimistic, the closest these measures ever have come. The rest, a record high, are “uncertain” about the system.
After the financial melt down of 2007, a full three years now, there have been no prosecutions and no arrests. After British Petroleum created a unimaginable ecological disaster, it was supported and protected by the government, particularly the White House. After two years of countless illegal foreclosures, a study from an agency of the Federal Reserve concluded that there were no illegal seizures of homes.
The government has lost the ability to protect the American people or articulate any vision of the future not based primarily on corporate or financial interests.
The government is a body that has become independent of citizens as constituents.
Today, after unprecedented developments, we are likely to experience a meltdown at one or more nuclear plants. This was considered virtually impossible just a few days ago. Yet, …
(Reuters) The White House said on Monday President Barack Obama remains committed to keeping nuclear energy as part of the energy mix despite concerns about its safety after the earthquake in Japan.
Let me see if I understand this. The White House says we are going ahead with nuclear power “despite concerns.” Wouldn’t it be better to wait and see if there is a meltdown? Or do a study of what went wrong?
You might think that reality should have a place in technological decisions. But the decision has already made. A number of Americans will make huge amounts of money from these nuclear plants and no event can be allowed to interfere with those investment decisions.
Why would anyone be surprised that Americans have little faith in the government? The United States government is like a train that is no longer interested in where the passengers want to go. As far as they are concerned, someone else is paying for the trip.
James Pilant
Greg Harris very kindly sent me this link – http://squall.sfsu.edu/scripts/nhemjetstream_model.html or here.
This can show you a time lapse map of the jet stream path over the Northern hemisphere for whatever time you want to enter in the box.
Pretty good stuff.
Here’s what a still picture looks like –
CBS news consultant was told that one of the workers in the plant said he wasn’t afraid to die that this was his job.
Incredible courage.
James Pilant
From Huffington Post –
Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Hajimi Motujuku says the blaze erupted early Wednesday in the outer housing of the reactor’s containment vessel. Fire fighters are trying to put out the flames. Japan’s nuclear safety agency also confirmed the fire, whose cause was not immediately known.
On Tuesday, a fire broke out in the reactor’s fuel storage pond – an area where used nuclear fuel is kept cool – causing radioactivity to be released into the atmosphere.
Reuters reported that two workers are missing inside the plant, and a Japanese official said that there was a crack in the roof of the No. 4 reactor.
This must be two of the fifty workers who remained on site after the other 750 were evacuated. There appear to be firefighters on the scene, so we don’t know how many are risking their lives to try and prevent a meltdown.
James Pilant
Of course, it’s prudent. Do you see any signs of the disaster getting smaller? I, myself, have predicted a very limited exposure to radiation in the United States but I still think it is prudent and intelligent to prepare for a very difficult time. The situations seems to get worse every few hours, sometimes a lot worse. So, I don’t think there is any reasonable certainty about American exposure. And without certainty, precautions are wise.
James Pilant
From Investment Watch –
The fear that a nuclear cloud could float from the shores of Japan to the shores of California has some people making a run on iodine tablets. Pharmacists across California report being flooded with requests.
State and county officials spent much of Tuesday trying to keep people calm by saying that getting the pills wasn’t necessary, but then the United States Surgeon General supported the idea as a worthy “precaution.”
U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin is in the Bay Area touring a peninsula hospital. NBC Bay Area reporter Damian Trujillo asked her about the run on tablets and Dr. Benjamin said although she wasn’t aware of people stocking up, she did not think that would be an overreaction. She said it was right to be prepared.
The situation is rapidly becoming unmanageable. It appears the reactors are so hot that they are producing hydrogen gas which eventually reaches enough concentration to explode damaging efforts to cool the reactor. The damaged reactor then produces even more hydrogen gas and we have a downward cycle where we eventually arrive at destruction of the containment vessel and radioactive venting.
James Pilant
Reuters –
Two workers are missing after Tuesday’s explosion at one of the reactors at a crippled Japanese nuclear plant, the country’s nuclear safety agency said.
The agency did not identify the missing workers, but said they were in the turbine area of the No.4 reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was damaged by last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.
Agency official also told a news conference there was a crack in the roof of the reactor building.
Authorities are desperately trying to prevent the water which is designed to cool the radioactive cores of the plant’s reactors from running dry, which would lead to overheating and the release of dangerous radioactive material into the atmosphere.
It was possible the water in the reactor was boiling, the agency said.
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