Hi there
I registrated just to ask advice where can I write that I would like to invite japanese family with kids who suffered from recent events and radiation to come and live with my family in Scotland until situation is not solved. Its all I can do.
Im from Belarus and after Chernobyl japanese people helped us a lot and to our kids with medicines, money, etc
I know that Russian families took about 50 japanese families already to host.
I'm tired of TEPCO trying to reassure everyone that things are under control only to find out a little later that things have gotten worse.
It's like a bad science fiction movie.
Of course, TEPCO wants downplay the entire situation, but the government shouldn't naively believe it and follow along. Contingency plans for possible failures should be in place to minimize confusion.
I'm glad the tolerance and civility of Japanese people are keeping things sane in Tokyo, but the run on convenience stores and supermarkets should stop now.
I can't find my favorite instant ramen!
(Ummm, sideshows by apparent Internet hoodlums like the one above are not welcome.)
It is very, very nice of you to offer a temporary home for the families with kids suffering from the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear problems.
However, at this stage it is not realistic - most devastated areas are still not accessible, people are working hard to clear up the roads so they can send supplies by vehicles.
Transportation alone is very difficult.
And Scotland is far, far away.
Losing home and everything can be very traumatic, one of the most important things for them is to have the people they know and share the experience to make their mind a little bit lighter.
Even with a kindest family like yours, it will be extremely toughon them to live in a different country where they do not even know the language.
Your kindness is very nice, and I'm sure you can find other ways to offer help and support.
I also did not hear about hosting Japanese families. Only news about Russian rescue teams which is working in Sendai.
That news about radiation is like bad horror movie. The longer I see the terrible it became. So terrible.
Dear Japanese friends, please stay calm. Please help each other, as Japanese people always do. I really really hope TEPCO will manage it soon. I am so waiting for good news.
About this, I have to be frank. Those freaking out about radiation and happen to be in Tohoku Region, please shut up and get out, as you are not helping the situation at all. I've had to deal with clueless UK media crew going hysterical (complete opposite of the local residents enduring the catastrophe), they are nothing more than obstacles to the rescue/supply efforts under way.
But be careful when you take the flight, as you get more radiation during the flight than staying outside for a day in Soma, Fukushima.
Anyhow, the fewer hysterical people, the better it is for those actually trying to help out.
If there is a radiaton leak, in whatever strength it is, lets all hope that is can be contained and dealt with. And that in the future, steps will be taken to improve safety in all plants.
Honestly my feeling is at this point everyone (Westerners, Western media) is freaking out and sensationalizing the nuclear plants problem, and it is not helping one bit. Throwing things out like radiation levels.. TWICE the normal level! or even 20 TIMES!!! the normal level in Tokyo!!!!!!!!!!.. with absolutely no context whatsoever. This situation needs to be analyzed by the numbers, and science and thought through with reason not with irrational fears, and ignorance being made continually worse, by rumors and bad journalism from the piece of sh#t media looking to hype up a story and make money.
An article from Modern Tokyo Times: British scientific adviser: nothing to fear outside of Fukushima exclusion zone
The British Embassy in Tokyo on March 15th invited the Government's Chief Scientific Professor, Sir John Beddington, to answer deep and difficult questions related to the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Sir John Beddington replied and gave detailed information about the most likely outcome and his opinion about events which have been reported in the press. This article is based on the questions and answers which were given. Therefore, it is hoped that people will listen to Sir John Beddington and heed his advice because a lot of information and disinformation appears to be going around and this is adding to the confusion of Fukushima. The Japanese government implemented a 20km exclusion zone from the Fukushima nuclear plant and for people who reside between 20 and 30kms the advice was that people should keep their windows closed and stay inside. According to Sir John Beddington this advice is proportionate and appropriate to the current events in Fukushima. Therefore, he is vindicating the Japanese government and the answer and question session will now be scrutinized in greater detail. The First Minister at the British Embassy in Tokyo, David Fitton, was the moderator during the teleconference which took place with Sir John Beddington. David Fitton started by commenting that it was important that people listened to the views of an expert and his fellow colleagues because it helps the British Embassy in Tokyo to express much needed advice. He also acknowledged that guidance was also being provided by Japanese professionals but stressed that guidance in the United Kingdom was important ﾂ"on scientific, nuclear, geological and other issues.ﾂ" Sir John Beddington immediately focused on the crux of the matter and he stated that ﾂ"the Japanese are trying to keep the reactors cool by pumping sea water that will keep the temperature down; that's their first line of defence. And up to now that's been workingﾂ… reasonably well. Basically the reactor lies within a large containment vessel. But if it isn't cooled particularly well, then the pressure in the containment vessel goes up and it reaches a level where it can't cope.ﾂ" Sir John Beddington continues by stating that ﾂ"At that stage the Japanese authorities deliberately release a mixture of steam and hydrogen gas and so on into the atmosphere. This is really quite modest amounts of radioactive material and it's not likely, by and large, one shouldn't be concerned about it.ﾂ" He continued by stating that events had changed because one of the containment vessels appears to be somewhat cracked but the situation remains mainly the same. Sir John Beddington also commented that the outcome of containing this situation led toﾂ"very limited amounts of radioactive material going out.ﾂ" Sir John Beddington agreed that the 20km exclusion zone was adequate but he did add that 30km would be extremely safe. However, it is clear that he believes that the 20km exclusion zone is ﾂ"sensible and proportionate.ﾂ" He then talked about the worst possible outcome and scenario if a ﾂ"meltdownﾂ" actually happened. Sir John Beddington commented that this would be serious, but, importantly, he stressed that this would only be serious for the local area surrounding the nuclear plant in Fukushima. Even if a meltdown occurred and you had an explosion then the nuclear material would reach roughly 500 meters into the air. If you add this, he continued, to negative weather conditions which blew into the direction of Greater Tokyo and then rainfall would bring it down then would this then create a major problem? Sir John Beddington was clear about the answer because he stated ﾂ"The answer is unequivocally no. Absolutely no issue. The problems are within 30km of the reactor.ﾂ" After this he commented about Chernobyl and how the situation was much more dramatic because radiation from this nuclear plant lasted for months but even then the 30km exclusion zone was adequate because people outside of this had no problems with radiation. He also stressed that the problem with Chernobyl was because people kept on drinking the water and eating vegetables within the area of contamination. Sir John Beddington stressed ﾂ"ﾂ…what I would really re-emphasise is that this is very problematic for the area and the immediate vicinity and one has to have concerns for the people working there. Beyond that 20 or 30 kilometres, it's really not an issue for health.ﾂ" Many other questions were asked and answered and a link to the entire transcript will be given at the end of this article. However, at all times, it appears that the British point of view is that Tokyo is very safe and the same applies to all areas outside of the exclusion zone of the Fukushima nuclear plant but 30km was mentioned to be extremely safe, therefore, the exclusion zone may be added if developments become severe and meltdown actually happens.
Another source at Facebook: Japan Nuclear Update - British Embassy by Mr. Paul Atkinson
I have just returned from a conference call held at the British Embassy in Tokyo. The call was concerning the nuclear issue in Japan. The chief spokesman was Sir. John Beddington, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, and he was joined by a number of qualified nuclear experts based in the UK. Their assessment of the current situation in Japan is as follows:
* In case of a 'reasonable worst case scenario' (defined as total meltdown of one reactor with subsequent radioactive explosion) an exclusion zone of 30 km would be the maximum required to avoid affecting peoples' health. Even in a worse situation (loss of two or more reactors) it is unlikely that the damage would be significantly more than that caused by the loss of a single reactor.
* The current 20km exclusion zone is appropriate for the levels of radiation/risk currently experienced, and if the pouring of sea water can be maintained to cool the reactors, the likelihood of a major incident should be avoided. A further large quake with tsunami could lead to the suspension of the current cooling operations, leading to the above scenario.
* The bottom line is that these experts do not see there being a possibility of a health problem for residents in Tokyo. The radiation levels would need to be hundreds of times higher than current to cause the possibility for health issues, and that, in their opinion, is not going to happen (they were talking minimum levels affecting pregnant women and children - for normal adults the levels would need to be much higher still).
* The experts do not consider the wind direction to be material. They say Tokyo is too far away to be materially affected.
* If the pouring of water can be maintained the situation should be much improved in time, as the reactors' cores cool down.
* Information being provided by Japanese authorities is being independently monitored by a number of organizations and is deemed to be accurate, as far as measures of radioactivity levels are concerned.
* This is a very different situation from Chernobyl, where the reactor went into meltdown and the encasement, which exploded, was left to burn for weeks without any control. Even with Chernobyl, an exclusion zone of 30 km would have been adequate to protect human health. The problem was that most people became sick from eating contaminated food, crops, milk and water in the region for years afterward, as no attempt was made to measure radioactivity levels in the food supply at that time or warn people of the dangers. The secrecy over the Chernobyl explosion is in contrast to the very public coverage of the Fukushima crisis.
* The Head of the British School asked if the school should remain closed. The answer was there is no need to close the school due to fears of radiation. There may well be other reasons - structural damage or possible new quakes - but the radiation fear is not supported by scientific measures, even for children.
* Regarding Iodine supplementation, the experts said this was only necessary for those who had inhaled quantities of radiation (those in the exclusion zone or workers on the site) or through consumption of contaminated food/water supplies. Long term consumption of iodine is, in any case, not healthy.
The discussion was surprisingly frank and to the point. The conclusion of the experts is that the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami, as well as the subsequent aftershocks, was much more of an issue than the fear of radiation sickness from the nuclear plants.
And the latest news coming out of the Kyodo agency 7 minutes ago is that power supply to the stricken plant could partailly resume this afternoon(Japanese time). And that is good news.
The response of US authorities has so far been much more levelheaded than their European counterparts. Still, at present time they recommend a 80-km safety zone (as stated in the last few emails of the US embassy):
In response to the deteriorating situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Department of Energy, and other technical experts in the U.S. Government have reviewed the scientific and technical information they have collected from assets in country, as well as what the Government of Japan has disseminated. Consistent with the NRC guidelines that would apply to such a situation in the United States, we are recommending, as a precaution, that U.S. citizens who live within 50 miles (80 kilometers) of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant evacuate the area or to take shelter indoors if safe evacuation is not practical.
There are numerous factors in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, including weather, wind direction, and speed, and the nature of the reactor problem that affect the risk of radioactive contamination within this 50-mile (80-kilometer) radius or the possibility of lower-level radioactive materials reaching greater distances.
Most European embassies have already urged their nationals residing in Tokyo and further north to leave or at least move to western Japan, according to emails and press releases of the German, the Austrian, the French and today also the British Embassy (the British have actually followed the US advice).
So many unanswered questions. Why has the Government not stepped in earlier? Why was the spent fuel rods situation not accounted for? Why have they not tried to get power there earlier? Why were their not more workers to help those fighting from the start?
I am disappointed with the whole handling of this situation from both the Government and TEPCO. I don't care if the risk is very minimal, it is still there inside that 20-30km radius. A lot of these events that have been happening could have been prevented if the right planning (I am talking about after the power failure of the generators, them failing was a very unusual situation) and action along with more man power had been given. I applaud the brave individuals who are risking their lives to prevent the situation getting worse. But having more workers there to deal with the situation would have meant more rotations could occur and less danger for those workers. I know someone who works at nuclear power plant and was to go and help with the situation, I feel for his family and what they worry they must be going through.
The fact that the whole foreign media are doing what they do best, using fear to get ratings. I will never watch CNN ever again, that sh!t they have being saying is incredible.
Of corse if I am wrong on any of these subjects I will be the first to appologise.
I registered this forum just to say thank you to undrentide for bringing some good news!!! Ive been wanting to hear good news like this for days!
I strongly believe things will get better from now on!
So many unanswered questions. Why has the Government not stepped in earlier? Why was the spent fuel rods situation not accounted for? Why have they not tried to get power there earlier? Why were their not more workers to help those fighting from the start?
I am disappointed with the whole handling of this situation from both the Government and TEPCO. I don't care if the risk is very minimal, it is still there inside that 20-30km radius. A lot of these events that have been happening could have been prevented if the right planning (I am talking about after the power failure of the generators, them failing was a very unusual situation) and action along with more man power had been given. I applaud the brave individuals who are risking their lives to prevent the situation getting worse. But having more workers there to deal with the situation would have meant more rotations could occur and less danger for those workers. I know someone who works at nuclear power plant and was to go and help with the situation, I feel for his family and what they worry they must be going through.
The fact that the whole foreign media are doing what they do best, using fear to get ratings. I will never watch CNN ever again, that sh!t they have being saying is incredible.
Of corse if I am wrong on any of these subjects I will be the first to appologise.
The government is blasting TEPCO, but I feel that they are as accountable as TEPCO is. What kind of government doesn't thrust itself into that situation? That's the first among many of things I would have done were I Naoto Kan. Yet, it's difficult to hurl blame at him. Japan is devastated from these catastrophes. His mind has to be at so many places at once.
FrustratedDave: Right you are about the foreign media. I've stopped watching the television broadcasts. They're lotting events that happened days ago in with the current troubles at the nuclear power plant, and it is driving me mad. I'd suggest checking out the Reuters' live feed if you want to see the better aspects of the media at work. They're doing a fantastic job.
I tried to post a link to a M.I.T. web site that explains things pretty well. Unfortunately I don't have enough posts to post a link to a third party web site. PM me if you are interested in the link.
The government is blasting TEPCO, but I feel that they are as accountable as TEPCO is. What kind of government doesn't thrust itself into that situation? That's the first among many of things I would have done were I Naoto Kan. Yet, it's difficult to hurl blame at him. Japan is devastated from these catastrophes. His mind has to be at so many places at once.
FrustratedDave: Right you are about the foreign media. I've stopped watching the television broadcasts. They're lotting events that happened days ago in with the current troubles at the nuclear power plant, and it is driving me mad. I'd suggest checking out the Reuters' live feed if you want to see the better aspects of the media at work. They're doing a fantastic job.
I know the Prime Minister blasted them when this all started, but that is not good enough. This is not a simple company problem, this affects the citizens of this country which "MAKES" it a problem for the government. They needed to supply emergency backup much sooner. Those in charge knew there were spent rods in cooling pools and they knew that they needed water to stay cool, this was all foreseeable but yet no one did anything to prepare. Admittedly their focus has been on the reactors, but they needed a worst case scenario back up plan and another one to back that up. They may have had plans behind closed doors, but it sure does not look like they did and there certainly was no movement by the armed forces.
And what about TEPCO, surely they would have a measure for the very, very small chance that the generators did work, or the pumps broke down, especially on nuclear reactor where you can't have a reactor blackout? It is not a "it is not good to have no power at a reactor" or "no power is undesirable" , it absolutely ,unequivocally essential to have power at a plant, and they are telling us they had one set of backup generators? I want to say more, but I am furious that things have come this far, more so with the handling of the situation.
As for foreign media, I sometimes watch CNN of cable just to see what is going on around the world and of corse they are doing Japan right now and the blatant overstating of facts and just plain wild speculation is unforgivable. Of corse they bring in a so called expert so they are unaccountable.
If I want news on Japan, I watch Japanese TV, at least they report a news topic a hundred times more accurately, even if they go over board and keep simple case of a comedian having a fling in the news for 6 months for example, I trust them more than that crap that CNN wants to think is news.
Note: Number in the brackets on each tag on the map means the monitoring post number.
Figure(s) below the post number is the reco...rded radiation (μSv/h).
μSv (micro sievert) = 1/1000 mSv (milli sievert)
Radiation an average person gets except x-rays and nature is 1.0 mSv i.e. 1,000 μSv.
Note:
Each graph shows the data tane from 14th till 18th March.
Vertical axis shows the amount of radiation monitored (μSv/h)
Horizontal axis shows the date (month/date) and time (0-24)
Grey area indicates the average amount in normal circumstances
At the bottom of each page they show the amount of radiation we get and how it would affect (or would not) our health.
Here are some indication.
Having your chest x-rayed : 50μSv
Having your stomach x-rayed: 600μSv
Return journey between Tokyo ...- New York by air : 200μSv
Average radiation you get from nature (from the earth, radon in the air, food and space): 2,400μSv/year
CT scan: 6,900μSv
Radiation from nature in Guarapari, Brazil: 10,000μSv/year
Undrentide, I am not so much concerned with the radiation , but more with the handling of the situation.
But also realise it is the type of radiation you receive that is important as well as the amount. But I still think it is nothing to be concerned over.
This is a very clear and well-founded description of exactly what happened. Fukushima Nuclear Accident – a simple and accurate explanation
Summary:
Quake hit. Plant automatically shut down to protect the core.
Main power (external power supply) failed due to quake.
Backup generators (plural) kicked in.
Tsunami wiped them out.
Backup battery power kicked in.
That eventually (8 hours later) ran out.
Mobile backup generators were brought in, but for some reason the plugs didn't fit!
Other than that plug situation (and I don't have more info on it than that), don't blame TEPCO for poor building design. There is almost no way to plan for a 9.0 quake followed by such a serious tsunami. The building was designed, I think, to take a 8.2 earthquake, and you can see the buildings withstood a 9.0. It was the resulting tsunami that caused the subsequent problems, not the quake itself.
Undrentide, I am not so much concerned with the radiation , but more with the handling of the situation.
But also realise it is the type of radiation you receive that is important as well as the amount. But I still think it is nothing to be concerned over.
Dave, my thought exactly.
They've been pumping water onto the reactors since yesterday and at the same time trying to restore the power supply so that they can use - or check if they can use - Emergency Core Cooling System. People of TEPCO/SDF/FD/Police are working hard risking their own lives, but all I can do is just watch the news praying all these operations are good choice and and they'll be successful...
Another "handling of the situation" I'm concerned about is some media abroad and people's reaction.
The reason I posted the information is I want people outside Japan know exactly what is happening.
I'm receiving messages from my friends abroad, they are all so kind and I'm touched and grateful, but because of some exaggeration/misinformation, I began to receive something like this one:
Yesterday in Italy we celebrated 150 years of Republic. All Italy was on holiday. I could watch a little bit more of TV and could see more pictures and movies of Japan. Italian TV, together with US and Russia keep saying that Japanese Government is trying to minimize the damage, as in reality the nuclear damage is catastrophic. People are leaving Tokyo and northern part of Japan and moving south direction. Airports are crowded. Limited flights, no electricity. Really bad situation. Don't you think to leave and move further south for safety?
I'm getting tired of explaining to these people that things are not really like that, even the situation is still serious...
I'm really happy to see the members like you who are level-headed and always take realistic/practical approach to the things in Japan here in JREF forum and another forum I frequent, but there seem to be other people who reply on the sensational foreign media only as their news source and causing too much worries and panic.
This is a very clear and well-founded description of exactly what happened. Fukushima Nuclear Accident – a simple and accurate explanation
Summary:
Quake hit. Plant automatically shut down to protect the core.
Main power (external power supply) failed due to quake.
Backup generators (plural) kicked in.
Tsunami wiped them out.
Backup battery power kicked in.
That eventually (8 hours later) ran out.
Mobile backup generators were brought in, but for some reason the plugs didn't fit!
Other than that plug situation (and I don't have more info on it than that), don't blame TEPCO for poor building design. There is almost no way to plan for a 9.0 quake followed by such a serious tsunami. The building was designed, I think, to take a 8.2 earthquake, and you can see the buildings withstood a 9.0. It was the resulting tsunami that caused the subsequent problems, not the quake itself.
When you say "Backup generators (plural)" , they were there for the multiple reactors, not as a back up if one failed in front of it, although could be used that way, but would severely tax them and would ultimately need additional generators from what I am reading.
You are not going to question the fact that they did not have a working back up plan in case the generators or the pumps failed. The plugs didn't fit is not acceptable for Nuclear power plant. Even if the earthquake this size was unforeseeable they "HAVE TO" to plan for site blackout which is the worst thing that can happen. And planing in the event the generators did not work is one of them, instead they took the attitude that "it will never happen to us". The fact that they don't have mobile generators that will work for each of their power plants unacceptable,as it is know that the plant will automatically shut down, so all they have is the generators and batteries which is pretty thin. We are not talking about a concert here, loosing power at a nuclear is catastrophic as we now can see and there needed to be back up plans devised in that case.
And they are a power company, how hard is it change out a set of plugs that would fit, that is just ridiculus if that in fact was all that stopped them using the mobile generators.
And they were warned about the Fukushima plant needing to be look at for safety concerns and they did nothing. Seismologist Ishibashi Katsuhiko warned them after the big earthquake in 2007 , the link to the Asahi news article is broken , so all I have is this article in English. Fukushima 'an accident waiting to happen' - NZ Herald
No action was taken in the wake of any of these incidents, despite Katsuhiko's warning that the nation's reactors had "fatal flaws" in their design.
And this from a Scientist "Dale bridenbaugh" who worked in for Japan about 40 years ago. I don't know how much of this to believe, but it seems he was right.
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