9.0 Earthquake/Tsunami/Fukushima
- Thread starter Nuala
- Start date
- 20 Aug 2003
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What do you want to know? Normal iodine from tablets will block the radioactive iodine from sticking to your thyroid, thus reducing the chances of getting thyroid cancer down the road.
I'm guessing the video clowns had their share. Beyond that, they took a big chance in going where they did and were darned lucky they weren't stopped.
My question is, what was that flag on the front left bumper of their car?
Ashikaga
もちもちした食感
- 19 Feb 2008
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I assume it is the flag that indicates that the driver is a member of the press.
- 19 May 2007
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Sorry for the outburst of bad language, but I am just fuming. Why does the Government with all its resources not step in? Peoples lives and lively hoods around the power plant are at risk. How can they let TEPCO run the situation?No doubt the management of the crisis regarding everything from safety practices to the flow of information is completely unprofessional.
But the possible combined levels of radiation spewing + leaking from the plant might explain such discrepancy. Of course the leaking radiation could be kept in safe containers, which accordingly might not be a cause for worry. ???
As for the level 7 rating, that whole rating level is a sham. They need to break it down do about 20 levels so they can acurately describe what the situation is. At the moment the foreign press is reporting it like it is another Chernobyl, remember there are 4 reactors releasing radiation and the level is still only 10 percent of Chernobyl. I am not saying it is not serious , but all the lay person will think is it is as bad a Chernobyl.
- 20 Aug 2003
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I could say it was Japan's bad track record of inadequate responses to almost any emergency.
I could say it was the traditional poor risk management that Japan is known for, including risk communication.
I could say nobody wants to stick their necks out, make waves, stick up like a nail, or upset the wa.
Basically, it's all of the above, plus a total lack of how to handle it, other than say they will pump money into the hopper by buying out TEPCO in the end and compensating everyone. Uh, yeah.
My question at the moment is, just how much advice are the Japanese getting from the IAEA and U.S. experts here? The IAEA sent half a dozen guys, and other than the first 2 days of showing their faces (probably only to show that the head honcho is Japanese), we haven't seen them at all.
- 19 May 2007
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All I can say is that if Koizumi was Prime minister, things would have been different IMO. I can't say that emergency response is bad across the board, but the current situation does certainly leave a lot to be desired.
Yes , exactly, what is the IAEA doing and how much of their advise is TEPCO taking?
I can understand the unwillingness of people not wanting to be around the reactors, which is why they need to act yesterday. Here they are mulling over what to do and the Kan cabinet is appointing a Nuclear Minister. Please ,someone tell me what that is going to achieve? They need to stop with the bureaucratic procedures and start acting more decisively.
There is already talk that the compensation that TEPCO will have to pay out will be capped at 24 million. For sh!ts sake, they have not even got the situation under control and they are worried about how much money they will have to compensate. I know a sure fire way to get this under control very quickly. Have all the execs stay in the no go zone for quicker decision making until the situation is resolved.
If any of you here in Japan has laptop PCs you no longer use, coastal villages of Iwate would like them. If you cannot find a local NPO or local gov near by for donation of such PCs, PM me, I'll take care of necessary paperwork and they will be used to help kick-start local SMEs (mostly in fishing industry)
Elizabeth
先輩
- 22 Apr 2003
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Apologize, focus on effort/process and not results, throw in the ganbatte spirit. And this is exactly what is wrong with TEPCO and the vast majority of Japan's corporate and governmental leadership. IF Japan is going to pull itself out of this mess, and emerge a stronger/better country, this mentality has to die, once and for all. People must demand better of their "leaders" and stop rationalizing institutional incompetence and lack of transparency.
A takeover of TEPCO will only saddle the government with liabilities that vastly exceed whatever assets they have or may in the future be able to accumulate. The best Shimizu can do at this point would be to set up a task force/independent panel of TEPCO and outside experts with himself as chairman, so that ALL decisions regarding the process of getting control of the situation came from this group/him. It would at least establish a clear chain of command and provide some sense of personal responsibility -- the buck stops with him. Not holding my breath, though. :arghh:
The US military and jieitai are the only ones that have showed any power and skill at getting anything done on the ground so far. Hopefully the reopening of Sendai airport will at least facilitate aid to evacuation centers still without electricity, water and sufficient food.
Personally I am skeptical there will ever be a clear scenario to recover at any level. But if there is a plan, once the public has a clear vision about how to go about it, then I have no doubt rebuilding will be tremendously effective. Being straight with the Japanese people from Day 1 would have increased confidence in Kan and his team's ability to manage the crisis. Instead, by using a bunch of gobblygook phrasing, they have done just the opposite. This seems to have simply increased the level of uncertainty/anxiety in the country.
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Elizabeth
先輩
- 22 Apr 2003
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Doing behind the scenes support in technical areas like tracking radiation (surveys) and environmental sampling. Urging Japanese authorities to "carefully assess" the situation where higher than operational levels are found. The only public statement was about TEPCO/Japan not providing updated information. I think it is IAEA policy not to influence member states to take decisions actually.
- 20 Aug 2003
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I realize that, Elizabeth, and it's pretty much been a futile gesture IMO. The general public actually expected such measures to have been taken without the IAEA, as I'm sure you realize. Having them here literally behind the scenes doesn't really mean anything to people, I feel. Are IAEA members present during press conferences? Do they add more info or at least confirm/deny/clarify what the gov and TEPCO state? I have not seen any of that.
Japan dumped radioactive water into the ocean, a clear violation of an international agreement signed in the 70s, I believe. Did we get any statement about that from the IAEA? Not that I've seen.
The public already knew that. Lame gesture on IAEA's part.
Look at the IAEA homepage.
The Statute of the IAEA | IAEA
Pretty generic things they can do. I could find nothing about what to do in emergency situations. Can anyone?
Has anyone here ever done forest fire fighting? There are tanks of water that people carry on their backs (these are called "piss tanks" by the vets), meant to put out tiny patches of fire after something major has passed through. Piss here, piss there, while the main fire rages on. Sound familiar?
Or how about "knee-jerk reaction"? Take a medical analogy. Oh, here's a new problem, let's see what to do about that symptom. Oh, there's another, and another. Gee, the patient seems to be dying but we're clearing up/treating the symptoms as they arise. I wonder why this "treatment" isn't working?
- 19 May 2007
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Here is the presidents media conference.
Web Iwakami » お知らせ
I watched the whole thing and it is 2 hours long, so be warned. A couple of guys really stuck it to him, but I think they are only echoing what the general public is feeling right now.He still avoided answering any questions on when and how this is going to be resolved. It was the , we are doing our best and have been doing our best routine. Yeah the workers at the plant are doing their best and they need quick and decisive decisions to get things back to safe levels , not only for the surrounding people, but the workers themselves.
I am also glad someone brought up the issue of compensation and the fact that we as tax payers will probably foot the bill for this.
Web Iwakami » お知らせ
I watched the whole thing and it is 2 hours long, so be warned. A couple of guys really stuck it to him, but I think they are only echoing what the general public is feeling right now.He still avoided answering any questions on when and how this is going to be resolved. It was the , we are doing our best and have been doing our best routine. Yeah the workers at the plant are doing their best and they need quick and decisive decisions to get things back to safe levels , not only for the surrounding people, but the workers themselves.
I am also glad someone brought up the issue of compensation and the fact that we as tax payers will probably foot the bill for this.
Elizabeth
先輩
- 22 Apr 2003
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He couldn't say it because the only decisive decision is going to involve dumping highly radioactive water back in the Pacific. Clearly there is no where near enough storage space & as long as there is overhead spraying, more contaminated water will leak daily out of the reactor plumping into the basement where the pumps will stay submerged.
- 20 Aug 2003
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Daily Yomiuri today had 2 articles in it that were related.
One said TEPCO would pay.
The other said the government would ask the other power companies to foot the bill.
Peter, meet Paul. Pay him.
- 19 May 2007
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LOL. Now how are they going to do that? (get the other companies to pay)
How can they force another company to pay for another's mistake/miss-fortune?
Half-n-Half
先輩
- 17 Jul 2007
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The US State Department's travel warning for Japan has now been downgraded to a travel alert:
"The assessment of technical and subject matter experts across United States Government agencies is that while the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant remains serious and dynamic, the health and safety risks to areas beyond the 50 mile evacuation zone, and particularly to Tokyo, Nagoya (Aichi Prefecture ), Yokohama (Kanagawa Prefecture) nearby U.S. military facilities and the prefectures of Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Gunma, Iwate, Nagano, Niigata, Saitama, Shizuoka, Tochigi , and Yamanashi , and those portions of Fukushima, Ibaraki , Miyagi and Yamagata prefectures which are outside a 50 mile radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are low and do not pose significant risks to U.S. citizens."
"The assessment of technical and subject matter experts across United States Government agencies is that while the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant remains serious and dynamic, the health and safety risks to areas beyond the 50 mile evacuation zone, and particularly to Tokyo, Nagoya (Aichi Prefecture ), Yokohama (Kanagawa Prefecture) nearby U.S. military facilities and the prefectures of Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Gunma, Iwate, Nagano, Niigata, Saitama, Shizuoka, Tochigi , and Yamanashi , and those portions of Fukushima, Ibaraki , Miyagi and Yamagata prefectures which are outside a 50 mile radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are low and do not pose significant risks to U.S. citizens."
- 19 May 2007
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LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- 20 Aug 2003
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$10,000 is a drop in the bucket, Elizabeth. Have you seen the estimates on how much it is going to cost?
Look at this Japan Times article. TEPCO has offered a measly million yen (there's your $10,000) to evacuees as compensation! Lost homes and belongings, lost cities and educational facilities and bank records, poorly managed health facilities in the evacuation centers, etc. and TEPCO thinks this can be bought with a million yen? Hah!
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110417a4.html
I agree and laugh along with Dave over how the gov can even consider making TEPCO's competition pay for its own problems.
Look at this Japan Times article. TEPCO has offered a measly million yen (there's your $10,000) to evacuees as compensation! Lost homes and belongings, lost cities and educational facilities and bank records, poorly managed health facilities in the evacuation centers, etc. and TEPCO thinks this can be bought with a million yen? Hah!
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110417a4.html
I agree and laugh along with Dave over how the gov can even consider making TEPCO's competition pay for its own problems.
- 15 Mar 2002
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As I heard it reported on NHK Radio, the one million yen is an interim partial payment, Glanski....not the final total amount. That will involve the courts, and knowing how slow the courts work here that means probably a couple of decades at least.
The article you cited mentions in three different places that this is not the final total amount. I don't understand how you misread it.
The article you cited mentions in three different places that this is not the final total amount. I don't understand how you misread it.
Elizabeth
先輩
- 22 Apr 2003
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TEPCO is a company already shouldering close to 100 billion in debt on its books that could easily face as much in compensation losses. I understand they will need government help and cannot answer anything about compensation until a government scheme is in place. They also cannot answer questions until it is clarified who will be allowed to return back and when.
The six to nine month time frame for a cold shutdown of the plant may or may not do-able, given the information TEPCO has released until now. There are still so many issues that are unknown it is hard to say whether or not this is a realistic target.
It sort of exemplifies to what extent sadness and frustration has been completely redefined the last month, at least to me. OK, maybe the year is spent in temporary housing....but that is still preferable to dying in a tsunami, no?
- 20 Aug 2003
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Mike,
Yes, it's described as an "initial" payment. I didn't misread anything. However, did you read what the locals said about such a thing? In one case it won't help when they have to foot the bill to put kids in college. In my uni we have at least 2 freshmen from the affected areas.
It's still a lame offering, initial or otherwise. They are just trying to appease people with a Band-aid, but people are seeing through it. Do you think there will be a follow-up payment? Is there even a plan for such things? Will a plan be carried out once/if the government buys out TEPCO? Lots of room for doubt there. People aren't stupid.
And, please spell my name right. I don't know how you could have missed that!
Yes, it's described as an "initial" payment. I didn't misread anything. However, did you read what the locals said about such a thing? In one case it won't help when they have to foot the bill to put kids in college. In my uni we have at least 2 freshmen from the affected areas.
It's still a lame offering, initial or otherwise. They are just trying to appease people with a Band-aid, but people are seeing through it. Do you think there will be a follow-up payment? Is there even a plan for such things? Will a plan be carried out once/if the government buys out TEPCO? Lots of room for doubt there. People aren't stupid.
And, please spell my name right. I don't know how you could have missed that!
- 22 Mar 2011
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Yes, it truelly is... -.-
