This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
TEPCO Confirms CEO Shimizu "Ill And Hospitalized", Chairman Katsumata Now In Charge
While it is no secret that TEPCO CEO Masataka Shimizu had been MIA in the aftermath of the Fukushima explosion, it appears things are progressing for the worse. From Reuters' Natsuko Waki: "TEPCO CEO "ill and hospitalised", TEPCO says company president Shimizu suffering from extreme dizziness, chairman Katsumata now at helm, and that the president was not taken to hospital by an ambulance." TEPCO has scheduled a press conference for 6am GMT to go over these and other matters. Alas, this may be game over for TEPCO. What next: will the national guard take over, or a joint French-US endomement task force?
»
- 11910 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
meanwhile,
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/03/case-of-disappearing-articles-fukushi...
Sounds like a WW2 prisoner of war camp
I guess Japland is populated by worker ants....idiots.
Magic Rice and MRE crackers? Really?
I realize that resources to the entire region are desperately scarce, but c'mon...
We have witnessed slavery in its best form at the Fuk-n-shit-me site. So much for their glorified Jap culture.
They had a wonderful culture until Ollie Perry showed up in Tokyo Bay in 1853 and said "open up or I'll blast ya" with his 50 warships. This, of course, led to Pearl Harbor and todays headlines. Spreading Anglo-Saxon democracy since 1830.
Kan must've kicked him in the nuts pretty hard.
look at the N225...incredible...meltup from hell, literally.
Lets see...established meltdown in 5 reactors, radiation spewing across most of the northern hemisphere and BoJ trying there hardest to meltup the last gasp of Japan wealth.
The Japanese government creates the biggest nuclear cover up in history
complete an utter FUBAR
Japanese PPT hasn't lost a step, that's for sure.
If not for intervention, Nikkei would be smoldering in a heap of ashes like Fukushima. Look for shorting entry points real soon (maybe in a week).
Dizziness is a symptom of advanced radiation poisoning, per the mayo clinic site:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/radiation-sickness/DS00432/DSECTION=sym...
I'm tired of tears and bows of those Asian performances. Please get work done and try to find a solution.
There is no solution. Japan is fucked.
Great punch line here, wait for it...but first, illustrating the point that the cores and fuel pools will heat back up any time they reduce the cooling flow:
"The temperature in the No. 1 reactor core began rising again. At 2 a.m. Tuesday, it reached 329 degrees, considerably higher than the reactor's normal operating temperature of approximately 285 degrees. The pressure in the reactor was stable.
The volume of water pumped into the No. 1 reactor was increased by 30 percent from 8 p.m. Monday to 140 liters a minute. The temperature at 6 a.m. Tuesday was 323 degrees.
An official of TEPCO's Fukushima office said: "The temperature repeatedly increases and decreases. However, we have been able to control it. We will continue to keep a close eye on the situation."
The water pumping operation has put TEPCO in a predicament: Water must be provided to cool the unstable cores but if it continues to leak from the turbine buildings to the trenches, it may spill out into the environment.
An official with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said, "The work will involve seeking a balance between two contradictory considerations."
Because the stability of the reactor cores is the most important issue, TEPCO officials have no choice but to continue pumping the water in.
Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the highly contaminated water and the detection of plutonium on the Fukushima plant grounds "showed there had been a partial melting of fuel rods."
Prime Minister Naoto Kan told an Upper House Budget Committee session on Tuesday that there was a high possibility that the reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant would never be used again."
There's a decent chance that Japan will never be used again.
I just don't 'get' the Japanese. In the US these guys would be getting steak dinners or anything else they wanted to eat. If TEPCO or the Japanese government didn't provide you'd think some Japanese supermarket chain or restaurant would. They don't even have proper bedding and some can't even lay down because there is a shortage of lead lined mats ( apparently needed) so some just have to lean against the wall and doze. Incredible. Are there no Winnebago or Airstream trailer type outfits in Japan to supply temporary quarters for these guys?
This Masataka Shimizu POS may not have been responsible for the tsunami but he is damn sure responsible for the needs of his employees who are risking their lives ( and may well lose that bet) to bail his sorry ass out. As the elected boss of Fukushima prefecture put it " the people of Fukushima are in no position to accept an apology as their anger and anxiety is too great at this time". Masataka needs to stop the crying, man up and get his ass out of the hospital and up to his nuclear power plant or the Japanese government should arrest him for dereliction of duty!
They're not risking their lives to bail his chump ass out. They are risking their lives to save their families, homes, and future generations.
How cruel is Darwin going to be? Are Japanese about to be “selected out” of existence? While it is unlikely to become that dire, some of what makes this the problem it is, is what makes Japan the nation it is.
Adaptability is a great thing, but flexibility is often more important. The Japanese have some wonderful cultural qualities that allowed them to rebuild after WWII and create one of the world’s great manufacturing and export economies. Social cohesion, consensus building, and following a plan were traits that allowed them to produce everything from Toyota cars to Nikon lenses.
Those same qualities may be their downfall.
I have seen as lot of comments here about the situation and how TEPCO and the GoJ have handled it, but underlying all of these comments is the assumption that the Japanese are the same as us. Many of us have fallen for the Disney fantasy that it’s a small world after all and we’re all the same deep inside. In a broad sense that is true, but in a practical sense it is not. We all want to be “happy”, but that means different things to different peoples. Japanese are not Chinese are not Americans are not Greeks are not Colombians.
Those of you who have lived in Japan have a pretty good idea of what has been going on and why. You probably have seen the “weeping press conference” a dozen times, each a repeat of the last one save for the names and faces.
Confrontation in Japan is not good. Causing “confusion” is not good. Following the plan and the rules is everything. The unexpected is invisible. One does not say “sorry”, rather, one says “it is regrettable that…”
TEPCO probably planned for an 8.5 quake and a five foot tsunami (I’m speculating here.). Perhaps they did not plan for a loss of back-up power. Perhaps they did not plan for a destroyed infrastructure within the vicinity of the plant. When reality fell outside their expectations, they had no plan. At first they could not see reality. Next they could not admit what that reality was. After that they fell back to habit, which is to try to build consensus, deferring to the seniors and elders, even if these “respected” individuals had no clue and the underlings did. After initial discussions, there are reports to write. Then new meetings to discuss the reports. Then suggestions based on the discussion surrounding the reports. Then new reports needed to be written, etc., etc., etc.
The GoJ could not “embarrass” TEPCO by questioning them or question anything TEPCO was doing. Certainly the GoJ could not tell TEPCO to get out of the way and let someone else take charge. TEPCO did not want to “alarm” the Japanese people or “confuse” them by telling the truth; rather they tried to keep the social order by saying “don’t worry”. Perhaps they themselves did not want to know, so they took no readings. It is not that they were trying to cover their own butts. They really did not want to upset the people by burdening them with the truth, especially at a time of great national suffering. Upsetting people is worse than killing them. This is a fine point, but very real.
Japanese can adapt, but they require time to do so. Time sensitive events are not something they are built to handle particularly well, partly because they might not have a pre-existing plan to deal with it and partly because existing rules must be followed at all cost. (Note that foreign aid for quake-tsunami victims was held up for “rules” such as the requirement to quarantine dogs---even rescue dogs sent to find survivors while survivors were still alive---and the requirement to do exhaustive studies on all imported food.) Things that look like gross negligence and incompetence are not quite what they appear to be. For example, the workers who stepped into contaminated water did not have the proper equipment, not because the bosses are cruel, but because that possibility was never considered so no one could see it, much less plan for it. Then there is “face”. Calling in outside experts, especially foreign ones, would be an admission of inferiority. Sometimes death is preferable to shame. Anyone who doubts that should read about the philosophy behind seppuku.
I am no nuclear expert. I have no idea what the worst case scenario is, though I doubt it is TEOTW, except for those unfortunate souls living within a hundred or so kilometers from the plant. I suspect we will find out, because everything that makes Japanese Japanese will lead to that worst case.
I am not trying to gang up on the Japanese. All peoples have good points and bad. This crisis has revealed some of Japan's less than optimal national traits. Certainly Americans have more than their share of bad cultural traits, too. Let's just hope that natural selection never meets the "bads" head on. Let's also hope that Japan gets its act together before more of its citizens suffer unnecessarily. Gambatte!
And you wonder why they lost WW2.....
Because the bank/s they were borrowing from lent more money to the opposing side?
My bad, probably cause they got nuked....
'cause they got Nuked?...maybe.
I prefer the argument that says they got out-built. I'm too lazy to google, but take a look at the US & Japan manufacturing numbers from, say '35 to '46. Planes, tanks, ships (inc. aircraft carriers)...the Japanese never stood a chance... IIRC 'come '45 US military production was only really getting into its groove.
'It is not that they were trying to cover their own butts. They really did not want to upset the people by burdening them with the truth, especially at a time of great national suffering. Upsetting people is worse than killing them. This is a fine point, but very real.'
well I'm pretty upset...
This idiocy is staggering...
Thanks for the post.
That was a very thoughtful and detailed piece, thanks. While I agree, all of my knowledge on the matter is second/third hand (or worse - popular fiction). If accurate, these are very necessary things for readers outside of Japan to understand.
It took about 7 months to get the sarcophagus erected over Chernobyl. The Russians, however, realized they had a massive clusterfuck and started attempting containment within a week or so of the original event. Will it take Letterman, Leno and their counterparts in the rest of the world laughing at the Japanese to get them to realize that this is a BFD? I am asking. I understand the concepts you express here, but I have only limited exposure to them (occasional individuals met here in the US). Sooner or later, this must be contained. If you have exposure to the culture on their turf, how might this unfold?
While some of the opinions in the post are mine, much was "plagiarized" from Japanese friends who commented about their own national traits. I spent many years living and working in the country, and developed an understanding that even if wrong, seemed to allow me to navigate the society and the office environments in which I worked. Clearly such opinions can offend, but "jitsu wa" we are all a combination of good and bad characteristics, and events sometimes lay bare one or the other. This disaster has done both, and while I prefer to concentrate on the best that the Japanese people have shown the world, the Fukushima part of the disaster still threatens both Japanese and perhaps some of the country's neighbors, so the time for cautious diplomacy and cultural sensitivity is quickly disappearing.
Hopefully someone with a strong hand will step up to the plate and feelings-be-damned take charge of the matter. There is no shame in getting help from outsiders in the case of an event the likes of which the world has never seen. The important thing---in fact the only thing---is saving as many lives as possible.
I am with you on that one. I was just wondering who it may be? The IAEA is already there. Presumably hillary has already made offers. They have at least reached out to the French (I don't want to think about what their strong hands are doing). In two days we are three weeks into this. Do you think they would listen to the Russians or would the Russians even offer? Likely old age has felled most of the original Chernobyl response leadership who survived. Are there any duct tape engineering squads with fat tail experience who are ready to drop on site when they finally reach that consensus?
Nice post Chindit13. Thanks for sharing your insights.
Good post, don't know why you were junked.
As much as we in the West are dumbstruck by the perceived incompetence of TEPCO+GoJ, many of the their actions and decisions are a result of deeply ingrained codes of honor, that we cannot even begin to fathom. For example, if an elder family member has a terminal illness, the doctor and rest of the family will not tell them so as not to upset them. No joke.
That said, when the rest of the world has the deal with the consequences, i.e. radiation poisoning the air+ocean, wringing our hands and nodding about cultural subtleties is ridiculous.
By the way, thanks to evolutionx for finding this hourly Fukushima webcam. Might as well keep an eye on the damn thing.
http://www.mmnews.de/index.php/etc/7479-webcam-fukushima
The mainstream has completely dropped this! Is it really that serious? This place is the only place besides Alex Fucking Zion Jones thats talking so frequently about the severity of the situation. I guess the only way to really tell is to be on the ground...worth the risk? Fast Money is with the rest of the paper junkies, ignoring it and the shabby economy, calling the low housing values "a sham" and having nothing to do with consumer confidence, aiding al Qaeda in Libya doesnt infuriate ANYONE, "QE2" most likely ending, but no one reacting one way or another, companies bailing on thier home states to dodge rediculous taxes, the debt ceiling rapidly approaching parallel to a government shutdown over political babies, WTI still 105 and ICE 115, Syria, Saudi, Bahrain, Yemen all ripping thier own guts out, daily lower trade volumes, and everything generally falling apart but chips...and Silvers holding tough...can nothing derail this super cock pump? Let me guess, Kentucky loses to UConn and the market drops 20% along with AU AG? Im glad I dont participate in anything other than physical holdings anymore, what a fucking farce. Fast money, "Buy silver, I mean SLV..." haha whoops, faggot. Jim Cramer "JP Morgan is showing strong fundamentals, buy buy buy!!!" What about manipulation and naked shorts? I want to hollow out my brains every day I listen to anything other than complete silence. Do you think I could land a full 3 round burst in my own head with my M4?
Long on KY Jelly for my own ass when my house goes underwater and WFC is fucking pounding me raw
Each of us fight where we can. For some it is getting off the grid. Some people on here have decided not to pay any more, just a thought. I am not a lawyer nor an investment advisor or accountant. War, it seems, is where you find it. Don't let them win.
There is a VERY good reason why this is not covered...
Don't let it get to you. Just be glad that you are fully aware that something is not "right".
You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind.
No Japan stories for the past week in the local rag.
I know the feeling.
as far as I can tell, MSM lost interest when there were no more visible to outside world explosions. MSM, even print media is prone to things that have good visuals...unless of course, they are stories that should be suppressed, then even good visuals will be ignored. Something that is a long-term simmering problem with little huge new elements everday and with no new stunning videos and a story big coprs/elites/crony govt does not want focues on...equals little to no coverage.
It is amazing how some really stunning stuff, that would captivate regular folks if it was the lead story on Fox/CNN, headline in NYT or Drudge, etc can get relegated to almost unknown in common culture even when the info is readily available on alternate media.
Just some examples...in my lifetime...did you know that the Bush Sr family was pretty close to the family of Reagan's attempt assasin, the Hinckleys. W's brother was planning to have dinner with the bother of the guy who shot Reagan. This could all just be a super wierd coincident or other benign explanations...but the fact it was a non-story at the time and still many regular folks in US just don't know of this very suspuscious fact. And these are facts, Bush family attested to some of them while downplayed others that were/are easily confirmed by others in their circle.
There were big visuals of Olly North testifying but not of the people in court of law that testified cocaine from Nicargua was flown into Homestead Air Force to fund contras. Stunning facts, very interesting, sensational, but hardly anyone knows them....etc
as far as I can tell, MSM lost interest when there were no more visible to outside world explosions. MSM, even print media is prone to things that have good visuals...unless of course, they are stories that should be suppressed, then even good visuals will be ignored. Something that is a long-term simmering problem with little huge new elements everday and with no new stunning videos and a story big coprs/elites/crony govt does not want focues on...equals little to no coverage.
It is amazing how some really stunning stuff, that would captivate regular folks if it was the lead story on Fox/CNN, headline in NYT or Drudge, etc can get relegated to almost unknown in common culture even when the info is readily available on alternate media.
Just some examples...in my lifetime...did you know that the Bush Sr family was pretty close to the family of Reagan's attempt assasin, the Hinckleys. W's brother was planning to have dinner with the bother of the guy who shot Reagan. This could all just be a super wierd coincident or other benign explanations...but the fact it was a non-story at the time and still many regular folks in US just don't know of this very suspuscious fact. And these are facts, Bush family attested to some of them while downplayed others that were/are easily confirmed by others in their circle.
There were big visuals of Olly North testifying but not of the people in court of law that testified cocaine from Nicargua was flown into Homestead Air Force to fund contras. Stunning facts, very interesting, sensational, but hardly anyone knows them....etc
This place is the only place besides Alex Fucking Zion Jones thats talking so frequently about
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The "Stopped-clock syndrome" where an event finally happens and the guy wearing the 'sandwich board' and preaching doom is finally seen as a prophet ... meanwhile Jones' Y2K doom predictions and FEMA camps failed to materialize - and nobody remembers ...
Austin Chronicle article on the boy (before his voice deepened and the hormone supplements kicked in):
http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2000-07-14/77932/
I would feel better if Mr. Burns were in charge.
I would feel better if anyone was in charge. Anyone other than the molten pools of lava in the reactor cores/SFPs.
WTF is going on in the world right now? Is this really happening or am I just missing something? Japan is in their worst crisis since WW2 and their markets are having a fricken party? TEPCO just capitulated and they pop the champagne corks? Where are you going to get your power dipshits? What are you going to do when the real cloud hits and you haven't left the fricken Island? And back here in America the worst the news gets the more the stink fingers ralley? We got housing at at all time low, real unemployment at 20%, 20 % of homeowners not making payments, a 14.5 trillion dollar National debt, 40 million people on food stamps, 2 days from the 9th debt ceiling breach in 3 years, 35% of homeowners underwater, a third war that is supporting those who attacked us to start the first war, gas prices touching 08 levels, consumer confidence in the tank, a President that can't even make a good NCAA pick, A mortgage industry backed by a bankrupt government entity, a country run by a ponzi scheme that would put Madoff to shame, an infrastructure that is a complete joke, healthcare nobody can afford, our children that are in more debt then the credit card junkies and our markets just keep on rallying too? Can somebody explain to me what the fuck I'm missing here? We are ready to implode and the only thing that matters is how much money one can make before it does. What about the EU? They are back in the reality saddle and about to re-enter the rodeo on a washed up pony named starfire. WT fricken F? When they announce the comet is going to hit Earth the ralley will beat all records because they will say it's made up of gold and we will all be rich...RIP everybody, when things get this blatantly rediculous you know something bad is going to happen. I would give it a matter of weeks at this point because when plutonium doesn't even worry a market a mere 150 miles away you know some serious shit is about to hit the fan...
Money and credit is a mental abstract. In reality money does not exist if you don't accept it as such. (Food and other hard assets are real. Radiation is real.)
Have some ice cream with Sea Kelp sprinkled on top, you'll feel better.
Its like the father who, travelling with his boy on a cold rainy day, developed a flat tire. As he got out to change the the tire his son asked, 'Daddy can't we just change the channel'?
It seems sometimes that our leaders have done just that. They are watching a different program than the rest of the population an
Tahoe (my West coast brother?),
all you say is true. Go back and you'll see this is how hyperinflation plays out...it's exactly how it went in Weimar germany. We are in the shit now but it's just not obvious yet.
News, facts, blah blah matter not. Only ever more money chasing fixed assets. Will only be more and more money to chase.
Buckle up and hang in there. Oh yeah, and don't think anybody else will believe you or care...you (and I) are on the lunatic fringe.
I cannot explain all of it, but if the "average" homeowner in arrears is 537 days behind, and many of these squatters are still employed, they have a lot of "discretionary capital" to spend taking the kids to Chipotle, downloading movies on Netflix, or even sprucing up their free castle by shopping at Home Depot. For those who are feeling stress over not paying the mortgage, there's yoga (Lululemon). The term 'money is fungible' has a whole new meaning.
The MIC is happy because our beloved Peace Prize winning hawk in dove's feathers is giving them a constant string of wars, and the banks are happy because their prop desks get free buckets of spec money from Bernanke every day, plus accounting rules have been changed so that their books can appear as they need them to appear rather than as they are. Then there's GE who likes the current tax scheme exactly how it is. There's plenty of Morton Salt at Safeway to take care of any pesky nuclear fallout that the Chicken Littles say might come, and baseball season is about to start.
The pundits even have a new excuse to replace "snow" when economic numbers come in below expectations. The Japanese earthquake apparently altered the earth's rotation so that days are now .00002 seconds shorter. Clearly that mille-instant will be reflected in retail sales figures, so any drop can be ignored. Then when the BLS determines how many people, under optimal conditions, could have been hired in that time frame, the Birth-Adjustment can be ratchetted upward.
To add to my long post above, one of America's core traits---boundless optimism---might well prove our own undoing. We're now a (o)Bamana Republic.
Chindit, you were talking about liquefaction in Tokyo Bay last week ... check this out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neB4JLtX6tM
Wonderful rant TBS. I'd suggest sending it to your local fishwrap OP-Ed pages, but they wouldn't print it. I loved it.
I can explain what you are missing.
This is a paradigm shift. Understanding of what is happening cannot (and, probably, should not) propagate through a large population in the same way that awareness of something mundane can.
About 5% of all humans are leading edge people. They become aware of new situations before everybody else. The herd takes its direction from them, although it will (it must) resist at first.
About 0.5% of all humans are as far beyond the 5% as they are beyond the herd. These people are visionaries. They see what's coming way the heck before anybody else. The problem is, frequently, they just get it wrong, and go over a cliff. There's a reason why the herd doesn't follow all such people very easily.
If you are in one of those groups, or in between them (it's really not discrete groups, it's more of a standards-of-deviation kind of thing) then you need to expect to be frustrated. "Why doesn't everyone see what I see?" Because they can't. The only alternative is to take the blue pill and pull the world back over your eyes.
You will never convince them by talking. They will only follow examples, and then only when they see that you're right. Which means -- only when Really Bad Shit is happening. Don't let it piss you off. Just focus on what you have to do to help yourself, your family, and to ... um ... save as many as you can.
Ive tried sharing basic obvious knowledge with others but I usually get the Fluoride Stare in return. Once you take the Red Pill, you cant go back, remember? I wish I could. Ignorance truly is bliss :(
Nikkei 225 closes up 2.64%.
Yeah, they say 2000 zero zero party over, oops, out of time!
So 2night I'm gonna party like it's 1929!
Epic lolz.
Technically speaking , it does have some chunky gaps to fill. Will be a very nice fade if it gets to its 50 DMA . ANother 4%-5% or so .likely at this rate...
He spent 30 minutes in tunnel 2.
please don't begin to ask me to feel bad for this son of baylon vs that poor mother fer eating 30 mf crackers.to put out the fires of someone elses mistakes. auto puke on.
He became sick when he saw his TEPCO stocks crash
Just watched a Chernobyl film on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiCXb1Nhd1o
I'm now going back to my closet and under a pile or coats. Taking a bottle of scotch and a long straw.
Brain making me check out. I am not easily scared.
I am scared.
Me too JG, me too...
Don't be scared, be pissed. Scared is pointless, pissed makes you think. If you have scotch, good move. Have any more to trade? What do you think you could trade for a fifth of scotch anywhere within 50 miles of Fukushima right now? Think.
The swedish nuclear plants are now tested at worlds highest efficiency rates, above 80%. We had a near fukushima-accident in -06 at a plant called Forsmark. They lost two of four diesel generators during black out but managed to get power back before cooling failed. AND someone at the plant was cought drunk around that time. I know how it feels to be afraid, this world is appearently one big insane asylum. But dont let it get to you, buy silver/gold and prepare, prepare, prepare. Thats all you can do really. Good luck.
who allowed these people to put a nuke plant on a fault line? oh. nevermind.
I suspect we are not in the Kansas version of economically viable anymore.
;)
just watched this latest interesting report from Chernobyl, on PBS :
Revisiting Chernobyl: A Nuclear Disaster Site of Epic Proportions
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june11/chernobyl_03-29.html
TranscriptGWEN IFILL: The nuclear crisis in Japan immediately brought back memories of the meltdown at Chernobyl, which still ranks as the world's worst nuclear accident.
Nearly 25 years later, NewsHour science correspondent Miles O'Brien returned last week to see what life is like there now.
MILES O'BRIEN: There's no doubt radiation causes cancer and genetic defects. The fast-moving subatomic particles plow into molecules with enough energy to knock lose electrons. The dinged molecules, called ions, can kill or damage cells. Enough of this will kill you quickly. Less damage can cause cancer or, if DNA is the target, create genetic mutations.
MILES O'BRIEN: Milinevsky's colleague, Tim Mousseau, believes animals are the key to settling the debate over the long-term health effects of Chernobyl. He and his team have spent more than a decade studying birds in the Chernobyl region and beyond.
TIMOTHY MOUSSEAU, University of South Carolina: But it's clear that this low-level contamination is -- is probably more dangerous in the long run than -- than having a single hot spot.
MILES O'BRIEN: In contaminated areas, there are half as many species and one-third number of birds you would expect. Their brains are smaller. Forty percent of male barn swallows have abnormal sperm. One in five have strange colored plumage that makes it hard to attract mates.
There are unusual beak deformities and large tumors that scientists have never seen before. What, if anything, can we extrapolate between that bird population, that population of barn swallows, and humans?
TIMOTHY MOUSSEAU: I would argue that, you know, we're all -- we're all animals, and birds are actually more similar to us than dissimilar to us.
MILES O'BRIEN: Mousseau's colleagues are also looking at Chernobyl's grasshoppers. They frequently have asymmetrical wings, and fruit flies, which are easily impacted by radiation. Those found around Chernobyl have gray eyes, instead of red, and deformed wings.
Biologist Irina Koretsky studies the little bugs, in part because they only live about a month, meaning she can track genetic changes through many generations in short order. She worries about the sporadic funding for research that could lead to some definitive answers about the Chernobyl riddle.
She told me: "This is the worst thing that can happen. If there are gaps in the research for two or three years, we cannot have this full picture."
At the remains of reactor number four, I saw the concrete and steel sarcophagus that was completed six months after the explosion.
Is it holding? Is it doing its job?
GENNADI MILINEVSKY: It's not -- not carefully doing this job, because there's many holes inside and, still, in windy weather, we have some dust coming outside.
MILES O'BRIEN: Ukraine is asking the west for $800 million to pay for a new shelter over the old sarcophagus that would last 100 years. Beneath it is all is a molten witch's brew of radioactive isotopes, including plutonium, with a half-life of 24,000 years, meaning, in 24,000 years, half of it will still be here, and 24,000 years later, half of that will still be here, and so on.
Do you think human beings are capable of keeping this thing safe for tens of thousands of years? .....cont:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june11/chernobyl_03-29.html
-1 optics: style
It is time to invade Japan.
They definitely have WMD.
And they do not hesitate to use them against their own people.
They will vote for it:
36 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
71 repeat 71
cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 currently are defendants in lawsuits,
and
84 have been arrested for drunk driving
in the last year
Can
you guess which organization this is?
NBA Or CFL
?
Give up yet?
Scroll down,
Neither,
it’s the MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN OTTAWA
The same group of Idiots that crank out
hundreds of new laws each year
designed to keep the rest of us in line.
You gotta pass this one on!
oh never mind...What's all that against the Japanese who are about to abuse the whole planet for the next 100000 years.
TEPCO chairman's press conference, last 30 minutes or so, running translation. Not much new info, partly because of totally inept questioning from the journalists.
Chairman speaks fairly clearly and straightforward.
One thing I didn't know: TEPCO was building a nuke plant in south Texas. I guess not any more...
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/03/tepco-chairman-press-conference-last-...
But if they keep building it they won't have to build a border fence for at least 100 KMs.
According to latest releases from NISA and IAEA Reactor 2 core operates at almost atmospheric pressure (1,7 atm) , despite water being pumped into it.
With the increase in temperature at Unit 1, there has been a corresponding increase in Drywell pressure. In the Drywell of Unit 2, the indicated pressure dropped slightly and is just above atmospheric.
That means its is in FACT open to atmosphere, via leaks or other damages. So anything inside it is getting out either with water, or with steam , gases, or all of the above. Its breached.
http://www.saposjoint.net/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=2657&start=220#p31462
You want the data? You can't handle the data!
http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1301489625P.pdf
Of course, without an engineering degree those numbers and the units they're in are just going to look like more Japanese script to the average layman ...
Extract of the above document showing just the 'pressures':
http://oi51.tinypic.com/2v7ukgi.jpg
Summarizing : The only reactor showing any positive 'pressure' (and notn presumably leaking) are #1 Reactor vessel and #1 Containment vessel ...
#2 and #3 both show close to atmospheric pressure for their Reactor and Containment vessels ...
Reactor pressure excerpt, bigger image:
http://oi54.tinypic.com/358o3yr.jpg
Yea, that's close enough to atmospheric. Also interesting is #4's SFP water depth "unmeasurable".
Greenpeace recommends more evacuationsmeasured radiation 30 km from plant of 100 Microsievert/h which gives the yearly maximum dosage in 10 hours.
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13654029
A sign of the times from Northern Ireland...
"Four of Belfast's best-known pubs and live venues are on sale for one-fifth of what they were reportedly sold for four years ago."
Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/four-belfast-bars-for-sale-prices-slashed-15131063.html#ixzz1I4jbkVN9
Fear the boom and bust, bitchez - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk
How much for the wenches?
Two bottles of Buckfast and a packet of crisps, apparently.
My we're especially pissed off today aren't we people?
WHASSUP? What's a little radiation across the world which hurts your kids and your grandkids and their kids and their kids and their kids and their kids
x1000
Does anybody understand why the Nikkei 225 is rallying on this?
I don't have the links, but designs are being made for temporary containment and plans in the works for a $12 billion--30 year encapsulation plan. (Only $12 billion---seems way too low an estimate).
The market us pricing in Toyko remaining intact and functional.....mr. market doesn't care about life expectancies.
because while the CEO was hospitalized, he did not have to go by ambulance.
How 'impossible' is it that molten Uranium/plutonium could flow by gravity and pool
bby density into a critical mass? The Uranium is only enriched 2% but there's a lot of it.You need 22-32 pounds of Plutonium and 122 pounds of Uranium to form a critical mass.What are the odds?
Dizziness? He is pregnant.
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches toward Tokyo to be born?
I share the feeling of many here that the risk of the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown is underestimated and the likelyhood that it will spin completely out of control is significant. I would like to try to help in any constructive way I can.
Therefore: I give you a method to prepare iodide (as a substitute to commercial potassium iodide pills) from povidone-iodine disinfectant ("Betadine" or any other iodophor) and commonly available other ingredients (vitamin C). Potassium iodide pills are probably not available in the vast quantities that might be needed in a worst case scenario (a few billion doses?), and even if they were available would be hard to distribute, whereas this method uses commonly available ingredients that many people have at home and which are also available in hospitals and farms in very large quantities. The method does work, the chemistry is very simple, and I've tested it.
I hope this is not necessary and Fukushima Daiichi can be contained, but I think that someone in the Japanese authorities should be aware of this just in case, and ready to use it quickly if needed. I really don't know *who* to tell about this. I've sent this to every Japanese government contact I could find, every major newspaper, etc. I'm posting it here, to a group of people intensely concerned about the problem, in the hope that the more people know about it, the more likely it is to actually be applied if needed. Pass it along.
P.S. Yes I'm aware that iodide pills only solve a small part of the problem, it doesn't help with cesium and strontium and a bunch of other nasty isotopes. Still, much better to have iodide than not.
***
Preparing iodide from povidone-iodine disinfectant
Ingredients:
1. Povidone-iodine disinfectant (Betadine tm or generic equivalent)
2. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) pills, ideally generic 1000mg pills.
3. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
Steps:
1. 3000 mg ascorbic acid (Vitamin C, for example three 1000mg pills) are crushed and dissolved in 100 ml (~1/2 cup) of water, then let sit for an hour with occasional stirring. There may be some undissolved residue from the pills.
2. 15 ml (1 tbsp) povidone-iodine disinfectant (Betadine or generic equivalent) is added to the solution of ascorbic acid and stirred.
3. The brown-purple color from the povidone-iodine should disappear almost instantly. If it does not, more of the ascorbic acid solution is made and added slowly to the mixture until it is clear. The mixture MUST be clear and not brown at the end of this step.
4. (optional) 1 tsp baking soda is added slowly, a few grains at a time, until adding more does not produce foam.
The resulting solution contains the iodide equivalent to 2000mg or twelve 165mg pills of potassium iodide (in this case as hydrogen iodide or, with the optional step, as sodium iodide). It is made entirely from food-grade or pharmaceutical-grade ingredients, and is IN THEORY a substitute for potassium iodide pills. One twelfth (9.6 ml, ~2 tsp) of the solution above (roughly equivalent to one 165mg pill of potassium iodide), measured out and taken with at a cup of milk or juice, would be IN THEORY the daly dose for an adult.
Explanation:
Ascorbic acid is a mild reducing agent, in step 2 it reduces the free iodine in Betadine to iodide, and is itself oxidized to dehydroascorbic acid. This causes more of the iodine bound to povidone to be released and reduced to iodide until all the iodine is reduced. In step 3, the disappearance of iodine color confirms the reaction is complete. In step 4, the solution is neutralized from fairly acidic to neutral pH with baking soda.
Oxalic acid might be used instead of ascorbic acid, but is less preferable. Electrochemical reduction might also be used.
Disclaimer:
This is not medical advice or a recommendation to do anything or to consume any chemicals/medicines, merely information on how to convert iodine to iodide by titration with a reducing agent, as may be found in many chemistry textbooks.
References:
http://www.outreach.canterbury.ac.nz/chemistry/vitamin_C_iodine.shtml
http://www.csiro.au/helix/sciencemail/activities/Titration.html
http://wwwchem.csustan.edu/chem1112/1112vitc.htm
http://paws.wcu.edu/bacon/vitamin%20c.pdf
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/ki.asp
login