With Many Thousands Killed By The Japan Earthquake, Leftists / Warmists Wring Their Hands Over Two Nuclear Fatalities

[aigZilD]

With Many Thousands Killed By The Japan Earthquake, Leftists / Warmists
Wring Their Hands Over Two Nuclear Fatalities!



Already the greenies are circling like vultures ready to exploit this new
outbreak of anti-nuclear hysteria



The BBC, unsurprisingly, appears to have decided that potential nuclear
disaster is the single most important aspect of the entire story.



A "never let a crisis go to waste" opportunity to promote "renewable energy",
at the expense of energy that actually works: ie nuclear, gas, oil, coal
etc.



March 13 2011





Did mythical manmade 'climate change' cause the Japanese earthquake?

No.



But that hasn't stopped one or two unscrupulous environmentalists trying to
make the spurious connection.



Top prize for shamelessness goes to one Staffan Nilsson, president of an EU
offshoot called the European Economic and Social Committee.



The earthquake and tsunami will clearly have a severe impact on the economic
and social activities of the region. Some islands affected by climate change
have been hit. Has not the time come to demonstrate on solidarity - not
least solidarity in combating and adapting to climate change and global
warming? Mother Nature has again given us a sign that that is what we need
to do.



Here's an environmental blog called Mongabay having a go:

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0311-japan_tsunami_climate.html



Could the earthquake that triggered Japan's devastating tsunami be linked to
climate change?



While it's unlikely that scientists will be able to provide a definitive
answer anytime soon and Japan has long been a hotbed of seismic activity,
past research suggests there may indeed be a link between climate change and
earthquakes in some parts of the world



The eco website Grist had a valiant stab too with a headline "Today's
Tsunami: this is what climate change looks like." After getting a roasting
from some of its more scientifically scrupulous readers it then modified its
position with a couple of updates.

(But still decided to have its cake and eat it - as you'll see from the last
line of update 1)



Update:

The intent of this piece isn't to attribute today's tragedy to climate
change. Apologies to those whom I misled with the headline. It was meant
literally, as in: Tsunamis are inundations of shorelines and therefore have
impacts that resemble storm surges, which are one of the most immediate
threats of a warmer planet. In addition, climate change may cause tsunamis
directly, so it's possible we'll someday see more images like this as a
result.



Update 2:

Changed the headline (it originally read "Today's tsunami: This is what
climate change looks like") and updated the text to reflect the discussion
of the science and the framing in the comments.



There are also worrying signs that Japan's tragedy is going to be exploited
by greens in much the same way they exploited the BP Oil Spill: as yet
another Rahm-Emanuel-style "never let a crisis go to waste" opportunity to
promote "renewable energy"

(at the expense of energy that actually works: ie nuclear, gas, oil, coal
etc).



The BBC, unsurprisingly, appears to have decided that potential nuclear
disaster is the single most important aspect of the entire story. Its every
TV news bulletin is now filled aeons of waffling from environment and
science correspondent David Shukman on the state-of-play at the various
troubled nuclear plants.



Which might seem fair enough until you remember that in one town alone as
many as 10,000 people may have been killed by the earthquake and the
tsunami.



Compare and contrast this with the two fatalities so far in Japanese nuclear
plants. Perhaps this figure will rise but until it does, the coverage given
to what might possibly happen in Japan's nuclear plants - as opposed to the
far greater and very real and present disasters happening elsewhere in the
country - seems irresponsible, misleading and overdone.



Yet already the greens are circling like vultures ready to exploit this new
outbreak of anti-nuclear hysteria (which they've been stoking up, of course,
since the 1970s). Here's another BBC Environment Correspondent (sheesh, how
many have they got?) Richard Black:



However, possible implications outside Japan are already beginning to
emerge.



In Germany, scene of a big anti-nuclear protest on Saturday, Environment
Minister Norbert Roettgen suggested that safety systems at nuclear plants
would be analysed anew in the light of the Fukushima incident.



"This happened in a country with very high safety standards. the fundamental
question of whether we can guard against all dangers is now open again, and
we will address that question," he said.



In the UK, the Stop Hinckley pressure group has called for a halt to a
proposed new reactor at Hinckley Point in southwest England, on safety
grounds.



Environment groups are beginning to feature Fukushima in their energy
communications - and whatever actually happens at the site, it is likely to
become a major card in campaigns to promote renewable energy above nuclear.



Two days after the alarm was first raised about safety at Fukushima Daiichi
plant, uncertainty still surrounds the situation on the ground and the
status of the three reactors that were functioning at the time of Friday's
earthquake and tsunami.



Putting this into perspective:

in the last decade the wind farm industry, it turns out, has killed far more
people for far less electricity produced than the nuclear industry



Nuclear fatalities in the last ten years: 7



Wind farm fatalities in the last ten years: 44.



In those ten years nuclear provided thirty times the energy of wind. This
means in the last decade, nuclear has been around 200 times safer than wind
on an energy produced/accidents basis.



http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100079664/did-climate-change-cause-the-japanese-earthquake/





Warmest Regards



B0nz0



"It is a remarkable fact that despite the worldwide expenditure of perhaps
US$50 billion since 1990, and the efforts of tens of thousands of scientists
worldwide, no human climate signal has yet been detected that is distinct
from natural variation."

Bob Carter, Research Professor of Geology, James Cook University, Townsville



"If climate has not "tipped" in over 4 billion years it's not going to tip
now due to mankind. The planet has a natural thermostat"

Richard S. Lindzen, Atmospheric Physicist, Professor of Meteorology MIT,
Former IPCC Lead Author



"It does not matter who you are, or how smart you are, or what title you
have, or how many of you there are, and certainly not how many papers your
side has published, if your prediction is wrong then your hypothesis is
wrong. Period."

Professor Richard Feynman, Nobel Laureate in Physics



"A core problem is that science has given way to ideology. The scientific
method has been dispensed with, or abused, to serve the myth of man-made
global warming."

"The World Turned Upside Down", Melanie Phillips



"Computer models are built in an almost backwards fashion: The goal is to
show evidence of AGW, and the "scientists" go to work to produce such a
result. When even these models fail to show what advocates want, the data
and interpretations are "fudged" to bring about the desired result"

"The World Turned Upside Down", Melanie Phillips



"Ocean acidification looks suspiciously like a back-up plan by the
environmental pressure groups in case the climate fails to warm: another try
at condemning fossil fuels!"

http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/threat-ocean-acidification-greatly-exaggerated



Before attacking hypothetical problems, let us first solve the real problems
that threaten humanity. One single water pump at an equivalent cost of a
couple of solar panels can indeed spare hundreds of Sahel women the daily
journey to the spring and spare many infections and lives.

Martin De Vlieghere, philosopher



"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that
it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of
mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible."

Bertrand Russell

[k***@kymhorsell.com]

Post by aigZilD
With Many Thousands Killed By The Japan Earthquake, Leftists / Warmists
Wring Their Hands Over Two Nuclear Fatalities!

...

Two? I hadn't heard there were any.

[Mr Posting Robot]

FROM THE WAYBACK MACHINE:

UK Proposes Hike In Nuclear Power Liability To EUR1.2B

Jan 24, 2011
Selina Williams
WSJ

London (DJ) -- Operators of nuclear power plants in the UK will be
expected to take on a liability of EUR1.2 bn for each of their sites, a
massive increase on the current level of GBP140 mn, under new govt
proposals published Mon.

The increased amount proposed is in line with changes to the Paris and
Brussels Conventions on nuclear 3rd party liability, although higher than
the EUR700 mn minimum required by the conventions.

There will also be an increase in the categories of damage for which operators
are liable, to include damage related to the environment.

The geographical scope of those eligible to claim compensation will be widened,
and any liabilities will be channeled automatically to the nuclear operator.

The UK govt is hoping the nuclear revival in the UK will plug a looming power
shortfall as coal plants and aging nuclear reactors are retired, as well as
shoring up energy security and reducing carbon emissions from power generation.

But the govt wants to ensure that the nuclear industry receives no
special public subsidies for new plants that are not also available for other
low-carbon generation.

"The coalition is clear on new nuclear: it has a role to play as part of a
diverse energy mix in meeting the UK's future needs, but it will not receive
any public subsidy," said Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne. "We
are taking steps to reduce any risk of the taxpayer having to pick up the tab
for new nuclear further down the track."

Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR), in partnership with Centrica PLC (CNA.LN),
is spearheading the revival of nuclear power in the UK and expects to have
its first new nuclear reactor ready for 2018.

The French utility and other European utilities, including E.ON AG (EOAN.XE),
RWE AG (RWE.XE), Iberdola SA (IBE.MC) and Scottish and Southern Energy PLC
(SSE.LN) have set out plans to build 16 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity over
the next 15 y.

The govt proposes to phase in the operator liability over 5 y,
starting at EUR700 mn, when the revisions come into force, and then
increasing the amount by EUR100 mn each y.

The consultation on the proposals will run to Apr 28.

MYREF: 20110314193002 msg2011031427804

[135 more news items]

---
Check the dates and times when Bozo posts. It's a 5 day Monday-Friday 8
hour working week.
-- Tom P, 26 Nov 2008

[Mr Posting Robot]

FROM THE WAYBACK MACHINE:

UK Prepares To Submit Final List Of Sites For Nuclear Stations

Jan 24, 2011

London (Dow Jones) -- The UK govt is preparing to submit to parliament a
final list of sites suitable for new nuclear power stations, the Energy and
Climate Change Secretary said Mon, clearing the way for a new nuclear fleet
to help the country meet climate change obligations and keep the lights on.

Once approved by lawmakers, the list of sites will allow companies including
EDF Energy, the UK subsidiary of Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR), to come
forward with formal planning applications.

"I've been impressed with the level of public engagement from the communities
around all 8 of the sites assessed by the govt as potentially
suitable for new nuclear power. The consultation period ends today," Huhne
said during a visit to EDF Energy's site at Hinkley Point in SW
England, EDF's top choice for the location of a new nuclear power plant.

The govt hopes the nuclear revival will plug a looming power shortfall,
as coal plants and aging nuclear reactors are retired, as well as shoring up
energy security and reducing carbon emissions from power generation.

EDF, in partnership with Centrica PLC (CNA.LN), is spearheading the UK's
revival of nuclear power. The French utility and other European utilities,
including E.ON AG (EOAN.XE), RWE AG (RWE.XE), Iberdola SA (IBE.MC) and
Scottish and Southern Energy PLC (SSE.LN) have set out plans to build 16
gigawatts of new nuclear capacity over the next 15 y.

Subject to consent and the right investment framework, EDF Energy plans to
build 2 new power plants at Hinkley Point with its partner Centrica.

EDF said the new power station development at Hinkley will inject GBP100
mn pa into the local economy during construction and GBP40 mn
annually during operation.

In the consultation, 8 sites were listed as being potentially suitable for
the construction of new nuclear power stations by 2025: Bradwell, Hartlepool,
Heysham, Hinkley Point, Oldbury, Sizewell, Sellafield, and Wylfa.

The govt decided last y to consult for a 2nd time on the draft
national policy statements on energy, which include its plans for new nuclear
power plants, due to changes which were made to the overarching national
policy statement for energy.

The NPSs are designed to provide the basis for planning decisions to be made
on nationally significant infrastructure projects such as nuclear and
fossil-fuel power plants, large renewable energy projects, electricity
networks and gas supply infrastructure and pipelines.

The finalized statements will go to parliament for ratification this spring.

MYREF: 20110314230003 msg2011031411198

[136 more news items]

---
The global warming Mormons of NASA are so disturbed by public perception
that this winter is verging on the chilly across the northern hemisphere
that they have produced a map showing areas where they claim alarmingly high
temperatures are prevailing, such as the middle of the Arctic Ocean.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 29 Dec 2010 15:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Disaster proves nuclear danger [Australia]

Andrea Mayes
March 15th, 2011, 12:10 pm

The catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan has provided incontrovertible
proof of the dangers of nuclear energy.

It is a telling lesson for Australia as debate over the Federal Government's
carbon tax intensifies.

Nuclear energy is not current policy for either the Government or the
Opposition, but it is an issue never far from the surface in the
climate-change debate.

At its simplest, the carbon tax aims to reduce pollution by encouraging
businesses to switch to clean energy. Clean energy can take many forms, none
of them 100% reliable and all of them expensive and in need of more
development.

Nuclear power, on the other hand, is a proven technology that is a lot cleaner
than fossil-fuel generated power.

US President Barack Obama has embraced nuclear power as the solution to help
meet America's energy needs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

More than 75% of France's electricity is nuclear-powered, providing cheaper
electricity and significantly lower levels of CO2 emissions per head of
population than other European countries.

For some in Australia, the temptation to move down the nuclear energy path is
proving irresistible.

Both Federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott
favour nuclear energy as part of the solution to the challenge of climate
change.

Mr Ferguson has championed the nuclear cause for y now, albeit from within the
constraints of official ALP policy, and is ever eager to get the issue on to
the national agenda.

Official ALP policy states that "the production of uranium and its use in the
nuclear-fuel cycle present unique and unprecedented hazards and risks,
including threats to human health and the local environment", and that the
party will "prohibit the establishment in Australia of nuclear power plants
and all other stages of the nuclear fuel cycle".

Yet Mr Ferguson has made it plain that he considered a carbon tax to be a
necessary precondition for a nuclear power industry in Australia.

"If you want nuclear power to ever stack up in Australia, then you've actually
got to have a price on carbon," he told ABC radio in Dec 2009.

His recent push to allow uranium sales to India showed his continued keenness
to "modernise" party policy on the issue.

Mr Ferguson is not the only senior Labor figure keen to have nuclear power in
Australia.

Others who favour nuclear energy include influential Australian Workers Union
national secretary Paul Howes, one of the "faceless men" behind Julia
Gillard's knifing of Kevin Rudd, as well as Bob Hawke, Bob Carr and WA Senator
Mark Bishop.

Their advocacy has pushed the issue on to the agenda for Labor's national
party conference in Dec.

In the Liberal camp, Mr Abbott believes nuclear power is "the only realistic
way" for Australia to reduce its carbon emissions, although like Mr Ferguson,
he has been forced to toe the official party line and deny that there will be
a policy change on the issue before the next election.

Other Liberals pushing for just such a change include deputy leader Julie
Bishop, MP Dennis Jensen and Senator Mathias Cormann, who reportedly said
recently: "If we are serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and
keeping our eye on energy security then we have to consider nuclear. "The
reality is nuclear is a proven, reliable and secure low-carbon technology."
Reliable and secure for whom?

Certainly not for the 200k or more residents in Japan forced to flee their
homes in areas surrounding the Fukushima nuclear plants in Japan after
explosions in the past few days at one of the plant's reactors.

Japan has more than 50 nuclear reactors that provide about 34% of the
country's electricity. It aimed to increase that percentage substantially in
coming years.

By 2017 it was planning to meet 41% of its electricity needs with nuclear
power, rising to 50% by 2030.

In pursuing this form of energy, Japan displayed an astonishing ability to
ignore the lessons of the past and the toll nuclear energy had taken on the
country.

It was unfathomable that a country devastated by 2 nuclear bombs in World War
II would choose nuclear power to meet a significant amount of its energy
requirements.

It is estimated more than 200k people died agonising deaths in the bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki - many of them in the wk and m after the event.

At the time Japan's Atomic Energy Commission was drawing up its current
long-term program for nuclear energy, 2 workers were killed in a 1999 accident
at the JCO Tokai nuclear plant at Tokai-mura in Ibaraki prefecture, and more
than 600 people were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation.

Nevertheless, the government of the day pushed ahead with the plan, which
states "it is a wise and rational policy for the Japanese government to
continue making the fullest possible use of nuclear power generation as one of
the mainstays of the nation's energy supply, considering the geographical and
resource conditions of Japan, a nation poor in energy resources, and taking
the energy uncertainties of the future into account".

Yet the geography and geology of Japan - prone as it is to earthquakes,
tsunamis and volcanoes - should have been enough to sway it away from nuclear
power.

History provides us with many powerful reminders of why nuclear power is not a
safe option and should be scrapped from the list of future energy options for
Australia, regardless of its greenhouse credentials. Chernobyl is one, 3 Mile
Island another.

Just last m Australia's only existing nuclear reactor, at Lucas Heights in
Sydney, was subject to a scathing assessment of its safety record in a report
by workplace safety regulator Comcare, which found accidents had been
under-reported and safety standards breached.

The storage of nuclear waste is a whole other safety issue.

We can't afford to take a chance with nuclear power.

Japan's disastrous and tragic nuclear record should be warning enough to
Australian politicians to stop their dangerous flirtation with nuclear energy.

MYREF: 20110315173002 msg201103156944

[142 more news items]

---
[Non-performance. BONZO posted a dozen quotes before "discovering"
Freeman Dyson accepted man-made climate change as real]

Dyson accepts AGW.

Huh?
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], Mar 1 16:00 EST 2011

[Mr Posting Robot]

Radiation leaks pose health risk

Mar 15 2011

Tokyo (UKPA) -- Radiation leaks from a damaged nuclear power plant in
tsunami-hit Japan now pose a risk to human health, officials have warned.

Concerns rose for those near Fukushima Dai-ichi plant as a 3rd explosion
rocked the complex early on Tue.

The nuclear crisis deepened as the official death toll topped 2,400 following
the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami on Fri. Tens of 1000s are still
missing.

In an televised statement after the latest blast, believed to be in the number
2 reactor, PM Naoto Kan urged those within 19 miles of the area to stay
indoors. He said: "The level seems very high, and there is still a very high
risk of more radiation coming out."

In addition to the 3 blasts that have occurred since Sat, chief cabinet
secretary Yukio Edano said a fire had broken out in a 4th reactor at the
plant, and more radiation had been released.

Mr Edano said: "Now we are talking about levels that can damage human
health. These are readings taken near the area where we believe the releases
are happening. Far away, the levels should be lower.

"Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make
your homes airtight. Don't turn on ventilators. Please hang on your laundry
indoors.

"These are figures that potentially affect health, there is no mistake about
that."

Some 800 non-essential staff have been evacuated from the plant, while 50
workers remained at the complex to try to cool the reactors with water.

Fears of a major slowdown in the world's third-largest economy sparked a huge
slump in Japanese shares, with Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index closing more than 6%
lower and some of the world's biggest firms, such as Toshiba, Toyota and
Honda, sustaining heavy share price losses.

MYREF: 20110315173557 msg2011031529795

[141 more news items]

---
[Why Are Republicans Climate Skeptics?]
Maybe that's because the Republicans come from more rural states that haven't
had any warming, man-made or otherwise.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 28 Oct 2010 15:25 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan's nuclear emergency prompts panic buying in Tokyo

Residents in the capital, 150 miles S of Fukushima, prepare for possible
lockdown as embassies advise citizens to leave

[In latest news from Tokyo, rad levels are reported to have reached 100 mSv/hr
nr the Fukushima reactors. Normally 100 mSv/year is enough to elevate risk
of developing various forms of cancer. While some wires are reporting
"panic in the streets of Tokyo", at least ABC Aus reporters on the scene
say they haven't seen signs of that yet].

Justin McCurry
guardian.co.uk
15 March 2011 08.52 GMT

Osaka -- Empty shelves in Tokyo Japan's nuclear crisis has led to empty
shelves at shops in Tokyo. Photograph: Sankei via Getty Images

News of a serious radiation leak at the Fukushima nuclear plant has sparked
panic buying in Tokyo, as some residents started to leave the capital to
escape potential contamination.

Several embassies advised their citizens to leave affected areas, including
Tokyo, and some multinational companies either told staff to leave or were
considering relocating outside the city.

As officials urged people living near the stricken plant to stay indoors,
residents in the capital, 150 miles to the south, began preparing for the
possibility of a similar lockdown.

Experts were keen to stress, however, that only "minute" levels of radiation
had been detected in Tokyo.

Weather forecasters said winds near the atomic plant, which experienced a 3rd
explosion on Tue morning, were blowing in a south-westerly direction - towards
Tokyo - but would move in a westerly direction later in the day.

People in the capital, home to 12 million, snapped up radios, torches,
candles, fuel containers and sleeping bags, while for the 4th day there was a
run on bread, canned goods, instant noodles, bottled water and other
foodstuffs at supermarkets.

Retailers said the panic buying was reminiscent of the oil crisis in the
1970s.

The electronics firm Panasonic said it was increasing production of batteries,
which were being bought in large quantities as far away as Hiroshima in the
south-west.

Fears are rising that if the hoarding frenzy continues it will affect the
ability to deliver emergency supplies to the disaster zone. "The situation is
hysterical," said Tomonao Matsuo, a spokesman for the instant noodle maker
Nissin Foods. "People feel safer just by buying Cup Noodles."

Foreign journalists covering the nuclear crisis, including reporters from the
BBC and CNN, withdrew from the Fukushima area. On Mon, the German magazine Der
Spiegel said its veteran war correspondent was being pulled out of Tokyo.

Tourists cut short holidays and descended on international airports in Tokyo
and Osaka, seeking flights home. They included about 200 S Koreans who
have now arrived back in Seoul.

Liezel Strauss, a S African, said on Twitter on Tue morning: "I just woke up
to several calls & emails, family & husband freaking out, it's time to go,
flight booked to singapore this pm."

She added: "Realised no use staying stressing + freaking my family out if i'm
not helping and physically contributing, I want to but reality is I'm not."

The number of people stranded at Narita airport, near Tokyo, rose after
airlines cancelled flights but officials said there had been no surge in
passenger numbers.

Air China cancelled flights to Tokyo from Beijing and Shanghai. Other airlines
in the region said they were monitoring the situation but had no immediate
plans to cancel services.

South Korea has urged its nationals in Japan to stay away from the quake zone
while Germany advised its citizens to consider leaving the country.

The French embassy warned that a radioactive wind could reach Tokyo on Tue
evening and advised its citizens to leave.

Britain's Foreign Office advised against all non-essential travel to Tokyo and
north-eastern Japan. "Our advice is people should take their lead from the
Japanese authorities," the Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne told Sky
News.

The US state department urged its citizens to avoid tourism and non-essential
travel to Japan. "[Our] travel advice is not to go to that part of Japan in
any case unless you have an extremely compelling reason for doing so," it
said.

Japan's government has ordered people within 12 miles of the Fukushima No 1
plant, about 150 miles NE of Tokyo, to evacuate. Those living between 12 and
19 miles from the plant were told to stay indoors due to fears of exposure to
radiation.

In Saitama, a prefecture N of Tokyo where safe but higher radiation levels
have been detected, residents struggled to secure food. Yoshiyuki Sakuma was
one of many who could not find a single bag of rice. "I couldn't find any
anywhere," he said, adding he was now searching for bread.

"If you lose electricity, water and gas, at least you can still eat bread."

MYREF: 20110315211152 msg201103159175

[139 more news items]

---
[A]ll science is lies and the only thing we can trust is right wing rhetoric.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 14 Jan 2011 14:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Meltdowns Grow More Likely at the Fukushima Reactors

[Insiders have revealed that each reactor building at the Fukushima plant
contain spent fuel ponds that could contain up to 3000 spent fuel rods --
about 5x the number inside the reactor code. The ponds are located above the
reactor "in the ceiling" and outside of the containment. The relevance of
this? Remember 2 of these buildings have blown up. What happened to the spent
fuel? On a related note: at least one of the troubled reactors used plutonium
fuel].

HuffPost
Robert Alvarez
Senior Scholar, Institute for Policy Studies
March 13, 2011 04:45 PM

Japan's government and nuclear industry, with assistance from the U.S.
military, is in a desperate race to stave off multiple nuclear reactor
meltdowns -- as well as potential fires in pools of spent fuel.

As of Sun afternoon, more than 170k people have been evacuated near the
reactor sites as radioactive releases have increased. The number of military
emergency responders has jumped from 51k to 100,000. Officials now report a
partial meltdown at Fukushima's Unit 1. Japanese media outlets are reporting
that there may be a second one underway at Unit 3. People living nearby have
been exposed to unknown levels of radiation, with some requiring medical
attention.

Meanwhile, Unit 2 of the Tokai nuclear complex, which is near Kyodo and just
75 miles N of Tokyo, is reported to have a coolant pump failure. And Japan's
nuclear safety agency has declared a state of emergency at the Onagawa nuclear
power plant in northeastern Japan because of high radiation
levels. Authorities are saying its 3 reactors are "under control."

The damage from the massive earthquake and the tsunamis that followed have
profoundly damaged the reactor sites' infrastructure, leaving them without
power and their electrical and piping systems destroyed. A hydrogen explosion
Sat at Unit 1 severely damaged the reactor building, blowing apart its roof.

The results of desperate efforts to divert seawater into the Unit 1 reactor
are uncertain. A Japanese official reported that gauges don't appear to show
the water level rising in the reactor vessel.

There remain a number of major uncertainties about the situation's stability
and many questions about what might happen next. Along with the struggle to
cool the reactors is the potential danger from an inability to cool
Fukushima's spent nuclear fuel pools. They contain very large concentrations
of radioactivity, can catch fire, and are in much more vulnerable
buildings. The ponds, typically rectangular basins about 40 feet deep, are
made of reinforced concrete walls 4 to 5 feet thick lined with stainless
steel.

The boiling-water reactors at Fukushima -- 40-years-old and designed by
General Electric -- have spent fuel pools several stories above ground
adjacent to the top of the reactor. The hydrogen explosion may have blown off
the roof covering the pool, as it's not under containment. The pool requires
water circulation to remove decay heat. If this doesn't happen, the water will
evaporate and possibly boil off. If a pool wall or support is compromised,
then drainage is a concern. Once the water drops to around 5-6 feet above the
assemblies, dose rates could be life-threatening near the reactor building. If
significant drainage occurs, after several hours the zirconium cladding around
the irradiated uranium could ignite.

Then all bets are off.

On average, spent fuel ponds hold five-to-ten times more long-lived
radioactivity than a reactor core. Particularly worrisome is the large amount
of cesium-137 in fuel ponds, which contain anywhere from 20 to 50 mn curies of
this dangerous radioactive isotope. With a half-life of 30 years, cesium-137
gives off highly penetrating radiation and is absorbed in the food chain as if
it were potassium.

In comparison, the 1986 Chernobyl accident released about 40% of the reactor
core's 6 mn curies. A 1997 report for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
by Brookhaven National Laboratory also found that a severe pool fire could
render about 188 mi2 uninhabitable, cause as many as 28k cancer
fatalities, and cost $59 bn in damage. A single spent fuel pond holds
more cesium-137 than was deposited by all atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in
the Northern Hemisphere combined. Earthquakes and acts of malice are
considered to be the primary events that can cause a major loss of pool water.

In 2003, my colleagues and I published a study that indicated if a spent fuel
pool were drained in the United States, a major release of cesium-137 from a
pool fire could render an area uninhabitable greater than created by the
Chernobyl accident. We recommended that spent fuel older than 5 years, about
75% of what's in US spent fuel pools, be placed in dry hardened casks --
something Germany did 25 y ago. The NRC challenged our recommendation,
which prompted Congress to request a review of this controversy by the
National Academy of Sciences. In 2004, the Academy reported that a "partially
or completely drained a spent fuel pool could lead to a propagating zirconium
cladding fire and release large quantities of radioactive materials to the
environment."

Given what's happening at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, it's time for
a serious review of what our nuclear safety authorities consider to be
improbable, especially when it comes to reactors operating in earthquake
zones.

MYREF: 20110316005401 msg2011031620602

[139 more news items]

---
So you really, really believe that our universe just came about by
sheer chance? I prersonally, find that extremely hard to accept.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 11 Jan 2011 15:02 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Tokyo Electric may be held liable for nuclear plant explosions

Junko Fujita and Rachel Armstrong
Reuters
March 16 2011

Singapore/Tokyo, March 16 (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power could still be held
liable for the problems at its nuclear power plant as the Japanese government
has not yet decided whether to classify Fri's devastating earthquake an
"exceptional" natural disaster.

Japan's 1961 Act on Compensation for Nuclear Damage states the operator of a
nuclear facility will not be responsible for any damage caused by their
reactor if it was due to "a grave natural disaster of an exceptional character
or by an insurrection".

Insurers of the nuclear plant have already cited this law to signal that
claims are unlikely to be made following the explosions.

However, a person involved in this matter said the quake that hit Japan's
northern coast is not yet considered as an exceptional natural disaster,
adding that the official consensus will have to be made by the ministry for
education, culture, sport, science and technology -- which is in charge of the
law.

While Fri's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami caused devastating damage
along Japan's northeast coast, it may not meet the criteria of an
"exceptional" disaster because quakes and tsunami are events to be expected in
Japan, the person said.

"An exceptional disaster is something that is beyond expectations and out of
the realm of common sense," the person said, noting that such an exception has
never been applied in the past.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because a decision on the matter
has not been made. Tokyo Electric did not return a call seeking comment.

The operator of the nuclear plant has unlimited liability for its
plant. Depending on the cause of an accident, either the government or the
group of insurers are to provide 120 bn yen ($1.47 billion) for liability
coverage.

The operator has to compensate for all the damage exceeding that amount unless
the exception of a natural disaster is granted. It has never been granted
before.

If the operator is threatened with financial ruin then it can ask the
government to assist.

"Usually the plant would be liable for some of the damage but if it's caused
by a natural disaster then they should escape liability," said Kenji Kawada, a
senior analyst covering insurers at Moody's Investors Service in Tokyo.

The news that Japan has not yet decided whether to classify Fri's earthquake
and tsunami as an exceptional grave natural disaster is likely to come as a
surprise to some insurers.

Nuclear Risk Insurers, the underwriting agent for all UK nuclear insurers,
said on Mon, "NRI does not anticipate significant losses from this event",
pointing to the 1961 act.

Chaucer , one of the world's leading nuclear-risk insurers, also said it
expected the act to absolve the operator of liability.

There have been 4 explosions at TEPCO's Fukishima Daiichi complex since it was
damaged in the massive earthquake and tsunami.

Japan has warned that radiation levels around the stricken plant have become
"significantly" higher following the explosions.

MYREF: 20110316040917 msg201103162803

[142 more news items]

---
[Before the flood:]
The recent Murray Darling run-off since the floods would have provided
enought irrigation water to last at least 15 years.
Instead it has all run out to sea!
Crazy anti-dam greenies!
-- "BONZO"@27.32.240.172 [86 nyms and counting], 12 Nov 2010 14:05 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

EU to apply stress tests on its nuclear plants

Mar 15 2011

Brussels (AP) -- The European Union energy chief says the union has decided to
apply stress tests to see how its 143 nuclear plants would react in
emergencies.

Energy Commissioner Guenter Oettinger said Tue after an emergency meeting of
energy ministers and nuclear regulators there was "general agreement among
those who were present today on the carrying out of common stress tests on the
basis of common strict standards."

The quick decision came in the wake of Japan's atomic crisis.

Brussels (AP) -- The European Union on Tue was considering stress tests to see
how its 143 nuclear plants would react in emergencies and said it might have
to reassess the construction procedures in the wake of Japan's atomic crisis.

EU Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly said the issue will be discussed by a
hastily convened meeting of energy ministers, nuclear regulators and industry
officials. However, it would take several days to come to a consensus on what
such a test might consist of, he added.

"We really need to have a better view of the operation in Europe," Bailly
said.

The more than 100 officials meeting in Brussels were also set to debate the
decision of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to take 7 of its 17 nuclear
reactors offline for 3 m while the country reconsiders plans to extend the
life of its atomic power plants.

Though earthquakes are rare in Germany and tend to be weak, Merkel said
effects of the Japan temblor made clear that the measures taken there to
protect nuclear plants were insufficient -- justifying a review of precautions
elsewhere.

"This has shown that the design of the nuclear plants were not sufficient
against the forces of nature," she said.

Merkel said she has already spoken with French President Nicolas Sarkozy,
agreeing to bring up nuclear safety as a topic at the G-20 summit in France at
the end of the month.

Tue's meeting in Brussels would also look at how to confront emergencies and
what can be done better, with special emphasis on what kind of emergency power
supply and backup systems are in place. The meeting will also look into
emergency preparedness in case of an accident.

Only 13 of the 27 EU nations use nuclear energy but any serious accident would
soon involve all.

One of the EU's smaller members, Lithuania, would have to reconsider its plans
to build a new nuclear plant and think harder about conventional and
alternative energy sources, the country's president said Tue.

"Lithuania should have no illusions that it may be able to build something in
near future. We have no investor, we have no technologies. It would be very
naive nurturing expectations, especially given the current situation and
economy crisis, which isn't over yet," President Dalia Grybauskaite told The
Associated Press.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is not an EU member, said he
had no plans to suspend a deal with Russia's Rosatom agency for the
construction of Turkey's 1st nuclear power plant.

Dismissing questions on possible dangers, Erdogan said all investments have
high risks. "In that case, let's not bring gas canisters to our homes, let's
not install natural gas, let's not stream crude oil through our country," he
said.

Several dozen anti-nuclear protesters gathered outside Merkel's chancellory
early Tue, urging her to fully halt the nation's nuclear energy program. Tens
of 1000s of Germans gathered in cities across the nation on Mon to demand a
stop to the use of nuclear energy, including a vigil held in Hamburg.

Germany will temporarily shut down all reactors that went into operation
before the end of 1980, Merkel said after meeting the governors of states that
have nuclear plants. She noted that not all are currently on the grid, because
of maintenance work.

Ahead of 3 state elections over the next 2 weeks, Merkel has performed a
partial policy about-turn amid fears sparked by the crisis under way at
Japan's tsunami-stricken nuclear power plant.

A previous government decided a decade ago to shut all 17 German nuclear
plants by 2021, but Merkel's administration last y moved to extend their lives
by an average 12 years. That decision was suspended for 3 m on Mon.

"Safety is the priority," Merkel said. "Those are the criteria by which we
acted today."

Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen characterized the planned shutdown as a
"precaution" pending a safety review of all nuclear plants but wouldn't say
whether it might lead to the oldest reactors being shuttered permanently.

Nuclear energy has been unpopular in Germany since an explosion at a nuclear
reactor at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986, sent a cloud of radiation over much of
Europe.

"It is important for Europeans to realize that you don't need a big earthquake
to cause a nuclear catastrophe," Greenpeace spokesman Jan Haverkamp said. It's
time we moved away from dangerous and expensive nuclear and truly embraced
renewable power."

MYREF: 20110316041144 msg2011031614896

[140 more news items]

---
[Irony 101:]
[By my count BONZO has called people whacko 137 times; fool 26; idiot
22 times; twit 17 times; moron 14 times in just the past 4 wks. There
is a 10+-year history, however].
Warmist Abuse Shows They're Losing
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 16 Feb 2011 17:15 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Spent fuel rods in Japanese nuclear reactors a long-term risk

William J Broad and Hiroko Tabuchi
The New York Times
March 15, 2011

Tokyo: Even as workers race to prevent the radioactive cores of the damaged
nuclear reactors in Japan from melting down, concerns are growing that nearby
pools holding spent fuel rods could pose an even greater danger.

The pools, which sit on the top level of the reactor buildings and keep spent
fuel submerged in water, have lost their cooling systems and the Japanese have
been unable to take emergency steps because of the multiplying crises.

By late Tue, the water meant to cool spent fuel rods in the No. 4 reactor was
boiling, Japan's nuclear watchdog said. If the water evaporates and the rods
run dry, they could overheat and catch fire, potentially spreading radioactive
materials in dangerous clouds.

Shigekatsu Oomukai, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency,
said the substantial capacity of the pool meant that the water in it was
unlikely to evaporate soon. But he said workers were having difficulty
reaching the pool to cool it, because of the high temperature of the water.

Temperatures appeared to be rising in the spent fuel pools at 2 other reactors
at the plant, No. 5 and No. 6, said Yukio Edano, the chief cabinet
secretary. Meanwhile, workers continued to pump seawater into the No. 1 and
No. 3 reactors, where cooling systems remained unusable. The pools are a
worry at the stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant because at least
2 of the reactors have lost their roofs in explosions, exposing the spent fuel
pools to the atmosphere. By contrast, reactors have strong containment vessels
that stand a better chance of bottling up radiation from a meltdown of the
fuel in the reactor core.

If any of the spent fuel rods in the pools do indeed catch fire, nuclear
experts say, the high heat would loft the radiation in clouds that would
spread the radioactivity.

"It's worse than a meltdown," said David A. Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer at
the Union of Concerned Scientists who worked as an instructor on the kinds of
General Electric reactors used in Japan.

"The reactor is inside thick walls, and the spent fuel of Reactors 1 and 3 is
out in the open."

A spokesman for the Japanese company that runs the stricken reactors said in
an interview on Mon that the spent fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini
plants had been left uncooled since shortly after the quake.

The company, Tokyo Electric, has not been able to cool the spent fuel pools
because power has been knocked out, said Johei Shiomi, the spokesman. "There
may be some heating up," he said.

Before Tue's fire, some scientists said that a worst-case outcome was unlikely
and that the Japanese would probably have enough time to act before too much
water boiled away. Firefighters with hoses can pour in water, they said, or
helicopters could drop tons of water.

"I'm still hopeful that they can contain all this," Thomas B. Cochran, a
senior scientist in the nuclear program of the Natural Resources Defense
Council, a private group in Washington, said in an interview. "You've got
time to put fire hoses up there and get it filled if it's not leaking," he
said of the pool.

A 1997 study by the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island described a
worst-case disaster from uncovered spent fuel in a reactor cooling pool. It
estimated 100 quick deaths would occur within a range of 500 miles and 138k
eventual deaths.

The study also found that land over 2,170 miles would be contaminated and
damages would hit $546 billion.

That section of the Brookhaven study focused on boiling water reactors -- the
kind at the heart of the Japanese crisis.

The threat is considered so severe that at the start of the crisis Fri,
immediately after the shattering earthquake, Fukushima plant officials focused
their attention on a damaged storage pool for spent nuclear fuel at the No. 2
reactor at Daiichi, said a nuclear executive who requested anonymity because
his company is not involved in the emergency response at the reactors and is
wary of antagonizing other companies in the industry.

The damage prompted the plant's management to divert much of the attention and
pumping capacity to that pool, the executive added. The shutdown of the other
reactors then proceeded badly, and problems began to cascade.

Mr. Shiomi of Tokyo Electric said that in addition to the power and cooling
failures, some water had spilled from the pools. But he said that the company
thought there "was relatively little danger that temperatures would rise."

"If you compare this to everything that's been going on," Mr Shiomi said,
"it's not serious."

Each of the crippled reactors in Japan has one cooling pool sitting atop the
main concrete structure. Thin roofs and metal walls usually surround the
pools.

In a reactor pool, the time it takes uncooled fuel to begin boiling the
surrounding water depends on how much fuel is present and how old it is. Fresh
fuel is hotter in terms of radiation than old fuel is. Mr Lochbaum, who
formerly taught reactor operation for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said
the pools measured about 40 feet long, 40 feet wide and 45 feet deep. The
spent fuel, he added, rested at the pool's bottom and rose no higher than 15
feet from the bottom. That means that in normal operations, the spent fuel is
covered by about 30 feet of cooling water.

Depending on the freshness of the spent fuel, Mr Lochbaum said, the water in
an uncooled pool would start to boil in anywhere from days to a week. The
water would boil off to a dangerous level in another wk or two.

Once most of the fuel is exposed, he said, it can catch fire. If the spent
fuel is a few m old, most of the iodine 131 -- one of the most dangerous
radioactive by-products in spent fuel -- will have decayed into harmless
forms.

But the cesium 137 in the spent fuel has a half-life of 30 years, meaning it
would take about 2 centuries to diminish its levels of radioactivity down to 1
percent.

It is cesium 137 that still contaminates much land in Ukraine around the
Chernobyl reactor, which suffered a meltdown in 1986.

"I assume they are doing triage," Mr Lochbaum said of the Japanese, with
emergency personnel 1st trying to avoid core meltdowns and then turning their
attention to the cooling pools.

He added that the explosions at the reactors at Daiichi could complicate
efforts to try to reach the cooling pools and keep them filled with water.

"There's no telling what's up there," he said.

MYREF: 20110316163002 msg201103167277

[137 more news items]

---
What exactly are you trying to say, aside from calling me an idiot?
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 11 Feb 2011 12:20 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan hikes legal radiation dose for nuke workers

AP
March 16, 2011

Japan has raised the maximum radiation dose allowed for nuclear workers,
citing the urgent need to prevent a crisis at a tsunami-stricken power plant
from worsening.

Despite the increase, surging radiation levels forced emergency workers to
temporarily withdraw from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant on
Wed, losing time in their struggle to cool overheating fuel in reactors
crippled by last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare raised the maximum allowable exposure
for nuclear workers to 250 millisieverts from 100 millisieverts. It described
the move as "unavoidable due to the circumstances."

MYREF: 20110317033122 msg2011031722532

[142 more news items]

---
Of course "global temperature are rising" [...]
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 12:22 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan increases efforts to cool damaged reactors

[In other news, NBC report Lester Holt had a slight scare this morning
when his shoes tested "above background" even after washing several
times following a chopper trip to NE Japan. Lester says the shoes will
not be returning to the US. In the latest reports rad contamination
has been found in Fukushima's water supply. 2 AUS emergency workers
that were forced to land at Fukushima airport -- 40 km from the plant
-- were later found to have contamination on their shoes].

The number of workers battling the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant is
doubled, but leaking radiation has hampered attempts to dump water on some
areas and the situation appears to be deteriorating.

Thomas H Maugh II
LA Times
March 16, 2011, 8:50 a.m.

Authorities battling the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant
have doubled the number of workers on the site to 100 in an effort to continue
cooling the 3 reactors and the spent fuel pools but have abandoned -- at least
temporarily -- plans to use helicopters to dump water on the pools because of
the radiation danger. Police may now use water cannons to spray the pools.

The status of reactor No 3 at the site was not clear, with some reports saying
that the reactor containment vessel may have been breached and was releasing
radioactivity and others saying that it was still intact. The containment
vessel at reactor No 2 has previously been breached, and it appeared to be
leaking small amounts of radioactivity.

As the crisis at the power plant entered its 6th night, the situation appeared
to be deteriorating. One sign was that the Japanese government increased the
maximum radiation dose that workers could be exposed to from 100 millisieverts
to 250 millisieverts, describing the move as "unavoidable due to the
circumstances."

The workers are all wearing full protective gear and working only in short
shifts, but they are still believed to be exposed to significant doses of
radiation.

All of the workers were pulled out of the plant for nearly an hour Wed when
radiation levels spiked, but pumps continued to inject seawater into the
reactors in their absence, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co, which owns
the plant. The workers returned as soon as the radiation levels had
subsided. The radiation spike was believed to result from the release of steam
from reactor No 2.

Authorities estimated that about 70% of the fuel rods in reactor No 1 had been
damaged and about 30% of the rods in reactor No 2. Those were merely
estimates, however, because they have no direct way to measure the extent of
damage.

Military helicopters were seen flying over the reactor buildings Wed night to
measure radiation levels. Authorities had planned to use helicopters to drop
water on the spent fuel cooling ponds on the roofs of the buildings, which
have also lost their emergency cooling systems.

The need was especially critical at the pool for reactor No 4, which has
caught fire twice and where the cooling water was boiling and was believed to
be reaching dangerously low levels. Authorities concluded, however, that
radiation levels were too high to allow the water drops. Authorities said the
police may now attempt to use water cannons, normally used to quell riots, to
spray water into the pools. Workers will 1st have to remove some debris from
near the buildings, however, so the apparatus can get close enough.

The good news is that the reactors should be undergoing a certain amount of
cooling on their own. When an operating reactor is shut down, it continues to
produce a large amount of heat, known as decay heat. Within the 1st wk after
a shutdown, that decay heat declines by about 50%, experts said, so that the
reactors require less external cooling.

MYREF: 20110317070002 msg2011031710510

[141 more news items]

---
[It's not "land" warming -- it's just "ocean" warming!]
QUOTE: Evidence is presented that the recent worldwide land warming has
occurred largely in response to a worldwide warming of the oceans rather
than as a direct response to increasing greenhouse gases over land.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 14 Dec 2010 10:35 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Emergency Power Reaches Crippled Japan Nuclear Plant

[Emergency power has reached the Fukushima nuclear plant 2 days ahead of
time].

* Japanese Doctors Treat the Ill, Hope for the Best
* Foreign Embassies Break Step on Evacuation Advice
* Japan Turns to Desperate Measures to Cool Nuclear Reactors
* Japan Admits Time Running Out to Avert Possible Nuclear Catastrophe

VOA
March 17, 2011

Japanese engineers worked through the night Thu to extend an emergency power
cable to a nuclear reactor complex crippled by the country's earthquake and
tsunami a wk ago.

A steady supply of power could enable workers at the Fukushima plant to get
water pumps working again in their urgent effort to cool off overheated
nuclear fuel rods.

The cooling problem is particularly critical at one of the plant's 6 nuclear
reactors, where the risk of an increased level of radioactive leaks is
considered particularly high.

The UN nuclear agency reported the situation at the Fukushima nuclear station
was "very serious" Thu, but that the problems caused by last week's natural
disaster had not become significantly worse during the previous 24 hours.
That assessment was delivered before the announcement late Thu night that the
circuit delivering electric power to the plant had just been restored.

In Vienna, an official at the International Atomic Energy Agency, Graham
Andrew, told reporters radiation levels had risen "significantly" in some
locations up to 30 km away from the Fukushima plant. However, in Tokyo, 240
km away, radiation levels have been well below levels considered dangerous to
human health.

In Washington, top US military officials at the Pentagon said they are sending
a nine-member team of experts to evaluate how the US can help Japan deal with
its nuclear crisis.

The risk of radiation poisoning has already forced the evacuation of more than
200k people who lived within 20 km of the reactor site. Many are in makeshift
shelters, with inadequate food, water and other supplies, in frigid winter
weather.

For anyone still living inside a wider radius from the plant - 30 km -
Japanese authorities said everyone should remain indoors and take measures to
minimize the amount of outside air entering their living quarters.

And Japan's Kyodo news agency reported late Thu that a new government
directive would instruct local officials to begin testing for radioactivity in
domestically produced food.

Japanese authorities have promoted the idea that a restored water-pumping
system can ease overheating at the reactors, but the government's chief
spokesman, Yukio Edano, warned that even then, seawater has corroded much of
the original pump system and it will have to be replaced.

Three of the Fukushima plant's 6 reactors were operating when the quake
struck, while 3 others were shut down for maintenance. Explosions have rocked
all 3 of the 3 units that had been in operation, causing varying degrees of
damage to the elaborate systems meant to contain the reactor's core material
and prevent a runaway nuclear reaction.

With those fears in mind, the Japanese military used high-pressure fire hoses
early Thu in a desperate attempt to douse nuclear fuel rods that have been
overheating since the March 11 earthquake disabled the 40-year-old nuclear
plant's cooling systems. If the rods become hot enough, the greatest danger
is that they could melt or burn through their outer casings, which would
greatly increase the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere.

Japan also used aerial water drops from helicopters, but video of the
operation showed most of the water fell far from the reactors' cooling tanks,
and the effort was suspended after 4 attempts.

Extremely high radiation levels in the near vicinity of the reactors have made
it impossible for workers to approach the facility for more than a few minutes
at a time.

Greg Jaczko, head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Thu it would
be a "prudent measure" for its citizens to follow US government advice to stay
at least 80 km from the plant -- a radius much larger than the Japanese
exclusion zone. He described the situation at the Fukushima plant as "very
dynamic."

Many governments are evacuating staff from embassies in Tokyo. The United
States has authorized the evacuation of family members and dependents of US
personnel, and promised, Thu, that charter flights will be provide to help any
Americans who want to leave Japan.

The prime minister's office warned of a "massive power outage" in the area
served by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO, and called on everyone in
the country to conserve electricity.

MYREF: 20110318103002 msg2011031829320

[144 more news items]

---
[On knowing your constituents:]
I always thought faremers were a gullible bunch!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 9 Feb 2011 12:09 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Nuclear Liability to Fall on Japan's Taxpayers

[This story directly contradicts statements from govt officials that
point out no company has yet escaped liability because damage has been
the result of "an unforeseeable natural disaster"].

Andrew Dowell and Erik Holm
WSJ
Mar 17 2011

Once the crisis at Japan's nuclear plants ends and the time comes to allocate
financial responsibility, there's likely to be only one party holding the bag:
the Japanese taxpayer.

Japan's nuclear liability law holds operators of nuclear facilities--in this
case Tokyo Electric Power Co.- fully responsible for damage caused by nuclear
accidents. But when catastrophic natural disasters are involved, the
obligation shifts to the Japanese government.

That means Tokyo Electric and the companies that supplied the reactors now at
risk of melting down, including General Electric Co. and Toshiba Corp., could
be insulated from a potential cascade of lawsuits seeking ...

<http://news.google.com.au/news/url?sa=t&ct2=us%2F0_0_s_30_0_t&usg=AFQjCNE8dSc-N
6u6qVgEDL7C1aERV1KnBA&did=e600eeef5191d11f&sig2=Fnx0fiWsI_c30tpzNKHY2g&cid=17593
872771622&ei=hZyCTZCeEMSokgXto7Uq&rt=SEARCH&vm=STANDARD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.
wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748703818204576206641610469156.html%3Fmod%3Dgoo
glenews_wsj>

MYREF: 20110318190001 msg201103181221

[139 more news items]

---

Remember who you're talking to. :)
The guy quotes Dyson without knowing Dyson accepts AGW;

Dyson accepts AGW???
News to me!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], Mar 2 16:10 EST 2011

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan nuclear evacuation kills 14 elderly hospital patients

Andy Bloxham
Telegraph.co.uk
Mar 18 2011

Fourteen elderly hospital patients died N of Tokyo after they were evacuated
from the radiation risk zone as Japan's humanitarian mission struggles to cope
with the scale of the disaster.

Over 1/2 a mn people are currently estimated to be living in shelters. Many
lack both running water and electricity.

Shattered roads and severe disruption to train services have hampered
rescuers' efforts to reach the elderly and infirm, with tens of 1000s of
people still unaccounted for.

For those removed by rescue teams, the ordeal is not over. Medical supplies
are running short, with some centres relying on merely bandages, ointment and
aspirin.

Life or death situations usually have to be solved with what is to hand -
telephone lines are down and there is little or no mobile network.

Freezing conditions have made matters worse, with snow falling across the
region and temperatures struggling only a few degrees above zero during the
day.

Almost a quarter of Japan's population is over 65 (23% compared to 16% in the
UK) and among the problems reported by rescue centres are age-related
problems, such as people forgetting their pills then being unable to tell
rescuers the correct dose.

Cases of hypothermia, serious dehydration and respiratory diseases have been
reported.

On Mon, about 100 elderly patients were moved out of a hospital and into a
temporary shelter at a high school gymnasium in Iwaki, in Fukushima
prefecture, a few miles from the crisis-hit nuclear plant.

Two died in transit and the gym was supposed to be a brief halt before the
patients were transferred to other hospitals but they were already full and
there were no vehicles nor fuel to move them.

By Thu morning, the remaining patients had all been moved to other hospitals
but it was too late for 12 who had died overnight.

Chuei Inamura, a local government official, said: "We feel very helpless and
very sorry for them.

"The condition at the gymnasium was horrible. No running water, no medicine
and very, very little food. We simply did not have means to provide good
care."

At the Junior High School in Kesennuma, a few ointment tubes, bandages and
boxes of aspirin and stomach and cold medicines were stacked on a table; the
only medical supplies left.

Keiko Endo, a 58-year-old nurse volunteering at the centre, said: "There's not
enough. It's a problem. We're trying to comfort and help them, but we can't do
too much."

Nearby sat a group of elderly men and women, a single kerosene heater doing
nothing to warm the large draughty room.

Eric Ouannes, of Doctors Without Borders, said: "Some don't remember what they
were taking, how much, and what was the exact prescription. So that makes
things a little more complicated."

Yesterday, the Japanese authorities asked for European Union relief help
coordinating the delivery of blankets, mattresses, water, water tanks, food
and tents, amid fears that too much aid could swamp the nation's already
overstretched resources.

MYREF: 20110319050408 msg2011031921034

[141 more news items]

---

Why is it relevant that the 'chief scientist' is a woman?

Because women are easier prey for scams such as The Great Global Warming Hoax!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 7 Feb 2011 11:28 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan Confirms High Radiation in Spinach and Milk Near Nuclear Plant

* Radiation Plume Reaches U.S., but Is Said to Pose No Risk

* Easy Fixes at Reactors in Long Run Are Elusive

Mark McDonald and Ayasa Aizawa
New York Times
March 19, 2011

"Everything that we are going through now is a lot scarier than the bombing
attacks during World War II," she said. "I'm not going to believe the
government because I don't think only spinach from Ibaraki will be affected."

There have been no reports of contaminated fish or meat.

Many of the ports, fleets and processing facilities in Tohoku, the area most
affected by the tsunami and nuclear crisis, were so badly damaged that no fish
or seafood has reached Tsukiji market in central Tokyo, according to the
market's general manager, Tsutomo Kosaka. The market handles 90% of the
seafood for about 40 mn consumers in the greater Tokyo area.

Japan's leading producers of premium beef, including the world-famous Kobe
brand, said Sat that they had not yet tested their cattle or feed. But they
were nervous about the possible spread of radiation from Fukushima.

"Even though the government hasn't mentioned the possibility of contamination
of beef, we should start testing to convince people the beef is safe," said
Hiroshi Uchida, a former professor of agriculture who is director of the
national cattle museum in Iwate Prefecture, about 150 miles N of the damaged
reactors in Fukushima. "We need scientific proof and hard data to protect the
beef brand."

While only spinach and milk were found to have radioactive materials above
established limits, some countries have been testing food imports from Japan
since the day after the quake and tsunami. In Hong Kong, for instance, 216
Japanese products passed food-quality screenings, including meat, fish, fruits
and vegetables.

In Japan, the damage to the reactors has reduced the electricity supply in the
greater Tokyo region, leading to rolling blackouts that have slowed business
activity.

The government is rushing to find a way to cool the damaged reactors in
Fukushima to prevent a full-scale meltdown. In a news conference on Sat,
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said that temperatures outside the 4 hobbled
nuclear reactors in Fukushima were lower than expected, but he was unable to
confirm how hot it was inside the damaged buildings, leaving open the
possibility that nuclear fuel may still be overheating.

Temperatures were below 212 degrees Fahrenheit based on readings taken by
firefighters from the Self-Defense Force that drove trucks with water cannons
to within about 60 feet of the No. 3 reactor on Fri.

Mr. Kitazawa said that the temperature readings had increased hopes that the
nuclear fuel could be kept cool through further efforts to spray the reactors
with water, while technicians worked on restoring power to the cooling
systems.

"What we are ultimately working toward is getting to a point where water is
continuously pouring into the reactors," he said, adding that engineers were
also working to find a way to assess water levels inside the reactors, which
were currently unapproachable by workers because of high levels of radiation.

The National Police Agency said on Sat that there were nearly 7,200 confirmed
deaths so far because of the earthquake and tsunami last week, and nearly 11k
people remained missing. Authorities have said they expect the final death
toll to exceed 10,000.

MYREF: 20110320012040 msg2011032018068

[146 more news items]

---
[Irony 101:]
[By my count BONZO has called people whacko 137 times; fool 26; idiot
22 times; twit 17 times; moron 14 times in just the past 4 wks. There
is a 10+-year history, however].
Warmist Abuse Shows They're Losing
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 16 Feb 2011 17:15 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

First-hand account from Fukushima No 1

Naoko Kagemoto
Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
Asia News Network

Fukshima - Strong horizontal jolts dislodged ceiling pipes and massive amounts
of water started flooding out--this was the frightening scene experienced by a
worker who was in the building housing the No. 1 reactor of the Fukushima
No. 1 nuclear power plant when the earthquake hit Fri.

His tale told to The Yomiuri Shimbun sheds light on the heavy initial damage
the quake caused inside the building.

The man works for a company contracted by Tokyo Electric Power Co. to handle
inspections and maintenance of the reactor in Fukushima Prefecture. He had
occasionally worked at the plant since last summer.

When the earthquake struck, he was doing electrical work with some coworkers
inside the containment building of the reactor, which was operating at the
time, in an area where there was ordinarily no fear of radioactive
contamination and thus no need for protective clothing.

"It was such a powerful jolt I could hardly stand. I was thrown from side to
side," he said. "I thought, 'That was no ordinary jolt.'" He also heard loud
crashes of a crane, lighting and other equipment being bounced around, he said.

Soon the lights inside the building went out and emergency lighting came
on. An announcement came next, telling workers to stay where they were. But
seams on metal pipes installed in the ceiling had been broken by the strong
jolts and water started flooding out.

Someone yelled: "This could be dangerous water. Let's get out of here!" and
they rushed down the stairs to the 1st floor exit.

Workers are supposed to 1st report, without touching, water leaks they find
inside the building. But continuing aftershocks made them more terrified of
being trapped inside the building with the reactor than of the possibly
radioactive water, he said.

When they reached the 1st floor, it was crowded with other employees changing
out of their work uniforms and being tested for radioactive exposure before
they left the building, as called for by regulations. But with only one
testing device available, there was a long line of workers waiting in the
narrow passage.

The aftershocks kept on coming and some people shouted angrily, "Hurry up!" He
eventually found out he had not been exposed to radiation.

MYREF: 20110320060002 msg201103208909

[146 more news items]

---
[Cause and effect:]

[explanations for climate change]

You left out "emerging from an ice age"!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 12:40 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Radiation hampers power restoration at nuclear plant

Efforts to try to restore power to reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi complex
are interrupted as high radiation forces the withdrawal of workers. But it's
unclear whether a return of power will help. Spent fuel rods remain the
biggest concern.

Thomas H Maugh II
Los Angeles Times
March 18, 2011, 8:39 a.m.

Engineers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant worked all day Fri
attempting to connect a newly restored power line to reactors No. 1 and 2, but
their task was repeatedly interrupted by the need to withdraw workers because
of high radiation levels. The team said they hoped the task would be completed
sometime Fri evening or in the early morning hours Sat.

It is not clear yet, however, whether restoring power to the 2 damaged
reactors will help with cooling. Some engineers believe the cooling pumps were
irretrievably damaged by the hydrogen explosions that wracked the reactor
buildings in the 1st 4 days after the March 10 magnitude 9 Tohoku quake, or by
corrosion from the seawater that has been pumped into the reactor. At the very
least, however, restoring power should restore many of the control functions
at the reactor.

Officials of Tokyo Electric Power Co, which owns the facility 140 miles N of
Tokyo, said they hoped to have power connected to reactors No. 3 and 4 by Sun.

Reactor building No. 4 is now the source of the biggest concern at the site
because it contains spent fuel rods that may have boiled dry and are releasing
large amounts of radiation into the environment.

The spent-fuel pool does not have a containment vessel, so if the fuel rods
heat up and start burning, the radioactive ash will be released directly into
the environment.

Workers made a second series of attempts Fri to cool the fuel rods, dumping
water from helicopters and using water cannons operated by Japan's
Self-Defense Forces to spray water into the pool, which sits in the upper
level of the building housing reactor No. 4. The reactor itself had been shut
down for maintenance before the earthquake, so it does not pose a problem.

But photographs taken by helicopters and a Global Hawk drone operated by the
US Air Force indicate the water is not lasting very long in the pool,
suggesting that there is a major breach in the walls of the vessel holding the
fuel rods, according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Recognizing the severity of the problem, Japan's nuclear regulatory agency Fri
upgraded the severity of the Fukushima disaster from 4 to 5 on the
international scale of one to seven. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the worst
nuclear disaster in history, was rated a seven.

The 1979 3 Mile Island incident, previously considered the second-worst
accident in history, was also rated a five. French officials had previously
called Fukushima a 5 and now Japanese authorities have agreed with their assessm
ent.

But it is clear that Fukushima is a much more serious problem than 3 Mile
Island. Little or no radiation escaped from the Pennsylvania facility, and no
one was injured there.

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, which monitors radiation
globally, said Fri that minute amounts of radiation from Fukushima had reached
the W Coast of the United States, but only at barely detectable levels that
were insignificant to health.

On Sun, meteorologists predict a heavy rainstorm for the Fukushima area, with
the prevailing winds changing toward the direction of Tokyo.

MYREF: 20110320150002 msg2011032028020

[139 more news items]

---
[I am Luddite!]
You whackos just keep changing your "predictions" to suit reality!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 16 Feb 2011 15:57 +1100

[T. Keating]

On Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:00:02 +1100, "Mr Posting Robot"
<***@kymhorsell.dyndns.org> wrote:

Political newsgroups trimmed.. (so I can post this response)..

Post by Mr Posting Robot
Radiation hampers power restoration at nuclear plant
Efforts to try to restore power to reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi complex
are interrupted as high radiation forces the withdrawal of workers. But it's
unclear whether a return of power will help. Spent fuel rods remain the
biggest concern.
Thomas H Maugh II
Los Angeles Times
March 18, 2011, 8:39 a.m.
Engineers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant worked all day Fri
attempting to connect a newly restored power line to reactors No. 1 and 2, but
their task was repeatedly interrupted by the need to withdraw workers because
of high radiation levels. The team said they hoped the task would be completed
sometime Fri evening or in the early morning hours Sat.
It is not clear yet, however, whether restoring power to the 2 damaged
reactors will help with cooling. Some engineers believe the cooling pumps were
irretrievably damaged by the hydrogen explosions that wracked the reactor
buildings in the 1st 4 days after the March 10 magnitude 9 Tohoku quake, or by
corrosion from the seawater that has been pumped into the reactor. At the very
least, however, restoring power should restore many of the control functions
at the reactor.
Officials of Tokyo Electric Power Co, which owns the facility 140 miles N of
Tokyo, said they hoped to have power connected to reactors No. 3 and 4 by Sun.
Reactor building No. 4 is now the source of the biggest concern at the site
because it contains spent fuel rods that may have boiled dry and are releasing
large amounts of radiation into the environment.
The spent-fuel pool does not have a containment vessel, so if the fuel rods
heat up and start burning, the radioactive ash will be released directly into
the environment.
Workers made a second series of attempts Fri to cool the fuel rods, dumping
water from helicopters and using water cannons operated by Japan's
Self-Defense Forces to spray water into the pool, which sits in the upper
level of the building housing reactor No. 4. The reactor itself had been shut
down for maintenance before the earthquake, so it does not pose a problem.
But photographs taken by helicopters and a Global Hawk drone operated by the
US Air Force indicate the water is not lasting very long in the pool,
suggesting that there is a major breach in the walls of the vessel holding the
fuel rods, according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

That's real bad news..

Post by Mr Posting Robot
Recognizing the severity of the problem, Japan's nuclear regulatory agency Fri
upgraded the severity of the Fukushima disaster from 4 to 5 on the
international scale of one to seven. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the worst
nuclear disaster in history, was rated a seven.

This incident easily fits into the worst catagory(7).

Post by Mr Posting Robot
The 1979 3 Mile Island incident, previously considered the second-worst
accident in history, was also rated a five. French officials had previously
called Fukushima a 5 and now Japanese authorities have agreed with their assessm
ent.
But it is clear that Fukushima is a much more serious problem than 3 Mile
Island. Little or no radiation escaped from the Pennsylvania facility, and no
one was injured there.

A deception, any nuclear facility which periodically releases short
half life radioactive isotopes into the environment is deadly.. Est
20,000 people suffered an early death due to TMI-II accident and
subsequent clean up..

http://www.whale.to/b/infant13.html
"Infant mortality rates drop around five US nuclear power reactors
after reactors closed "

Post by Mr Posting Robot
The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, which monitors radiation
globally, said Fri that minute amounts of radiation from Fukushima had reached
the W Coast of the United States, but only at barely detectable levels that
were insignificant to health.

Another deception, US main-land Beta radiation levels were high enough
to trigger alerts(>130cpm) and critical warnings(>500cpm) where-ever
the fallout plume traveled. Typical background radiation count
(total, alpha, beta, and gamma combined) over sea water is ~10-20cpm..

Post by Mr Posting Robot
On Sun, meteorologists predict a heavy rainstorm for the Fukushima area, with
the prevailing winds changing toward the direction of Tokyo.

Japan's Red Letter day is quickly approaching..

[Mr Posting Robot]

Illinois to seek higher fees on nuclear generators

AP
March 17, 2011

Washington -- Calling Japan's nuclear crisis a "wake-up call," Illinois
Gov. Pat Quinn said Thu he would seek higher fees on power generator Exelon
Corp. and review safety measures surrounding the state's nuclear power plants.

Quinn spoke to reporters in Washington after meeting with Illinois'
congressional delegation and said he was troubled by unfolding events in
Japan, where emergency workers have tried to cool an overheated nuclear
complex damaged by a deadly earthquake and tsunami. The governor said he met
Wed with state emergency management officials to discuss the safety of the
state's 11 nuclear power plants.

"I just think now's the time, given this terrible catastrophe, that our state,
the leading nuclear state in the union, have a full-scale review of
everything," Quinn said.

Illinois has more nuclear power plants than any other state in the US and
generates about 1/2 of its power from nuclear energy. Quinn noted that nuclear
plants in Joliet and Dresden shared similar designs to the overheated
Fukushima Dai-chi nuclear complex in Japan.

Chicago-based Exelon is a major operator of nuclear power plants and has
marketed wind energy in several states. Quinn, a Democrat, said he would seek
the General Assembly's approval to raise Exelon's fees to ensure the state's
emergency management agency has what it needs to ensure safety at the plants.

The governor said the fees haven't increased in nearly a decade and he wants
state officials to determine whether they need more money to conduct safety
inspections of the plants.

"These events in Japan are a wake-up call," said Quinn, adding, "We need to
take a look at this. If we have to get even more of a fee to make sure we have
the best nuclear safety in the world, so be it."

Exelon spokesman Craig Nesbit said the company's plants "are safe, but we
appreciate the governor's concerns about the Japan disaster and we'll be
discussing the issue with his administration."

Quinn said he met with his state's congressional delegation to discuss ways
the state can capture "every federal dollar we're entitled to." He said
Illinois is seeking more federal money for high-speed rail projects that
Florida forfeited and he hoped to accelerate plans for a route between Chicago
and St. Louis.

The lawmakers also discussed the Thomson prison, which the Obama
administration has proposed buying from the state for about $170
million. Congress has not yet approved money for the sale.

Quinn said lawmakers hope to get a letter from the White House explicitly
banning the movement of detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the 1,600-cell prison
in Thomson, Ill, 150 miles W of Chicago.

Congress barred the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States
in Dec, but Quinn said the letter would help clear the way for the sale, which
has faced opposition in Congress.

A White House spokesman did not immediately comment on the prison.

Separately, Quinn said he planned to meet Fri with Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm
Emanuel to discuss ways they can work together to improve the state's
economy. The governor said both he and Emanuel wanted to be "aggressive and
progressive" in bringing jobs to the state.

Emanuel was elected Chicago's mayor last month. The former congressman and
White House chief of staff takes office in May and replaces retiring Mayor
Richard Daley.

MYREF: 20110320220002 msg2011032021286

[137 more news items]

---
Of course "global temperature are rising", we're emerging from an ICE AGE!!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 12:22 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan finds more types of radiation-tainted food

Mari Yamaguchi and Elaine Kurtenbach in Tokyo, Debby Wu in Taipei, Taiwan and Ma
rgie Mason in Hanoi, Vietnam contributed to this report.
AP
March 20, 2011, 10:03AM

Tokyo - Japan's Health Ministry says tests have detected additional types of
radiation-tainted vegetables, in more places, suggesting that contamination
from its tsunami-crippled nuclear complex is reaching further into the food chai
n.

Ministry official Yoshifumi Kaji said Sun that tests found excess amounts
of radioactive elements on canola and chrysanthemum greens, in addition to
spinach. He said the areas where the tainted produce was found included three
prefectures that previously had not recorded such contamination.

Kaji said it was possible that some tainted foods may already have been
sold. He also said that the government ordered shipments of milk from
Fukushima, where the plant is located, to be halted after finding tainted milk
at 37 farms.


Tokyo (AP) - At a bustling Tokyo supermarket Sun, wary shoppers avoided one
particular bin of spinach.

The produce came from Ibaraki prefecture in the northeast, where radiation was
found in spinach grown up to 75 miles (120 kilometers) from the crippled
Fukushima nuclear plant. Another bin of spinach - labeled as being from Chiba
prefecture, W of Tokyo - was sold out.

"It's a little hard to say this, but I won't buy vegetables from Fukushima and
that area," said shopper Yukihiro Sato, 75.

From corner stores to Tokyo's vast Tsukiji fish market, Japanese shoppers picked
groceries with care Sun after the discovery of contamination in spinach and mil
k fanned fears about the safety of this crowded country's food supply.

The anxiety added to the spreading impact of the unfolding nuclear crisis
triggered when the March 11 tsunami battered the Fukushima complex, wrecking
its cooling system and leading to the release of radioactive material.

There were no signs Sun of the panic buying that stripped Tokyo
supermarkets of food last week. Instead, shoppers scrutinized the source of
items and tried to avoid what they worried might be tainted.

Mayumi Mizutani was shopping for bottled water, saying she was worried about
the health of her visiting 2-year-old grandchild after a tiny amount of
radioactive iodine was found in Tokyo's tap water. She expressed fears that
the toddler could possibly get cancer.

"That's why I'm going to use this water as much as possible," she said.

The government said the level of radiation detected on spinach and milk was
minuscule and should be no threat to health. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio
Edano said he had received no reports that would require special measures to
be taken regarding tap water.

The tainted milk was found 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the plant, a local
official said. The spinach was collected from 6 farms between 60 miles (100
kilometers) and 75 miles (120 kilometers) to the S of the reactors.

Farmers and merchants expressed fears of their own that public anxiety might
hurt even producers of goods that were free of contamination.

"There will probably be damaging rumors," said farmer Shizuko Kohata, 60, who
was evacuated from the town of Futaba, near the Fukushima complex, to a sports
arena in Saitama, N of Tokyo.

"I grow things and I'm worried about whether I can make it in the future,"
Kohata said Sat.

Chiyoko Kaizuka, who with family members farms spinach, broccoli, onions, rice
and other crops on 20 hectares (49 acres) in Ibaraki prefecture northeast of
Tokyo, said the combination of earthquakes and fears of radiation have her on
edge.

"I don't know what effect the radiation will have, but it's impossible to
farm," the 83-year-old Kaizuka said Sun as she stood along a row of fresh,
unpicked spinach that was ready to go but now can't be shipped.

On Sun, an official of Taiwan's Atomic Energy Council said radiation was
detected on fava beans imported from Japan, although in an amount that was too
low to harm human health. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because
he is not authorized to deal with the press.

Japan's food exports are worth about $3.3 bn a y - less than 0.5
percent of its total exports - and seafood makes up 45% of that,
according to government data.

Experts at the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization
were working Sun to gather more facts to assess the situation, but an FAO
spokesman in Rome said that the picture was not yet clear enough for them to
release any specific recommendations.

However, the agencies praised the Japanese government for taking steps to test
foods and monitor exports for radiation contamination.

In Tokyo, others said they weren't concerned and put the crisis in perspective
with other calamities.

"I experienced the war, so if there is enough food for a day or two, I feel we
can get by," said Nagako Mizuno, 73, originally from Iwaki, a city in the
quake zone, but has lived in Tokyo for 40 years.

"You can't go on living if you worry about it," she said. "It's all the same
if everybody ends up dying. I'm not concerned."

Fears of radioactive contamination hurt sales at the Tsukiji market, a vast
maze of aisles where merchants at 100s of stalls sell tuna, octopus and
other fish fresh off the boat. The market was unusually quiet over the
weekend, a time when it is normally packed with shoppers and tourists.

Traders have been hit hard by power cuts and an exodus of foreigners, and they
worry about long-term damage from public fears over possible contamination of
fish stocks.

"The impact would last long, like a decade, because people would not eat
fish," said merchant Mamoru Saito, 72.

The market had plenty of fresh fish despite the destruction of much of Japan's
northeastern fishing fleet in the tsunami. Whole fish and shellfish were laid
out on wooden tables washed by a flow of cold water. Fishmongers sawed slabs
of frozen tuna into steaks.

At a restaurant adjacent to the market, sushi chef Hideo Ishigami said the
nuclear scare and transportation disruptions due to power cuts have cost him
business.

"I have a massive drop in the number of customers," said Ishigami, 72.

MYREF: 20110321024719 msg2011032114473

[139 more news items]

---
[On knowing your constituents:]
I always thought faremers were a gullible bunch!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 9 Feb 2011 12:09 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Radiation readings available at EPA, health websites

Peninsula Daily News
19 Mar 2011

The federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Health
are posting radiation readings from monitoring stations online. The EPA
website, [64]www.epa.gov/cdx, displays a map of stations nationwide, including
4 fixed monitors in Washington state -- Seattle, Olympia, Richland and Spokane
-- and provides a way to see readings at each of the stations.

Readings through the state Department of Health at 4 stations -- Tumwater is
referred to rather than Olympia -- are available at
http://tinyurl.com/4b26u6h. They are updated daily at about 3 p.m.

The state Health Department website has a history of daily measurements at
these stations: Seattle, about 100 miles from the center of the N Olympic
Peninsula; Tumwater, about 120 miles away; and Richland and Spokane, both in
Eastern Washington.

The chart shows radiation levels known as "gross beta," which refers to all
radioactive materials that emit beta radiation.

Gross beta measurements "give us the fastest indication of any change in
radiation levels," the state website says.

Sat afternoon's EPA posting showed a measurement of 13 counts per minute at
the Seattle station. The state Health Department said last month's average was
14. Last month's highest reading was 41, and the lowest was 7.

At the Olympia station, the Sat reading was 19 counts per minute.

The levels would have to be 100s of times higher for health officials to
recommend protective measures, the state website says. The EPA said that "the
levels detected are far below levels of concern."

MYREF: 20110321233002 msg2011032127409

[141 more news items]

---
"Global warming" refers to the global-average temperature increase
that has been observed over the last one hundred years or more.
-- Dr Roy W. Spencer, "Global Warming", 2008

Earth's atmosphere contains natural greenhouse gases (mostly water
vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) which act to keep the lower layers
of the atmosphere warmer than they otherwise would be without those gases.
-- Dr Roy W. Spencer, "Global Warming", 2008

This is what the real climate scientist Dr Roy Spencer said.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 3 Mar 2011 16:29 +1100

[T. Keating]

On Mon, 21 Mar 2011 23:30:02 +1100, "Mr Posting Robot"
<***@kymhorsell.dyndns.org> wrote:

crossposting reduced..

Post by Mr Posting Robot
Radiation readings available at EPA, health websites
Peninsula Daily News
19 Mar 2011
The federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Health
are posting radiation readings from monitoring stations online. The EPA
website, [64]www.epa.gov/cdx, displays a map of stations nationwide, including
4 fixed monitors in Washington state -- Seattle, Olympia, Richland and Spokane
-- and provides a way to see readings at each of the stations.

A diversionary tactic.. ..

Washington state wasn't in the projected path of the radioactive
fallout plume.

The most recent fallout plume was centered on the US/Mexican boarder,
irradiating the southern portion of the USA and Mexico.

Snip..

[Mr Posting Robot]

Smoke spews from 2 reactors at stricken Japanese nuclear plant

March 21, 2011
[CNN's Junko Ogura, Catherine E. Shoichet and Yoko Wakatsuki contributed to this
report].

* White smoke is seen Mon evening coming from Unit No. 2, an official says

* Gray smoke billows from Unit No. 3, which has been subject to intense
spraying

* Electrical cables are connected to all 6 reactors, though power isn't all
flowing

* Tests and training are being done on a concrete pumper that may be used on
Unit 4

Tokyo (CNN) -- Smoke spewed Mon from 2 adjactent reactors in the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear power plant, a nuclear safety official said, setbacks that
came despite fervent efforts to prevent the further release of radioactive
materials at the stricken facility.

After 6 p.m., white smoke was seen emanating from the facility's No. 2
reactor, according to Hidehiko Nishiyama, an official with Japan's nuclear and
industrial safety agency. He said that the cause of the smoke was not
immediately known.

This came just over 2 hours after gray smoke was spotted outside the No. 3
unit, leading to the evacuation of nearby workers.

This is the same reactor that has been authorities' top priority -- and
concern -- in recent days.

Nishiyama said measurements taken soon after the smoke was spotted at the
No. 3 unit did not indicate any spike in radiation. He said that there was no
evident explosion, and no one was reported injured.

About 2 hours later, Nishiyama said it wasn't known what was causing the smoke
or what exactly was burning. He explained that it emanated from the building's
southeastern side, where the reactor's spent nuclear fuel pool is located.

For days, authorities have been working fervently to fill that pool with water
-- fearful that the evaporation of water and high temperatures could expose
fuel rods within and lead to the release of more radioactive vapors.

Another Japanese nuclear and industrial safety official estimated that,
between roughly 9 p.m. Sun to 4 a.m. Mon, 1,170 tons of water were sprayed on
the reactor and its fuel pool.

Earlier, officials said that they were monitoring that reactor to determine
whether to release gas in order to reduce mounting pressure in the containment
vessel. The pressure buildup, specifically from excess hydrogen gas, had
caused explosions at that reactor and at the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors. Late last
week, 3 holes apiece were drilled into the Nos. 5 and 6 reactors in order to
alleviate pressure.

This development came shortly after a Tokyo Electric official told CNN that
electrical cables had been laid to connect the No. 3 reactor and the
neighboring No. 4 reactor with an outside power source.

That meant that power could now be funneled to all 6 of the plant's reactors
for its cooling systems. But electricity was still not moving to Nos. 1, 2, 3
and 4, because the March 11 mammoth earthquake and subsequent tsunami --
including seawater that had rushed into the reactors -- had damaged numerous
pumps and other apparatus. The Tokyo Electric official said that spare parts
were being brought in, so that everything could work again.

The disaster has killed more than 8,600 people and left more than 13k missing,
many of them killed as a wall of water rushed following the quake. Ever since,
authorities have been work to avert further crisis -- and prevent more deaths
-- at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, some 240 km (150 miles) N of Tokyo.

Those efforts include a move to possibly encase one or more of the reactors in
concrete, a last-ditch effort similar to what was done after the 1986 meltdown
at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the former Soviet Union -- considered the
worst nuclear disaster at a plant.

On Mon, an official with Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency told
reporters that tests are expected to be conducted in the afternoon on how to
use what he called a "concrete pump engine."

The engine would pump a mix of mortar and water into the reactor's spent
nuclear fuel pool and containment vessel, the official said. The pool contains
nuclear fuel rods that could give off radioactive material, if exposed and
overheated, while the containment vessel is a steel and concrete shell that
insulates radioactive material inside.

While he did not indicate when or even if the concrete pump would be used, the
official did say the target would be the plant's No. 4 reactor. In just over 2
hours on Mon morning alone, 13 fire engines sprayed about 90 tons of water
toward that reactor in an attempt to cool it down.

A Tokyo electric official told CNN that 6 workers trying to restore
electricity to that reactor have been exposed to more than 100 millisieverts
of radiation. For reference, an individual in a developed country naturally is
exposed to 3 millisieverts of radiation a y -- though Japan's Ministry of
Health, Labor, and Welfare has reset the exposure level upward to 250
millisieverts for those trying to combat the crisis at the Fukushima
plant. That is 2.5 times the previous limit, according to the ministry.

These efforts came as concerns remained high about the impact that already
emitted radiation has had on food, water and people within range of the
Fukushima facility.

Very small amounts -- far below the level of concern -- of radioactive iodine
have been detected in tap water in Tokyo and most prefectures near the plant.

The health ministry said levels of radioactive iodine 3 times greater than the
regulated standard were found in drinking water in a village near the plant
and asked residents not to drink from the tap, Kyodo News reported Sun.

The Japanese government has banned the sale of raw milk from Fukushima
Prefecture, where the plant is located, and prohibited the sale of spinach
from neighboring Ibaraki Prefecture after finding levels of radioactive iodine
and cesium higher than government standards, the country's health ministry
reported. And officials in Fukushima halted the distribution of locally grown
vegetables outside the prefecture.

Edano said the contaminated milk detected in Fukushima Prefecture had not been
distributed or sold.

On Sat, officials said tainted milk was found 30 km (18 miles) from the plant,
and spinach was collected as far as 100 km (65 miles) to the south, almost
halfway to Tokyo.

The latest results accumulated and posted online by Japan's Education, Science
and Technology Ministry showed slight but notable upticks in airborne
radiation readings around Japan in recent days. But even the highest readings,
.11 millisieverts some 30 km northwest of the plant, were still considered
significantly below what's considered dangerous to humans.

Nature has helped to minimize such airborne exposure since the quake, as winds
from the northwest have blown many emissions from the plant out to sea.

But the wind direction is expected to change through Wed, potentially pushing
more of the material to the southwest and over land.

"People are watching," said Akira Shioi, who lives in Kawasaki. "And people
have greater concern than ever about the nuclear power plant incident."

MYREF: 20110322003001 msg201103228878

[139 more news items]

---
[Why Are Republicans Climate Skeptics?]
Maybe that's because the Republicans come from more rural states that haven't
had any warming, man-made or otherwise.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 28 Oct 2010 15:25 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

How inadequate equipment turned a desperate situation into a tragedy

Nick Rufford, Jonathan Leake
The Australian
March 21, 2011 12:00AM

Before the earthquake, nuclear power was one of the economic mainstays of this
pretty Japanese prefecture, along with seafood and agriculture.

Now Fukushima will join Chernobyl and 3 Mile Island in the annals of nuclear
ignominy.

The radioactive embers of the Daiichi plant will take y to cool, but questions
over how things went so spectacularly wrong are already being asked.

From the moment workers were forced to rig up hoses to pump seawater into the
overheating reactors, it was clear they were relying on inadequate equipment
to prevent a desperate situation turning into a genuine disaster.

Their tools were improvised, low-tech and underpowered.

A police water cannon was brought in on damaged roads to spray water on the No
3 and No 4 reactors.

Procedures designed for tackling forest fires were used in an attempt to cool
exposed fuel rods. Helicopters with giant buckets were deployed, but without
radiation shielding it was too dangerous for the pilots to fly low enough to
take proper aim.

It has taken engineers more than a wk to complete what amounts to the world's
largest extension cord: an electric cable to restore power to the failed
cooling pumps.

It seems that Japanese emergency crews were little better prepared, and no
better resourced, than their Soviet counterparts 25 y ago, when helicopters
were used to douse the burning Chernobyl reactor with 100s of tons of sand.

A Sun Times investigation reveals a story of bad luck and serious failures at
the ageing Daiichi plant.

It remains to be seen how much of the reactors' life-support systems,
including pumps and pipework, were knocked out by hydrogen explosions
resulting from the pumping in of seawater.

But even if the pumps are restarted, it is too late to save the cores in
reactors No 1, 2 and 3 from partial meltdown. Worse, hydrogen fires,
particularly those in reactor No 4, have already led to radioactive emissions
that have entered the local food chain.

It has become clear the Tokyo Electric Power Co, the plant's operator, had
been stretching the abilities of the reactors to the limit for m and
probably years.

Reactor No 3 used plutonium-rich MOX (mixed oxide) fuel, which usually burns
hotter than uranium fuel, and is thus harder to cool down and more dangerous
should molten fuel escape.

Locals had campaigned against the planned use of MOX as long ago as 2001, but
their concerns went unheeded.

Experts have identified 4 main failures that will have serious implications
for the rest of Japan's ageing nuclear inventory.

First, diesel generators at the Fukushima Daiichi plant that should have
provided back-up when power was cut were at sea level and swamped by the tsunami
.

Second, antiquated boiling-water reactors needed huge amounts of cooling --
using powerful electric pumps -- to avoid overheating, even after they were
shut down. Modern reactors can survive for longer with evaporative or
convective cooling, or have gravity-operated safety systems to flood their
cores with neutron-absorbing fluids.

Third, 4 of the reactors at the plant were built close together, so fire or
explosion at one plant affected adjacent buildings and made it dangerous for
workers to attend even to undamaged plant and equipment.

Finally, the cooling ponds containing spent fuel were built high off the
ground and above the reactor cores, where they were at risk of losing all
their water in the event of leakage. In more modern plants, the cooling ponds
are located away from the reactor and at ground level or below ground.

Robin Grimes, the director of the Centre for Nuclear Engineering at Imperial
College, London, said the reactors' age was the single most important factor
in the failures.

"When they were designed and built, people had far less sophisticated tools at
their disposal," he said. "This was reflected in design features such as
siting the nuclear fuel cooling ponds high above ground."

Almost 35 y ago, a senior engineer who worked on the early General Electric
reactors had voiced safety concerns over their design. Dale Bridenbaugh said
last week: "We really didn't know what would happen to the system after a
catastrophic event."

Mr Bridenbaugh and 2 of his colleagues resigned from GE in 1976 over its
failure to address what he regarded as serious flaws. The company maintains
the reactors have a good safety record.

However, according to Katsunobu Oanda, author of a book on TEPCO: "Japan's
nuclear power mafia tries to protect the industry. The regulator and the
regulated are old classmates."

MYREF: 20110322013001 msg201103221397

[141 more news items]

---
The global warming Mormons of NASA are so disturbed by public perception
that this winter is verging on the chilly across the northern hemisphere
that they have produced a map showing areas where they claim alarmingly high
temperatures are prevailing, such as the middle of the Arctic Ocean.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 29 Dec 2010 15:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

WHO Warns of 'More Serious' Food Safety Problem in Japan

[Earlier today the levels of cesium and iodine were reportedly found
to be higher than expected in the seawater within 100m of the
Fukushima plant].

Kyodo News / AP
Mar 21, 2011 - 9:56 AM

With elevated amounts of radiation detected in some produce and milk in Japan,
the World Health Organization said today that the food safety situation there
"quite clearly" is more serious than it 1st believed.

The Japanese government halted shipments of milk from one area of the country
and spinach from another on Sun, according to The Associated Press, and 2
other crops -- canola and chrysanthemum greens -- were also found to be
tainted.

While the World Health Organization was initially concerned about produce
originating from within 18 miles of Japan's crippled nuclear plant, which has
leaked radiation, milk from cows farther away and spinach from about 75 miles
away was affected, Peter Cordingley, the Manila-based spokesman for the
organization's office for the Western Pacific, told CNN.

"Quite clearly, it is not what we thought in the early stages. It is more
serious," he said. "We have seen Japanese people in grocery stores paying
close attention to where their produce is coming from, and we think this is a
wise practice."

The organization thought any food contamination problems would be
limited. "It's safe to suppose that some contaminated produce got out of the
contamination zone," Cordingley told Reuters.

The radiation has left food shoppers wary.

"It doesn't look like a short-term issue," Phil Knall, who lives in Tokyo,
told CNN. "I'm definitely concerned about the food that is going to be shipped
out from now. I'm definitely thinking about it."

Fears about the food and drinking supply have grown in the days after the
devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan, which
damaged multiple reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant and caused some
radiation to leak.

There's no sign that tainted Japanese food has reached other countries,
Cordingley told Reuters, though China and S Korea have toughened
inspections of imported foods from Japan, and some companies were dropping
Japanese food from certain areas.

China will monitor imported food for radiation, Reuters reported, citing the
Chinese state news agency, Xinhua.

"Japan's nuclear leak has sounded an alarm bell for the international
community about the safety of nuclear energy," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang
Jiechi said in a speech today, Reuters reported.

And S Korea, which had been inspecting fresh produce from Japan, said it would
expand monitoring to include processed and dried foods from the country, the
news agency said.

Japanese authorities were handing out bottled water to people in a village
about 20 miles from the nuclear plant, because the tap water was found to have
radioactive iodine-131, The Wall Street Journal reported. The level would be
harmful over time but was not high enough to cause an immediate health risk,
authorities said.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the water was OK to use for
bathing and other non-consumption purposes, CNN reported. "This level is
reportedly going down now," he said.

Edano also reiterated his belief that the amount of radiation found in food,
though higher than legal limits, does not pose an immediate health threat, but
would be more worrisome if eaten repeatedly over a lifetime, CNN reported.

The concern was great enough for some Asian stores and restaurants to drop
food from Japan from their offerings.

Shangri-La Asia Ltd. and Mandarin Oriental International Ltd., with a flagship
hotel in Hong Kong, both withdrew fresh food from Japan from their kitchens,
Bloomberg reported. S Korea's largest retailer, Lotte Shopping Cos., planned
to stop sales of some fish, a spokesman told the news agency.

Companies were looking to alternative countries for their imports.

Richard Rains, chief executive of Sanger Australia Pty., which ships about 35k
metric tons of beef annually to Japan, said some Australian companies may
benefit from Japan's nuclear problem.

"It's still early ... but we think it will help us," he told Bloomberg.
"People will need to get their protein from somewhere."

MYREF: 20110323020001 msg2011032326467

[138 more news items]

---
[Yasi is "the worst cyclone" to hit Qld:]
CORRECTION: The worst cyclone in history was the cat 5 Mahina in 1899.
[Bzzt! Thank you, come again!]
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 3 Feb 2011 15:12 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

EU Fails to Agree on Nuclear Stress-Tests

Geoffrey T. Smith
WSJ
March 21, 2011, 9:10 A.M. ET

Brussels--European Union energy ministers failed to reach any consensus Mon on
how and when to conduct any sort of "stress test" on the nuclear-power
stations in the region, German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said.

Mr. Bruederle told a briefing after an emergency meeting of EU ministers that
the radical differences of opinion within the EU over nuclear energy meant
that it would be impossible to subject countries to binding, EU-mandated
tests, and said that the responsibility for nuclear policy would remain fully
at national level.

The meeting was held at the request of EU Energy Commissioner Guenter
Oettinger to discuss the consequences of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima
reactors in Japan, the worst of its kind since the Chernobyl disaster in
1986. The reactors have been rocked by a series of explosions and fires
following an earthquake nearly 2 wk ago.

Germany's formerly pro-nuclear government has already reacted to the disaster
by ordering a three-month moratorium on a life-span extension of nuclear power
systems in the country, and said some nuclear plants may have to be switched
off sooner than planned.

Separately Mon, Mr Bruederle announced a new initiative to speed the
development of the country's power infrastructure, notably new high-voltage
grids, to connect new offshore wind farms to existing infrastructure.

<http://news.google.com.au/news/url?sa=t&ct2=au%2F0_0_s_5_0_t&ct3=MAA4AEgFUABgAW
oCYXU&usg=AFQjCNHFKOvLjOF0jSHPpj_Algfrkq-oPA&did=caa823009c262714&cid=8797675938
802&ei=gFeHTeC2DYWCkQXa2b0q&rt=SEARCH&vm=STANDARD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.co
m%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748703858404576214343547274926.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenew
s_wsj>

MYREF: 20110323070002 msg20110323172

[134 more news items]

---
[Non-performance. BONZO posted a dozen quotes before "discovering"
Freeman Dyson accepted man-made climate change as real]

Dyson accepts AGW.

Huh?
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], Mar 1 16:00 EST 2011

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan Radiation Release Long-Term Problem, France's ASN Says

By Tara Patel
Bloomberg
Mar 21 13:12:53 GMT 2011

The release of radiation from the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power
plant will be a problem for [62]Japan for y to come, according to the French
nuclear watchdog.

"We are at the beginning of the post-accident phase," Andre-Claude Lacoste,
head of the Paris-based Autorite de Surete Nucleaire, said at a press
conference in Paris today. "Japan will have to deal with the consequences of
this accident for decades."

Radioactive contamination, which has been "significant," could spread to as
far as 100 km (62 miles) around the site, he said. Japan's Chief Cabinet
Secretary Yukio Edano said radiation levels found in Japanese food aren't
harmful while distribution of spinach and milk will be limited after samples
had higher-than-normal radiation levels.

At the stricken nuclear plant 135 miles N of [63]Tokyo owned by Tokyo Electric
Power Co., workers were evacuated from reactor No. 3 after smoke was seen
rising from the roof of the building at around 5 p.m. today, the nuclear
safety agency said. Temperatures of pools holding spent fuel rods have cooled
in the past 24 hours, indicating the effect of 1000s of tons of sea water
sprayed over the reactors since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which
knocked out cooling systems and water pumps.

Making Progress

The French watchdog appeared to be less upbeat about the situation at
Fukushima than Japanese authorities. Japanese PM [64]Naoto Kan said he could
see "light at the end of the tunnel" as Tepco said it had connected power to
No. 3 and No. 4 reactors and was making progress in connecting reactors No. 1
and No. 2.

"The situation is not changing much," Lacoste said, adding that he would
consider the atomic installation "stabilized" when a lasting cooling system
has been put in place to replace "emergency measures" of dousing reactors and
spent-fuel pools with seawater from helicopters and fire trucks, which is
adding to radioactive contamination.

Getting power connected to the site is a "positive" step and doesn't provide
guarantees that cooling systems will work, Lacoste said.

"What is the state of the pumps and cooling circuits? This will take more time
to determine," he said. "We are far from reestablishing the cooling system."

"Extremely low" radioactivity from the Japanese site will reach mainland
France March 23 and won't pose any risk to public health, according to the
French organization. The level will be between 1k and 10k less than what
reached the country following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.

MYREF: 20110323140001 msg2011032318422

[133 more news items]

---
[In the search for credible quotes, "skeptics" can unknowingly promote
the views of scientists that actually accept AGW].
Well said Freeman!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 28 Feb 2011 16:35 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan banks eye $12 bln in loans for troubled nuke operator-sources

* Japan banks, insurers may offer more than Y1 trln in loans to TEPCO

* TEPCO needs funds after tsunami damaged Fukushima nuclear plant (Adds
details)

Taro Fuse

Tokyo, March 23 (Reuters) - Japanese financial institutions, including the
country's top 3 banks, are considering providing more than 1 trillion yen
($12.3 billion) in emergency loans to Tokyo Electric Power , the operator of a
stricken nuclear plant, sources said on Wed.

Tokyo Electric's Fukushima Daiichi power plant was damaged in the powerful
earthquake and tsunami on March 11, and engineers are working to restore
cooling functions and limit the release of radiation.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group , Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui
Financial Group , Japan's top 3 banks, as well as trust banks and life
insurers are among the institutions likely to offer the emergency financing,
the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The banks could begin providing the loans by the end of this month, the
sources said.

MYREF: 20110323163002 msg201103236984

[133 more news items]

---
[A]s a Conservative, I have no tolerance for ambiguity.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 14 Jan 2011 14:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Indian Point Target of Quake Review

Devlin Barrett
WSJ
March 23, 2011

New York -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo said federal regulators will make the Indian
Point nuclear plant their top priority as they conduct a nationwide review to
see if US plants are vulnerable to the same type of earthquake that has caused
a long-running crisis at a Japanese reactor.

Two senior aides to Mr Cuomo met with officials of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission in Maryland Tue to discuss the state's concerns about Indian Point,
which is located alongside the Hudson River, about 30 miles N of Manhattan.

After the private meeting, the governor announced that the NRC had promised
...

<http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct2=us%2F0_0_s_11_0_t&bvm=grid&topic=en_us
-n&usg=AFQjCNHNDaeYeW80GSdF77UWaUacwcIz5A&did=c4aafbf9155aff60&sig2=ORomwxJaPaJa
-NTpMcmUiA&cid=8797676404010&ei=GV-JTZayJoKecdiAzC0&rt=HOMEPAGE&vm=STANDARD&url=
http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748704461304576216964236355
854.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsj>

MYREF: 20110323203001 msg2011032311869

[135 more news items]

---
So you really, really believe that our universe just came about by
sheer chance? I prersonally, find that extremely hard to accept.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 11 Jan 2011 15:02 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Radioactive elements found in seawater off Japan

[With a suspected breach in at least one reactor and contaminated seawater
detected up to 30 km from Fukushima, a press briefing has been scheduled for
early morning Japan time. Some experts suspect the threat level will be raised
from 5 to 6 as calculated contamination levels are now indicating above Three
Mile Island levels].

Reuters
2011/03/24

Vienna--Japanese scientists have found measurable concentrations of
radioactive iodine-131 and cesium-137 in seawater samples taken 30 kilometres
from land, the UN nuclear watchdog said Thu.

"The iodine concentrations were at or above Japanese regulatory limits, and
the cesium levels were well below those limits," the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

Japanese authorities had given the agency data on samples collected on March
22-23, after detecting iodine and cesium in the water near the crippled
Fukushima nuclear plant.

In a desperate attempt to cool the reactors and their spent fuel ponds,
workers have sprayed or dumped seawater into the plant. Officials have said
some water spilled back into the sea.

The IAEA also said Thu that 3 workers at the plant had been exposed to
"elevated levels" of radiation.

"The 3 were working in the turbine building of reactor Unit 3 and have
received a radiation dose in the range of 170-180 millisieverts," an IAEA
statement said, adding 2 of them were taken to hospital for treatment for
"severely contaminated feet."

"The workers had been working for about 3 hours in contact with contaminated
water."

The average dose for a nuclear plant worker is 50 millisieverts over five
years. The Fukushima operator has raised the limit for the emergency work to
100 millisieverts an hour.

Radiation dose rates at the plant itself had decreased to 210 microsieverts
per hour on March 23 from 1930 on March 21.

MYREF: 20110326050704 msg201103265615

[128 more news items]

---
[In the search for credible quotes, "skeptics" can unknowingly promote
the views of scientists that actually accept AGW].
Well said Freeman!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 28 Feb 2011 16:35 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Fission Products in Seattle Reveal Clues about Japan Nuclear Disaster

The 1st analysis of nuclear fission products in the atmosphere over Seattle
provides a unique insight into the nature of the disaster.

Technology Review
MIT
03/25/2011

When the Fukushima nuclear disaster began to unfold after the 11 March
earthquake and tsunami, it quickly became clear that anything downwind was in
for a sprinkling of radioactivity. So Jonathan Diaz Leon and pals at the
University of Washington in Seattle were ready.

These guys began removing air filters from the intake to the ventilation
system of the Physics and Astronomy building at the University of Washington
and then measuring the levels of radiation they were emitting. Initially, the
filters contained nothing out of the ordinary. Then, sometime between 12pm on
17 March and 2pm on 18 March, the radiation levels began to rise.

By measuring the energy of the gamma rays from the filters, these guys have
identified exactly which fission products have made their way across the
Pacific. And this in turn allows them to make a number of interesting
inferences about what has gone wrong at Fukushima. Today, they post the
results of the 1st 5 days of monitoring on the arXiv.

What they found was small amounts of iodine-131, iodine-132, tellurium-132,
iodine-133, cesium-134 and cesium 137.

First things first: the levels of all of these substances were all well below
the limits set by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The levels of
iodine-131, for example, were at least 100 times lower than the EPA's
limit. "We note that the observed radioactivity levels are well below alarming
limits at our location," say Diaz Leon and buddies.

Having got that out of the way, they draw a number of interesting conclusions
from the data.

The 1st comes from the amount of iodine-131 and tellurium-132 which are both
short-lived with 1/2 lives of 8 and 3 days respectively. That indicates that
they must have come from fuel rods that were recently active rather than from
spent fuel.

Second, they could find almost no iodine-133. This has a 1/2 life of just 20
hours. Since there is about twice as much iodine-133 as iodine-131 in a
steadily burning reactor, Diaz Leon and co estimate that about 8 days must
have passed since the fuel had stopped burning regularly. That roughly matches
the time between the accident and the date this stuff reached Seattle, which
was 7 days.

Finally, there are a huge number of possible breakdown products from nuclear
fission in a reactor and yet the Seattle team found evidence of only 3 fission
product elements--iodine, cesium and tellurium. "This points to a specifific
process of release into the atmosphere," they say.

Cesium Iodide is highly soluble in water. So these guys speculate that what
they're seeing is the result of contaminated steam being released into the
atmosphere. "Chernobyl debris, conversely, showed a much broader spectrum of
elements, reflecting the direct dispersal of active fuel elements," they say.

That's reassuring, as far as it goes. But things could still change. Their
report covers only the 1st 5 days of monitoring after the 1st detection of
fission products. They're continuing to study their air filters and have
promised to release the data as they get it. We'll be watching.

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1103.4853: Arrival Time And Magnitude Of Airborne Fission
Products From The Fukushima, Japan, Reactor Incident As Measured In Seattle,
WA, USA

MYREF: 20110326130842 msg2011032630027

[128 more news items]

---
[Assault on Vostok icecores:]
YOU are the one presenting the "evidence." Your evidence MUST be
performed using proven standards, not untested guesswork.
-- Michael Dobony <***@stopassaultnow.net>, 24 Feb 2011 19:49 -0600

[Mr Posting Robot]

UN nuclear chief says Japan crisis far from end: report

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano has
briefed the media after an extraordinary board of governors meeting on the
nuclear disaster in Japan at the United Nations headquarters in Vienna March
21, 2011.

Sat Mar 26, 2011 5:19pm EDT

New York (Reuters) - The world's chief nuclear inspector said on Sat that
Japan was "still far from the end of the accident" at its Fukushima nuclear
complex, The New York Times reported.

Yukiya Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
cautioned that the nuclear emergency could go on for weeks, if not m more. He
spoke to the Times by telephone from Vienna, where the IAEA is based.

Radiation levels have soared in seawater near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear plant, Japanese officials said on Sat, as engineers struggled to
stabilize the power station 2 wk after it was hit by a massive earthquake and
tsunami.

Engineers were trying to pump radioactive water out of the power plant 150
miles N of Tokyo, after it was found in buildings housing 3 of the 6
reactors. On Thu, 3 workers sustained burns at reactor No. 3 after being
exposed to radiation levels 10k times higher than usually found in a reactor.

Amano, who the Times said had made a recent trip back to Japan, said
authorities were still unsure about whether the reactor cores and spent fuel
were covered with the water needed to cool them.

He told the newspaper he saw a few "positive signs" with the restoration of
some electric power to the plant. But, he said, "More efforts should be done
to put an end to the accident," although he also said he was not criticizing
Japan's response.

Amano is a former Japanese diplomat who took over the United Nations nuclear
agency in late 2009.

He said his biggest concern centered on spent fuel rods sitting in open
cooling pools atop the reactor buildings. He was uncertain that the efforts to
spray seawater into the pools to keep the rods from bursting into flames and
releasing large amounts of radioactive material had been successful.

If the pools are filled with water but cooling systems are left unrepaired, he
said, "The temperature will go up," raising the threat of new radioactive releas
es.

MYREF: 20110327090953 msg2011032719366

[132 more news items]

---
[A]ll science is lies and the only thing we can trust is right wing rhetoric.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 14 Jan 2011 14:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Why (or why not) nuclear energy?

Elizabeth Landau
Mar 25 2011

* Nuclear power plants are attractive for countries like Japan lacking natural
resources

* Some say nuclear power should be a last resort

* Energy diversity and energy security are important considerations, experts
say

* It's unclear if taxpayers would pay for large subsidies for solar and wind,
expert says

(CNN) -- Since Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered damage
from a massive earthquake and tsunami March 11, you might be a little more
aware of the nuclear power plant nearest you. Does it really need to be there?
Is it safe?

And on a global scale, several countries including Germany, Israel and Italy
are also expressing worry about the safety of their existing or planned
nuclear projects. The disaster at Fukushima Daiichi has prompted many
governments to begin reassessing their own nuclear power plants in hopes of
ensuring that a similar accident would not happen in their territories.

"The (nuclear) option will be shoved aside until the dust settles and we know
what happened there in Japan, and what kind of changes are necessary to
compensate for deficiencies that will be discovered later," said Chaim Braun,
consulting professor at the Center for International Security and Cooperation
at Stanford University.

How much nuclear power is too much, or too little? That's a complex question,
experts say. Each country must balance its particular energy needs with the
domestic availability of natural resources, consideration for greenhouse gas
emissions and cost-effectiveness measures, not to mention safety and foreign
policy concerns.

There are 104 operating commercial nuclear reactors in the United States and
54 in Japan before the recent earthquake and tsunami. The US relies on
nuclear power for 20% of electricity; for Japan, it accounts for about 27%,
according to the US Energy Information Administration.

For countries such as Japan that don't have natural resources like oil and
gas, nuclear power plants are attractive options. The cost of construction of
nuclear power plants is high, but fuel cost is low; it would be hard for Japan
to back out now, experts said.

"Will they go back and look at what they need to change? Of course, they will
do that. But is this going to be impacting the overall portion of how much
power they make by nuclear? I don't necessarily think that's the case," said
Peter Hosemann, assistant professor of nuclear engineering at the University
of California, Berkeley.

So why not get all electricity from nuclear power? It's not because of safety
concerns, but rather because of the importance of energy diversity and energy
security, said Najmedin Meshkati, nuclear safety expert at the University of
Southern California.

Just as you shouldn't invest all your money into one stock, it's wise for a
country to have a diverse portfolio of energy sources to ensure constant
coverage, experts said.

"You need a healthy mix of power supply and power sources in order to
guarantee a stable grid," Hosemann said.

There can also be all sorts of beneficial but nonenergy-related results of
nuclear power generation, which economists call positive externalities. In a
country that boosts its nuclear plant development, the heavy-machine building
and metallurgy industries might greatly benefit as they would be employed to
work on the technology.

Plus, it's a good idea to have some form of domestic power generation, and not
to rely entirely on buying from other countries. For instance, relying on
foreign oil can be a problem if the source country decides to hike prices or,
for diplomatic reasons, cuts off supply entirely.

"Nuclear power provides that energy security," Meshkati said. "It's very
secure and very reliable. It's there for you. Nobody else can control it."

But there's another security issue raised by nuclear technology that is a big
concern: the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Plutonium from used fuel in
nuclear reactors can be used for weapons; in 1974, India tested a bomb that
incorporated plutonium from a research reactor.

That's why nuclear physicist and Princeton University professor Frank N. von
Hippel said he thinks nuclear power should be a "last resort."

Countries should look at energy efficiency -- ways to reduce everyday
electricity usage -- as well as renewable sources and carbon sequestration, a
technology that could capture and bury the CO2 emitted from coal
plants. Nuclear energy is not the be-all and end-all, even for Japan, he said.

"If nuclear power had not been invented or were not possible, Japan would have
figured out how to do it some other way," he said.

Environmentally friendly energy

Nuclear and hydropower sources have 50 to 100 times lower greenhouse gas
emissions than coal, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. But
analyses showing nuclear energy's environmental friendliness don't take into
account the emissions from the mining and transport of nuclear fuel, said Mark
Jacobson of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford
University.

In his view, a combination of renewable sources such as wind and tidal power
should be the standard, and investment in nuclear power, or using a
combination of nuclear and other sources, is merely funneling resources to
something with potential dangers.

But with renewable energy, it's hard to generate continuous power, known as
the baseload demand, said the University of Southern California's Meshkati.

Nuclear power plants deliver large amounts of power for long periods of
time. Solar and wind energy technologies, on the other hand, rely on natural
phenomena that aren't available all the time -- the sun, which doesn't shine
in the same place all day, and the wind, which doesn't blow around the
clock. For that reason they are "intermittent." But Jacobson and colleagues
have shown that, by putting different renewables together, it's possible to
fill in the gaps and get steady power.

Energy storage systems can be devised that would store energy when the sun
shines, and then release it to the grid when needed after the sun goes down,
said Braun, the consulting professor at Stanford. Still, this technology isn't
commercialized on a large scale and is currently too expensive to be practical
to power large cities. It's unclear whether taxpayers would be willing to pay
for large subsidies for solar and wind, Braun said.

The United States spends about 2% of its gross domestic product on
electricity, and if the country were willing to raise that to 3%, it could
probably afford using renewables instead of nuclear power, Princeton's von
Hippel said.

"There is a social choice. If people want very much to go away from nuclear
power, and are willing to pay for it, which is 2 different things, then we
could," von Hippel said.

The costs

So how cost-effective is nuclear power? Like many issues, it depends on who
you ask. Advocates say that, per kilowatt-hour produced, nuclear power is
cheaper than other sources. But detractors will point out it's expensive to
construct a power plant.

An analysis by J.L. Conca of New Mexico State University and J. Wright of UFA
Ventures Inc., a soil and rock testing company, found that hydro, nuclear and
wind are the most cost-effective sources over the next 50 years, with almost
identical costs per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. They trump coal,
natural gas and solar power in cost-effectiveness, the report found.

But what about adding more capacity? With the next generation of nuclear power
technologies, it might not be cost-effective unless the US imposes a
price-based constraint on carbon-dioxide emissions.

Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, newly built, advanced-technology nuclear
power plants are eligible for incentives such as loan guarantees and tax
credits. A 2008 report from the US Congressional Budget Office found that
without these incentives, and in the absence of a universal charge for
carbon-dioxide emissions, "utilities would probably continue to build power
plants relying on conventional fossil-fuel technologies to meet increases in
base-load electricity demand."

Stanford's Braun predicts that the immediate impact of the Fukushima Daiichi
disaster will be that natural gas will become the fuel of choice, sold at
higher prices as demand increases.

Yet while nuclear development in smaller countries may be delayed or canceled,
China and India likely will continue with their nuclear programs. These are
the countries where the most nuclear power plants will be built in the coming
years, Braun said. Those countries need nuclear energy to meet their
burgeoning electricity needs and to reduce their large emissions of pollutants
from other sources, he said.

Toward a better nuclear reactor

A downside of nuclear power plants is that the reactors need constant
attention, and so do the spent fuel pools. The University of Southern
California's Meshkati compared them to babies that sleep at different times of
the day, always requiring care.

The reactors at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi are boiling water reactors, which is
one of the oldest designs, he said.

But there's a whole category of reactors in development with "inherently safe"
features that use the laws of physics to prevent meltdown.

For instance, China has planned prototypes of pebble-bed nuclear
reactors. These use heat gas instead of the conventional choice of water, and
balls made of graphite and uranium instead of uranium fuel rods. These
reactors can theoretically cool themselves in case of emergency.

"Because of life's necessities and the bitter realities of energy
availability, they (Japan) may choose to embrace this new generation of
reactors," Meshkati said.

After many decades, if the site of Fukushima could be cleaned up, a new
generation of "inherently safe" reactors may one day operate in the same
place, he said, but don't hold your breath.

"It's not going to be in my lifetime," Meshkati said.

MYREF: 20110327190002 msg2011032718135

[132 more news items]

---
Scientists [and kooks] are always changing their story and as a Conservative, I
have no tolerance for ambiguity.
It proves that all science is lies and the only thing we can trust is
right wing rhetoric.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 14 Jan 2011 14:46 +1100

CORRECTION:
True science, (remember that?) can be trusted, but this "science" is ALL LIES!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 19 Feb 2011 14:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Tepco Chief Shimizu Pressured to Quit After Costing Holders $26 Billion

[For a couple of wk observers have been wondering where the TEPCO CEO has
disappeared to...]

Shigeru Sato, James Paton and Yuriy Humber
Bloomberg
Mar 27 15:01:00 GMT 2011

Tokyo Electric Power Co. President Masataka Shimizu is facing calls to quit
after the crisis at the utility's Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant capped a
tenure that has seen $26 bn wiped off the company's market value.

The share price decline since Shimizu took charge in June 2008 at Tepco, as
the company is known, has deepened to 67% in the aftermath of the nuclear
disaster, as of the March 25 close in Tokyo. That's the worst performance of
any of the 88 members of the MSCI World Utilities Index and of the 17
companies in the Topix Electric Power & Gas Index.

Tepco has been battling to prevent a catastrophic release of radiation at the
crippled plant N of Tokyo, struck 17 days ago by a devastating quake and
tsunami. PM Naoto Kan's anger at the early response to the threat of nuclear
meltdown will likely prompt a purge of Shimizu, 66, and his executive team,
investors and analysts said.

"Inevitably Shimizu will step down, it is more a question of timing," said Ken
Courtis, former vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia and co-founder of the
China-focused private equity fund Themes Investment Partners.

Shimizu hasn't faced reporters since attending a March 13 press conference. He
has been taking the lead at the company's head office in central Tokyo in
leading Tepco's response to the incident, spokesman Takeo Iwamoto said March
24. Yoshimi Hitosugi, another Tepco spokesman, declined requests for an
interview with Shimizu for this article on March 25, citing his focus on the
situation at the plant.

No Outsiders

Any successor is likely to come from the existing pool of executives. A Tepco
president is often selected from among those holding the dual title of
director and vice-president, according to the company's website. The utility
has never appointed anyone to the top job from outside the company.

Norio Tsuzumi, Takashi Fujimoto, Masaru Takei, Masao Yamazaki, Makio Fujiwara
and Sakae Muto are Tepco's executive vice presidents, with Tsuzumi the oldest
at 64, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

"I think Tepco will need to change its culture in many ways," said Dr Murray
E. Jennex, an associate professor at San Diego State University with 20 years'
experience in examining nuclear containment structures at the consulting firm
General Physics and the Southern California Edison Co. "They will need to open
up and have a very transparent investigation to reinstill confidence." he
said. "Their reputation is very poor as far as being open with information."

`Slow Reaction'

Shimizu proposed visiting the Fukushima Prefecture governor Yuhei Sato to
apologize for the accident on March 22, but was asked to deal with events at
the power plant first, Tepco spokesman Takashi Kurita said.

Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara attacked Tepco's reaction to the crisis on
March 25, after meeting with Sato. "Their response has been no good at all,"
he said. "It's been slow."

Shimizu joined Tepco in April 1968 and worked in its procurement department
for much of his career. He was named vice president in June 2006.

He replaced Tsunehisa Katsumata, 70, 3 y ago as the company forecast its 1st
loss in 28 years. Katsumata now chairs a board with an average age of 62, and
whose 20 members have a combined age of more than 1,200, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg.

Seawater Damage

Shimizu pledged 3 y ago to "regain trust" in nuclear power after a 2007
earthquake shut his company's biggest atomic plant at Kashiwazaki Kariwa. The
disaster that's unfolded at Fukushima Dai-Ichi since the 9.0-magnitude temblor
has destroyed any chance he had of success.

Tepco delayed pumping seawater on to its overheating reactors because of
concerns of the damage this would cause, the Wall Street Journal reported
March 19, and company spokesmen had to correct some information they gave out
on damage to the reactors on March 16.

"They were greedy and wanted to try to re-use the reactors," Tokyo Governor
Ishihara said March 25. "Had they used sea water from the start we wouldn't be
in this situation."

Tepco faces a maximum 120 bn yen ($1.5 billion) in costs to cover third-party
damages resulting from the accident, according to Japanese law. Chief Cabinet
Secretary Yukio Edano said this wk the government will aid farmers if the
utility is unable to bear the costs.

Management Change

"Already, prior to the incident, Tepco had not been the company with the
quickest and most accurate communication," said Andre Haemmerli, who helps
manage more than $200 mn at GHP Arbitrium AG in Zurich, including Tepco
shares. The firm's Tsunami Fund focuses on Japan. "I think we'll see some
change at top management."

Kan's frustration at Tepco's handling of the crisis boiled over at least
once. On March 15 an hour-long delay in the company informing him of a fire in
reactor No. 1 prompted Kan to demand of utility officials: "What the hell is
going on?" Kyodo News other news agencies quoted him as saying within earshot
of reporters.

Tepco's market value has dropped from about 3.5 trillion yen in June 2008 to
1.4 trillion yen as of March 24, during which time the number of shares in
issue has increased about 19 percent, based on Tepco earnings filings.

Government `Punishment'

"Recovery will take time, maybe a long time, and top management must be
replaced," said Edwin Merner, Tokyo-based president of Atlantis Investment
Research, which manages about $3 bn in assets. "The company has insurance and
the losses may be less than you think, but the government will try to punish
them for sure."

The Fukushima Dai-Ichi crisis comes less than 4 y after the 6.8-magnitude
quake that shut the Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant. Katsumata stepped down after the
temblor damaged the station, caused some radiation to leak, sparked a fire and
stoked public mistrust about the station's safety.

Katsumata, who joined Tepco in 1963 according to Bloomberg data, himself
became president amid controversy. He was promoted in Oct 2002 after Hiroshi
Araki and Nobuya Minami, chairman and president at that time, stepped down to
take responsibility for fake safety reports at 3 nuclear power plants,
including Kashiwazaki Kariwa.

On March 22, 2007, Tepco said it may have had a serious accident at a reactor
at Fukushima Dai-Ichi in 1978, when an unexpected atomic chain reaction
occurred.

Tepco `Will Rebuild'

Tepco knew in 2003 the Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant was located near a fault that
could cause a more powerful earthquake than the one that damaged it in 2007,
according to documents Tepco filed to a trade ministry committee.

Tepco's Tsuzumi acknowleged problems with the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant's
design, Kyodo News reported March 22. Tepco ignored warnings over the plants
preparedness for tsunamis, former lawmaker Tatsuya Ito said March 16.

"Japan is not a litigious culture," Courtis said. "But if it were, there would
also be endless class action suits against Tepco. However, Tepco covers the
largest and most dynamic market in Japan, and has essentially a monopoly in
the region, so over time it will rebuild itself."

MYREF: 20110328080001 msg2011032821741

[133 more news items]

---
[On knowing your constituents:]
I always thought faremers were a gullible bunch!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 9 Feb 2011 12:09 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Radiation fears, storage problems reign at nuclear plant

Radiation levels are being monitored in Namie, 30km from the stricken
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, after fresh fears were raised at the
reactor.

AP
March 28, 2011 2:08PM

Japan's top government spokesman today said an erroneous radiation reading at
the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant by operator Tokyo Electric Power
was "unacceptable".

On Sun Tokyo Electric Power Co. said radiation in puddles in the turbine
building of reactor 2 at the plant was 10 mn times higher than normal, before
correcting the information to say it was 100k times higher.

Top government spokesman Yukio Edano said: "Considering the fact that the
monitoring of radioactivity is a major condition to ensure safety, this kind
of mistake is absolutely unacceptable.

"(The government) has ordered TEPCO not to repeat this again," he said.

However he added that he understood workers at the site were probably
exhausted from their round-the-clock efforts to avert a nuclear disaster at
the stricken plant.

The radiation level in the water puddle at reactor 2 soared to more than 1000
millisieverts per hour, forcing the evacuation of workers toiling to restore
its cooling systems.

Mounting problems, including faulty radiation figures and poor storage for
contaminated water, have stalled efforts to repair the reactor.

Workers are trying to remove the radioactive water from the tsunami-ravaged
nuclear compound and restart the regular cooling systems for the dangerously
hot fuel.

Amid the ongoing crisis, a tsunami warning was today issued and rescinded
several hours later after a 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit off the northeast coast
.

The Japan Meteorological Agency had issued a 50cm tsunami warning for the
Pacific coast of Miyagi prefecture, which was devastated by the huge
earthquake and tsunami that hit on March 11.

Company officials at the Fukushima plant had reported that radiation in
leaking water in the Unit 2 reactor was 10 mn times above normal, a spike that
forced employees to flee the unit.

The day ended with officials saying the huge figure had been miscalculated and
offering apologies.

"The number is not credible," said Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Takashi
Kurita. "We are very sorry."

A few hours later, TEPCO Vice President Sakae Muto said a new test had found
radiation levels 100k times above normal - far better than the 1st results,
though still very high.

But he ruled out having an independent monitor oversee the various checks
despite the errors.

Officials acknowledged there was radioactive water in all 4 of the Fukushima
Dai-ichi complex's most troubled reactors, and that airborne radiation in Unit
2 measured 1000 millisieverts per hour, 4 times the limit deemed safe by the gov
t.

Those high airborne readings - if accurate - would make it very difficult for
emergency workers to get inside to pump out the water.

Officials say they still don't know where the radioactive water is coming
from, though government spokesman Yukio Edano earlier said some is "almost
certainly" seeping from a damaged reactor core in one of the units.

The discovery late last wk of pools of radioactive water has been a major
setback in the mission to get the crucial cooling systems operating more than
2 wk after a massive earthquake and tsunami.

The magnitude-9 quake off Japan's northeast coast on March 11 triggered a
tsunami that barrelled onshore and disabled the Fukushima plant, complicating
a humanitarian disaster that is thought to have killed about 18k people.

A magnitude-6.5 quake off the northeast coast Mon morning briefly prompted a
tsunami warning, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The agency said the epicentre was 80km E of Oshika Peninsula in Miyagi
prefecture, near one of the areas hardest-hit by the March 11 quake and tsunami.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, but the quake - one of
dozens that have shaken Japan in the past 2 wk - added to the sense of unease
in a nation already on edge.

Muto acknowledged it could take a long time to clean up the Fukushima complex.

"We cannot say at this time how many m or y it will take," he said, insisting
the main goal now is to keep the reactors cool.

Workers have been scrambling to remove the radioactive water from the four
units and find a place to safely store it. Each unit may hold tens of 1000s of
gallons of radioactive water, said Minoru Ogoda of Japan's Nuclear and
Industrial Safety Agency, or NISA.

Safety agency officials had been hoping to pump the water into huge, partly
empty tanks inside the reactor that are designed to hold condensed water.

Those tanks, though, turned out to be completely full, said NISA official
Hidehiko Nishiyama.

Meanwhile, plans to use regular power to restart the cooling system hit a
roadblock when it turned out that cables had to be laid through turbine
buildings flooded with the contaminated water.

"The problem is that right now nobody can reach the turbine houses where key
electrical work must be done," Nishiyama said. "There is a possibility that we
may have to give up on that plan."

Despite troubles at the plant, officials continued to insist the situation had
at least partially stabilised.

"We have somewhat prevented the situation from turning worse," Edano told
reporters yesterday.

"But the prospects are not improving in a straight line and we've expected
twists and turns. The contaminated water is one of them and we'll continue to
repair the damage."

The protracted nuclear crisis has spurred concerns about the safety of food
and water in Japan, which is a prime source of seafood for some countries.

Radiation has been found in food, seawater and even tap water supplies in Tokyo.

Just outside the coastal Fukushima nuclear plant, radioactivity in seawater
tested about 1250 times higher than normal last wk - but that number had
climbed to 1850 times normal by the weekend.

Nishiyama said the increase was a concern, but also said the area is not a
source of seafood and that the contamination posed no immediate threat to
human health.

Up to 600 people are working inside the plant in shifts. Nuclear safety
officials say workers' time inside the crippled units is closely monitored to
minimsie their exposure to radioactivity, but 2 workers were hospitalised Thu
when they suffered burns after stepping into contaminated water. They were to
be released from the hospital today.

A poll, meanwhile, showed that support for Japan's PM had risen amid the disaste
rs.

The poll conducted over the weekend by Kyodo News agency found that approval
of PM Naoto Kan and his Cabinet rose to 28.3% after sinking below 20%
in Feb, before the earthquake.

Last month's low approval led to speculation that Kan's days were
numbered. While the latest figure is still low, it suggests he is making some
gains with voters.

About 58% of respondents in the nationwide telephone survey of 1011 people
said they approved of the government's handling of the earthquake and tsunami,
but a similar number criticised its handling of the nuclear crisis.

The death toll from the disasters stands at 10,668. In addition, 16,574 people
are missing, police said.

Hundreds of 1000s of people are homeless.

MYREF: 20110328160002 msg201103282097

[132 more news items]

---
[Something about "warm bath in sanctimony"]
Pop over to Tim Blair's for a look.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 14 Feb 2011 14:39 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Damaged reactor may be leaking radioactive water, Japan says

CNN
March 28, 2011

* Radioactive water, possible containment leak plague plant
* Officials are trying to determine whether the water overflowed and went into
the Pacific
* Plutonium found in small quantities on plant grounds
* Power restored to No. 3 reactor

Tokyo (CNN) -- The containment structure surrounding one of the reactors at a
quake-battered nuclear power plant is damaged and may be leaking radioactive
material, the Japanese government's point man on the crisis said Mon.

The plant's owner disclosed that small amounts of plutonium had been found
among contaminants around the facility late Mon as Japanese authorities
struggled to explain how radioactive water was leaking into maintenance
tunnels and possibly, into the Pacific Ocean.

Yukio Edano, Japan's chief Cabinet secretary, told reporters Mon afternoon
that "there may be a leak" from the containment vessel surrounding the No. 2
reactor. He said experts were still trying to determine the condition of the
reactor's pressure vessel, which sits inside the containment vessel and
immediately surrounds the radioactive fuel rods at the reactor's core.

"Somehow, we understand water is being moved from one place to another," Edano
said. "We need to hear an explanation from experts."

Reactors 1-3 at the plant, located about 240 km (140 miles) N of Tokyo, are
believed to have suffered core damage after their cooling systems were knocked
out by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northern Japan. The
tsunami knocked out backup generators that ran their coolant systems and
damaged water pumps at the plant, forcing workers to scramble to prevent a
meltdown.

Technicians restored external electric power late Mon to the No. 3 reactor
plant, a step toward restoring cooling systems there, the plant's owner
reported late Mon. But hydrogen explosions -- an early symptom of core damage
-- inflicted heavy damage on the buildings housing the No. 1 and No. 3
reactors in the days following the quake, and another suspected explosion
rocked the No. 2 reactor on March 15.

Japanese nuclear regulators and the owner, the Tokyo Electric Power Company,
say they know little about what damage was sustained in that blast. Setback
at nuclear plant? NGOs critical of Japan's quake response Living near a
nuclear plant

Tokyo Electric announced late Mon that plutonium -- a reactor byproduct that
is also part of the fuel mix in the No. 3 reactor -- had turned up in soil on
the plant grounds in tests taken last week. But the company said it was
equivalent to the amounts that fell on Japan following aboveground nuclear
weapons tests by other countries in past decades, and posed no health risk to
humans.

"Just in case, TEPCO will increase the monitoring of the nuclear plant grounds
and the surrounding environment," the company said.

Three plutonium isotopes -- Pu-238, -239 and -240 -- were found in soil at 5
different points inside the plant grounds, Tokyo Electric reported. The
element can be a serious health hazard if inhaled or ingested, but external
exposure poses little health risk, according to the US Environmental
Protection Agency.

The company said the discovery would not change efforts to bring an end to the
crisis at the plant, which has spread radioactive contamination across much of
northern Japan. But water found in a maintenance tunnel leading to unit
No. 2's turbine house remained radioactive enough to pose an immediate hazard,
authorities reported after taking new readings Mon afternoon.

The 1k mSv/hour reading is more than 330 times the dose an average person in a
developed country receives pa and can result in vomiting and up to a 30%
higher risk of cancer, according to the International Atomic Energy
Agency. The level is also 4 times the top dose Japan's Health Ministry has set
for emergency workers struggling to control the further emission of
radioactive material from the damaged plant.

Cham Dallas, an expert on radiation and public health at the University of
Georgia, told CNN's "American Morning" that the level suggests operators are
facing "a deteriorating situation" at the No. 2 reactor.

"Fortunately, that's in the reactor area, not outside and not in Tokyo or even
in the area in Fukushima province," Dallas said. "But in the reactor area
itself, that's -- that's concerning to me. We're starting to see levels now
that are dangerous to reactor workers if they're in those contaminated areas."

The officials said it was unclear how contaminated water got into the tunnel,
or if it might have spilled out and seeped into the Pacific Ocean from there.

"Right now, it is not known," Hidehiko Nishiyama, an official with Japan's
Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said Mon evening.

Water was being pumped out of the No. 1 and No. 2 turbine building, but
Nishiyama noted that there is no place to put water pooled in the No. 2
building's basement.

The plan is to extract the water using what he called a condenser. But that
apparatus is "almost full," as are several storage tanks nearby. A similar
challenge is holding up the removal of collected water in the No. 3 unit's
turbine building basement.

"So we will 1st have to empty some of the tanks," he said, adding later only
that the tainted water needs to be removed "as soon as possible."

Seawater readings from a monitoring post 330 meters (361 yards) into the
Pacific Ocean showed elevated readings of the reactor byproduct iodine-131, an
isotope that loses 1/2 its radioactivity every 8 days. The measurement was
taken N of the discharge canal for reactors 1-4, where a reading of 1,850
times normal was recorded Sun.

And despite reduced alarms in recent days, Nishiyama noted Mon that the
temperature is rising inside the No. 1 reactor -- a sign that the nuclear fuel
rods in that unit remain in danger of overheating.

Units 1, 2 and 3 were the only 3 of the 6 reactors operating when the
magnitude 9 earthquake struck. The quake and resulting tsunami knocked out
backup generators that ran their coolant systems and damaged water pumps at
the plant, leaving authorities scrambling to pump water into the reactors and
the spent fuel pools to prevent a meltdown.


Mon was the 32nd anniversary of the worst US nuclear accident, a partial
meltdown at the 3 Mile Island power plant outside Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania. Though no deaths or injuries resulted, the accident hamstrung
the American atomic power industry for decades.

MYREF: 20110329054330 msg2011032914662

[128 more news items]

---
This ***global warming**** appears to be HIGHLY LOCALISED!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 5 Feb 2011 21:59 +1100
Of course "global temperature are rising", we're emerging from an ICE AGE!!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 12:22 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan considers caps on power usage during peak hours

Osamu Tsukimori
Reuters
Mar 29, 2011 3:47am EDT

Tokyo, March 29 (Reuters) - The Japanese government may put a cap on
industrial users' power consumption during peak hours this summer to avoid
massive blackouts in Tokyo Electric Power's service areas, a trade ministry
official said on Tue.

A magnitude 9.0 quake on March 11 took out 14,903 megawatts of Tokyo
Electric's nuclear and thermal generating capacity, or 23% of the total
including hydro plants, and it has imposed rolling power blackouts to most
areas it covers for the 1st time in its 60-year history.

Tokyo Electric on Fri said it expected its power supply capacity for the
summer to reach 46,500 MW, excluding hydro power using pumped water, or nearly
10k MW short of projected peak demand even taking into account users' efforts
to conserve power.

Some industry groups have floated the idea of limiting overall power usage
during specified periods in return for assurances of continuous power
supplies, but the trade ministry official said such a plan would not work if
it resulted in concentrated power consumption during peak hours of the day.

Power usage typically peaks between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. during the summer. A
regulation limiting overall usage during the peak hours would be an option but
could simply end up shifting the peak period, for example, to 3 p.m. to 4
p.m., said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"What we need to do is clear: shift peak usage and limit overall power
consumption," he said. "That would help level out consumption during the
day. Our goal is a combination of these strategies that will help to avoid
rolling blackouts in the summer, which we will keep in reserve as a safety net."

MYREF: 20110329200001 msg2011032913772

[129 more news items]

---
The global warming Mormons of NASA are so disturbed by public perception
that this winter is verging on the chilly across the northern hemisphere
that they have produced a map showing areas where they claim alarmingly high
temperatures are prevailing, such as the middle of the Arctic Ocean.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 29 Dec 2010 15:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

How Japan lost the calculated nuclear risk

[Elsewhere, PM Kan said today the country remained on "maximum
alert" regarding the nuclear crisis].

Reuters Special Report
Mar 29, 2011 9:14am EDT

TEPCO executives only notified the prime minister's office an hour after the
first explosion at the Fukuishima nuclear plant. 7 workers had been injured
in the blast along with four soldiers.

An enraged PM Naoto Kan pulled up to Tokyo Electric's headquarters the next
morning before dawn. "What the hell is going on?" reporters outside the
closed-door discussion reported hearing Kan demand angrily of senior executives.

Errors of judgment by workers in the hot zone and errors of calculation by
plant managers hampered the emergency response a full wk later as some 600
soldiers and workers struggled to contain the spread of radiation.

On Thu, 2 workers at Fukushima were shuttled to the hospital to be treated for
potential radiation burns after wading in water in the turbine building of
reactor No. 3. The workers had ignored their radiation alarms thinking they
were broken.

Then Tokyo electric officials pulled workers back from an effort to pump water
out of the No. 2 reactor and reported that radiation readings were 10 mn times
normal. They later apologized, saying that reading was wrong. The actual
reading was still 100k times normal, Tokyo Electric said.

The government's chief spokesman was withering in his assessment. "The
radiation readings are an important part of a number of important steps we're
taking to protect safety," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told
reporters. "There is no excuse for getting them wrong."

VENTS AND GAUGES

Although US nuclear plant operators were required to install "hardened" vent
systems in the 1980s after the 3 Mile Island incident, Japan's Nuclear Safety
Commission rejected the need to require such systems in 1992, saying that
should be left to the plant operators to decide.

A nuclear power plant's vent represents one of the last resorts for operators
struggling to keep a reactor from pressure that could to blow the building
that houses it apart and spread radiation, which is what happened at Chernobyl
25 y ago. A hardened vent in a US plant is designed to behave like the barrel
on a rifle, strong enough to withstand an explosive force from within.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission concluded in the late 1980s that the
General Electric designed Mark I reactors, like those used at Fukushima,
required safety modifications.

The risks they flagged, and that Tokyo did not heed, would come back to haunt
Japan in the Fukushima crisis.

First, US researchers concluded that a loss of power at one of the nuclear
plants would be one of the "dominant contributors" to the most severe
accidents. Flooding of the reactor building would worsen the risks. The NRC
also required US plants to install "hard pipe" after concluding the
sheet-metal ducts used in Japan could make things much worse.

"Venting via a sheet metal duct system could result in a reactor building
hydrogen burn," researchers said in a report published in Nov 2008.

In the current crisis, the failure of the more vulnerable duct vents in
Fukushima's No. 1 and No. 3 reactors may have contributed to the hydrogen
explosions that blew the roof off the 1st and left the second a tangled hulk
of steel beams in the 1st 3 days of the crisis.

The plant vents, which connect to the big smokestack-like towers, appear to
have been damaged in the quake or the tsunami, one NISA official said.

Even without damage, opening the vulnerable vents in the presence of a
build-up of hydrogen gas was a known danger. In the case of Fukushima, opening
the vents to relieve pressure was like turning on an acetylene torch and then
watching the flame "shoot back into the fuel tank," said one expert with
knowledge of Fukushima who asked not to be identified because of his
commercial ties in Japan.

Tokyo Electric began venting the No. 1 reactor on March 12 just after 10
a.m. An hour earlier the pressure in the reactor was twice its designed
limit. 6 hours later the reactor exploded.

The same pattern held with reactor No. 3. Venting to relieve a dangerous
build-up of pressure in the reactor began on March 13. A day later, the outer
building - a concrete and steel shell known as the "secondary containment" - exp
loded.

Toshiaki Sakai, the Tokyo Electric researcher who worked on tsunami risk, also
sat on a panel in 2008 that reviewed the damage to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa
nuclear plant. In that case, Tokyo Electric safely shut down the plant, which
survived a quake 2.5 times stronger than it had been designed to handle.

Sakai and the other panelists agreed that despite the successful outcome the
way the ground sank and broke underground pipes needed for firefighting
equipment had to be considered "a failure to fulfill expected performance".

Japanese regulators also knew a major earthquake could damage exhaust ducts. A
September 2007 review of damage at the same Tokyo Electric nuclear plant by
NISA Deputy Director Akira Fukushima showed 2 spots where the exhaust ducts
had broken.

No new standard was put in place requiring vents to be shored up against
potential damage, records show.

Masashi Goto, a former nuclear engineer who has turned critical of the
industry, said he believed Tokyo Electric and regulators wrongly focused on
the parts of the plant that performed well in the 2007 quake, rather than the
weaknesses it exposed. "I think they drew the wrong lesson," Goto said.

The March 11 quake not only damaged the vents but also the gauges in the
Fukushima Daiichi complex, which meant that Tokyo Electric was without much of
the instrumentation it needed to assess the situation on the ground during the
crisis.

"The data we're getting is very sketchy and makes it impossible for us to do
the analysis," said David Lochbaum, a nuclear expert and analyst with the
Union of Concerned Scientists. "It's hard to connect the dots when there are
so few dots."

In fact, Japan's NSC had concluded in 1992 that it was important for nuclear
plant operators to have access to key gauges and instruments even in the kind
of crisis that had not happened then. But it left plans on how to implement
that policy entirely to the plant operators.

In the Fukushima accident, most meters and gauges were taken out by the loss
of power in the early days of the crisis.

That left a pair of workers in a white Prius to race into the plant to get
radiation readings with a handheld device in the early days of the crisis,
according to Tokyo Electric.

They could have used robots to go in.

Immediately after the tsunami, a French firm with nuclear expertise shipped
robots for use in Fukushima, a European nuclear expert said. The robots are
built to withstand high radiation.

But Japan, arguably the country with the most advanced robotics industry,
stopped them from arriving in Fukishima, saying such help could only come
through government channels, said the expert who asked not to be identified so
as not to appear critical of Japan in a moment of crisis.

MYREF: 20110330023001 msg2011033030945

[126 more news items]

---
[A]ll science is lies and the only thing we can trust is right wing rhetoric.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 14 Jan 2011 14:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan may have lost race to save nuclear reactor

Fukushima meltdown fears rise after radioactive core melts through vessel -
but 'no danger of Chernobyl-style catastrophe'.

Ian Sample
guardian.co.uk
29 March 2011 16.53 BST

The radioactive core in a reactor at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power
plant appears to have melted through the bottom of its containment vessel and
on to a concrete floor, experts say, raising fears of a major release of
radiation at the site.

The warning follows an analysis by a leading US expert of radiation levels at
the plant. Readings from reactor 2 at the site have been made public by the
Japanese authorities and Tepco, the utility that operates it.

Richard Lahey, who was head of safety research for boiling-water reactors at
General Electric when the company installed the units at Fukushima, told the
Guardian workers at the site appeared to have "lost the race" to save the
reactor, but said there was no danger of a Chernobyl-style catastrophe.

Workers have been pumping water into 3 reactors at the stricken plant in a
desperate bid to keep the fuel rods from melting down, but the fuel is at
least partially exposed in all the reactors.

At least part of the molten core, which includes melted fuel rods and
zirconium alloy cladding, seemed to have sunk through the steel "lower head"
of the pressure vessel around reactor two, Lahey said.

"The indications we have, from the reactor to radiation readings and the
materials they are seeing, suggest that the core has melted through the bottom
of the pressure vessel in unit two, and at least some of it is down on the
floor of the drywell," Lahey said. "I hope I am wrong, but that is certainly
what the evidence is pointing towards."

The major concern when molten fuel breaches a containment vessel is that it
reacts with the concrete floor of the drywell underneath, releasing
radioactive gases into the surrounding area. At Fukushima, the drywell has
been flooded with seawater, which will cool any molten fuel that escapes from
the reactor and reduce the amount of radioactive gas released.

Lahey said: "It won't come out as one big glob; it'll come out like lava, and
that is good because it's easier to cool."

The drywell is surrounded by a secondary steel-and-concrete structure designed
to keep radioactive material from escaping into the environment. But an
earlier hydrogen explosion at the reactor may have damaged this.

"The reason we are concerned is that they are detecting water outside the
containment area that is highly radioactive and it can only have come from the
reactor core," Lahey added. "It's not going to be anything like Chernobyl,
where it went up with a big fire and steam explosion, but it's not going to be
good news for the environment."

The radiation level at a pool of water in the turbine room of reactor 2 was
measured recently at 1k millisieverts per hour. At that level, workers could
remain in the area for just 15 minutes, under current exposure guidelines.

A less serious core meltdown happened at the 3 Mile Island nuclear plant in
Pennsylvania in 1979. During that incident, engineers managed to cool the
molten fuel before it penetrated the steel pressure vessel. The task is a
race against time, because as the fuel melts it forms a blob that becomes
increasingly difficult to cool.

In the light of the Fukushima crisis, Lahey said all countries with nuclear
power stations should have "Swat teams" of nuclear reactor safety experts on
standby to give swift advice to the authorities in times of emergency, with
international groups co-ordinated by the International Atomic Energy
Authority.

The warning came as the Japanese authorities were being urged to give clearer
advice to the public about the safety of food and drinking water contaminated
with radioactive substances from Fukushima.

Robert Peter Gale, a US medical researcher who was brought in by Soviet
authorities after the Chernobyl disaster, in 1986, has met Japanese cabinet
ministers to discuss establishing an independent committee charged with taking
radiation data from the site and translating it into clear public health advice.

"What is fundamentally disturbing the public is reports of drinking water one
day being above some limit, and then a day or 2 later it's suddenly safe to
drink. People don't know if the 1st instance was alarmist or whether the
second one was untrue," said Gale.

"My recommendation is they should consider establishing a small commission to
independently convert the data into comprehensible units of risk for the
public so people know what they are dealing with and can take sensible
decisions," he added.

MYREF: 20110330033001 msg2011033029997

[126 more news items]

---
[Weather is responsible for climate change:]
And that's the only reason for the heat!
Strong northeast winds being superheated desert air from the inland to the
the southern capitals.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 31 Jan 2011 13:42 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan Weighs Nationalizing Stricken Utility

[Elsewhere, TEPCO has put up help wanted notices for front-line radiation
workers. On offer are positions of Geiger counter techs at $US5000/day].

David Jolly
NY Times
March 29, 2011

Tokyo -- Japanese lawmakers publicly debated nationalizing Tokyo Electric
Power Company on Tue, as there seemed no end in sight to the problems at the
company's crippled nuclear power plant.

The prime minister's office said the government was not considering a takeover
of Tokyo Electric "at the moment." But the plunging stock price indicated
investors were abandoning hope that the company could cope with the cost of
its rebuilding and the still unfathomable potential liabilities from its
nuclear disaster.

The share price plunged an additional 19% Tue with virtually no buyers, before
activating an automatic stop.

The closing price of 566 yen, or $6.93, was the stock's lowest close since at
least 1974. The day before the March 11 earthquake, the shares had closed at
2,153 yen -- or $26.36. The stock collapse has already erased more than 2.5
trillion yen ($30.61 bn) in market value.

"There's room for debate on the future of Tokyo Electric," Koichiro Gemba, a
member of the lower house of Parliament, said at a news conference. Mr Gemba
represents Fukushima Prefecture, where Tokyo Electric's damaged plant,
Fukushima Daiichi, is located. He is also the national strategy minister in
the cabinet of PM Naoto Kan.

Mr Gemba spoke not long after the country's largest newspaper, Yomiuri
Shimbun, cited unidentified people as saying the government was considering a
plan to temporarily acquire a majority stake in the company, help it shoulder
the liabilities that are likely to be incurred from the nuclear accident, and
then eventually take it private once again.

But fearing that a debate about the future of the company could create a
divisive and costly distraction at a time of crisis, Mr Kan and his chief
spokesman, Yukio Edano, sought to tamp down the speculation.

"At the moment, the government is not considering" nationalization, Mr Edano
said Tue at a televised news conference. He added: "The 1st priority is the
accident response. Then it needs to help those who've been affected."

If the government were to acquire a majority stake, TEPCO -- as the company is
known -- would presumably issue new stock to the state, diluting existing shareh
olders.

The utility's image has been hurt by the rolling blackouts it has instituted
to cope with the loss of generating capacity after the earthquake and by the
fact that its president, Masataka Shimizu, was invisible for several days
after the quake. TEPCO said Mon that Mr Shimizu had been sick but had since
returned to work.

Taxpayers outside the greater Tokyo area that the company serves are likely to
balk at the cost of what could be seen as a bailout.

But with no end in sight to its nuclear problem, Tokyo Electric will have to
lean on the state for support, analysts say.

"If you were the government, would you let it go bust?" said Paul J. Scalise,
a former financial analyst who is writing a book on Japan's electric power
system. "I think the answer is no. The effect on the larger economy at a
critical time would be too great."

Estimates in the Japanese news media had already put the damage from the
radiation leak to local homes, businesses and farms in the trillions of yen,
even without knowing if anyone would suffer health damage. But it is
impossible to calculate what the ultimate cost to the company will be. That is
partly because the crisis appears to be far from over, and partly because it
is not clear how much of the liability will actually be TEPCO's to bear.

Mr Scalise said that under Japanese law governing compensation for nuclear
damage, companies are liable for the cost of all nuclear accidents resulting
from reactor operations except when the accidents are provoked by a "grave
natural disaster of an exceptional nature or by an insurrection." The company
might plausibly seek to avoid liability altogether within that definition, he sa
id.

Nicholas Benes, head of the Board Director Training Institute of Japan, said
TEPCO's legal liability related to the Fukushima Daiichi plant would be
covered by private and government insurance up to 120 bn yen, and even
over that amount the government had wide latitude to provide financial assistanc
e.

"I just don't see the case for nationalization at this point," Mr Benes
said. "Unless it's for safety reasons -- for example if you think the company
is utterly incapable of managing itself. But even then you'd have to assume
that a bunch of nuclear engineers put together hodge-podge by the government
would do a better job than the company's own management. I don't think the
bureaucrats possibly believe that, or would want the responsibility."

He and others said that Mr Kan might also prefer to keep the company at arm's
length to avoid having it serve as a lightning rod for criticism of his
administration.

Kazuma Ogino and Toshihiro Uomoto, credit analysts at Nomura Securities,
suggested in a report that what was under discussion might best be described
as "a virtual nationalization," in which the state would provide the company
"with the means of paying compensation on almost all fronts."

If the state is going to end up paying most of the cost anyway, they wrote,
"it would make more sense to temporarily nationalize TEPCO" to "move ahead
with the recovery work, rather than just paying compensation."

The decline in the stock does not immediately endanger TEPCO's survival,
although its cost of capital is tied to its share price. TEPCO is in
negotiations for loans of as much as 2 trillion yen ($24.49 bn), a person
close to potential lenders said last week.

In any case, Mr Benes said it was probable that senior executives would be
ousted if TEPCO were nationalized or received some sort of government
bailout. "It's not necessarily an admission of fault or negligence," he
said. "It's just what society demands, ritualistically, so as to move on."

MYREF: 20110330060001 msg2011033028114

[126 more news items]

---
[Before the flood:]
The recent Murray Darling run-off since the floods would have provided
enought irrigation water to last at least 15 years.
Instead it has all run out to sea!
Crazy anti-dam greenies!
-- "BONZO"@27.32.240.172 [86 nyms and counting], 12 Nov 2010 14:05 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Reactor decommissioning inevitable, says Japan power company

[Meanwhile, with fallout detected as far afield as Scotland,
contamination in the sea 300m from the plant spiking to new heights in
the past few hrs. Elsewhere, TEPCO's MIA CEO has been admitted
hospital for "nervous exhaustion". In other news, company officials
say the $US24 bn the company has secured for rebuilding will not be enough].

DPA
Reuters UK
30 March 2011

Tokyo: The operator of a stricken nuclear power station in Japan said Wed that
the plant's 4 troubled reactors would have to be decommissioned.

Tsunehisa Katsumata, chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), said he was
very sorry about causing concern and inconvenience to society due to the
fires, explosions and radiation leaks from the plant.

Katsumata said he was especially sorry for those living in the vicinity who
"have been forced into a very severe situation" as some have had to stay
indoors and others to evacuate.

The evacuation order would remain in place for at least several weeks, he said.

Katsumata has taken charge of the ongoing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima
Daiichi plant after TEPCO president Masataka Shimizu was hospitalised Tue amid
reports of high blood pressure and dizziness.

TEPCO has been struggling to avert a potential disaster since the plant was
hit by the March 11 magnitude-9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami. The disaster
knocked out the power to the cooling systems, raising the risk of overheating
and a potential meltdown.

Katsumata said he apologised for the fact that Shimizu has not appeared before
the media since a March 13 press conference, drawing criticism for his low profi
le.

Jiji Press reported Sun that Shimizu, 66, had stepped down from his duties
because of "overwork" during the nation's worst nuclear crisis.

On March 16, Shimizu was ordered by doctors to move out of the crisis centre
in Tokyo and into other quarters, the news agency said, citing unnamed sources.

According to the report, he had recovered and returned to the centre before
being taken ill Tue.

Huge compensation claims against the company were expected, and observers said
they doubted it had the financial capacity to meet them.

Japanese media reported Tue that some Japanese lawmakers had already proposed
a plan for the state to take a majority stake in TEPCO and help pay for the dama
ge.

MYREF: 20110330213002 msg2011033014246

[126 more news items]

---
[Cause and effect:]

[explanations for climate change]

You left out "emerging from an ice age"!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 12:40 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

High radiation outside Japan exclusion zone: IAEA

Sylvia Westall and Fredrik Dahl
Mar 30 2011

Vienna (Reuters) - Radiation measured at a village 40 km from Japan's crippled
nuclear plant exceeded a criterion for evacuation, the UN nuclear watchdog
said on Wed, the latest sign of widening consequences from the crisis.

The finding could increase pressure on Japan's government to extend the
exclusion zone beyond 20 km (12 miles) around the Fukushima power plant, which
has leaked radioactive particles since it was hit by a huge earthquake and
tsunami on March 11.

Criticised for weak leadership during Japan's worst crisis since World War
Two, PM Naoto Kan has said he is considering enlarging the evacuation area to
force 130k people to move, in addition to 70k already displaced.

"The 1st assessment indicates that one of the IAEA operational criteria for
evacuation is exceeded in Iitate village," Denis Flory, a deputy director
general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said.

"We have advised (Japan) to carefully assess the situation and they have
indicated that it is already under assessment," he told a news conference.

Greenpeace this wk said it had confirmed radiation levels in this village
northwest of the plant high enough to evacuate. But Japan's nuclear safety
agency on Mon rebuffed a call by the environmental group to widen the
evacuation zone.

The IAEA also said it had been told by Singapore that some cabbages imported
from Japan contained radioactive iodine above the levels recommended for
international trade.

"Some samples were over the Codex Alimentarius values recommended for
international trade," said Flory.

David Byron, a UN food agency official seconded to the IAEA, said the
recommended level was 100 becquerels per kg and that one of the samples in
Singapore was up to 9 times above that. "Other samples were also over that
level," he said, although not as much.

"NOT END OF THE WORLD"

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said the situation at the Fukushima plant
remained very serious despite increased efforts by authorities to get it under
control.

Saying the Japanese authorities had faced additional difficulties but also
experienced some successes, he said he had sent invitations to the IAEA's 151
member states for a ministerial nuclear safety meeting on June 20-24 in
Vienna.

"It should be a forward-looking meeting," he said.

Amano had said on Mon he wanted IAEA member states to assess the response to
Japan's nuclear emergency and discuss ways to prevent such a disaster
happening again, adding that the international community needed a coordinated
response.

The disaster has prompted a rethink of nuclear power around the world, just as
the technology was starting to regain momentum as a way to fight global
warming.

MYREF: 20110331123001 msg201103311615

[127 more news items]

---
[Call me kook:]

A scientist cites a data point that is consistent with a trend and
says "This data is consistent with the trend; no surprise".
A kook cites a data point inconsistent with the trend and says "Surprise!
The trend is Wrong Wrong Wrong!".

Sorry but 1917 invalidates the trend.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 7 Feb 2011 13:29 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan quake impact on energy, commodities and ports

Thu Mar 31, 2011 10:50pm EDT

(Reuters) - The following is a roundup of the effect on the energy and
commodities sector of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the
northeast coast of Japan.

UTILITIES

- Japan's nuclear crisis stretched to 3 wk with radiation widening from a
crippled power plant and scant hope of a quick resolution as operators
struggle to regain control of the damaged reactors at the Fukushima nuclear
plant.

- Workers have been forced to pump in seawater to cool the rods, but this
creates contaminated seawater around the stricken plant and is making it
difficult to reconnect the plant's internal cooling system which contains
radiation.

- Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) says plutonium -- a
by-product of atomic reactions and also used in nuclear bombs -- has been
found at low-risk levels in 5 places at the crippled plant.

- Japan's trade ministry ordered nuclear power plant operators to take
immediate steps to improve emergency preparedness and will review energy
politics to promote renewable sources and ease power shortages as it
grapples with a nuclear safety crisis.

- J-Power says it has temporarily stopped construction work on the Ohma
nuclear plant due to a halt in power supplies and difficulty in
transportation of construction materials.

- Tohoku Electric Power says it will look at restoring its 2 nuclear power
plants -- Onagawa and Higashidori -- after taking stronger safety measures.

- TEPCO expects it power supply capacity for the summer to reach 46,500
megawatts, excluding hydro power using pumped water, nearly 10k MW less than
projected peak demand, which is expected to hit 55k MW even after taking
into account users' efforts at power saving.

- Kashima Kyodo Electric Power Co does not yet have a schedule for the restart
of its 1,050 megawatt power plant as the facility is damaged and is
suffering from blackouts.

- Tohoku Electric aims to restart a mothballed 350-megawatt liquefied natural
gas and oil-fired power generation unit at the Higashi Niigata plant in
early June due to power shortages.

REFINERIES

- Japan will allow the release of an additional 22 days worth of oil stocks
from privately held reserves in a bid to ease energy shortages. Japan is
making available a total of 10 mn kilolitres of oil, or 66 mn barrels.

- JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, an oil refining unit of JX Holdings, boosts oil
product output at its Mizushima refinery by a further 19,800 bpd to 400k bpd
in the wake of a supply shortage. The firm had already raised output by 30k
bpd.

- JX Holdings expects to restart its 404k tonnes pa Kawasaki naphtha cracker
near Tokyo by the end of March.

- JX Nippon Oil said it expects to take a considerable amount of time before
restarting the 145k bpd Sendai and 252,500 bpd Kashima refineries, both of
which sustained major damage. The firm has resumed operations at its Negishi
refinery in Yokohama.

MYREF: 20110401180003 msg201104015723

[130 more news items]

---
"Global warming" refers to the global-average temperature increase
that has been observed over the last one hundred years or more.
-- Dr Roy W. Spencer, "Global Warming", 2008

This is what the real climate scientist Dr Roy Spencer said.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 3 Mar 2011 16:29 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

N-plant has long road ahead / Experts: Decommissioning Fukushima reactors to tak
e decades

* Iodine-131 4,385 times limit found near N-plant
* TEPCO faces massive costs over disaster/Compensation likely to add to burden
* Checkups for residents mulled
* Nationalizing TEPCO: Easier said than done

The Yomiuri Shimbun
1 Apr 2011

Nuclear experts predict it will take decades to complete the decommissioning
of the Nos. 1 to 4 reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said Wed the company
will decommission the 4 reactors, but the most pressing task at the moment is
how to dispose of the huge quantity of water that has become contaminated with
radioactive materials after being used to cool the reactors. Just disposing of
this water will take a long time.

An estimated 13k tons of contaminated water has accumulated in
trenches--tunnels used for maintenance of the reactors. A large quantity of
contaminated water also has to be extracted from the basements of the
reactors' turbine buildings, although the exact amount is unknown.

If the contaminated water can be removed, it will pave the way to reactivating
the reactors' original cooling systems, which can lower the temperature of the
reactor cores more efficiently than the methods now being employed.

Currently, however, workers at the plant are stymied by the contaminated
water. They cannot even connect power cables outside the plant to the
reactors' control systems.

It may be impossible to restore power to the reactor control systems if
internal radiation levels are so high workers cannot repair the machinery, or
if the contaminated water cannot be removed.

If water continues to leak, external tanks for temporarily storing it may
become full. Workers and experts have said new facilities to store the
contaminated water must be secured as soon as possible.

If all the contaminated water can be removed, the reactors then must be put in
what is called cold shutdown to prevent the further discharge of large
quantities of radioactive substances and bring the reactors into a stable
state.

Cold shutdown means all control rods have been inserted into the reactors to
stop nuclear fission chain reactions, and the coolant water inside the
reactors is below 100 C.

Usually the temperature needs to be lowered further to remove fuel rods for
regular checks or decommissioning.

"If the original cooling systems can be activated through a power supply from
outside the plant and coolant water circulated, cold shutdown can be achieved
in a day or two," Prof. Kenichiro Sugiyama of Hokkaido University said.

But it will likely take a few more y for the nuclear fuel rods to be cool
enough to be removed from the reactors to decommission them.

On the other hand, if the current method--putting coolant water into the
reactors with makeshift pumps--continues to be used, the situation may become
more serious.

"Although the nuclear fuel would cool gradually, it would take at least
several m to achieve cold shutdown," said Toru Ebisawa, a former associate
professor of Kyoto University's Research Reactor Institute.

This would mean using more water, which would increase the amount of
contaminated water.

Overall, it will take decades to complete the process of decommissioning the
reactors.

The Japan Atomic Power Co.'s Tokai plant in Ibaraki Prefecture was the 1st
commercial nuclear power plant in Japan to begin being decommissioned. The
plant ended commercial operations in 1998, and the decommissioning process is
scheduled to end in 2021.

In the decommissioning process, fuel rods are removed and workers wait for
levels of radioactivity to fall. During that time, power generators and other
equipment with low levels of radiation contamination are decommissioned first.

In the final stage, reactors' steel containers and other equipment are cut
into pieces and buried deep underground. At the Tokai plant, heat exchangers
and other parts are now being removed.

But in the case of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, in which reactors
and buildings were damaged, it is doubtful whether the normal process of
decommissioning will be possible.

Shojiro Matsuura, former chairman of the Nuclear Safety Commission, said,
"This time, much more time and effort will be needed to lower radiation
contamination levels. Twenty or 30 y probably won't be enough."

In the 1979 3 Mile Island accident in the United States, it took a m to
achieve cold shutdown and 6 to 7 y to remove melted fuel rods.

Fourteen y later, US authorities declared the decommissioning process complete.
Part of the nuclear fuel could not be recovered and remained in the reactors.

MYREF: 20110401193002 msg2011040116612

[130 more news items]

---
The global warming Mormons of NASA are so disturbed by public perception
that this winter is verging on the chilly across the northern hemisphere
that they have produced a map showing areas where they claim alarmingly high
temperatures are prevailing, such as the middle of the Arctic Ocean.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 29 Dec 2010 15:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

TEPCO could face ¥11 trillion payout: report

Reuters/Business Spectator
31 Mar 2011

Tokyo - Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) could face compensation claims of up
to ¥11 trillion ($A128.5 billion), nearly 4 times its equity, if Japan's worst
nuclear crisis drags on for 2 years, an analyst at Bank of America Merrill
Lynch wrote in a report.

But claims could be limited to less than ¥1 trillion if the crisis at the
Fukushima Daichi nuclear complex, triggered by the March 11 earthquake and
tsunami, was resolved in around 2 months, or up to ¥3 trillion if it took
around 6 months, research analyst Yusuke Ueda wrote.

Compensation and rebuilding claims are expected to be substantial following
the evacuation of 70k people and government bans on sales of vegetables and
milk from areas around the plant, hitting shareholders in Asia's largest
utility and prompting the government to consider nationalising it.

"Shareholders are very likely to be held liable, through capital reductions of
a certain amount, so as to clarify responsibility for damage compensation, but
given the principle of maintaining stable supplies of electric power, a scheme
involving a default on the company's bonds is very unlikely to be adopted,"
Ueda wrote.

TEPCO has around $US91 bn ($A88.04 billion) in debt, which excludes ¥2
trillion recently secured in loans from domestic lenders, but includes some
$US64 bn in bonds. At the end of Dec, TEPCO had equity of ¥2.94 trillion, its
accounts show.

Adding to its woes, the utility's cash flow is under pressure as it has to pay
more for costly crude and fuel oil and struggles to rebuild generation
capacity.

"In any event, we think it is very unlikely that TEPCO will end up in legal
bankruptcy, considering its importance as a provider of a key part of the
infrastructure, electricity," Ueda wrote.

TEPCO chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said on Wed the company will discuss with
the government how to ensure adequate funding to get through a disaster that
has caused radiation leaks, rolling power blackouts and the evacuations.

Shares of the power company jumped about 12% on Thu morning as the market
detected huge buy orders after shares plunged 18% the previous
day. But they recently gave up some of their gains to be up 6.4% at ¥496.

MYREF: 20110402080001 msg2011040210834

[129 more news items]

---

Why is it relevant that the 'chief scientist' is a woman?

Because women are easier prey for scams such as The Great Global Warming Hoax!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 7 Feb 2011 11:28 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

TEPCO skips welcoming ceremony for 1,077 recruits

[Elsewhere, TEPCO has put out "help wanted" ads for dozens of "jumpers" --
people that will be put into high radiation areas for short periods of time
and then pulled out].

2 Apr 2011

Tokyo -- For the 1st time in its 60y history Tokyo Electric Power Co on Fri
has skipped its annual welcoming ceremony for recruits. Elsewhere, the crisis
continues at its nuclear power plant crippled by the March 11 earthquake and
tsunami in northeastern Japan.

More than 1000 recruits, incl around 330 university and graduate school
students, entered the company Fri, the 1st day of Japan's FY 2011. The
inductees went directly to a training center in Hino, western Tokyo, in the
absence of the ceremony at the firm's head office in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.

None of the new recruits declined to join the power utility due to the natural
disaster or the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station,
a company rep said.

Asked why the firm skipped the ceremony, the rep said TEPCO was asking for
public co-operation in the light of rolling power cuts as the company tried to
quickly resolve its plant crisis.

MYREF: 20110402093001 msg2011040216867

[129 more news items]

---
It takes more than warmth to grow crops; otherwise the Sahara would be green!
--
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 21 Jan 2011 11:16 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Concrete fails to plug leak at Fukushima nuclear plant

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says highly
radioactive water from a pit near a reactor continues to leak into the
ocean. Officials plan to explore using a polymer in another attempt to stop
the flow.


Workers pumped concrete into a leaking pit holding power cables near reactor
No. 2 Sat in an attempt to stop a leak of radioactive water.

Julie Makinen
Los Angeles Times
April 3, 2011

Tokyo -- The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex said Sat
that highly radioactive water was leaking from a pit near a reactor into the
ocean, which may partially explain the high levels of radioactivity that have
been found in seawater off the coast.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it had detected an 8-inch crack in the concrete
pit holding power cables near reactor No. 2 and was working to seal the
fracture. Tepco said the water was coming directly from the reactor and the
radiation level was 1k millisieverts an hour. The annual limit of radiation
exposure allowed for Fukushima workers is 250 millisieverts.

Workers pumped concrete into the shaft Sat, but by the end of the day the flow
of water into the ocean had not diminished. Engineers speculated that the
water was preventing the concrete from setting, allowing it to be washed away.

Tepco officials said that on Sun morning they would explore using a polymer -
a type of quick-setting plastic - to plug the leak.

After spraying 1000s of tons of water on the reactors at Fukushima over the
last 3 wk to keep them from overheating and releasing dangerous amounts of
radiation over a wide area, Tepco is faced with the problem of great volumes
of contaminated water.

With storage tanks at the facility nearing capacity, Tepco is contemplating
storing the water in a giant artificial floating island offshore, Kyodo News
reported. Tepco, which has been monitoring radiation levels in seawater just
offshore from the plant, said it would begin sampling about 9 miles off the coas
t.

Workers have also been spraying the grounds of the plant with a polymer in an
attempt to prevent any radioactive isotopes that have been deposited there
from escaping from the vicinity of the plant. The polymer acts like a kind of
super-glue, binding any contaminants to the soil so they cannot be blown away.

As 25k Japanese and US forces continued an intensive search for corpses along
the tsunami-battered coastline of northern Japan, the official death toll
climbed to 11,938 and the number of missing fell to 15,748, the National
Police Agency said.

The number of people in emergency shelters has declined to about 165k from
more than 200k in the days immediately after the massive earthquake and
tsunami March 11. But concerns are growing about the health of elderly
residents at the shelters, some of which still lack enough kerosene to run
heaters round-the-clock. Many areas of northern Japan are still experiencing
subfreezing temperatures.

A report Sat from public broadcaster NHK detailed the deaths of some elderly
people who had survived the disaster. The broadcaster cataloged harsh
conditions facing older survivors, including crowded quarters, interruptions
in medical regimens and a discontinuation of services such as physical therapy.

In a bit of good news, NHK reported that coast guard officials had found a dog
on the roof of a house floating in waters off Miyagi prefecture. The dog,
which apparently had been stranded for 3 weeks, was emaciated and gobbled down
sausages and cookies after being saved.

MYREF: 20110403140002 msg201104038799

[126 more news items]

---
[Before the flood:]
The recent Murray Darling run-off since the floods would have provided
enought irrigation water to last at least 15 years.
Instead it has all run out to sea!
Crazy anti-dam greenies!
-- "BONZO"@27.32.240.172 [86 nyms and counting], 12 Nov 2010 14:05 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Tokyo Electric Using Sawdust in Attempt to Stop Radiation Leaking Into Sea

Shinhye Kang and Jae Hur
Bloomberg
Apr 3, 2011 10:31 PM ET

Tokyo Electric Power Co has used a mix of polymer, sawdust and newsprint in
an attempt to stop radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant
seeping into the sea.

The absorbent material was injected into a power-cable storage pit from where
polluted water is escaping through a crack, the power utility said today at a
briefing in Tokyo. It will introduce a tracer to the pit to check whether the
operation has been successful.

Tokyo Electric, which has been working to stop radiation leaks since the March
11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling systems, also plans
to start infusing nitrogen gas into the reactors today to reduce the threat of
hydrogen explosions, and is connecting power cables to pumps.

"The water-absorbent polymer has never been used before in these cases so I'm
not sure whether this works well or not," said Suh Kune Yull, a professor of
Nuclear Energy System Engineering at Seoul National University. "It may not be
easy as the leaking pit is very wide."

Radiation in contaminated seawater near the Fukushima Dai- Ichi plant was
measured at more than 1k millisieverts an hour, Tokyo Electric said yesterday
in a statement. Exposure to that level for an hour would trigger nausea, and 4
hours might lead to death within 2 months, according to the US Environmental
Protection Agency.

"The level of radiation may not affect the seawater and fish, which are
moving, but it's enough to contaminate sea algae and clams near the plant if
Japan fails to block the leak soon," Suh said by phone from Seoul.

Bodies Found

The bodies of 2 workers missing since the March 11 earthquake were found
today, Tokyo Electric said. They had been performing maintenance in the
basement of the No 4 reactor at the plant, the company said today on a news
conference streamed over the Internet. The latest deaths bring to 7 the number
of workers killed at Tokyo Electric's 2 nuclear power complexes in Fukushima,
including 5 employees of sub- contractors whose deaths were confirmed on March
12 and 14.

The total number of dead and missing from the disaster in Japan was 27,481 as
of 10 am Tokyo time today.

It may take several m to stop the emission of radioactive material, Goshi
Hosono, a lawmaker in the Democratic Party of Japan in the ruling coalition,
told reporters. Hosono is an envoy between the government and Tokyo Electric.

Radiation Levels

A company executive said earlier today he isn't optimistic about the prospect
of containing damage at the Fukushima Dai- Ichi nuclear power plant's No 3
reactor.

"I don't know if we can ever enter the No 3 reactor building again," Hikaru
Kuroda, the company's chief of nuclear facility management, said at a press
conference.

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency yesterday ordered Tokyo Electric
to increase monitoring of seawater near the No 2 reactor after the leaks led
to a rise in radiation, agency Deputy Director Hidehiko Nishiyama
said. Above-normal levels of radioactive iodine were detected in seawater 40
km (25 miles) S of the plant, broadcaster NHK reported.

About 10 cm (4 inches) to 20 cm of radioactive water was found in the leaking
pit, which is 1.2 meters by 1.9 meters across and 2 meters deep, and had a
crack about 20 cm wide, Takashi Kurita, a company spokesman, told reporters at
a briefing at Tokyo Electric's Tokyo headquarters.

Tokyo Electric tried to plug the crack by filling the pit near reactor No 2
with concrete yesterday, Junichi Matsumoto, another company official, said at
a later press conference. Water in the pit was found to have 10k times the
normal level of toxic iodine 131, he said. Kyodo News 1st reported the leak yesterday.

Offering Help

The pit is separate from the trenches where the company found contaminated
water earlier, Susumu Tsuzuki, a Tokyo Electric nuclear facility maintenance
official, told reporters.

General Electric Co (GE) Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt will meet
officials from Tokyo Electric as the utility struggles to stabilize its
damaged reactors, designed by the US company.

Immelt is traveling to Japan "to meet with employees, partners and customers
including Tokyo Electric," Deirdre Latour, a GE spokeswoman, said in an
e-mail. Reactors at the crippled plant are based on a four-decade-old design
from Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE.

Nitrogen Infusion

Tokyo Electric plans to begin infusing nitrogen into the plant today, Tsunoda
said, without specifying where. Several hydrogen explosions happened when the
gas was released from overheating reactors after the March 11 tsunami knocked
out their cooling systems.

A 9-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami severed power and damaged
reactors at the Fukushima complex about 220 km (136 miles) N of Tokyo. Workers
have been spraying water on the reactors to cool radioactive fuel rods in the
worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

Tokyo Electric said it is connecting power cables to cooling systems on 3 of 4
damaged reactors. Connecting power may not work because of potential damage
caused by blasts that ripped through the plant in the days after the quake.

Japanese PM Naoto Kan yesterday made his second visit to the areas hit by the
quake and tsunami, according to the prime ministers website. Kan flew on a
helicopter to Iwate prefecture in the northeast to meet with evacuees and then
went to neighboring Fukushima prefecture to talk with Self-Defense Forces
members and other workers at the Dai-Ichi nuclear plant.

MYREF: 20110404052108 msg2011040413531

[135 more news items]

---
[W]omen are easier prey for scams such as The Great Global Warming Hoax!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 7 Feb 2011 11:28 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan says it may take m to end radiation leaks

* Cracked pit one possible source of radiation leaks

* More bodies recovered from tsunami-hit coast

* Damages bill could top $300 billion

Chizu Nomiyama and Yoko Nishikawa
Reuters
Apr 3, 2011 12:24pm EDT

Tokyo, April 4 (Reuters) - Japan's government warned on Sun it may take m to
stop radiation leaking from a nuclear plant crippled by a huge earthquake and
tsunami 3 wk ago, as more bodies were recovered in devastated areas of
northeast Japan.

An aide to embattled PM Naoto Kan said the government's priority was to stop
radiation leaks which were scaring the public and hindering work on cooling
overheated nuclear fuel rods.

"We have not escaped from a crisis situation, but it is somewhat stabilised,"
said Goshi Hosono, a ruling party lawmaker and aide to Kan.

"How long will it take to achieve (the goal of stopping the radiation
leakage)? I think several m would be one target," Hosono said on a nationwide
Fuji TV programme on Sun.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) found a crack in a concrete pit
at its No.2 reactor in the Fukushima Daiichi complex at the weekend,
generating readings of 1k millisieverts of radiation per hour in the air inside.

The leaks did not stop after concrete was poured into the pit, and TEPCO
turned to water-absorbent polymers to prevent any more contaminated water from
going out.

The latest effort to staunch the flow of radioactive water into the Pacific
started on Sun afternoon. Workers then topped the polymers with more concrete.

"We were hoping the polymers would function like diapers but are yet to see a
visible effect," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a deputy director general of the
Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

Officials believe the crack could be one source of the radiation leaks that
have hobbled efforts to control the six-reactor complex and sent radiation
levels in the sea soaring to 4k times the legal limit.

The battle to cool overheated reactors and avoid dangerous meltdowns of the
highly radioactive fuel rods has seen workers hose saltwater into reactors,
but this has left the facility awash with contaminated saltwater, preventing
workers getting closer to the reactors.

Nishiyama said fresh water was now being pumped into No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors
using external power, which was more stable than the emergency diesel
generators previously being used.

MYREF: 20110404063002 msg2011040416244

[133 more news items]

---
[Irony 101:]
[By my count BONZO has called people whacko 137 times; fool 26; idiot
22 times; twit 17 times; moron 14 times in just the past 4 wks. There
is a 10+-year history, however].
Warmist Abuse Shows They're Losing
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 16 Feb 2011 17:15 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Town near nuclear plant rejects Japanese utility's 'token' offer

[In other news, TEPCO says it's managed to significantly reduce the flow of
contimated water gushing into the sea off Fukushima. But it also estimates
protective sheeting to prevent air and soil around the plant being
contaiminated by particles coming from the damaged reactors and fuel ponds
will not be installed until at least September].

TEPCO's offer: $12 per person

Whitney Hurst
CNN

Highlights:
* "Everything we've built is gone," the mayor of Namie says
* Tokyo Electric offers 20 mn yen to residents of 10 communities near the plant
* The utility company says more money to those affected will likely come in the
future
* One estimate is that Tokyo Electric will pay $12 bn to $121 bn in compensation

Tokyo (CNN) -- Acknowledging the toll the unrelenting nuclear crisis has had
on people's lives and livelihoods, the owner of Japan's stricken nuclear plant
has offered money to some of those in the radiation's reach -- an offer that
one city decided to refuse.

An official with Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the Fukushima
Daiichi power plant, said Tue that the utility made a "token" offer to
residents in 10 communities near the plant.

Starting March 31, money began going out to those in 9 of them. But the town
of Namie rejected Tokyo Electric's offer, with a local official calling it too
meager an attempt to make up for a drastically reduced quality of life and
income.

"Our people are suffering, and unfortunately, everything we've built is gone,"
Mayor Tamotsu Baba told CNN.

"Where is our direct apology?" Baba asked. "Because the cash certainly doesn't
amount to much."

Tokyo Electric says the amount is an initial token payment, not compensation
for losses sustained as a result of the nuclear accident at Fukushima
Daiichi. They promise that will come later -- after they have assessed the
damage from the accident, which has spread radioactive contamination across
much of the surrounding area.

The company called the initial offer "payment for their troubles," and would
not detail how much money is being offered to each community. But Kousei
Negishi, who is the manager of general affairs for Namie, said that it was 20
mn yen -- about $12 for each of Namie's roughly 20k residents.

That amount of cash, said Negishi, is "not enough." And it is logistically
difficult to force local governments to distribute the money, which he said
should be Tokyo Electric's responsibility.

Several officials from Fukushima, the prefecture that includes the crippled
plant, took their complaints about the company and the evacuation zone to PM
Naoto Kan's Tokyo office Tue afternoon.

"We don't know if TEPCO understands what we're going through," said Katsuya
Endo, the mayor of Tomioka, one of the towns that has been evacuated since the
accident.

The company said Tue that would be worked out between the power company and
the Japanese government, which has pledged to support Japan's largest utility
in the crisis.

One wk ago, a report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimated Tokyo
Electric will face compensation claims of 1 trillion Japanese yen (about
$12.13 billion) if the recovery effort takes 2 months, the financial company's
Tokyo spokesman Takayuki Inoue told CNN. That figure would rise to 2.4
trillion to 3 trillion yen if the process takes 6 months, and up to 10
trillion yen if the recovery takes 2 years, according to the report.

Most likely, tens of 1000s of people will have a legitimate claim to this
cash. They'll include those who haven't been able to work, who have been
forced out of their homes or who otherwise have had their lives turned upside
down in the problem-plagued, complicated struggle to contain the emission of
radiation into the air, ground and water from the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The government ordered about 78k people who lived within 20 km (12
miles) of the plant to evacuate, due to high air and ground radiation readings
in those locales.

Another 62k lived within 20 to 30 km (12 to 19 miles) -- the so-called
exclusion zone, where people have been told to stay indoors -- an official
from Kan's office said. Namie is located just outside this 30-kilometer
radius.

Thousands of others have been affected by the crisis. They include fishermen,
who have been told not to go within 20 km of the plant and are facing
consumers skeptical about the safety of local seafood, especially after
authorities announced plans to dump 11,500 tons of radioactive water into the
Pacific Ocean. Farmers, too, have been hit hard by restrictions on the sale
and distribution of certain crops because of radiation readings exceeding
government limits.

Tokyo Electric itself has suffered as well. The company has admitted it's been
inundated by 40k public complaints daily coming into its offices, its stock
has plummeted and its faced several protests, including one Sun in downtown
Tokyo that drew about 250 people.

Last week, Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata acknowledged the financial
difficulties and reports that Japan's government is considering nationalizing
the company.

"(But) we want to make every effort to stay a private company," he said.

MYREF: 20110406173001 msg201104069416

[125 more news items]

---
[On knowing your constituents:]
I always thought faremers were a gullible bunch!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 9 Feb 2011 12:09 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan may order Tokyo-area industry to conserve power

Osamu Tsukimori
Reuters
Apr 6, 2011 2:39am EDT

Tokyo (Reuters) - Japan's trade ministry may order big industrial electricity
users in the country's economic heartland around Tokyo to cut their peak
summer power use by 25 percent, a ministry official said, as efforts mount to
avert crippling blackouts.

The ministry was also likely to create power-saving targets for smaller users,
including individual households, the official said.

Tokyo Electric Power is scrambling to secure enough power for the capital
area's factories and air-conditioners this summer after a devastating
earthquake and tsunami took out more than 20% of its generating capacity,
including the Fukushima nuclear complex.

"We are looking at a cut of around 25% (for large-scale users of 500 kilowatts
or more)," the ministry official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.

"Efforts will be made to boost supply, which would ease pressure on the demand
side. We may also discuss less stringent constraints for households and
smaller users, but if we ease up at this point we may end up being too lax."

ROLLING BLACKOUTS

The ministry is scheduled to finalize its strategies to cope with the peak
summer season by the end of April, he added.

The Tokyo area and regions further north, served mainly by Tokyo Electric,
account for 1/2 the economic activity of the world's third-biggest economy,
Nomura Holdings estimates.

Analysts suggest power blackouts could ultimately become the greatest source
of economic damage inflicted by last month's disaster on Japan, a vital player
in the global manufacturing supply chain.

Tokyo Electric implemented rolling blackouts last m after the March 11
earthquake and tsunami, although it has since restarted some damaged thermal
power plants and has been able to avoid blackouts since March 28, helped also
by warmer weather.

The giant Fukushima nuclear complex remains down amid a protracted safety
crisis, however, and Trade Minister Banri Kaieda has said there could be a
shortfall of 10k to 15k megawatts when air-conditioner use kicks in over the
summer, depending on how far temperatures rise.

Tokyo Electric has estimated, however, that it can rush enough thermal plants
online, including mothballed facilities, to close the gap to about 5k MW,
presuming typical summer use around 60k MW.

Analysts said the power savings may not need to be as draconian as those under
discussion at the trade ministry.

"I am very skeptical that there will be such severe cuts. These reports seem
to be part of a drive to encourage energy conservation in order to minimize
disruption over the summer," said Richard Jerram, chief Asian economist at
Macquarie Securities.

The ministry official nevertheless rejected media reports that the Tokyo
utility would not use rolling blackouts after April, noting they may be needed
to ensure there are no unexpected outages that would take down power for Tokyo
Electric's entire service area.

"Rolling blackouts would remain as a last resort," he said.

MYREF: 20110406190002 msg201104069929

[125 more news items]

---
[A]s a Conservative, I have no tolerance for ambiguity.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 14 Jan 2011 14:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Strong earthquake shakes Japan's ruined northeast coast

[A 7.4 quake has hit Japan. A tsunami warning remains in force. Tokyo TV is
reporting a 1 m wave was expected to hit the NE coast around 1 am local time].

Reuters
Kiyoshi Takenaka and Yoko Nishikawa
April 8 2011

Tokyo, April 8 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.4 shook the
northeast of Japan late on Thu, and a tsunami warning was issued for the coast
already devastated by last month's massive quake and the tsunami that crippled
a nuclear power plant.

No damage from Thu's quake was detected at the plant and NHK said workers had
been evacuated without reports of any injuries.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage elsewhere but people in
areas covered by the tsunami warning should evacuate to higher ground, Japan's
NHK public television said.

Japan is struggling to bring the Fukushima Daiichi plant under control after
the March 11 quake and tsnumai, which killed, or left missing, about 28k
people.

Japan's neighbours have sounded increasingly alarmed over the risk of
radiation from the plant, while tourists are staying away in what should be
the peak season, and the country seeks ways to cut power use.

The world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 y is also raising concern over safety
in the United States, which has more atomic reactors than any other country,
especially at one plant which is similar to the one in Fukushima wrecked by
last month's 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami.

Engineers, who sealed a leak this wk that had allowed highly radioactive water
into the sea, are pumping nitrogen into one reactor to prevent the risk of a
hydrogen gas explosion, and want to start the process in another 2 reactors.

Operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said late on Thu it did not expect it
would have to dump any more contaminated water into the ocean after Sat.

Earlier, TEPCO said the chance of a repeat of the gas explosions that damaged
2 reactors in the 1st days of the disaster was "extremely small".

But as engineers battle multiple crises -- some the result of efforts to try
to cool reactors -- officials admit it could take m to bring the reactors
under control and y to clear up the toxic mess left behind at the plant 240 km
(150 miles) N of Tokyo.

"Data shows the reactors are in a stable condition, but we are not out of the
woods yet," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters.

The government has already set up a 20 km (12 miles) exclusion zone around the
plant, banned fishing along much of the northeast coast and set up evacuation
centres for the tens of 1000s forced to leave their homes following the
crisis.

Trace levels of radioactive material have been detected in the air in 22
Chinese provinces but the amounts did not pose a threat to health or the
environment, China's state news agency Xinhua said.

Earlier, China's Health Ministry said traces of radioactivity in spinach had
been found in 3 provinces. [ID:nL3E7F62LF]

MYREF: 20110408012501 msg201104082698

[124 more news items]

---
So you really, really believe that our universe just came about by
sheer chance? I prersonally, find that extremely hard to accept.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 11 Jan 2011 15:02 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan's earthquake and tsunami debris will hit our shores

Town-sized piles of junk headed across Pacific to US
US Navy says significant hazard to shipping
Arriving over next 1-3 years

Abby Greenhill
Gather
April 08, 2011 09:10 AM EDT

What are the chances that the debris from Japan's earthquake and tsunami will
eventually wash up on the W coast of the United States? According to
predictions made by US oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, parts and pieces of
everything could be here within 3 years.

With more than 200k buildings destroyed and washed away, all of that material
has to go somewhere. Currently building parts, truck, cars and parts of homes
have been spotted floating in the ocean.

There were 1000s of bodies washed out to sea after Japan's earthquake and
tsunami and some of those parts could hit our coastline in about 3
years. Bodies will decompose, according to Ebbesmeyer, but feet that are
encased in shoes will float.

It should only take a y or so before Oregon, California and Washington see
signs of debris along the shore. Ebbesmeyer tracks debris and he depends on
beach goers to report their findings.

According to Curt Peterson, oceanographer, he doesn't expect all that much to
wash ashore, as some will break down. He believes some will miss our coastline
and head for the Gulf of Alaska and British Columbia, according to Mail
Online.

Japan's earthquake and tsunami have littered the ocean, but according to
Ebbesmeyere, it still doesn't equate the amount of trash that humans regularly
dump into the ocean. The difference is that Japan's earthquake and tsunami and
its resulting debris was something that couldn't be prevented.

We can't turn the tide, so to speak, when it comes to Mother Nature and what
has already happened, but we can stop dumping our junk into our lakes, river
and oceans.

MYREF: 20110409201519 msg201104098764

[129 more news items]

---
[Before the flood:]
The recent Murray Darling run-off since the floods would have provided
enought irrigation water to last at least 15 years.
Instead it has all run out to sea!
Crazy anti-dam greenies!
-- "BONZO"@27.32.240.172 [86 nyms and counting], 12 Nov 2010 14:05 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

End to Japan nuke crisis is years, a fortune away

Apr 10 2011

Tokyo (AP) - Once Japan's leaky nuclear complex stops spewing radiation and
its reactors cool down, making the site safe and removing the ruined equipment
is going to be a messy ordeal that could take decades and cost 100s of
millions of dollars.

Radiation has covered the area around the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant and
blanketed parts of the complex, making the job of "decommissioning" the plant
- rendering it safe so it doesn't threaten public health and the environment -
a bigger task than usual.

Toshiba Corp., which supplied 4 of Fukushima's 6 reactors, including 2 on
which General Electric Co. collaborated, submitted a roadmap this past wk to
the plant's operator for decommissioning the crippled reactors. The study,
done with 3 other companies, projects that it would take about 10 y to remove
the fuel rods and the reactors and contain other radioactivity at the site,
said Keisuke Omori of Toshiba.

That timeline is far faster than those for other nuclear accidents and
contains a big caveat: The reactors must 1st be stabilized and cooled, goals
that have eluded emergency teams struggling with cascading problems in the m
since the devastating tsunami damaged their cooling systems. Omori said the
extent of damage to the reactors and other problems still need to be assessed.

"Of course decommissioning the 4 reactors would be more challenging than
retiring one from an ordinary operation. We still have a lot to examine,"
Omori said. He declined to provide details on the costs and the timeframe,
citing business confidentiality.

Getting a quick resolution to the Fukushima crisis would give a boost to a
nation trying to recover from the severe disasters and to the tens of 1000s
forced to evacuate communities near the plant and already wearying of living
in shelters with no prospects of returning home.

"It could take decades. We will all have to move away," said 36-year-old
Hitomi Motouchi, who left a home on the fringe of the evacuation zone and is
living in a gymnasium in Fukushima city. Unlike the tsunami refugees who may
return to rebuilt communities, "it's different for us, because this disaster
may never end," Motouchi said.

Decommissioning usually takes 3 forms: dismantling or decontaminating parts of
the reactors so the land can be used; safely sealing off and monitoring the
nuclear plant while the radiation inside decays; and entombing radioactive
parts in concrete and steel.

With so much radiation spread about, experts said a combination of these is
likely to be used at Fukushima. Once the reactors cool, heavily contaminated
areas could be entombed by pouring concrete on top and tunneling underneath to
insert a slab to prevent seepage. Other tainted areas could be locked
down. That would allow the radiation to decay naturally but put on hold usual
tasks like dismantling parts of the complex.

"The best solution is to entomb the site for 40, 50, 60 years," said Arnold
Gundersen, who wrote part of the Energy Department manual on decommissioning
and runs the U.S.-based environmental consulting company Fairewinds
Associates.

A Fairewinds study cited cost estimates for decommissioning the Vermont Yankee
nuclear plant, whose boiling water reactors are similar to Fukushima's but
have fewer problems, that ran as high as $950 mn last y and would likely
exceed $1 bn next year. Gundersen said the tab for the Japanese plant may end
up being many times that amount.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, chief spokesman for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety
Agency, has said ideally the Fukushima complex eventually will be returned to
"flat land," meaning the facility is dismantled and removed.

Though an avid user of nuclear power with 54 plants, Japan has little
experience in decommissioning and none involving problematic reactors. The
first, the Tokai Power Station's No. 1 reactor, is 13 y into a 22-year
process. Its fuel rods have been removed, and its turbines and other equipment
are being dismantled while the reactor is isolated, its vents and ducts
closed.

Decommissioning troubled reactors tends to be more drawn-out. Parts of Ukraine
are still uninhabitable 25 y after the Chernobyl nuclear plant's No. 4 reactor
exploded, while neighboring Belarus began allowing some people to move into
its no-go zone last year.

The dun-colored cooling tower and rounded dome of the 3 Mile Island nuclear
plant's Unit 2 still loom over central Pennsylvania 32 y after its cooling
system malfunctioned, causing a partial meltdown and sending up plumes of
radioactive gas. Its final decommission date is 2 decades away at a cost, as
estimated by the US nuclear regulatory agency, of over $850 million.

"It's like a funeral where the pallbearers have to stand around for decades,"
said Eric Epstein, who runs the monitoring group TMI Alert. The region was
long known for plain-living Amish farmers, the Hershey Co. chocolate factory
and the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg, he said, but is now stigmatized
in the public mind by the United States' worst nuclear accident.

Unlike 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl, where problems were confined to one
reactor each, Fukushima has 3 active reactors that are not cooling properly
and at least one of which may be leaking, and 4 storage pools for spent fuel
which have overheated, some to dangerous levels.

"This is going to be inevitably a much more challenging decommissioning than
we have experience with," said Peter Bradford, a former commissioner on the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Explosions in the 1st few days of the crisis at Fukushima showered debris over
the site and highly radioactive water has inundated trenches, tunnels and
ducts not normally exposed to radiation. Plutonium, which lingers for decades
and may cause cancers at high levels of exposure, has been found on site and
other highly radioactive elements like cobalt are likely there.

Cesium-137, another long-lingerer linked to cancer, has been detected 15 to 35
miles (25 to 60 kilometers) away from the plant in amounts the scientific
journal Nature said this past wk suggests that the areas may not be fit for
food production for decades, as was the case with Chernobyl.

Once the extent of contamination is known, the Japanese government may have to
decide whether a faster expensive cleanup - that is, one undertaken before
much radiation decays - is feasible or preferable to sealing off wide areas to
let the radiation decay, as was done in Chernobyl.

Another speedy solution suggested by some experts is to pour concrete or sand
over the overheated reactors, not waiting until they cool. The tactic has been
dismissed by Japan's nuclear safety agency and other experts have called it
risky as the nuclear fuel may melt through the container.

The Toshiba plan - developed with its Westinghouse Electric Co. unit, the
energy company Babcock & Wilcox Co. and the Shaw Group, which specializes in
civil engineering - was worked on by 100 specialists and looks at 3 Mile
Island for lessons, said Omori, the company spokesman.

It predicts that the reactors will be stabilized in several m and envisions
moving ahead on multiple tasks simultaneously. Fuel removal could begin late
this y while radioactive debris would be cleared and less contaminated
equipment outside the reactors demolished, Omori said.

That's a faster timetable than 3 Mile Island, where fuel removal began 6 y
after the accident and took another 6 y to complete.

Whatever the method, Fukushima's 4 problematic units, 1, 2, 3 and 4, will be
scrapped. But a final decommissioning may depend on whether the operator,
Tokyo Electric Power Co., keeps Units 5 and 6 running. At 3 Mile Island,
nuclear fuel from the damaged Unit 2 reactor has been shipped to Idaho and
contaminated water has evaporated. But it cannot be fully dismantled and
decommissioned until after its adjacent Unit 1 is shut down in 2034.

Hutzler reported from Beijing. Associated Press writers Eric Talmadge in
Fukushima and Ryan Nakashima and Mayumi Saito in Tokyo contributed to this
report.

MYREF: 20110410140001 msg201104103598

[131 more news items]

---
[On knowing your constituents:]
I always thought faremers were a gullible bunch!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 9 Feb 2011 12:09 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

China expands ban on Japan food

AFP
Apr 9 2011

Beijing -- China has expanded its import ban on food and produce from Japan
over fears of radioactive contamination from a nuclear plant crippled by the
March 11 quake and tsunami, state media reported Sat.

The ban, which came into force Fri, includes foodstuffs, farm produce and
fodder from 12 prefectures near the Fukushima plant, up from 5 in the original
ban, Xinhua news agency said, quoting a statement from the quarantine and food
safety administration.

The administration also demanded that food imports from other areas be
accompanied by certificates showing they were free of radioactivity and giving
their places of origin.

Beijing has expressed concern over the release into the sea of radioactive
water from the nuclear power plant and urged its neighbour to protect the
marine environment.

China last Sat said it had detected 10 cases of radioactive contamination
among passengers, aircraft, ships and containers arriving from Japan since
March 16.

Similar bans on imports of food from areas near the stricken plant have been
imposed by Russia, the United States, S Korea, Taiwan and Singapore.

The European Union Fri tightened the acceptable level of radiation in Japanese
food imports.

Nearly a m after the magnitude-9.0 quake and resulting tsunami which
devastated northeast Japan, emergency operations to contain the danger from
the leaking plant have not yet been completed.

MYREF: 20110411020001 msg2011041118639

[128 more news items]

---
[I am Luddite!]
You whackos just keep changing your "predictions" to suit reality!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 16 Feb 2011 15:57 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan expands Fukushima evacuation zone. Will residents ever return home?

Radiation 'hot spots' beyond the existing Fukushima evacuation zone spur
Japanese officials to order more areas to be emptied. Residents are being
given a m to leave.

Peter Grier
CSMonitor.com
April 11, 2011

Washington -- As new earthquakes rattle the devastated Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear plant Japanese officials are urging more people to evacuate the area.

The aftershocks themselves aren't the cause of the new evacuation push.
Instead, Japan's government is becoming increasingly concerned about radiation
"hot spots" outside the existing 12-mile evacuation area where radiation
levels may be high enough to pose long-term health risks.

That's why residents in the new evacuation areas don't have to leave right
now. Instead, they have a m to pack up before they have to depart. Annual
radiation exposure in the zone - which includes Katsurao Village, Namie town,
Iitate Village, and parts of some other towns - likely will total about ten
times the level of natural background radiation, said Chief Cabinet Secretary
Yukio Edano on Mon.

"This is not an emergency measure that people have to evacuate immediately,"
said Edano.

Will Japanese nuclear evacuees ever return to their homes? After all, there is
still an exclusion zone of 19-mile radius around the Chernobyl nuclear
plant. No one has lived within this area since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

It's likely that this won't happen in Japan, however, unless Fukushima Daiichi
releases much more radiation than it has already.

Partly this is because Japan is a much more densely settled nation than
Ukraine, where Chernobyl is located. The Japanese government cannot afford to
have a large "no-go" zone smack in the middle of the nation's northeast
region. Too many people and businesses would have to be permanently relocated.

Partly it is because Japan is a wealthy nation. It is likely to be able to
bear the high costs of scraping up and storing or decontaminating the soil
from highly radioactive areas. Less contaminated areas within the evacuation
zone could be washed or capped with new soil.

Tokyo Electric Power Company workers are already doing this within the grounds
of Fukushima Daiichi itself. They are using remote-controlled bulldozers and
power shovels to remove radioactive rubble from damaged areas, notes an update
from the US Nuclear Energy Institute, a group that represents firms in the
nuclear power industry.

That said, right now the hot spots are a matter of "grave concern," said Edwin
Lyman, a senior scientist in the Global Security Program of the Union of
Concerned Scientists, during a briefing for reporters last week.

Many of these spots are northwest of the Fukushima plant, in the direction
where prevailing winds have been blowing since the accident. Precipitation
washes radioactive material out of the air unevenly, causing some areas to be
harder hit by contamination than others.

Some residents of the region have complained of contradictory statements from
government officials and uncertainty about what they should do. Japan's
waffling on whether to order hot spot residents to leave their homes has
caused unnecessary confusion, say experts at some environmental organizations.

Greenpeace sent specialist teams of radiation monitors to the region earlier
this m and began calling for hot spot evacuations prior to the Japanese
government's move in that direction.

"We welcome the decision by Japan's government to evacuate areas outside the
initial Fukushima 20km zone, however it needs to keep making decisive action
to protect people from the contamination risks created by the Fukushima
Daiichi crisis," said Rianne Teuele, a radiation expert and leader of a
Greenpeace monitoring team, in a statement released Mon.

MYREF: 20110412070002 msg2011041215608

[136 more news items]

---
You would think that we'd know the Earth's `climate sensitivity' by
now, but it has been surprisingly difficult to determine. How
atmospheric processes like clouds and precipitation systems respond to
warming is critical, as they are either amplifying the warming, or
reducing it.
-- Dr Roy W. Spencer, "Global Warming", 2008

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan raises nuclear crisis to same maximum

Japan has raised the severity level of its nuclear crisis to be on par with
Chernobyl.

The nuclear and industrial safety agency confirms the crisis level has been
raised from 5 to 7 on the international nuclear and radiological event scale

Justin McCurry
guardian.co.uk
12 April 2011 06.44 BST

Japan has raised the severity level of its nuclear crisis to a maximum seven,
putting the emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant on a par with
Chernobyl.

Officials from the nuclear and industrial safety agency [Nisa] confirmed that
the crisis level had been raised from 5 to 7 on the international nuclear and
radiological event [INES] scale.

But they said the new rating reflects the initial impact of the nuclear
crisis, adding that radiation levels have since dropped dramatically.

The scale, devised by the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], ranks
nuclear and radiological accidents and incidents by severity from one to
seven.

Level 7 incidents involve a major release of radiation with widespread health
and environmental effects, according to the IAEA.

In recent days Japanese officials had suggested there was no need to raise the
severity level from five, which applied to the 3 Mile Island accident in 1979.

A spokesman for Nisa said the decision to raise the level to the status of
major accident did not mean that the Japanese plant posed the same threat to
public health or involved similarly big releases of radiation as the 1986
Chernobyl disaster.

"Chernobyl exploded while the reactors were still active, which is completely
different from the situation at Fukushima," Hidehiko Nishiyama said.

He added that the decision had been taken a m after the accident because
experts needed time to analyse data.

Japan's nuclear safety commission estimated that the Fukushima plant's
reactors had released up to 10k terabequerels of radioactive iodine-131 into
the air for several hours after they were damaged in the March 11 earthquake
and tsunami.

The emission of radioactive substances from Fukushima Daiichi was about 10% of
that detected at Chernobyl, Nishiyama said.

The nuclear safety commission said emissions have since dropped to below one
terabecquerel per hour, adding that it was examining the total amount of
radioactive materials released.

Some experts criticised the move as excessive. "I think raising it to the
level of Chernobyl is excessive," said Murray Jennex, associate professor at
San Diego State University. "It's nowhere near that level. Chernobyl was
terrible - it blew and they had no containment, and they were stuck.

"The [Japanese] containment has been holding, the only thing that hasn't is
the fuel pool that caught fire. I don't see those as the same event. If they
want to do that, that's fine. I think they're being overly pessimistic."

Tue's decision came after the government said it would widen the evacuation
zone near the plant to include 5 communities lying outside the current
20-kilometre no-go area.

About 70k people living within a 20-kilometre radius of the plant have already
been evacuated, while 130k living between 20-30 km have been told to leave
voluntarily or stay indoors.

The latest evacuation, which could take at least a wk to complete, was
prompted by the lack of progress in fixing cooling systems at the damaged
plant and concerns about the long-term effects on public health.

"These new evacuation plans are meant to ensure safety against risks of living
[in affected communities] for 1/2 a y or one year," the government's chief
spokesman, Yukio Edano, said.

Japan's northeast and eastern regions have been hit by 2 big aftershocks in
the past 24 hours.

Shortly after 8am on Tue, an earthquake measuring magnitude 6.3 that struck
off the coast of Chiba prefecture was followed by reports of a fire breaking
out at the No 4 reactor at Fukushima Daichi. The blaze was quickly
extinguished, officials said.

The tremor was one of more than 400 aftershocks above magnitude 5 to have hit
the area since March 11.

In one of the few signs of progress, the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric
Power [Tepco], said it had stopped pumping low-level radioactive water from
the reactor buildings into the sea.

The controversial measure, which drew criticism from neighbouring China and S
Korea, was designed to free up storage space for highly contaminated water.

But engineers say they are no closer to restoring the plant's cooling system;
until they do, they will be unable to cool overheating fuel rods and stabilise
the facility's 6 reactors.

On Mon, Tepco's president, Masataka Shimizu, made his 1st visit to Fukushima
prefecture since the crisis began.

"I would like to deeply apologise again for causing physical and psychological
hardship," he said. The prefecture's governor, however, refused to meet him.

MYREF: 20110412160109 msg2011041211452

[129 more news items]

---
Check the dates and times when Bozo posts. It's a 5 day Monday-Friday 8
hour working week.
-- Tom P, 26 Nov 2008

[Mr Posting Robot]

Japan economy to take hit from quake, nuclear accident

* US nuclear body says Fukishima "static" but not stabilised
* Japan cuts economic outlook for 1st time in 6 months
* China says Fukushima is no Chernobyl

Shinichi Saoshiro and Taiga Uranaka
Reuters
Apr 12, 2011 11:29pm EDT

Tokyo, April 13 (Reuters) - Japan cut the outlook for its economy on Wed for
the 1st time in 6 months, saying last month's devastating quake and tsunami
would hurt growth, with no sign yet when the nuclear crisis they triggered
might be brought under control.

New data shows much more radiation leaked from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
power plant in the early days of the crisis than 1st thought, though the US
nuclear safety regulator said the crisis appeared to be "static" as engineers
at the Fukushima nuclear plant struggle to cool overheating fuel rods.

After recent fears of possible contamination in the region, neighbouring China
said that the impact there had been small, noting the amount of radiation was
about one% of what it had experienced from the world's worst nuclear disaster
at Chernobyl.

The total cost of the March 11 triple disaster has been estimated at $300
billion, making it the world's most costly natural disaster.

"The effects of the earthquake will be temporary. It will cause various
indirect damage such as dampening consumer sentiment but the economy will pick
up toward the end of this year. That's what many economists are thinking,"
Japanese Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano said.

The new economic assessment for a country that has been mired in recession for
most of the past 15 y came after another relatively strong quake rocked
northeastern Japan on Wed. But there were no reports of any damage to a region
already devastated by last month's tremor and tsunami. [ID:nTKE006366]

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) appears to be no closer to
restoring cooling systems that are critical to lowering the temperature of
overheated nuclear fuel rods in the damaged reactors.

The company has begun looking into how it will store and transport the spent
fuel from the reactors, though work cannot start until they are in cold
shutdown, TEPCO official Mitsuo Matsumoto told reporters.

It is expected to take m before the damaged reactors will have cooled
down. Some officials have speculated that the authorities may have to entomb
the plant if the crisis drags on too long, the solution that was eventually
used to close off Chernobyl.

On Tue, Japan's science ministry said small amounts of strontium, one of the
most harmful radioactive elements, had been found in soil near Fukushima
Daiichi.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, a deputy director-general of the Nuclear and Industrial
Safety Agency (NISA), said the decision to raise the severity of the incident
from level 5 to 7 -- the same as the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986 --
was based on cumulative quantities of radiation released.

MYREF: 20110413143002 msg201104134055

[128 more news items]

---
The global warming Mormons of NASA are so disturbed by public perception
that this winter is verging on the chilly across the northern hemisphere
that they have produced a map showing areas where they claim alarmingly high
temperatures are prevailing, such as the middle of the Arctic Ocean.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 29 Dec 2010 15:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Japan says 28 plant workers got high radiation doses

Sylvia Westall
Reuters
Fri Apr 15, 2011 11:56am EDT

Vienna (Reuters) - Japan has told the UN atomic agency that 28 nuclear workers
have received high radiation doses as they battle to stabilize the stricken
Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

Of the 300 people at the site, which was hit by an earthquake and tsunami a m
ago, 28 have accumulated doses of more than 100 millisieverts (mSv), the
International Atomic Energy Agency said, citing data from Japanese authorities.

"No worker has received a dose above Japan's guidance value of 250 mSv for
restricting the exposure of emergency workers," the Vienna-based IAEA said Fri.

The average dose for a nuclear plant worker is 50 millisieverts over five years.

Last m 2 workers from the Fukushima site were taken to hospital after their
feet were exposed to 170-180 millisiverts when they stepped into contaminated
water. They have since recovered.

Fukushima is the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl 25 y ago and Japanese
authorities have rated it as the most severe on an internationally recognized
scale. However, unlike Chernobyl, no one appears to have died from radiation exp
osure.

MYREF: 20110416060002 msg2011041614098

[131 more news items]

---

Remember who you're talking to. :)
The guy quotes Dyson without knowing Dyson accepts AGW;

Dyson accepts AGW???
News to me!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], Mar 2 16:10 EST 2011

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Japan's evacuees annoyed at compensation offer

Roughly 48k households near crippled nuclear plant eligible for initial
payments of $12,000

Ryan Nakashima, Shino Yuasa
AP/MSNBC
2011-04-16T01:21:08

Tokyo -- The crisis at Japan's tsunami-crippled nuclear plant forced Kazuko
Suzuki to flee her home without packing, ended her job at a welfare office and
cost her 18-year-old son an offer for work of his own.

The plant operator's announcement Fri that it would pay $12k in initial
compensation to each evacuated household struck her as far too little to repay
her family for the economic turmoil it has already suffered.

"I'm not satisfied," said the 49-year-old single mother from Futaba, who has
lived for the past m with her 2 teenage sons at a shelter in a high school N
of Tokyo. "I feel like this is just a way to take care of this quickly."

Suzuki is among tens of 1000s forced to leave their homes because of radiation
leaking from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, unsure of when, if ever,
they will be able to return. The complex's cooling systems were disabled by
the March 11 tsunami, which was spawned by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake.

Some have traveled 100s of miles (kilometers) to Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s
headquarters in the capital to press their demands for compensation. Pressed
by the government as well, TEPCO announced it would begin distributing money
April 28.

"We have decided to pay provisional compensation to provide a little help for
the people (who were affected)," TEPCO Pres Masataka Shimizu told a news confere
nce.

Roughly 48k households living within about 20 miles (30 kilometers) of the
crippled plant would be eligible for the initial payments -- 1 mn yen
(about $12,000) for families and 750k yen (about $9,000) for single adults,
the government said. The government said more was expected to be paid later.

TEPCO expects to pay 50 bn yen (about $600 million) in the initial round of
compensation. As costs mount for the utility, Shimizu said the company would
consider cutting executive salaries as well as a number of its employees.

Suzuki said the evacuation has placed a serious financial burden on her
family, forcing it to buy clothes, food and other basics.

"We've had to spend money on so many extra things, and we don't know how long
this could go on," she said.

Akemi Osumi, a 48-year-old mother of 3 also from Futaba, said the money was a
"small step" but that it didn't fairly compensate larger families. Her family
is living at the same shelter but also must rent an apartment for her eldest
son to go to a vocational school.

"One mn yen doesn't go very far," she said. "I'm not convinced at just 1 mn
yen per family. If it was dependent on the size of the family I'd understand,
but it's not."

In the small fishing town of Namie, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the
plant, store owner Masami Watanabe hurriedly inspected his shop while scores
of police searched the evacuated area for bodies of those slain by the tsunami.

Watanabe, who received special permission from the government to return for a
quick survey of his shop, was also critical of TEPCO's offer.

"There is no way they can compensate us for what happened here. What they are
offering isn't enough. I have a mortgage to pay. And besides, it's not all
about money," he said.

Watanabe rented an apartment in the northeastern city of Sendai after the
evacuation, but wants to move back home.

"Who knows how long that will take," he said, as he put a garbage can in front
of his shop doorway to keep burglars out.

TEPCO is still struggling to stabilize the nuclear plant and restore cooling
systems that failed after the tsunami wrecked emergency backup systems as well
as much of the plant's regular equipment.

Radiation leaks from the crisis have contaminated crops and left fishermen in
the region unable to sell their catches, a huge blow to an area heavily
dependent on fishing and farming.

The governor of Fukushima, Yuhei Sato, has vigorously criticized both TEPCO
and the government for their handling of the disaster, demanding faster action.

"This is just a beginning. The accident has not ended. We will continue to ask
the government and TEPCO to fully compensate evacuees," he said.

Japan's nuclear compensation law exempts the operator from liability when the
accidents are "caused by a grave natural disaster of an exceptional character,
or by an insurrection." However, it would be politically untenable for TEPCO
to cite the tsunami as a rationale for not paying damages, given the complex
nature of the problems that have unfolded at the plant, and questions over its
preparedness, among other issues.

It is unclear whether TEPCO is likely to face lawsuits going forward. Most
Japanese prefer to avoid the cost and publicity of going to the courts for
redress, and the country relies heavily on nonjudicial resolution of disputes.

With Tokyo still suffering a power crunch because of the loss of power
generated by its stricken plants, TEPCO said it planned to install gas
turbines at 2 thermal power plants to boost output.

TEPCO, the main power supplier to the Tokyo region, said the new turbines
would raise its capacity to between 50 mn and 52 mn kilowatts, still well
below the nearly 60 mn kilowatts of power consumed during peak hot weather
days last summer.

The company earlier said it would only be able to provide 46 mn kilowatts
of capacity.

MYREF: 20110416140002 msg201104164668

[128 more news items]

---
[Before the flood:]
The recent Murray Darling run-off since the floods would have provided
enought irrigation water to last at least 15 years.
Instead it has all run out to sea!
Crazy anti-dam greenies!
-- "BONZO"@27.32.240.172 [86 nyms and counting], 12 Nov 2010 14:05 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Radioactivity rises in sea off Japan nuclear plant

[In other reports, officials have estimated the trouble at Fukishima will last
at least another 2 or 3 months].

Latest signals possibility of new leaks at tsunami-crippled facility,
government says

MARI YAMAGUCHI
AP/MSNBC
2011-04-16T15:07:37

Tokyo -- Levels of radioactivity have again risen sharply in seawater near a
tsunami-crippled nuclear plant in northern Japan, signaling the possibility of
new leaks at the facility, the government said Sat.

The announcement came after a magnitude-5.9 earthquake jolted Japan on Sat
morning, hours after the country's nuclear safety agency ordered plant
operators to beef up their quake preparedness systems to prevent a recurrence
of the nuclear crisis.

There were no reports of damage from the earthquake, and there was no risk of
a tsunami similar to the one that struck the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant March 11
after a magnitude-9.0 earthquake, causing Japan's worst-ever nuclear plant disas
ter.

Since the tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling systems, workers have been
spraying massive amounts of water on the overheated reactors. Some of that
water, contaminated with radiation, leaked into the Pacific. Plant officials
said they plugged that leak on April 5 and radiation levels in the sea dropped.

But the government said Sat that radioactivity in the seawater has risen again
in recent days. The level of radioactive iodine-131 spiked to 6,500 times the
legal limit, according to samples taken Fri, up from 1,100 times the limit in
samples taken the day before. Levels of cesium-134 and cesium-137 rose nearly
fourfold. The increased levels are still far below those recorded earlier this
m before the initial leak was plugged.

The new rise in radioactivity could have been caused by the installation Fri
of steel panels intended to contain radiation that may have temporarily
stirred up stagnant waste in the area, Hidehiko Nishiyama of the Nuclear and
Industrial Safety Agency told reporters. However, the increase in iodine-131,
which has a relatively short eight-day 1/2 life, could signal the possibility
of a new leak, he said.

"We want to determine the origin and contain the leak, but I must admit that
tracking it down is difficult," he said.

Authorities have insisted the radioactivity will dissipate and poses no
immediate threat to sea creatures or people who might eat them. Most experts agr
ee.

Regardless, plant workers on Sat began dumping sandbags filled with zeolite, a
mineral that absorbs radioactive cesium, into the sea to combat the radiation le
aks.

Meanwhile, the newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported, without citing its sources,
that a secret plan to dismantle Tokyo Electric Power Co., which runs the
radiation-leaking Fukushima plant, was circulating within the government. The
proposal calls for putting TEPCO, the world's largest private electricity
company, under close government supervision before putting it into bankruptcy
and thoroughly restructuring its assets. Most government offices were closed
Sat, and the report could not be immediately confirmed.

In the wake of the nuclear crisis, the government ordered 13 nuclear plant
operators to check and improve outside power links to avoid earthquake-related
outages that could cause safety systems to fail as they did at the Fukushima
plant, Nishiyama told reporters late Fri. The operators, including TEPCO, are
to report back by May 16.

Power outages during a strong aftershock on April 7 drove home the need to
ensure that plants are able to continue to operate crucial cooling systems and
other equipment despite earthquakes, tsunamis and other disasters, Nishiyama sai
d.

Utility companies were ordered to reinforce the quake resistance of power
lines connected to each reactor or to rebuild them. They also must store all
electrical equipment in watertight structures. Earlier, the nuclear agency
ordered plant operators to store at least 2 emergency backup generators per
reactor and to install fire pumps and power supply vehicles as further precautio
ns.

The massive 46-foot (14-meter) wave that swamped Fukushima Dai-ichi last m
knocked out emergency generators meant to power cooling systems. Since then,
explosions, fires and other malfunctions have compounded efforts by TEPCO to
repair the plant and stem radiation leaks.

TEPCO said Sat it had moved power sources for some of the reactors at the
stricken plant to higher ground by Fri evening in order to avoid another
disastrous failure in the event of a tsunami.

'Far from the end'

Goshi Hosono, an adviser to the PM and member of the nuclear crisis management
task force, said the damaged reactors were much more stable than they had been
earlier in the crisis and TEPCO was preparing to unveil a plan for restoring
cooling capacity to the ailing reactors "soon."

"Problems are still piled up and we are far from the end of crisis," he told a
TV news program, citing radioactive water as one of the biggest headaches. "I
expect there will be more mountains that we have to climb over."

The crisis at the Fukushima plant has forced tens of 1000s of people to
evacuate the area, while radiation leaks have contaminated crops and left
fishermen unable to sell their catches, adding to the suffering of communities
already devastated by earthquake and tsunami damage.

Government officials fanned out across the affected areas to explain their
decisions and calm nerves.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama apologized for the uncertainty
and confusion to residents in Iitate village, parts of which the government
recommended be evacuated because of the nuclear crisis.

"Everyone in the village must be extremely troubled, uncertain and worried,"
he said, promising to provide temporary housing and financial support for the
residents, many of them farmers.

In the city of Inawashiro, Hiroshima University Professor Kenji Kamiya, who
has been appointed a health risk adviser to Fukushima prefecture, met with
about 250 education officials to explain that radiation levels in the area do
not pose an immediate or significant threat to the public.

"I hope people understand that the levels we are seeing are fairly low. Even
in the most impacted areas, we have screened more than 1k children for
radiation abnormalities in their thyroids and have found none at all," he said.

Kamiya has been giving almost daily lectures in an effort to prevent people
from overreacting to the possible danger.

"People fear things that they don't understand. We were even afraid before of
the rain, because we just didn't know if it was safe," said Takaaki Kobayashi,
a father of 2 grade school children. "I feel more comfortable now about
sending kids to school. It helps to understand."

MYREF: 20110417020001 msg2011041717873

[129 more news items]

---
[On knowing your constituents:]
I always thought faremers were a gullible bunch!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 9 Feb 2011 12:09 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Japan nuclear operator aims for cold shutdown in 6-9 months

Taiga Uranaka
Reuters
Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:52am EDT

Tokyo (Reuters) - Japanese nuclear power plant operator Tokyo Electric Power
Co. (TEPCO) hopes it will be able to achieve cold shutdown of its crippled
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant within 6 to 9 months, the company said on Sun.

The firm said the 1st step would be cooling the reactors and spent fuel to a
stable level within 3 months, then bringing the reactors to cold shutdown in 6
to 9 months. That would make the plant safe and stable and end the immediate
crisis, now rated on a par with the world's worst nuclear accident, the 1986
Chernobyl disaster.

TEPCO, founded 60 y ago, added it later plans to cover the reactor buildings,
damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami that struck on March 11.

The latest data shows much more radiation leaked from the Daiichi plant in the
early days of the crisis than 1st thought, prompting officials to rate it on a
par with Chernobyl, although experts were quick to point out Japan's crisis
was vastly different from Chernobyl in terms of radiation contamination.

TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said he was considering resigning over the
accident, but that he couldn't say when.

"This is the biggest crisis since the founding of our company," Katsumata told
a news conference at which the timetable was unveiled.

"Getting the nuclear plant under control, and the financial problems
associated with that... How we can overcome these problems is a difficult matter
."

The toll from Japan's triple catastrophe is rising. More than 13k people
have been confirmed dead, and on Wed the government cut its outlook for the
economy, in deflation for almost 15 years, for the 1st time in 6 months.

TEPCO and the government are under pressure to clarify when those who have had
to evacuate the area around the damaged plant will be able to go home. PM
Naoto Kan faced heavy criticism over comments, which he later denied making,
suggesting the evacuees might not be able to return for 10 or 20 years.

"We would like to present objective facts to help the government make judgment
and outlook on when those who have evacuated can come back home," TEPCO
Chairman
Tsunehisa Katsumata told a news conference at which the timeframe was unveiled.

Katsumata also said the company was taking steps to cope with the possibility
of another big tsunami. The area has been rocked by large aftershocks since
the magnitude 9.0 quake struck and triggered the devastating tsunami.

But he said he had no idea how much it would ultimately cost to stabilize the pl
ant.

MYREF: 20110417210001 msg2011041712303

[128 more news items]

---
[Call me kook:]

A scientist cites a data point that is consistent with a trend and
says "This data is consistent with the trend; no surprise".
A kook cites a data point inconsistent with the trend and says "Surprise!
The trend is Wrong Wrong Wrong!".

Sorry but 1917 invalidates the trend.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 7 Feb 2011 13:29 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Robots throw doubt on 'road map' to control Fukushima crisis

Robots found high radiation levels in reactor buildings 1 and 3 Mon, which
could make it impossible for workers to enter the Fukushima plant to carry out
crucial fixes.

Mark Clayton
CSMonitor
April 18, 2011

Related Stories
* How can Fukushima crisis be rated as severe as Chernobyl?
* Japan expands Fukushima evacuation zone. Will residents ever return home?
* Japan's fishermen struggle to stay afloat amid fish bans, radiated water relea
ses

Robots found levels of radiation inside reactor buildings 1 and 3 that throw
doubt on whether humans will ever be able to enter to carry out crucial work.
[The reason why robots have been unable to enter until recently -- radiation
levels were even too high for robots].

The announcement came Mon, just one day after officials unveiled a six-month
"road map" for bringing radioactivity under control. Many experts call the
road map a necessary step, but optimistic.

Exploring the 1st floor of the No.1 reactor building for about an hour, a
robot provided by a Massachusetts-based company rolled through doors it opened
with its manipulator arms, detecting radiation leaking at a rate of 49
millisieverts per hour. That means a worker could stay in the building for no
more than 5 hours before reaching the lawful annual limit for nuclear workers
of 250 millisierverts.

Later, in a two-hour prowl through the No. 3 reactor, one of the robots ran
into debris roadblocks and recorded readings of 57 millisieverts per hour,
Japanese broadcaster NHK World reported.

While the readings were not completely unexpected, they confirm the difficulty
of the task ahead if the plant's operator is going to bring the damaged
reactors, their spent fuel pools, and radioactive releases under control
within 6 months.

Two-pronged plan

The 1st part of that plan is to bring down radiation levels at the site, in
part by restoring steady cooling for the reactors and setting up storage
facilities for radioactive water. The second step would be to achieve a "cold
shutdown" at the reactor site and vastly lower the amount of contaminated
water on site by the six-to-nine-month mark.

At that point, Japan's industry minister Banri Kaieda said Sun, the government
might be able to tell evacuees when they can return home, NHK World
reported.

But nuclear experts were wary. "The three-month target is a best-possible
scenario," Kazuhiko Kudo, a nuclear expert at Kyushu University, told the
Mainichi Daily News newspaper. "It is imperative to install an external system
to recycle cooling water as soon as possible."

That's exactly what company officials are trying to do. But the high levels of
radiation could delay efforts to set up an replacement for cooling system that
shut after the 9.0 earthquake. So could the large quantity of radioactive
water on site, which came both from leaks in the containment vessels and water
that was sprayed from above when the crisis was at its height.

Officials said Mon that the water was more than 40 feet deep in the basement
of the No. 4 reactor building and about 3 feet deep in several other
buildings.

Potential dangers of plan

There are other gaps in the plan as written, says nuclear engineer David
Lochbaum.

Adding water to the reactor vessels to further cool the damaged uranium fuel
rods could have negative consequences, says Dr Lochbaum, who spent y working
in power plants with the same design as the Daiichi plant's reactors. First,
it could allow a nuclear reaction to take place again. Second, it would add
more water to a structure already carrying a huge load of water in the
basement.

To guard against a renewed nuclear reaction, adding boron - a chemical not
mentioned in the road map - would be vital, he adds.

And engineers will have to revisit the seismic analysis to see how much water
they can add safely.

"The containment was designed to withstand earthquake forces up to a certain
level" but may not be able to deal with an aftershock or quake if too much
water is added back, Lochbaum writes. "The added weight, coupled with the
potential for sloshing during an earthquake, could compromise the structural
integrity of the containment."

MYREF: 20110419120002 msg2011041927967

[130 more news items]

---
[Cause and effect:]

[explanations for climate change]

You left out "emerging from an ice age"!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 12:40 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Japan PM declares no-go zone at nuke plant

AFP
April 21, 2011 - 4:19PM

Japan on Thu banned people from going within 20 km of the tsunami-hit
Fukushima nuclear plant, which has been leaking radiation.

The ban, which gives legal weight to an existing voluntary exclusion zone,
comes after police found more than 60 families living in the area and
residents returning to their abandoned homes to collect belongings.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced the no-entry area, due to be enforced from
midnight (0100 AEST), on a visit to Fukushima prefecture, where 1000s now live
in evacuation shelters, almost 6 wk after the March 11 quake and tsunami.

The nuclear plant, where reactor cooling systems were knocked out, has been
hit by a series of explosions and leaked radiation into the air, ground and
sea in the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl 25 y ago.

More than 85k people have moved to shelters from areas around the plant,
including from a wider 30-kilometre zone, where people were 1st told to stay
indoors and later urged to leave, according to data from the prefecture.

"The plant has not been stable," Kan's right-hand man, top government
spokesman Yukio Edano, said at a Tokyo news conference.

"We have been asking residents not to enter the area as there is a huge risk
to their safety."

The ban can be enforced with detentions or Y100k ($A1134.3) fines.

One member of each household within the 20-kilometre no-entry area will be
allowed to make a two-hour return visit to their home to pick up personal
belongings, wearing protective suits and dosimeters.

The trips on buses will start within days and run for one or 2 months, but
exclude areas within 3 km of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, where the
radiation risk is deemed too high, Edano said.

"They are advised to keep the belongings they take out to a minimum," said
Edano, the chief cabinet secretary, adding that all visitors to the no-go area
would be screened afterwards for radiation exposure.

There are 27k households within the 20km zone, said broadcaster NHK.

The residents are likely to have to stay away for some time, after plant
operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said on Sun that it did not
expect a "cold shutdown" of all 6 reactors for another 6 to 9 months.

Kan asked for the local people's understanding when he flew to the prefecture
by military helicopter and met Fukushima governor Yuhei Sato, before Kan was
also due to visit local evacuation shelters.

"We have been doing our best to have people return to their hometowns and
resume their lives there," Kan told local officials during his trip. "And we
will make further efforts to realise this."

Sato later told reporters he had demanded "that Tokyo Electric Power as well
as the government cover compensation responsibly, including damage caused by
harmful rumours, so that evacuees can return as quickly as possible".

Many of the homeless living in crowded shelters voiced their frustration.

"We are all worried because we don't know how long this will go on for," a
woman evacuated from Futabamachi town near the plant told NHK. "I want the
government to tell us when this will end."

A man from Narahamachi said: "The roof of my house is probably gone, but I
can't even fix it. It's just unacceptable that we will only be allowed to go
back for an hour, 2 hours."

A schoolboy at one shelter said: "I want to go back, even if it's a one-off
thing for now. I need my study materials. I play baseball, so I want to bring
back my baseball gear."

When the tsunami struck, 4 coastal nuclear plants were affected, and the
government also declared a 10km evacuation zone around the sister plant of
Fukushima Daiichi (No. 1), the nearby Fukushima Daini (No. 2) facility.

Because Daini was now stable, the government reduced that zone to an 8km
radius on Thu, with Edano saying that "the risk of a significant accident
occurring there has been reduced."

Meanwhile workers battling the crisis at the plant suffer from insomnia, show
signs of dehydration and high blood pressure and are at risk of developing
depression or heart trouble, a doctor who met with them said on Wed.

The crews have been fighting to get the radiation-spewing plant under control
for over a month.

"The (working) conditions at the plant remain harsh," epidemiologist Takeshi
Tanigawa said.

"I am afraid that if this continues we will see a growing risk of health
problems."

His findings relate to the health risks workers face due to fatigue, rather
than from any exposure to radiation.

Tanigawa, the Public Health Department chairman at Ehime University's medical
school, said he met and spoke with 80 of the workers over 4 days when he
was allowed into another nearby nuclear plant where many of them take their brea
ks.

MYREF: 20110421170002 msg2011042127121

[130 more news items]

---

Why is it relevant that the 'chief scientist' is a woman?

Because women are easier prey for scams such as The Great Global Warming Hoax!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 7 Feb 2011 11:28 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Tsunami Warnings, Written in Stone

A stone tablet in Aneyoshi, Japan, warns residents not to build homes below
it. Hundreds of these so-called tsunami stones, some more than 6 centuries
old, dot the coast of Japan.

Martin Fackler
NY Times
April 20, 2011

Aneyoshi, Japan - The stone tablet has stood on this forested hillside since
before they were born, but the villagers have faithfully obeyed the stark
warning carved on its weathered face: "Do not build your homes below this point!
"

Residents say this injunction from their ancestors kept their tiny village of
11 households safely out of reach of the deadly tsunami last m that wiped out
100s of miles of Japanese coast and rose to record heights near here. The
waves stopped just 300 feet below the stone.

"They knew the horrors of tsunamis, so they erected that stone to warn us,"
said Tamishige Kimura, 64, the village leader of Aneyoshi.

Hundreds of so-called tsunami stones, some more than 6 centuries old, dot the
coast of Japan, silent testimony to the past destruction that these lethal
waves have frequented upon this earthquake-prone nation. But modern Japan,
confident that advanced technology and higher seawalls would protect
vulnerable areas, came to forget or ignore these ancient warnings, dooming it
to repeat bitter experiences when the recent tsunami struck.

"The tsunami stones are warnings across generations, telling descendants to
avoid the same suffering of their ancestors," said Itoko Kitahara, a
specialist in the history of natural disasters at Ritsumeikan University in
Kyoto. "Some places heeded these lessons of the past, but many didn't."

The flat stones, some as tall as 10 feet, are a common sight along Japan's
northeastern shore, which bore the brunt of the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and
tsunami on March 11 that left almost 29k people dead or missing.

While some are so old that the characters are worn away, most were erected
about a century ago after 2 deadly tsunamis here, including one in 1896 that
killed 22k people. Many carry simple warnings to drop everything and seek
higher ground after a strong earthquake. Others provide grim reminders of the
waves' destructive force by listing past death tolls or marking mass graves.

Some stones were swept away by last month's tsunami, which scientists say was
the largest to strike Japan since the Jogan earthquake in 869, whose waves
left sand deposits miles inland.

Aneyoshi's tsunami stone is the only one that specifically tells where to
build houses. But many of the region's names also seem to indicate places
safely out of the waves' reach, like Nokoriya, or Valley of Survivors, and
Namiwake, or Wave's Edge, a spot 3 miles from the ocean that scholars say
marks the farthest reach of a tsunami in 1611.

Local scholars said only a handful of villages like Aneyoshi heeded these old
warnings by keeping their houses safely on high ground. More commonly, the
stones and other warnings were disregarded as coastal towns grew in the boom y
after World War II. Even communities that had moved to high ground eventually
relocated to the seaside to be nearer their boats and nets.

"As time passes, people inevitably forget, until another tsunami comes that
kills 10k more people," said Fumio Yamashita, an amateur historian in Iwate
Prefecture, where Aneyoshi is situated. He has written 10 books about tsunamis.

Mr Yamashita, 87, who survived the recent tsunami by clinging to a curtain
after waters flooded the hospital where he was bedridden, said Japan had
neglected to teach its tsunami lore in schools. He said the nation had put too
much store instead in new tsunami walls and other modern concrete barriers,
which the waves easily overwhelmed last month.

Still, he and other local experts said that the stones and other old teachings
did contribute to the overall awareness of tsunamis, as seen in the annual
evacuation drills that many credit with keeping the death toll from rising
even higher last month.

In Aneyoshi, the tsunami stone states that "high dwellings ensure the peace
and happiness of our descendants." Mr Kimura, the village leader, called the
inscriptions "a rule from our ancestors, which no one in Aneyoshi dares break."

The four-foot-high stone stands beside the only road of the small village,
which lies in a narrow, cedar-filled valley leading to the ocean. Downhill
from the stone, a blue line has been newly painted on the road, marking the
edge of the tsunami's advance.

Just below the painted line, the valley quickly turns into a scene of total
destruction, with its walls shorn of trees and soil, leaving only naked
rock. Nothing is left of the village's small fishing harbor except the huge
blocks of its shattered wave walls, which lie strewn across the small bay.

Mr Kimura, a fisherman who lost his boat in the tsunami, said the village 1st
moved its dwellings uphill after the 1896 tsunami, which left only 2
survivors. Aneyoshi was repopulated and moved back to the shore a few y later,
only to be devastated again by a tsunami in 1933 that left 4 survivors.

After that, the village was moved uphill for good, and the stone was
placed. Mr Kimura said none of the 34 residents in the village today know who
set up the stone, which they credit with saving the village once before, from
a tsunami in 1960.

"That tsunami stone was a way to warn descendants for the next 100 y that
another tsunami will definitely come," he said.

For most Japanese today, the stones appear relics of a bygone era, whose
language can often seem impenetrably archaic. However, some experts say the
stones have inspired them to create new monuments that can serve as tsunami
warnings, but are more suited to a visual era of Internet and television.

One idea, put forth by a group of researchers, calls for preserving some of
the buildings ruined by the recent tsunami to serve as permanent reminders of
the waves' destructive power, much as the skeletal Atomic Bomb Dome in
Hiroshima warns against nuclear war.

"We need a modern version of the tsunami stones," said Masayuki Oishi, a
geologist at the Iwate Prefectural Museum in Morioka.

Despite Aneyoshi's survival, the residents are in no mood for rejoicing. 4 of
the village's residents died last month: a mother and her 3 small children who
were swept away in their car in a neighboring town.

The mother, Mihoko Aneishi, 36, had rushed to take her children out of school
right after the earthquake. Then she made the fatal mistake of driving back
through low-lying areas just as the tsunami hit.

The village's mostly older residents said they regretted not making more of an
effort to teach younger residents such tsunami-survival basics as always to
seek higher ground.

"We are proud of following our ancestors," the children's grandfather, Isamu
Aneishi, 69, said, "but our tsunami stone can't save us from everything."

MYREF: 20110421210001 msg201104211571

[130 more news items]

---
Earth's atmosphere contains natural greenhouse gases (mostly water
vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) which act to keep the lower layers
of the atmosphere warmer than they otherwise would be without those
gases. Greenhouse gases trap infrared radiation - the radiant heat
energy that the Earth naturally emits to outer space in response to
solar heating. Mankind's burning of fossil fuels (mostly coal,
petroleum, and natural gas) releases carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere and this is believed to be enhancing the Earth's natural
greenhouse effect. As of 2008, the concentration of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere was about 40% to 45% higher than it was before the
start of the industrial revolution in the 1800's.
-- Dr Roy W. Spencer, "Global Warming", 2008

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Science ministry releases radiation data

[Barely 960 mSv per year. A radiation worker can legally stay in the region
for 3 months. What's everyone so worried about?]

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Apr. 23, 2011

The science ministry has announced the results of radiation monitoring in
areas between one and 21 km from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The research was conducted in 128 locations on April 18 and 19 to judge
whether it was safe enough for residents to temporarily return home in areas
close to power station in Fukushima Prefecture.

The Ottozawa district in Okumamachi, about 3 km west-southwest of the plant,
recorded the highest figure of 110 microsieverts per hour, the Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry said Thu.

The figure is about one-ninth of the annual legal limit of 1k microsieverts
for humans, except during medical treatment or other circumstances.

MYREF: 20110423160001 msg2011042314611

[132 more news items]

---
Of course "global temperature are rising", we're emerging from an ICE AGE!!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 12:22 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

TEPCO to be banned from operations at Fukushima 1 plant - governor

RIA Novosti
10:42 23/04/2011

Related News

* Japan announces $50 bn emergency budget
* Japanese authorities declare 20-km no-go zone around Fukushima
* Japan postpones triathlon competition over radiation risk
* Death toll from March 11 quake, tsunami in Japan nears 13,800
* Japan's TEPCO plans to bring damaged nuke reactors to normal in 6-9 months
* Russia reports radiation normal despite Japan nuclear disaster

Fukushima prefecture's Governor Yuhei Sato said he will never allow Tokyo
Electric Power Company (TEPCO) to resume reactor operations at Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear power plant, cramped by March 11 Japanese tsunami and
earthquake, Kyodo news agency said.

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent 15-meter tsunami triggered a
crisis at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which is being rated at the same
level as the 1986 [81]Chernobyl disaster.

"A resumption of plant operations must be impossible," Sato told Masataka
Shimizu, president of TEPCO.

Fukushima's operator has since been struggling to stop [82]radioactive leaks
from the plant's crippled reactors. Almost 80k people living within the
evacuation zone were forced to flee their homes.

Japanese PM Naoto Kan visited the Fukushima prefecture as the 20-km evacuation
area around the crippled nuclear power plant was officially declared a no-go
zone on Thu.

TEPCO has started pumping radioactive water into storage tanks, the Kyodo news
agency said on Tue, citing company sources.

The earthquake and tsunami left up to 28k people dead or missing, and wrecked
infrastructure in northeastern Japan.

MYREF: 20110426110001 msg2011042613203

[130 more news items]

---
[Why Are Republicans Climate Skeptics?]
Maybe that's because the Republicans come from more rural states that haven't
had any warming, man-made or otherwise.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 28 Oct 2010 15:25 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Radiation Readings in Fukushima Reactor Rise to Highest Since Crisis Began

[After a wk of assurances that things were getting better and everything was
under control ...]

Tsuyoshi Inajima and Michio Nakayama
Bloomberg
Apr 27 09:14:54 GMT 2011

Radiation readings at Japan's Fukushima Dai-Ichi station rose to the highest
since an earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems, impeding efforts
to contain the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

Two robots sent into the reactor No. 1 building at the plant yesterday took
readings as high as 1,120 millisierverts of radiation per hour, Junichi
Matsumoto, a general manager at Tokyo Electric Power Co., said today. That's
more than 4 times the annual dose permitted to nuclear workers at the stricken
plant.

Radiation from the station, where 4 of 6 reactors have been damaged by
explosions, has forced the evacuation of tens of 1000s of people and
contaminated farmland and drinking water. A plan to flood the containment
vessel of reactor No. 1 with more water to speed up emergency cooling efforts
announced yesterday by the utility known as Tepco may not be possible now.

"Tepco must figure out the source of high radiation," said Hironobu Unesaki, a
nuclear engineering professor at Kyoto University. "If it's from contaminated
water leaking from inside the reactor, Tepco's so-called water tomb may be
jeopardized because flooding the containment vessel will result in more
radiation in the building."

Decontaminating Robots

Tepco plans to decontaminate the 2 iRobot Corp. Packbot robots before sending
them into a building tomorrow or later to further investigate the damage,
spokesman Takeo Iwamoto said. High radiation in the reactor buildings prevents
engineers from working inside them, Iwamoto said.

The cores in reactors 1, 2 and 3 and the spent fuels rods in reactor 4 have
been damaged. Tepco has been using fire trucks, concrete pumps and other
emergency measures for nearly 7 wk to pour millions of liters of water to cool
the units after the accident.

Tepco started moving the radioactive water, which leaked to the basements and
trenches, to a waste storage facility on April 19. Tepco transferred 1.89 mn
liters of the water from the trenches near reactor No. 2 as of 7 a.m. today,
Iwamoto said. The utility plans to install a second pump after transferring
2.5 mn liters.

Less Damage

Tepco shares fell 3.3% to 412 yen today in Tokyo. The shares are down about
80% since the quake and tsunami struck on March 11, leaving almost 26k people
dead or missing.

Reactors 1 and 2 are less damaged than estimated, Tepco said in a statement toda
y.

As much as 55% of the No. 1 reactor core at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi station was
damaged, compared with its earlier estimate of 70 percent.

"We revised the core damage data because some readings on the containment
vessel monitors were wrong," Matsumoto said. "There was also a recording
mistake. We are investigating why this happened."

The assessment for the No. 2 reactor was cut to 25% from 35 percent, while
that for the No. 3 unit was raised to 30% from 25 percent.

"It seems a reasonable estimate that 3 reactor cores may be damaged to a
similar extent," said Unesaki. The new estimate "doesn't indicate lower or
higher risks at the plant."

Radiation in Tokyo's water supply fell to undetectable levels for the first
time since March 18, the capital's public health institute said today.

The level of iodine-131 in tap water fell to zero yesterday, and cesium-134
and cesium-137 also weren't detected, the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of
Public Health said today.

Tokyo residents were told on March 23 that the city's water was unsafe for
infants after iodine and cesium levels exceeded guidelines.

MYREF: 20110427210001 msg2011042717461

[136 more news items]

---
The global warming Mormons of NASA are so disturbed by public perception
that this winter is verging on the chilly across the northern hemisphere
that they have produced a map showing areas where they claim alarmingly high
temperatures are prevailing, such as the middle of the Arctic Ocean.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 29 Dec 2010 15:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

High radiation levels in food near damaged Japanese plant

Monsters & Critics
Apr 28, 2011, 4:42 GMT

Tokyo - Authorities have detected high levels of radiation in fish and spinach
produced near the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in north-eastern
Japan, a news report said Thu.

On Tue, 2,600 to 3,200 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive caesium was
found in 2 samples of sand lance caught off Iwaki city, S of the Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. That is 5 to 6 times above the legal limit,
public broadcaster NHK reported.

Local government officials on Sun also detected 960 becquerels of caesium per
kilogram in spinach harvested in Otama village in Fukushima prefecture.

The Fukushima nuclear plant was severely damaged by the March 11 earthquake
and ensuing tsunami and has been leaking radioactive material ever since.

The government has set the safety standard for leafy vegetables at 500
becquerels per kilogram. Shipments of several kinds of vegetables and fish
from near the plant have been already banned, NHK said.

Workers at the plant were to start in June to decontaminate radioactive water,
which has prevented workers from accessing the site to restore key cooling
functions, the government said.

Operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said 87,500 tons of contaminated
water was found in the basements of the turbine buildings of reactors 1 to 4
and in trenches nearby.

In addition, some 500 tons of contaminated water per day is leaking from the
reactors due to efforts to cool them by injecting water. Toshiba Corp and
Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Ltd, a joint venture between Hitachi Ltd and US
partner General Electric Co, is to install a water recycling system in May,
Jiji Press said.

The system is to process 1,200 tons of water per day, treating some 200k tons
by the end of the year.

At first, oil will be eliminated from radioactive water, then radioactive
caesium will be removed using zeolite adsorbents, a sort of chemical sponge,
Jiji reported.

A system developed by French firm Areva SA will get rid of other radioactive
substances.

As a result, the concentration of caesium and iodine is expected to be reduced
to one-10,000th of its current concentration.

Radioactive substances eliminated from the water will be stored at the plant
for the time being.

TEPCO also said a female employee who was overexposed to radiation at the
plant may have inhaled radioactive substances.

The radiation exposure of the woman measured at the end of March was 17.55
millisieverts, exceeding the legal limit of 5 millisieverts over any
three-month period for women, TEPCO said.

Closer examination has showed that the woman who refueled fire trucks suffered
13.6 millisieverts of internal radiation exposure.

She was working in a on-site building contaminated by high-level radioactive
materials following a hydrogen blast on March 12. The worker, who was not
wearing a protective mask, may have inhaled some of the airborne radioactive
material, NHK said.

TEPCO has apologized for its lack of precautions against internal radiation
exposure, NHK said. 2 more female employees may also have been exposed to
radiation in excess of the limit.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the government's Nuclear and Industrial
Safety Agency, told a news conference that the situation was 'extremely
deplorable.'

Nishiyama urged TEPCO to find out the cause and draft prevention measures.

MYREF: 20110428170001 msg2011042815317

[138 more news items]

---
[W]omen are easier prey for scams such as The Great Global Warming Hoax!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 7 Feb 2011 11:28 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

High-level radiation found in sewage sludge near Japanese nuclear plant

Trend
02.05.2011 08:59

Authorities said they found high levels of radioactive caesium in sewage
sludge near a damaged nuclear plant in north-eastern Japan, news reports said Mo
n.

The sludge at a treatment centre in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture,
had 26,400 becquerels of radioactive caesium per kilogram, Jiji Press reported
citing local government officials, dpa reported.

At the centre located some 50 km W of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
power plant, slag made by reducing the volume of sewage sludge had 334k
becquerels per kilogram, Jiji said.

Since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami hit the plant run by Tokyo Electric
Power Co (TEPCO), it has leaked radiation into the air and sea.

The natural disaster left more than 14,600 dead and some 11k missing.

Massive amounts of radioactive substances released by the plant might have
flowed into sewage when rain fell, Jiji reported citing local officials.

Some 80 tons of sludge is produced per day at the treatment centre and 10 tons
of that amount are transported to a cement company outside the prefecture for
recycling, but the prefecture government suspended it on Sun.

An estimated 500 tons of sludge have been provided to the cement company since
the start of the nuclear crisis, the officials said. Whether they were
actually recycled remain to be seen, the officials added.

Local government officials were to examine other treatment facilities in the
prefecture while asking the central government to consider how to get rid of
sewage sludge contaminated by high-level radiation, Jiji reported.

Meanwhile, TEPCO decided to let workers enter the building of reactor 1 on Mon
for their work. The workers were to install a device that can reduce the level
of radioactivity by filtering the air in the building, public broadcaster NHK re
ported.

The density of air contamination in the building would be reduced by 95 per
cent, NHK reported citing TEPCO. The company said the device would be
installed within a few days.

NHK said it would be the 1st time for its workers to enter the building since
the hydrogen explosion on March 12.

MYREF: 20110502150002 msg201105028055

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---
[A]ll science is lies and the only thing we can trust is right wing rhetoric.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 14 Jan 2011 14:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Japan Atomic:may shut nuke reactor due to problem, no radiation leak

[Another company having "technical troubles" considers closing down plant].

* Company says might close reactor for technical reasons
* Says no radiation leak
* Reactor is not in area affected by March 11 quake, tsunami

Reuters Africa
Mon May 2, 2011 9:50am GMT

Tokyo, May 2 (Reuters) - Electricity wholesaler Japan Atomic Power Co said on
Mon it would consider shutting a reactor at its Tsuruga nuclear plant due to a
technical problem, adding that there had been no radiation leak from the
facility. The plant is around 450 km (280 miles) W of Tokyo in Fukui
prefecture, an area that was not affected by a massive earthquake and
subsequent tsunami that hit Japan on March 11.

The company said it had identified a possible leak of iodine from the
1,160-megawatt No.2 reactor's nuclear fuel assemblies into its coolant.

Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor complex, run by Tokyo Electric Power
Co , was hit by the quake and tsunami, touching off the world's worst nuclear
crisis since Chernobyl in 1986 as radiation from damaged reactors spewed into
the surroundings.

MYREF: 20110503010002 msg201105031605

[140 more news items]

---
[Weather is responsible for climate change:]
And that's the only reason for the heat!
Strong northeast winds being superheated desert air from the inland to the
the southern capitals.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 31 Jan 2011 13:42 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Radiation leaks from fuel rods suspected at Tsuruga plant

The Mainichi Daily
May 3, 2011

Fukui (Kyodo) -- Leaks of radioactive substances from fuel rods are suspected
to have occurred at a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, the Fukui prefectural
government said Mon, citing a rise in the level of radioactive substances in
coolant water.

The operator, Japan Atomic Power Co., will manually shut down the No. 2
reactor of the plant on the Sea of Japan coast and examine the primary cooling
system for it. The local government denied that the levels of radioactive
substances could threaten the nearby environment.

According to Japan Atomic, 4.2 becquerels of iodine-133 and 3,900 becquerels
of xenon gas were detected per cubic cm Mon, up from 2.1 and 5.2 becquerels,
respectively, during previous measurements conducted last Tue.

It is possible that a pinhole has been created in a zirconium alloy encasing
fuel pellets, according to sources at Japan Atomic.

The company said the planned shutdown is a precaution following the crisis at
the Fukushima Daiichi power station caused by the March 11 earthquake and
tsunami. Japan Atomic's regulations require a reactor to be halted when the
amount of leaked iodine reaches 40k becquerels.

The company said it will increase the frequency of measurements to once a day
from once a wk before deciding when to shut down the reactor.

MYREF: 20110503170001 msg201105039324

[138 more news items]

---
[Call me kook:]

A scientist cites a data point that is consistent with a trend and
says "This data is consistent with the trend; no surprise".
A kook cites a data point inconsistent with the trend and says "Surprise!
The trend is Wrong Wrong Wrong!".

Sorry but 1917 invalidates the trend.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 7 Feb 2011 13:29 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Japan PM orders Hamaoka nuclear plant shutdown

[Another nuke plant has been ordered shut down].

Fri May 6 20:32 AEST 2011

Tokyo (AFP) -- Japan's PM Naoto Kan said on Fri he had ordered the shutdown of
a nuclear power plant southwest of Tokyo because it is located close to a
dangerous tectonic faultline.

The news comes 8 wk after a massive quake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear power plant northeast of Tokyo, sparking the world's worst
atomic crisis since Chernobyl a quarter-century ago.

Seismologists have long warned that a major quake is long overdue in the Tokai
region southwest of Tokyo where the Hamaoka plant is located, about 200 km
(120 miles) from Tokyo in Shizuoka prefecture.

"As prime minister, I have ordered, through trade minister (Banri) Kaieda,
that Chubu Electric Power halt operations of all the reactors at the Hamaoka
nuclear power plant," Kan said at a televised press conference.

Two reactors, numbers 4 and five, are currently operating at Hamaoka.

"The relevant authorities, including the science ministry, have shown that the
possibility of a magnitude-8.0 earthquake hitting the area of the Hamaoka
plant within the next 30 y is 87 percent," he said.

"This is a decision made for the safety of the people when I consider the
special conditions of the Hamaoka plant."

Japanese anti-nuclear campaigners have long argued that the seismically
unstable area, where 2 continental plates meet, makes the plant the most
dangerous atomic facility in the country.

MYREF: 20110506220002 msg2011050623584

[151 more news items]

---
[Cause and effect:]

[explanations for climate change]

You left out "emerging from an ice age"!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 12:40 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

TEPCO wants government help for compensation payments

BBC
9 May 2011

Japan's Tokyo Electric (TEPCO) will seek government help in compensating
victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

TEPCO said its President Masataka Shimizu would visit Economy Minister Banri
Kaieda later on Tue.

The company's Fukushima Daiichi power plant was heavily damaged in the deadly
March earthquake.

Total compensation claims are yet to be known, but analysts say they may be
more than $100bn (£61bn).

Engineers are still struggling to contain damage at the Fukushima Daiichi
plant in northeastern Japan.

The government of PM Naoto Kan is now under pressure to review Japan's energy
policy, which has been heavily dependent on nuclear power.

Over the past few weeks, TEPCO, its creditors and the government have been
trying to create a plan that would allow the power utility to compensate
victims of the nuclear crisis.

On Tue, Japan's Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda hinted that the government
would give TEPCO some form of support.

"Basically, TEPCO is primarily responsible for compensation but the government
will ensure that those who are affected can be compensated," the minister said
after a cabinet meeting.

He added that there were different ways the state could help TEPCO and ensure
support was provided, however he did not explain what those methods might be.

TEPCO has already started making compensation payments to residents near the
Fukushima Daiichi plant after residents were forced to evacuate when radiation
started to leak from the reactor.

Shares in TEPCO have plunged since the 11 March quake and subsequent tsunami.

Japanese media has reported that TEPCO may have to raise electricity prices in
order to help pay for payments.

MYREF: 20110510150002 msg2011051026227

[156 more news items]

---
What exactly are you trying to say, aside from calling me an idiot?
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 11 Feb 2011 12:20 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[something]

Japan to scrap plan to boost nuke energy to 50 per cent

Japan will scrap a plan to obtain 1/2 of its electricity from nuclear power
and will instead promote renewable energy and conservation as a result of its
ongoing nuclear crisis, the PM said on Tue.

Telegraph.co.uk
May 10 2011

Naoto Kan said Japan needs to "start from scratch" on its long-term energy
policy after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was heavily damaged by
a March 11 earthquake and tsunami and began leaking radiation.

Nuclear plants supplied about 30% of Japan's electricity, and the government
had planned to raise that to 50% by 2030.

Mr Kan told a news conference that nuclear and fossil fuel used to be the
pillars of Japanese energy policy but now the government will add 2 more
pillars: renewable energy such as solar, wind and biomass, and an increased
focus on conservation.

"We will thoroughly ensure safety for nuclear power generation and make
efforts to further promote renewable energy," an area where Japan has lagged,
he said.

Mr Kan also said he would take a pay cut beginning in June until the Fukushima
nuclear crisis is resolved to take responsibility as part of the government
that has promoted nuclear energy. He didn't specify how much of a pay cut he
would take.

"I believe the government bears a major responsibility for having promoted
nuclear energy as national policy. I apologise to the people for failing to
prevent the nuclear accident," Mr Kan said.

The operator of the stricken power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co., has been
struggling for nearly 2 m to restore critical cooling systems that were
knocked out by the disaster. Some 80k people living within a 12-mile
(20-kilometre) radius of the plant were evacuated from their homes on March
12, with many living in gymnasiums.

On Tue, about 100 evacuees were allowed into that exclusion zone briefly to
gather belongings from their homes.

The excursion to Kawauchi village marked the 1st time the government has felt
confident enough in the safety of the area to allow even short trips
there. Residents have been pushing hard for wk for permission to check their
homes.

The evacuees boarded chartered government buses for the two-hour visit.

They were provided with protective suits, goggles and face masks to wear while
in the zone, and were issued plastic bags to put their belongings in. They
were also given dosimeters to monitor radiation levels and walkie-talkies.

All were to be screened for radiation contamination after leaving the zone.

More visits are planned, but residents fear they may never be able to return
for good.

Many had been secretly sneaking back into the zone during the day, but the
government - concerned over safety and the possibility of theft - began
enforcing stricter roadblocks and imposing fines on April 22.

The official visits were seen as a compromise that took both safety and the
wishes of the residents into consideration.

The government and TEPCO in April projected that bringing the plant to a cold
shutdown could take 6 to 9 m and residents might be able to return to resume
their lives. But they admit that timing is a best-case scenario.

TEPCO released an image of the No. 3 reactor's spent fuel pool, where fuel
rods were covered with debris from explosions in March that damaged the
building's roof and walls. But officials said the fuel rods, protected by a
metal screen, are believed to be largely undamaged.

The reactor's rising core temperature has become a new headache. Nuclear
Industry and Safety Agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama said officials suspect
that not all of the cooling water may be entering the pressure container as
intended.

On Mon, another utility, Chubu Electric Power Co., agreed to shutter three
reactors at a coastal power plant while it builds a seawall and improves other
tsunami defences there.

Mr Kan requested the temporary shutdown at the Hamaoka plant amid predictions
an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or higher could strike the central Japanese
region within 30 years. The government's decision came after evaluating
Japan's 54 reactors for quake and tsunami vulnerability after the March 11
disasters. The Hamaoka facility sits above a major fault line and has long
been considered Japan's riskiest nuclear power plant.

Mr Kan said Japan will have to compile Japan's new energy policy in a report
for submission to the International Atomic Energy Agency in June. He didn't
give any numerical estimates for each source of energy in the new policy.

MYREF: 20110511023315 msg2011051117721

[160 more news items]

---
[I am Luddite!]
You whackos just keep changing your "predictions" to suit reality!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [86 nyms and counting], 16 Feb 2011 15:57 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[coal lobby spin]

Powerful typhoon heading for damaged NPP Fukushima-1

[TEPCO has apologised for not being ready for the typhoon season. With Songda
bearing down on the coast, and radiation levels again spiking near the damaged
plant, the company's plan to build temporary shrouds around the damaged
reactors has barely begun].

BCM
May 30 2011

The annual rainy season of Tsuyu (the season of `plum rains') is coming very
soon to Japan. The Celestial Empire will get covered with clouds and the earth
will be flooded with rains. The summer typhoons with come along with the
rains, and one of which has already reached Japan ...

A few hours ago, 70 people suffered from the powerful typhoon `Songda'. The
residents of the southern prefecture of Okinawa were the 1st to experience the
strike of nature. The wind speed reached 108 km / hr.

Experts note that the cyclone can also reach the Fukushima prefecture where
the plant is located.

It is worth noting that Japan is not ready for such cyclones at the
moment. Heavy rains may contribute to the release of radioactive water from
the Fukushima-1 to the environment and the typhoon may cause further damage to
the nuclear facilities.

MYREF: 20110530190001 msg2011053030551

[222 more news items]

---
[Assault on Vostok icecores:]
YOU are the one presenting the "evidence." Your evidence MUST be
performed using proven standards, not untested guesswork.
-- Michael Dobony <***@stopassaultnow.net>, 24 Feb 2011 19:49 -0600

[Mr Posting Robot]

[coal lobby spin]

Fukushima Risks Chernobyl `Dead Zone'

Radiation soars

Yuriy Humber and Stuart Biggs
Bloomberg
May 30 05:19:32 GMT 2011

Radioactive soil in pockets of areas near Japan's crippled nuclear plant have
reached the same level as Chernobyl, where a "dead zone" remains 25 y after
the reactor in the former Soviet Union exploded.

Soil samples in areas outside the 20-km (12 miles) exclusion zone
around the Fukushima plant measured more than 1.48 mn becquerels a square
meter, the standard used for evacuating residents after the Chernobyl
accident, Tomio Kawata, a fellow at the Nuclear Waste Management
Organization of Japan, said in a research report published May 24 and given to
the government.

Radiation from the plant has spread over 600 km2 (230 square miles), according
to the report. The extent of contamination shows the government must move fast
to avoid the same future for the area around Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s
Dai-Ichi plant as Chernobyl, scientists said. Technology has improved since
the 1980s, meaning soil can be decontaminated with chemicals or by planting
crops to absorb radioactive materials, allowing residents to return.

"We need to finish this treatment as quickly as possible, within 3 years
at most," Tetsuo Iguchi, a specialist in isotope analysis and radiation
detection at Nagoya University in central Japan, said in a phone
interview. "If we take longer, people will give up on returning to their homes."

Soil samples showed one site with radiation from Cesium-137 exceeding 5 mn
becquerels per m2 about 25 km to the northwest of the Fukushima plant,
according to Kawata's study. 5 more sites about 30 km from Dai- Ichi showed
radiation exceeding 1.48 mn becquerels per square meter.

Cleaning Dirt

When asked to comment on the report today, Tokyo Electric spokesman Tetsuya
Terasawa said the radiation levels are in line with those found after a
nuclear bomb test, which disperses plutonium. He declined to comment further.

Japan's government introduced a mandatory exclusion zone 20 km around
the plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that knocked out power
leading to 3 reactor meltdowns. Kawata's study didn't include samples from
inside the exclusion zone, where only government and Tokyo Electric staff
may enter.

The government in April ordered the evacuation of towns including Iitate,
Katsurao and Namie that are outside the 20- km zone after finding high levels
of radiation.

While the area containing soil pockets over 1.48 mn becquerels a square meter
is smaller than around Chernobyl -- 600 km2 compared with 3,100
km2 -- the level of contamination means soil needs to be cleaned or removed
before residents can return, Kawata said in his report.

"It might take about one or 2 y for people to return to land outside the
20-km zone," the University of Nagoya's Iguchi said. "If we replace
the soil, it is possible for people to return even inside the zone."

`Dead Zone'

The "dead zone" around Chernobyl remains at 30 km, Mykola Kulinich,
Ukraine's ambassador to Japan, said in Tokyo on April 26, the 25th anniversary
of the disaster.

Belarus, which absorbed 80% of the fallout from the Chernobyl explosion,
estimates that 2 million, or 20% of the population, was affected by the
Chernobyl catastrophe, while about 23% of the country's land was
contaminated, according to a Belarus embassy website. About a 5th of the
country's agricultural land has been rendered unusable, which means some $700
mn in losses each year, according to the website.

Crop Planting

Using crops was one solution being considered by Belarus with the idea that
grains harvested from contaminated areas could then be processed to make
ethanol. A study funded by a philanthropy arm of Heineken NV (HEIA) found
that radioactive elements do not transfer into ethanol and this would allow
Belarus to become a major supplier of the liquid used to dilute gasoline to
the European Union.

Crop planting was planned in areas of "low-level" radiation, Michael Rietveld,
chief executive officer of Ireland's Greenfield Partners, which agreed with
the Belarus government in 2007 to develop an ethanol business project to
decontaminate the soil, said in an interview Oct 2009.

"There are cows walking over this land now," Rietveld said in reference to
Belarus. "People are living over there. It's not a dangerous venture to use
crops in low-contaminated areas. Most of the contamination is in the soil not
the air."

The global financial crisis hampered Greenfield's fund raising and the project
closed last y after the Belarus government expressed concerns about the Irish
company's ability to attract financing.

Chemical Treatment

Another solution for Fukushima may be chemical treatment of the soil to allow
cesium to be absorbed into porous crystals, such as zeolite, which are more
visible and simpler to remove, the University of Nagoya's Iguchi said.

Restoring the land may be more critical in Japan than Belarus, where the
population density is about 46 people per km2, according to
United Nations data. That's more than 7 times less than the metric for Japan,
where 127.6 mn people live on about 378k km2.

Restoring land use in Fukushima hinges on Tokyo Electric, known as Tepco,
ending the crisis at the nuclear station, where 3 reactors went into meltdown
following the earthquake and tsunami that also left more than 23k people dead
or missing.

Nature Park?

The utility on April 17 set out a so-called road map to end the crisis in 6 to
9 months. Tepco said it expects to achieve a sustained drop in radiation
levels at the plant within 3 months, followed by a cold shutdown, where core
reactor temperatures fall below 100 degrees Celsius.

The chance of Tepco achieving that goal is 6 or 7 out of 10, William
Ostendorff, a member of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said at a
hearing of the US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee earlier this wee
k.

Tepco has yet to decide how to deal with the plant site, Megumi Iwashita, a
spokeswoman for the company said on May 26.

The most cost-effective solution may be to allow the cesium to move down into
the soil to decay, Kathryn Higley, a radiation health physicist at Oregon
State University in Corvallis, said in a telephone interview. Cesium has a
half-life of about 30 years, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency
.

"They're going to make decisions on an acre-by-acre basis as to what's going
to happen to these facilities," she said. "The area around Chernobyl is now a
nature park. When you move 100k people out of an area, nature does pretty well."

MYREF: 20110531180002 msg2011053127957

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---
Earth's atmosphere contains natural greenhouse gases (mostly water
vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) which act to keep the lower layers
of the atmosphere warmer than they otherwise would be without those
gases. Greenhouse gases trap infrared radiation - the radiant heat
energy that the Earth naturally emits to outer space in response to
solar heating. Mankind's burning of fossil fuels (mostly coal,
petroleum, and natural gas) releases carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere and this is believed to be enhancing the Earth's natural
greenhouse effect. As of 2008, the concentration of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere was about 40% to 45% higher than it was before the
start of the industrial revolution in the 1800's.
-- Dr Roy W. Spencer, "Global Warming", 2008

[Mr Posting Robot]

[coal lobby spin]

Tsunami risks underestimated at Japan nuke plants -- IAEA

Monsters & Critics
Jun 1, 2011, 5:40 GMT

Tokyo - The international nuclear watchdog said Japanese authorities had
underestimated tsunami risks for their atomic plants and called for
independent regulation in the wake of Japan's worst nuclear accident, news
reports said Wed.

An 18-member team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the
danger of tsunamis was 'apparently underestimated' by the government and the
Tokyo Electric Power Co, operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant that has been
leaking radioactive materials since it was crippled by a magnitude-9
earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

Nuclear designers and operators should evaluate the risks of all natural
hazards and 'periodically update these assessment methodologies' in light of
information and experience, the Kyodo News agency reported, citing unnamed
sources familiar with the report.

The plant was damaged by tsunami waves more than 14 metres high.

The IAEA team also stressed the importance of regulatory independence.
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency is part of the Industry Ministry,
whose job is to promote nuclear power generation, leading to potential
conflicts of interest.

The summary by the IAEA team led by Mike Weightman, the head of Britain's
Nuclear Regulation Office, was submitted to the government ahead of the full
report on the nuclear accident for an IAEA meeting this month.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency,
was quoted by Kyodo as saying that Japan hopes to use the IAEA report in its
efforts to contain the nuclear crisis and enhance the country's nuclear safety.

The IAEA experts positively evaluated Japan's response to the nuclear crisis
at the plant as 'exemplary' while noting the need to look into the danger
posed by hydrogen, which led to blasts at reactors 1 and 3 at the six-reactor
plant in the early days of the crisis, Kyodo said.

The team, concluding its 10-day investigation into the worst nuclear accident
since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, visited Tokai Daini nuclear
power plant in Ibaraki prefecture run by the Japan Atomic Power Co, and the
Fukushima Daini and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plants in Fukushima prefecture
.

MYREF: 20110601170002 msg201106018739

[223 more news items]

---
[If I make history stop in 1899 things can not get worse:]
Yes, but [Yasi was] not as bad as the cat 5 Mahina in 1899!
And what about 1918 when Qld had TWO CAT 5 CYCLONES!
The more things change the more they stay the same.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 3 Feb 2011 16:09 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[coal lobby spin]

Radiation in No 1 reactor building at highest level yet

Lethal four-sievert reading taken by robot; suppression chamber suspect

The Japan Times/Kyodo/AP
Sun, June 5, 2011

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sat it has detected radiation of up to 4k
millisieverts per hour in the building housing the No 1 reactor at the
Fukushima No 1 nuclear plant.

The radiation reading, which was taken when TEPCO sent a robot into the No 1
reactor building on Fri, is believed to be the highest detected in the air at
the plant so far.

On Fri, TEPCO found steam spewing from the basement into the building's 1st
floor. Nationally televised news Sat showed blurry video of a steady stream of
smoky gas curling up from an opening where a pipe rises through the floor.

The radiation is so high now that any worker exposed to it would absorb the
maximum permissible dose of 250 millisieverts in only about four
minutes. TEPCO said there is no plan to place workers in that area of the
plant and said it will carefully monitor any developments.

The utility said it took the reading near the floor at the southeast corner of
the building. The steam appears to be entering from a leaking rubber gasket
that is supposed to seal the area where the pipe comes up through the 1st
floor. No damage to the pipe was found, TEPCO said.

The reactor's suppression chamber is under the building, and highly
radioactive water generated from cooling the reactor is believed to have
accumulated there, TEPCO said, adding that the steam is probably coming from
there.

Meanwhile, tanks for storing radioactive water were on their way Sat to the plan
t.

TEPCO has said radioactive water could start overflowing from temporary
storage areas on June 20, or possibly sooner if there is heavy rainfall.

Two of the 370 tanks were due to arrive Sat from a manufacturer in nearby
Tochigi Prefecture, TEPCO said. 2 100 of them can store 100 tons, and 170 can
store 120 tons.

The tanks will continue arriving through August and will store a total of 40k
tons of radioactive water, according to TEPCO.

Workers have been fighting to get the plant under control since the March 11
tsunami knocked out power, destroyed backup generators and halted the crucial
cooling systems for the reactors, causing the world's worst nuclear disaster
since Chernobyl in 1986. Several explosions have scattered radioactive debris
around the plant, and reactors are spewing radiation into the air and leaking
it into the sea.

On Fri, 9 workers who entered the building to attach a pressure gauge to the
pressure vessel of reactor No 1 were exposed to around 4 millisieverts of
radiation, according to TEPCO.

The fuel rods are believed to have melted almost completely and sunk to the
bottom of the containment vessels of reactors 1, 2 and 3.

A complete meltdown would have seen the fuel melt entirely through the
containment vessels and into the reactor floor.

MYREF: 20110605153001 msg2011060511867

[218 more news items]

---
What exactly are you trying to say, aside from calling me an idiot?
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 11 Feb 2011 12:20 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[coal lobby spin]

Japan doubles estimate of Fukushima radiation leak

Telegraph.co.uk
6:45AM BST 08 Jun 2011

Japan has doubled its estimate for the amount of radiation leaked at the
Fukushima Daiichi power plant in the days after the tsunami on 11 March.

It has also admitted to being unprepared for such a severe nuclear accident.

In a report submitted to the UN nuclear agency, the government said the cores
melted in 3 units and probably breached the inner containment vessels after
the tsunami knocked out the plant's power and cooling systems. Fuel at Unit 1
started melting hours earlier than previously estimated.

The report, compiled by Japan's nuclear emergency taskforce, will be submitted
to the International Atomic Energy Agency. It acknowledged a lack of
independence at Japan's nuclear regulator and promised to improve the safety
control system.

The report comes the day after the government's nuclear officials doubled the
estimate of how much radiation leaked from the plant. The Nuclear and
Industrial Safety Agency said in a report on Mon that nuclear fuel inside 3
reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant probably melted through not only the
reactor cores, but also through the reactors' inner containment vessels.

The report said twice as much radiation may have been released as earlier
estimated. That would be about one-sixth of the amount released at Chernobyl
instead of the earlier estimate of one-tenth.

MYREF: 20110608180002 msg2011060813549

[227 more news items]

---
Of course "global temperature are rising" [...]
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 12:22 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[coal lobby spin]

Tokyo Weighing More Evacuations

Refugees last m lined up for their dinners at an evacuation shelter in
Koriyama, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan.

Related:
Japan Expects Power Shortages

Yuka Hayashi
WSJ Asia
June 10, 2011

Tokyo--Japanese government officials said they are considering evacuating more
towns affected by radiation, after recent monitoring data showed new "hot
spots" of elevated contamination farther away from the stricken Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The areas under review include one neighborhood each in 2 cities, and could
affect more than 180 families. The areas fall outside Japan's existing
evacuation zone of 30 kilometers, but within the 80-kilometer evacuation zone
initially recommended by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The reports of additional radiation-threatened areas shows how, nearly 3 m
after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear disaster, the
Japanese government is still struggling to determine the extent of the risk to
its population and how best to respond.

The possibility of more evacuations was confirmed following a series of recent
reports that showed the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant was
more severe than earlier described. The data have added to concern among
residents near the plant and elsewhere that the government hasn't done enough
to protect its citizens, particularly children, from the harms of radiation.

"We really wanted PM [Naoto] Kan to show us a resolve that the government will
take full responsibility for fixing the problems," said Katsunobu Sakurai,
mayor of Minamisoma City, where one of the newly found hot spots is
located. "Unfortunately, those of us who are on the ground have had to make
our own judgments to reassure our people."

Mr Sakurai said some residents have expressed concern about high levels of
radiation in their neighborhood, prompting the city to request closer
monitoring by the central and prefectural governments. Residents have grown
more knowledgeable about radiation levels, in part as municipalities and
non-profit organizations have leased measuring equipment.

Officials said the discovery of new hot spots doesn't mean there are new
problems at Fukushima Daiichi. They said the elevated readings likely come
from soil in the areas that absorbed the radiation spread in the air and
through rain during the early days of the nuclear disaster, rather than from
new accumulation.

The operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co, has said airborne
radiation has been brought under control.

"The government would like to come up with the safest and most conservative
possible steps to deal with the situation, with residents' health in mind,"
Tetsuro Fukuyama, the deputy chief cabinet secretary, said Thu.

Tokyo's policy calls for the evacuation of residents when their estimated
exposure to radiation is estimated to exceed 20 milisieverts for a full
year. Based on the government's latest radiation monitoring data from May 25,
4 locations are newly determined to have surpassed that level. The government
says there are no immediate health effects from exposure to those levels, at
least in the short to medium terms.

The new hot spots, though located well outside the 30-kilometer evacuation
zone surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi plant, are close to other places
outside of the radius, to the northwest of the stricken plant, where the
government has already ordered targeted evacuations.

Three of the 4 new hot spots are in the Ryozencho area of Date City, a
neighborhood with 180 households located 50 km from the plant. Ryozencho lies
about 16 km from the center of Fukushima City, the area's most populous
community, with 300k people.

A Date City spokesman said the city is monitoring the situation closely while
analyzing the latest data. The 3 points in Date showed estimated radiation
levels of between 20.0 and 20.8 milisieverts per year.

Earlier in the week, Date delivered basic radiation monitoring devices to all
8k children in its schools. The children will wear badge-type dosimeters for
about a month, according to an official at a local education committee, after
which the devices will be sent to a laboratory to check radiation levels.

Another new hot spot, within Minamisoma's Haramachi neighborhood, has just
"several households," Mr Sakurai said at a news conference. The reading there
was 23.8 milisieverts.

MYREF: 20110610200002 msg2011061030062

[214 more news items]

---

Remember who you're talking to. :)
The guy quotes Dyson without knowing Dyson accepts AGW;

Dyson accepts AGW???
News to me!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], Mar 2 16:10 EST 2011

[Mr Posting Robot]

[coal lobby spin]

Fukushima plant: 6 more workers exposed to radiation

BBC
13 June 2011

Six more workers at Japan's crippled Fukushima plant are reported to have been
exposed to excessive radiation levels, bringing the total to eight.

The workers had been in the control room or cleaning up the nuclear plant
following the earthquake and tsunami that damaged it March.

The disaster caused meltdown at 3 of the reactors, and radiation leaks.

It was the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986.

The operators of Fukushima, Tokyo electric Power (Tepco), initially reported
that only 2 employees had been exposed to excessive levels of radiation.

The possible exposure of 6 more workers was discovered after almost 2,400
employees underwent preliminary testing, officials said.

A spokesman for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Hide Nishiyama,
said the development was "extremely regrettable".

Tepco said none of those affected were showing immediate health problems, but
they would require long-term monitoring.

More on This Story
<http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct2=us%2F0_0_s_12_0_t&bvm=grid&topic=blend
ed&usg=AFQjCNGTvbjCk2zRtV5XrducAfX2FYK8Vg&did=a98fce7796e7b239&sig2=7-z7HMZyhHGK
bkBNwfilcA&cid=8797710604728&ei=sH72TdCyHsn1lAW7hMugAw&rt=HOMEPAGE&vm=STANDARD&u
rl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fgo%2Frss%2Fint%2Fnews%2F-%2Fnews%2Fworld-asia-pa
cific-13749904>


MYREF: 20110614203001 msg201106144701

[218 more news items]

---
What exactly are you trying to say, aside from calling me an idiot?
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 11 Feb 2011 12:20 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[coal lobby spin]

Gov't calls TEPCO radiation exposure standards 'overly optimistic'

The Mainichi Daily News
Jun 15 2011

As the number of workers exposed to high levels of radiation at the crippled
Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant increases, the government is accusing
plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) of slack radiation dose
calculations.

"From the start, the way TEPCO calculates internal radiation exposure has been
overly optimistic," a senior Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare official
stated.

On June 14, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Ritsuo Hosokawa directed TEPCO
to withdraw any worker exposed to more than 100 millisieverts of internal
radiation at the disaster-stricken plant, sparking a dispute between the
company and the government over radiation dose calculation standards, and
delaying the implementation of worker safety-first policies at the plant.

Meanwhile, with work at the Fukushima plant -- where 3 reactors have melted
down -- projected to go on for some time, uncertainty over exactly how high a
dose workers there are subjected to may impact TEPCO's public timetable for
resolving the nuclear crisis.

On May 30, TEPCO revealed that 2 of its Fukushima No. 1 plant workers had been
exposed to a higher radiation dose than the 250 millisievert emergency upper
limit, though the firm did not state how much of that exposure had been from
radioactive materials taken into the body.

The labor ministry had demanded that TEPCO calculate workers' cumulative
radiation exposure starting from March 12, when a hydrogen explosion destroyed
the plant's No. 1 reactor building. However, TEPCO rejected the government
demand, stating, "It's impossible to say when any internal radiation exposure
occurred. If workers were on the job until the end of March, then cumulative
radiation calculations should be made starting March 21, about 1/2 way between
the day of the earthquake and the end of the month."

Internal radiation doses are measured with a device called a "whole body
counter," which measures not only current exposure but sums up a person's
total dose over time. As such, TEPCO's insistence on calculating total
radiation doses starting from March 21 has resulted in significantly lower
exposure figures than those the government is using.

"We tried to persuade TEPCO to use a rigorous calculation method but the
company wouldn't give in. In fact we're still at odds over the issue," the
labor ministry's standards bureau told the Mainichi.

However, TEPCO's exposure estimates are only "provisional," and the utility
leaves precise calculations to a radiology research laboratory that uses the
government's dosage calculation standard. According to the lab, the 2 workers
revealed on May 30 were exposed to 540-590 millisieverts of radiation
internally, and 643-678 millisieverts in total.

TEPCO accepted the lab's conclusion, and submitted a revised report of worker
radiation exposure totals on June 13. In that report, 6 more workers were
revealed to have exceeded the emergency maximum exposure limit.

However, while the utility may have accepted the lab's, and thereby the
government's, dosage standards, Hosokawa's 100 millisievert internal exposure
limit has little scientific foundation and was a purely political decision.

Just after the revelation of the 1st 2 cases of workers exposed to radiation
doses higher than the emergency limit, the labor ministry directed TEPCO to
take internal radiation exposure measurements of the some 130 workers doing
similar jobs. The results, reported on June 3, showed none of the 130 tested
had exceeded the emergency upper limit, but there were 3 people who almost
certainly had internal doses over 100 millisieverts. The ministry directed
TEPCO to pull the 3 from the Fukushima plant.

The ministry furthermore stated that TEPCO's revised radiation dose
calculations from June 13 "closely reflected actual conditions." In addition
to the 6 workers who exceeded the maximum allowable exposure level revealed by
the new figures, 6 more workers were shown to have doses over 200
millisieverts. Just to be on the safe side, labor ministry administrators also
directed these 6 to be withdrawn from operations at the plant.

However Hosokawa, apparently fixated on his 1st June 3 directive ordering
workers with internal doses exceeding 100 millisieverts be pulled from plant
work, changed the administrative decision on the 6 workers. The change could
be seen as a sign of worry that Hosokawa was pulling back set maximum dosage
standards. However, a senior labor standards bureau official told the Mainichi
it was "a political decision, based at least in part on TEPCO's tendency to be
slow to take action."

Meanwhile, an attorney for former nuclear plant workers suing TEPCO has called
Hosokawa's 100 millisievert internal radiation exposure limit "too high."

"That there hasn't been an internal radiation exposure limit before is also a
major problem," said attorney Atsushi Suzuki, adding, "There are cases of
multiple myeloma (a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell) from
exposure to 70 millisieverts of annual external radiation, and cases of
leukemia caused by just 5 millisieverts. The internal radiation doses
Fukushima plant workers have been exposed to just leave me at a loss for
words."

Original Japanese story
http://mainichi.jp/select/weathernews/news/20110615ddm003040089000c.html

MYREF: 20110615210002 msg2011061530682

[216 more news items]

---
[It's not "land" warming -- it's just "ocean" warming!]
QUOTE: Evidence is presented that the recent worldwide land warming has
occurred largely in response to a worldwide warming of the oceans rather
than as a direct response to increasing greenhouse gases over land.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 14 Dec 2010 10:35 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[coal lobby spin]

Food Safety Fears Grow in Japan on Skepticism at Radiation Testing Regime

Aya Takada and Yasumasa Song
Thu Jun 16 08:36:02 GMT 2011

Kimie Nozaki, a mother of 3 children living 60 km from the crippled Fukushima
nuclear reactors, said she doesn't trust the government's testing program for
radiation-contaminated food.

"Information from the government lacks detail, which makes me even more
nervous," said Nozaki, 43, who lives in Fukushima city about 35 miles from the
plant that's been emitting radiation since March 11 in the world's worst
nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

Three m after an earthquake and tsunami crippled the plant, Japan doesn't
appear to have a comprehensive food-testing regime, said Peter Burns, the
former chairman of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of
Atomic Radiation. Prolonged exposure to radiation in the air, ground and food
can cause leukemia and other cancers, according to the London-based World
Nuclear Association.

"My impression is the monitoring has been a bit piecemeal," Burns said by
phone from his home in Melbourne on June 14. "The Japanese are usually highly
motivated and organized to implement such systems, so I would think they will
get there, but certainly what I've seen to date hasn't been awe- inspiring."

Products including spinach, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, tea, milk, plums and
fish have been found to be contaminated with cesium and iodine as far as 360
km from the station. Contamination was detected in 347 food samples from 8
prefectures by June 9, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and
Welfare.

Hot Spots

The government said today it will support evacuating residents in areas
showing high levels of radiation that are out of a 20-kilometer evacuation
zone from the crippled station. Some areas of the cities of Minami Soma and
Date, both in Fukushima prefecture, are radiation hot spots, PM Naoto Kan's
office said in a statement. The government is still identifying areas that
might be recommended for evacuation, the statement said.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima plant, said on June 14
it found cesium in milk tested near another nuclear plant about 210 km from
the damaged station. The samples were taken on May 12.

The concern this y will be radiation that landed on crops, which will be
absorbed directly, Burns said. Next y it'll be radiation in the soil.

Voluntary Testing

"Once you get past this y you'll be measuring what's in the soil and then
what's taken up by vegetables. A decade is probably about the sort of time
you're going to need it," he said in reference to the tests.

"The main thing here is restoring confidence in the food supply. If people
don't have confidence in the food supply, that can cause as many problems as
the reality."

In the past 3 months, more than 4,850 samples from 22 prefectures were tested
for radiation.

The voluntary tests are conducted by prefectural governments in cooperation
with local farmers, said Taku Ohara, an official in the ministry's inspection
and safety division. There's no centralized checking system and many small
farms aren't tested, he said.

"It's difficult to take test samples from all farms because there are too
many," he said. "We have asked local governments to cover each of the farming
regions and monitor them evenly." As of Feb. 1, 2010, there were 1.68 mn farms
in Japan, according to the agriculture ministry.

Resuming Sales

Restrictions have been imposed on food shipments from Fukushima, Shizuoka,
Tochigi, Gunma, Ibaraki, Chiba and Kanagawa, the last 3 of which are
adjacent to Tokyo.

Shipments of some green tea, a beverage at the heart of Japanese culture, have
been halted in 4 prefectures.

Ito En Ltd. (2593), Japan's biggest producer of green tea drinks, hasn't seen
a decline in sales since the discovery of tainted leaves, spokesman Ikuo Sato
said by phone.

Sales of products were allowed to resume after the results of three
consecutive tests showed radiation levels were below the government standard,
Ohara said.

Rice may be the next produce to show signs of contamination, because the
government allowed most farmers in Fukushima prefecture to plant the grain
after testing a limited number of soil samples, said Junichi Sato, an
executive at Greenpeace in Japan.

Questionable Limits

The government tested about 150 samples from farmland near the nuclear plant
before deciding on areas where rice sowing is now banned. The affected areas
cover about 8k hectares (19,800 acres) causing a 40k metric ton loss in rice
production this year, according to the agriculture ministry.

Fukushima, Japan's fourth-biggest rice grower, produced 439,100 tons of paddy
rice last year, accounting for 5.3% of the nation's total output. Agriculture,
fisheries and forestry accounted for about 2% of Japan's 520 trillion
yen economy in 2009.

For vegetables, Japan sets a limit at 2k becquerels of iodine per kilogram,
and 500 becquerels of cesium a kilogram.

The validity of the limits is questionable, according to Professor Tomoya
Yamauchi, who specializes in radiation physics at Kobe University.

"I don't see an effort to properly monitor things," he said in a phone interview
.

Thyroid Monitoring

On June 6, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the plant
released about 770k tera becquerels of radioactive material into the air
between March 11 and March 16, doubling an earlier estimate.

That's about 14% of the radiation emitted in the Chernobyl disaster in
modern-day Ukraine. Tokyo Electric has pledged to give an updated figure of
the accumulated radiation discharge from Fukushima.

About 2 mn people in Ukraine are under permanent medical monitoring, 25 y
after the accident, according to the nation's embassy in Tokyo.

While 203 people were hospitalized and 31 died after the explosion at
Chernobyl, about 400k children are considered to have received significant
doses of radiation to their thyroid that merit monitoring, the embassy said.

Local Products

Cases of thyroid cancer in Belarus, which neighbors Ukraine, increased for at
least 10 y after 1986 in children younger than 14 and for almost 20 y among
20-24 y olds, according to research by Shunichi Yamashita of Nagasaki
University, who was appointed as an adviser to Fukushima prefecture on
radiation exposure.

Japan needs to improve its testing regime and use the more sophisticated
becquerel monitors that were used by European governments after Chernobyl,
Sato said.

"I don't want to give my son local farm products, especially daily necessities
such as milk and rice," Hiromi Murakami, the mother of a 10-year-old boy in
Fukushima city, said in an interview.

Japan's exports of agricultural products fell 19% to 21.4 bn yen in April
from a y earlier, while exports of marine products dropped 12% to 15 bn yen,
according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Powdered
milk exports dropped by 87 percent.

Reduce Risk

At the same time, food imports have risen. Agricultural products from overseas
increased by 19% to 519 bn yen in April, according to the ministry.

It's not just what's in the ground that's a concern. Atmospheric radiation
levels in Fukushima prefecture remain high, according to Greenpeace, which
says residents of the prefecture are getting an annual exposure of 10-20
millisieverts, not including food. The government has set a radiation exposure
limit for the general public of 20 millisieverts a year.

"We receive lots of radiation every day through the air, so we want to reduce
the risk from food as much as possible," Murakami said.

MYREF: 20110616194529 msg2011061626424

[223 more news items]

---
[On knowing your constituents:]
I always thought faremers were a gullible bunch!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 9 Feb 2011 12:09 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[coal lobby spin]

Children sickness linked to Fukushima radiation

Children more susceptible to radiation than adults

Deborah Dupre
Human Rights Examiner
June 19, 2011 10:36 am ET

In the ultimate nuclear nightmare scenario now unfolding, Japanese local
newspapers have attributed sickness in children to Fukushima's nuclear
meltdowns, the radioactive levels now elevated throughout eastern Japan.
Children over 32 miles from ground zero are suffering fatigue, diarrhea, and
nosebleeds, the 3 most common of 8 radiation sickness signs, the 3 in the
earliest stage.

Tokyo Shinburn newspaper reported that many Japanese children have
"inexplicable" symptoms. Each symptom described are among the first
experienced with radiation sickness.

"Japan is dangerously contaminated by radioactivity over a far larger area
than previously reported by TEPCO and the central government according to new
reports from multiple sources," the Daily Kos reported.

"The prefectural government of Iwate released new data that shows radioactive
contamination of grass exceeds safety standards at a distance of 90 to 125
miles from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plants."

Science Magazine cites data from the prefectural government of Iwate that
reveals radioactive cesium has traveled over 100 miles away from Fukushima and
pastoral grasses contaminated beyond safety standards.

Children become radiated when they drink milk and eat dairy products from cows
feeding on radioactive grass, even at low levels according to the world's
foremost anti-nuclear campaigner, Dr Helen Caldicott, and other independent
scientists. Radioactive materials concentrate in milk.

Nationally acclaimed neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D. recently stated that
with Fukushima radiation hitting Americans, there will be a risk of increased ca
ncer.

"When we look at Chernobyl, most of W Germany was heavily
contaminated. Norway, Sweden. Hungary was terribly contaminated. The radiation
was taken up into the plants. The food was radioactive. They took the milk
and turned it into cheese. The cheese was radioactive. That's the big danger,
the crops in this country being contaminated, the milk in particular, with
Strontium 90. That radiation is incorporated into the bones and stays a lifetime
."

As Gulf of Mexico residents experienced a media blackout and lack of
government health support after BP's 2010 catastrophic oil event,
necessitating reliance on independent scientists and only a few doctors to
test, in the Fukushima media blackout, Japanese independent scientists have
been so concerned about children being radiated, they began their own
testing. Bloggers have also united to map incidences similar to the service of
Louisiana Bucket Brigade.

In, "Citizens Find Radiation Far From Fukushima," Science Magazine published
the shocking findings.

"Frustrated by a dearth of information on what happened to all of the
radiological isotopes released from the ravaged Fukushima nuclear power plant,
civic groups and individuals have been monitoring radiation on their
own. Collectively, they have produced a worrisome picture of contamination
throughout eastern Japan, with some hot spots surprisingly far from the
crippled reactors." (Dennis Normile, Science Magazine)

The report cited by Daily Kos furthers:

Parents in Tokyo's Koto Ward enlisted the help of Tomoya Yamauchi, a radiation
physicist at Kobe University, to measure radiation in their
neighborhood. Local government officials later joined the act, ordering
radiation checks of schoolyards and other public places and posting the
results on their Web sites. An anonymous volunteer recently plotted the
available 6300 data points on a map. And Yukio Hayakawa, a volcanologist at
Gunma University, turned that plot into a radiation contour map.

It shows one wide belt of radiation reaching 225 km S from the stricken
reactors to Tokyo and another extending to the southwest. Within those belts
are localized hot spots, including an oval that encloses northeast Tokyo and
Kashiwa and neighboring cities in Chiba Prefecture.

Radiation in this zone is 0.4 microsieverts per hour, or about 3.5
millisieverts per year. That is a fraction of the radiation found throughout
much of Fukushima Prefecture, which surrounds the nuclear power plant. But it
is still 10 times background levels and even above the 1-millisievert-per-year
limit for ordinary citizens set by Japanese law... [I]t is known that children
are more susceptible to radiation than adults, and few parents want to take
chances with a child's health."

The Japanese "citizens' map" of radiation levels, maintained by a group of
Japanese bloggers, shows radiation levels highest near Fukushima and northwest
of it, elevated radiation southwest of the reactors, and a large pocket of
contamination further south, in Tokyo's outskirts.

Public discussions needed in Japan and United States

In the tradition of barefoot doctors and community participatory research,
community members lacking information and medical attention, gathering to
share what information and resources they do have and discuss defending each
other with survival means, rather than investing resources in corporate led
"public meetings," can be effective.

Kyo Kageura, an information scientist at University of Tokyo, recently stated
that public discussion of the radiation issue, "based on a scrupulous
presentation of the data" is needed. When officials fail to provide urgently
needed information, however, the community participatory approach has proven
in many crisis areas to be the only thing that saved lives.

Such gatherings always happen due to one active community member taking the
lead. Japanese independent scientists and bloggers are filling a gap.

Due to the media blackout on the Fukushima nuclear power plant catastrophe,
"it took several m for the world to learn that there were 3 core meltdowns
at Fukushima," stated Dave Worthington of Small Planet on Fri. "It will take y
for the entire truth to be revealed."

Pointing to far more radiation released than information released, Arnold
Gundersen, a 39-year veteran of the nuclear industry told AlJazeera on Thu,
"Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind."

The same radioactive particles found in Japan are also being recorded in the
Seattle, Washington area according to Gundersen.

"With 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl, and now with Fukushima, you can pinpoint
the exact day and time they started," he said. "But they never end."

A forty-year old Japanese father, not allowing his 4-month old baby daughter
to go outside anymore, told Tokyo Shinburn, "I'm so worried. I don't know how
to defend ourselves."

MYREF: 20110620073001 msg2011062028823

[220 more news items]

---
Scientists [and kooks] are always changing their story and as a Conservative, I
have no tolerance for ambiguity.
It proves that all science is lies and the only thing we can trust is
right wing rhetoric.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 14 Jan 2011 14:46 +1100

CORRECTION:
True science, (remember that?) can be trusted, but this "science" is ALL LIES!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 19 Feb 2011 14:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[coal lobby spin]

Japan Plant Decon Unit Halted After Radiation Buildup

NTI.org
Mon, June 20, 2011

Tokyo Electric Power on Sat suspended use of a new water decontamination
system within hours of its launch at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant after
radioactivity increased in the device more quickly than anticipated, Reuters
reported (see GSN, June 15).

PHOTO: A protester takes part in an antinuclear rally in Tokyo earlier this
month. A rapid radioactivity buildup on Sat prompted the deactivation of a new
water decontamination system at Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
power plant.

Radioactive contaminants have escaped the six-reactor Fukushima facility
through air and water following a March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left
more than 20k people dead or missing in Japan. The firm said the precipitous
radiation increase had taken place in a cesium collection component of the
system, which was installed recently in an effort to treat fluid flooding
large portions of the facility (Hideyuki Sano, Reuters I, June 18).

The firm was seeking remedies on Mon and hoped to relaunch the mechanism on
Tue, Kyodo News reported (Kyodo News I/Mainichi Daily News, June 20).

"Unless we can resume the operation within a week, we will have problems in
disposing of the contaminated water," a Tokyo Electric Power representative
told reporters on Sat. "But if this is caused by the reasons we are thinking,
we can resume the operation within a week."

The company still saw no indications that it could not meet its goal of
bringing conditions at the plant under control in 2011, Reuters quoted the
spokesman as saying (Sano, Reuters I).

Meanwhile, the company on Sun began inserting additional fluid for
high-radiation components near the No. 4 reactor that might no longer be
submerged in water and could be releasing airborne contaminants, company
sources said (Kyodo News II/Mainichi Daily News, June 20).

The operator planned on Sun to release potentially contaminated vapor from the
facility's No. 2 reactor building, a move aimed at sufficiently lowering
moisture levels to permit entry by personnel. The firm said the release would
not negatively affect the atmosphere (Kyodo News III/Mainichi Daily News,
June 19).

Elsewhere, regular physical examinations are set to start before July for more
than 2 mn inhabitants of the area around the plant, the London Telegraph
reported on Mon. Individuals residing in Fukushima prefecture are expected to
receive such checkups for the next 3 decades as part of an effort to
address radiation fears (Danielle Demetriou, London Telegraph, June 20).

Tokyo opted last wk to aid in the nonmandatory transfer of individuals from
specific residences in isolated regions where radiation poses a particular
threat, the Asahi Shimbun reported on Sat. The government as early as next wk
could urge residents to leave specific domiciles beyond the plant's 12-mile
mandatory exclusion zone (Asahi Shimbun, June 18).

In Vienna, Austria, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya
Amano on Mon called for an international review of protective measures at
atomic power facilities, the Associated Press reported.

A majority of governments participating in an IAEA atomic safety conference
this wk favor not being obligated to comply with potential new protective standa
rds.

"Even the best safety standards are useless unless they are actually
implemented," Amano told meeting attendees. The IAEA chief advocated
measures including periodic checks on all reactors in the world and giving
greater authority to atomic regulators (Associated Press/Washington Post,
June 20).

A 160-page UN assessment prepared for the meeting charges Japanese atomic
officials with neglecting to implement adequate safeguards against tsunamis.

"The operators were faced with a catastrophic, unprecedented emergency
scenario with no power, reactor control or instrumentation," the document
states (Fredrik Dahl, Reuters II, June 18).

MYREF: 20110622213002 msg2011062224962

[220 more news items]

---
[A]ll science is lies and the only thing we can trust is right wing rhetoric.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 14 Jan 2011 14:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot]

[coal lobby spin]

Long-Term Radiation Health Checkups For Over 2 Million Fukushima Residents

Tanya Thomas
Source-ANI
June 25, 2011 at 8:28 PM

Over 2 mn residents living near the earthquake-cum-tsunami hit Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear power plant are poised to undergo long-term health checks
starting from this month.

According to The Telegraph, their health would be closely monitored for the
next 30 y to ease growing concerns about radiation contamination.

The health checkups would reportedly start at the end of the month, focusing
firstly on 28k residents in the 3 communities that are nearest to the plant,
Iitake village, Kawamata and Namie, before expanding across the region.

Fukushima prefectural government authorities announced this move to appease
the concerns of the localities over radiation amid the nuclear crisis.

"Everyone is included in this and will be tested over a long-term period, for
30 y or longer. We will start with 28k residents, looking at their daily
behavioural patterns to determine risks levels," a spokesman for Fukushima
prefectural government said.

The findings will be stored on a database created by Fukushima Medical
University to monitor the long-term potential effects of radiation exposure in
the region.

MYREF: 20110627073002 msg201106273761

[219 more news items]

---
Temperatures don't follow the 11-year solar cycle.
Other than that 11-year cycle the total solar output
is reasonably constant.
-- BONZO [various nyms], 5 Jun 2011 00:08 +1000

[Mr Posting Robot]

[mining lobby spin]

Radioactive caesium found in Toyko tap water

Mark Willacy
ABC [Australia]
July 4, 2011 18:33:00

Related:
* Toxic caesium found in fish off Japan
* Traces of Cs-134 found in urine of 10 Fukushima children

Radioactive caesium has been found in tap water in Japan's capital city for
the 1st time in more than 2 months.

Radioactive caesium has a 1/2 life of 30 years, making it extremely toxic.

Traces of radioactive caesium-137 were found in tap water sampled in Tokyo's
Shinjuku ward over the weekend, but authorities say it is well below the
maximum safety limit.

It is the 1st time in 10 wk caesium has been detected in Tokyo's tap water.

Last week, 10 children sampled by health authorities tested positive for
traces of caesium-137 and caesium-134.

The children come from Fukushima city, which is about 60 km from the
stricken nuclear plant.

In April, radioactive caesium was found in a species of fish called young
lance, a tiny fish which is eaten dried or cooked, off Japan's E coast.

The toxic caesium has also impacted the nation's sewage - it has been found in
sludge at a treatment plant in Fukushima, while radioactivity has also been
found in sewage in Tokyo.

Authorities believe radioactive material from the stricken plant seeped into
sewage pipes, ending up at treatment facilities.

The plant was hit by Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami disasters in
March.

The disaster is rated a maximum 7 on the international nuclear accident scale,
the same level as the Chernobyl meltdown 25 y ago.

MYREF: 20110704225201 msg2011070412220

[219 more news items]

---
Temperatures don't follow the 11-year solar cycle.
Other than that 11-year cycle the total solar output
is reasonably constant.
-- BONZO [various nyms], 5 Jun 2011 00:08 +1000

[Mr Posting Robot]

[mining lobby spin]

Japan radiation refugees to get more compensation

2011-07-05 14:57

Tokyo, July 5, 2011 (AFP) - Japanese families who had to flee their homes
because of the Fukushima nuclear disaster will receive additional compensation
of up to $3,700 per person, the embattled utility said Tue.

The money, following earlier payments of $12,300 per household [about
50,000 of them], is meant to compensate the radiation refugees for
their "mental suffering", Industry Minister Banri Kaieda said,
according to the Kyodo News agency.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which is still struggling to control the
crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, estimates that the new round of payouts will
total up to 48 bn yen ($592 million), a spokesman said.

The company will give the new payments to 160k people who have fled from a
30-kilometre (18.6 mile) radius around the plant, including a 20 km legal
no-go zone, and from other radiation hotspots further afield.

The new payments take into account the time families have spent away from
their homes so far, and amount to 100k yen ($1,234) per person per
month. Those who have returned home will be paid for the period they were gone.

In Fukushima prefecture, more than 83k people were away from their homes as of T
ue.

MYREF: 20110706094455 msg2011070617129

[220 more news items]

---
[Even-number day of week:]
What feedbacks?
Oh ... you mean those mythical feedbacks in GIGO computer models.
Yeah right.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 11 May 2011 10:39 +1000

[Mr Posting Robot v2.1]

[coal lobby spin]

Citizens' radiation fears beyond crisis zone mount

Mizuho Aoki and Takahiro Fukada
The Japan Times
Jul 9 2011

Reiko Nakamura, a 37-year-old mother of 3 children, said she has been checking
radiation levels outside her house in Meguro Ward, Tokyo, every day since she
bought a dosimeter in May.

Based on her readings, she decides whether to open the windows or leave them
shut tight.

Trying to protect her children from radioactive materials spewing from the
Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Nakamura has been buying produce grown in
W Japan since mid-March.

"I'm buying produce on the Internet. Also we've been drinking water delivered
from Yakushima (in Kagoshima Prefecture)," said Nakamura, who was at a
gathering organized by Setagaya Kodomo Mamoru Kai (The Group to Protect
Children in Setagaya) in late June. Nearly 30 mothers discussed ways to
prevent radiation exposure.

"I'm not bothered about us adults. But thinking of my children's future
health, I've been taking protective measures based on experts' opinion that I
thought was the most conservative," Nakamura said.

Living in central Tokyo, more than 200 km southwest of the stricken plant in
Fukushima Prefecture, does little to mitigate the anxiety people feel about
exposure, as radiation-tainted produce and radioactive hot spots have been
found far beyond the boundaries of Fukushima Prefecture.

Experts say it is desirable to reduce unnecessary exposure as much as possible
-- as Nakamura and many mothers are trying to do for their children -- given
the uncertainty over whether the radiation could cause cancer y later.

But they also say that given the official figures about radiation-contaminated
air, water, vegetables, tea and other food products, the current exposure
level in Tokyo is not something residents should get stressed over.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government recently took air samples at 100 different
locations around the capital. The highest hourly reading was detected in
Katsushika Ward at 0.2 microsievert, while the level measured in Shinjuku has
been steady at around 0.06 microsievert per hour for weeks.

Kunikazu Noguchi, a specialist on radiation protection at Nihon University,
said the figures are not problematic.

"Even newborn babies are exposed to natural radiation of about 1.5
millisieverts a y (in Japan).

"Even if the dose doubles, it's not at a level to be frightened of," he said.

Since March 17, 23 prefectural governments have tested 6,371 samples of
vegetables, fruit, milk, eggs, meat, fish and tea, and as of June 30, 404 of
those products were found to be contaminated above the government limit.

But no food items have been found to be contaminated above the government-set
safety limit since June 1, apart from those from Fukushima Prefecture and tea
produced in Shizuoka, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures.

Domestic rules set the limit for radioactive cesium -- now the main
radioactive threat in food -- for a person with average eating habits at up to
5 millisieverts per year. When someone is exposed to a cumulative dose of 100
millisieverts, the risk of dying from cancer goes up by 0.5 percent, according
to a widely accepted consensus by scientists. Below that level, radiation
risks are too small to distinguish from the effects of other major cancer
risks, including smoking, an unbalanced diet or lack of exercise.

Meanwhile, experts are split over whether exposure below 100 millisieverts
increases the risk of cancer. Some experts say exposure below that level will
not increase the risk, as data from long-term surveys on hibakusha have suggeste
d.

Other experts, however, argue that it should be assumed that proportional
cancer risks should exist even below the 100 millisievert level.

For example, Hiroaki Koide, a polemic antinuclear scholar at Kyoto University,
claims exposure of 1 millisievert pa increases the risk of dying from cancer
by one for every 10k people exposed to radiation at that level.

The assumed risk might appear rather small for individuals, given that now
about 1/3 of all Japanese die from cancer. But it could be a big issue for the
government and nuclear regulators, and the perception of that hypothetical
risk under the 100-millisievert level might differ from person to person.

Ikuro Anzai, professor emeritus at Ritsumeikan University and a specialist in
radiation, said it is better not to ingest any unnecessary radioactive
materials if possible.

But he said people should make rational judgements and should not overly fear
ingesting food with contamination levels below the limits set by the state.

"As long as food you eat is contaminated, you will be exposed to some
extent. But the important thing is to what extent the exposure is," he said.

Tea leaf contamination is another hot topic.

The Shizuoka Prefectural Government earlier this m detected 581 to 981
becquerels per kilogram in 7 tea factories, above the central government's
limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram.

But Tadashi Tsukamoto, a prefectural official, said that even if one keeps
drinking contaminated green tea currently excluded from the food distribution
chain, it will not pose any health risks to consumers.

The 500 becquerel per 1 kg limit, now applied to tea leaves, was originally
set by the government for vegetables on the assumption that a consumer eats
vegetables regularly.

But when brewing tea, the radioactive material in the leaves is diluted with
water by around one-eightyfifth, far below the government's radiation limit
for drinking water of 200 becquerels per kilogram.

Thus, drinking tea made from Shizuoka-grown leaves will not pose a health risk
to consumers, Tsukamoto said.

Still, Shizuoka has asked factories to voluntarily recall shipped products and
refrain from shipping current stocks in the plants "since we value the
prefecture's standard," he added.

Shizuoka Prefecture, 300 km from Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima
facility, has around 2,300 tea factories and accounts for 45% of the nation's
overall output.

MYREF: 20110710060002 msg2011071013219

[227 more news items]

---
"Global warming" refers to the global-average temperature increase
that has been observed over the last one hundred years or more.
-- Dr Roy W. Spencer, "Global Warming", 2008

Earth's atmosphere contains natural greenhouse gases (mostly water
vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) which act to keep the lower layers
of the atmosphere warmer than they otherwise would be without those gases.
-- Dr Roy W. Spencer, "Global Warming", 2008

This is what the real climate scientist Dr Roy Spencer said.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 3 Mar 2011 16:29 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot v2.1]

[coal lobby spin]

7.3 Point Earthquake Hits Japan

Sofia News Agency
July 10, 2011, Sun

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale has hit NE
Japan, which is the same area that was devastated exactly 4 m ago by a 9-point
earthquake.

The latest shock occurred Sun at 09:57 local time and triggered a small
tsunami in Iwate prefecture, measuring 10cm (4in). A tsunami alert was issued,
but it has been lifted later. The depth of the epicenter was at 10km (6.2
miles), according to the US Geological Survey.

There are no reports of damage or injuries so far, but workers at the
Fukushima nuclear power plant, NPP, which was severely damaged by the March 11
quake, were evacuated as a precaution.

The 11 March earthquake was the strongest in Japanese history. It killed more
than 14 000 people in combination with a 10meter tsunami.

MYREF: 20110710171902 msg201107103935

[223 more news items]

---
What exactly are you trying to say, aside from calling me an idiot?
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 11 Feb 2011 12:20 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot v2.1]

[coal lobby spin]

High Levels of Cesium Found in Garbage Ash in Eastern Japan

Waste Management World
Jiji Press English News Service
July 11, 2011

Chiba, July 11 (Jiji Press)--The eastern Japan city of Kashiwa said Mon high
levels of radioactive cesium have been found in ash from garbage disposal
facilities in the Chiba prefecture city.

The Kashiwa municipal government detected 365 to 70,800 becquerels of cesium
per kilogram in radiation checks conducted at 2 incineration plants and one
final disposal facility between late June to early July.

Kashiwa keeps ash containing 8k becquerels per kilogram or more of radioactive
materials in temporary storage, rather than using it for landfill, based on
Environment Ministry guidelines. If the amount of contaminated ash keeps
increasing, the city's garbage collection could be affected.

Separately, ash from a garbage incineration plant for the 3 municipalities
of Inzai, Shiroi and Sakae in Chiba was found to have contained 13,970
becquerels of cesium per kilogram.

MYREF: 20110714230002 msg201107147489

[226 more news items]

---
[A]s a Conservative, I have no tolerance for ambiguity.
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 14 Jan 2011 14:46 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot v2.1]

[coal lobby spin]

Skepticism Greets Reported Progress at Crippled Japanese Nuclear Plant

Steve Herman
VOA
July 20, 2011

Related:
* IAEA inspection team members watch No.3 reactor at the crippled
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, in
this handout photo taken and released by TEPCO on May 27, 2011
* Japan Claims Success in Cooling Damaged Nuclear Reactors
Government says it will stick to Jan 2012 timetable for cold
shutdown of reactors, possible return of 80k residents
* Japan Bans Sale of Fukushima Cattle
* Nuclear-Contaminated Beef Scare Spreads in Japan

PHOTO: Installation work is carried out on a roof at unit 3 turbine building
at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Fukushima
prefecture in Japan, July 18, 2011

Tokyo -- Japanese government agencies and the owner of a crippled nuclear
power plant say the crisis is being brought under control. Some in Japan are
less certain, however, in part because details remain vague about what has
been accomplished and the next steps.

Japanese authorities say the second phase of their plan to bring the Fukushima
nuclear power plant under control has begun. Goshi Hosono is the special state
minister in charge of the four-month-old crisis.

"I assure you that although the progress has been sometimes slow, we are now
on the right track toward restoring the situation from the accident," said
Hosono.

Questioning progress

But the environmental group Greenpeace has doubts. It says the utility and the
government have failed to meet several objectives.

The group says formal deadlines have been rushed. It also maintains that while
authorities say the situation with the crippled reactors is stable, in reality
it could be decades before the crisis ends.

At a news conference in Tokyo on Wed, reporters repeatedly asked why no
cumulative figures on radiation emissions from the crippled plant has been
released.

Quantifying radiation levels

An official with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said another
government entity now responsible for such reports probably is finding it
difficult to "back calculate" the total radiation released because the density
levels in the surrounding area in the last few m are so much lower.

Officials say radiation emissions from the plant are one-two millionth of the
peak shortly after an earthquake and tsunami battered the nuclear plant on
March 11. But Tokyo Electric executive vice president Zengo Aizawa
acknowledged a lack of accurate cumulative data.

Aizawa said the damage at the nuclear plant made precise monitoring difficult,
but now that the rubble is being cleared away, accurate measurements again can
be made, and the data will be compiled and released on a regular, but yet
undetermined, basis.

Three of the 6 reactors at the plant melted down after the disaster.
Explosions damaged the building housing at a fourth.

Cold shutdowns, contaminated beef

Authorities expect to begin cold shutdowns of the crippled reactors in about 6
months. Critics say the government and the utility, though, use a more liberal
definition of a cold shutdown compared with the general consensus of the
nuclear industry and the scientific community.

High radiation levels forced the evacuation of tens of 1000s of
households. Crops, milk, seafood and fish near the Fukushima plant were
contaminated by fallout. Beef from more than 1k cows, which ate feed
contaminated with radioactive cesium, was shipped across the country.

Some of the meat ended up being sold at supermarkets, served to children at
nursery schools and to passengers on Japan's bullet trains.

Energy conservation

The Fukushima disaster and recent shutdowns of other nuclear plants prompted
energy conservation measures in the eastern part of the country, including the
capital, Tokyo.

Concern has now spread to Osaka, Japan's second largest metropolitan area. The
government on Wed announced that because of problems with another nuclear
reactor and a coal-fired power plant, customers there will be asked to curtail
electrical use by more than 10% through late September.

A central bank top official has warned of possible economic damage, saying
that power shortage casts a shadow on Japan's long-term growth prospects.

MYREF: 20110721090002 msg2011072132453

[230 more news items]

---
Of course "global temperature are rising", we're emerging from an ICE AGE!!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 8 Feb 2011 12:22 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot v2.1]

[coal lobby spin]

Japan's contaminated beef scare widens

AFP
Jul 20 2011

Tokyo -- A scare over radiation-tainted Japanese beef deepened Thu with the
number of cattle thought to have been contaminated and shipped around the
country rising to nearly 1,500, reports said.

As many as 1,485 beef cattle in 9 prefectures are thought to have been fed
straw contaminated with radioactive caesium before being sent for slaughter
and processing country-wide, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.

The straw contamination is a result of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima
Daiichi plant and has been spread through trading of the tainted feed among
farmers in regions beyond Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate, where the problem is
believed to have originated.

Straw from Iwate prefecture showed radioactive caesium readings 43 times the
government limit, according to local authorities.

The animals had been shipped to 45 of Japan's 47 prefectures as of late Wed,
according to tallies by Jiji Press and Kyodo News, and some of the meat has
already been consumed.

The contamination surfaced earlier this m when elevated levels of radioactive
caesium were found in beef from cattle shipped from a farm in Minamisoma, a
city near the nuclear plant.

On Tue, the government banned shipments of Fukushima beef, 4 m after
the March 11 quake and tsunami sparked reactor meltdowns at the nuclear plant.

Under fire for its handling of the quake aftermath, the government has faced
accusations of negligence over its failure to establish centralised testing of
farm produce, having lifted earlier bans on some items.

Tokyo, at pains to point out that standard servings of the radioactive meat
pose no immediate health risk, has pledged to compensate farmers for losses as
consumers rapidly lose faith in both the product and officials.

Municipalities, including areas in Tokyo, have said that the affected meat has
already been used in school lunches and sold at stores.

The central government has banned shipment of certain vegetables, tea, milk
and seafood from Fukushima and areas beyond including tea grown S of Tokyo.

But it has been criticised for its failure to instruct cattle farmers not to
use hay that was contaminated after the disaster.

MYREF: 20110722160001 msg201107224963

[224 more news items]

---
[On knowing your constituents:]
I always thought faremers were a gullible bunch!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 9 Feb 2011 12:09 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot v2.1]

[coal lobby spin]

Japan Declares More Radiation "Hot Spots"

NTI
Thu, July 21, 2011

Japan on Thu declared a second set of high-radiation locations outside the
12-mile exclusion zone around the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power
plant, Kyodo News reported (see GSN, July 20).

Authorities have battled to prevent radioactive contaminants from escaping the
six-reactor facility following a March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left
more than 20k people dead or missing in Japan. Yearly radiation levels were
calculated to exceed 20 millisieverts at the 59 affected residences in the
Japanese city of Minamisoma.

Residents are urged to evacuate those homes. Another 113 residences were
declared hot spots in June in the city of Date. In addition, roughly 80k
people were earlier forced to move out of the exclusion zone in the wake of
the disaster (Kyodo News I/Mainichi Daily News, July 21).

Radioactive contaminants drifting from the plant have dropped to 1/2,000,000th
the level identified immediately after the March 11 events, the Asahi Shimbun
quoted plant operator Tokyo Electric Power and the Japanese government as
saying on Tue.

Japan could achieve by next m the status needed for eliminating "evacuation
standby zones," government adviser Goshi Hosono said (Asahi Shimbun, July 21).

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano on Thu said
he would travel to the nuclear plant on Mon to "get a feeling of the site,"
Kyodo reported (Kyodo News II/Breitbart.com, July 21).

The US Pacific Command's lead surgeon said the United States would calculate
individual radiation exposure levels for the roughly 61k armed forces
personnel stationed in Japan during the crisis, Stars and Stripes reported
(Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes, July 20).

Radiation-tainted feed is believed to have been consumed by 1,349 cattle
delivered to all but 2 Japanese prefectures, Kyodo reported on Wed (Kyodo News
III/Mainichi Daily News, July 21).

MYREF: 20110722200001 msg2011072227796

[224 more news items]

---
[Peter Webb:]

My proof seems pretty good to me.

But it's not a correct proof.
-- quasi <***@null.set>, Wed, 13 Jul 2011 23:19 -0500

[Mr Posting Robot v2.1]

[coal lobby spin]

Japan to Buy Australian Beef on Nuclear Radiation Concern, AACo Says

Phoebe Sedgman
Bloomberg
Jul 25, 2011

Japanese demand for Australian beef may increase after radiation was found in
domestic meat and amid concern that cesium leaks from the crippled Fukushima
Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant may spread further, according to Australian
Agricultural Co. Ltd.

"We're expecting to see better demand out of Japan as they move away from
their own herds," chief executive officer David Farley said on a conference
call today. That follows a boost in demand for beef after radiation was
detected in Japan's seafood in March, he said.

Cattle with unsafe levels of cesium were detected in 4 prefectures, the
Japanese health ministry said July 23. The animals were fed tainted straw
during a feed-supply shortage after the March earthquake and tsunami caused
the reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima plant N of Tokyo. Supermarkets
including Japan's biggest, Aeon Co., said the beef was sold in Tokyo and other c
ities.

As radiation is found in domestic beef, we see rising demand for clean,
quality meat, Farley said. "Australia itself should be well-positioned to meet
their extra demand."

More than 2,600 cattle have been contaminated, Kyodo News reported July 23,
after the Miyagi prefectural government said 1,183 cattle at 58 farms were fed
the tainted hay before being shipped to meat markets. Some of the hay was
found to contain as much as 690k becquerels a kilogram, compared with an
official safety standard of 300 becquerels. The government banned cattle
shipments from Fukushima on July 19.

Strong Aussie

Still, a strengthening Australian dollar may limit any boost to sales as
imports from other countries including the US appear cheaper, Farley said.

"It's interfering with our ability to compete for the demand," he said. "The
US has increased exports to Japan 53% just this year, based off dollar value onl
y."

The Australian currency has climbed 6.8% against the dollar since March 1,
according to Bloomberg data.

In the 4 wk ended July 14, export sales of beef rose 51% from a y
earlier with Japan buying about 4,200 metric tons (9.2 mn pounds),
government data show. US exporters have shipped 1.09 bn pounds in the 5 m
ended May 31, up 27% from a y earlier.

"Global demand, across the board, is in pretty good shape," Farley said."
Where we're competing against the other proteins of chicken, hogs and fish,
red-meat protein in the big sense is still competitively cheap compared to the o
thers."

The forecast for increased demand for Australian beef came as the company
reported a first-half net loss of A$12.6 million. Shares in Australian
Agricultural dropped 1.4% to A$1.39.

MYREF: 20110726093001 msg201107265431

[224 more news items]

---
[Non-performance. BONZO posted a dozen quotes before "discovering"
Freeman Dyson accepted man-made climate change as real]

Dyson accepts AGW.

Huh?
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], Mar 1 16:00 EST 2011

[Mr Posting Robot v2.1]

[coal lobby spin]

Radiation Driving Japan Corn Cargo to Quarter-Century Low: Freight Markets

The drop in Japanese corn demand may have little impact globally, with the US
Department of Agriculture forecasting a 5.3% gain in export trade to 94.9 mn
tons in the 2011-2012 marketing year.

Aya Takada and Yasumasa Song
Bloomberg
Tue Jul 26 06:48:28 GMT 2011

Japan, the world's biggest corn importer, may buy the fewest cargoes in a
quarter century as concern about radiation-tainted meat curbs livestock producti
on.

Corn shipments may drop 5% to 15.4 mn metric tons this year, according to
Nobuyuki Chino, the president of Tokyo-based Continental Rice Corp Beef
imports rose 11% in the 1st 5 m and may maintain that pace for the
rest of the year, said Tetsuro Shimizu, chief researcher at Norinchukin
Research Institute Co.

Japanese farmers are contending with their biggest crisis since an outbreak of
mad-cow disease in 2001 after stores sold meat from cattle fed with hay
contaminated by the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant. The surge in
beef imports is an opportunity for Tyson Foods Inc. and Minneapolis-based
Cargill Inc, the biggest US providers to Japan, and the shipping lines
hauling supplies across the Pacific.

"I feel I had better avoid buying food from the stricken area for our
children," said Emiko Hirano, a 50-year-old mother of 4 living in the Chiba
Prefecture E of Tokyo. "I am very angry that the government has not taken
appropriate measures to ensure food safety."

The drop in Japanese corn demand may have little impact globally, with the US
Department of Agriculture forecasting a 5.3% gain in export trade to 94.9 mn
tons in the 2011-2012 marketing year. China may buy as much as 5 mn tons this
y to replenish stockpiles, said Shawn McCambridge, a senior grain analyst at
Jefferies Bache LLC in Chicago. It imported 1.6 mn tons last year, customs
data show.

Feed Corn

Japan's corn purchases in the 1st 5 m of the y fell 4.5% to 6.47 mn
tons, according to government data. Cargoes of feed corn slumped 8.2% to 4.05
mn tons. Archer Daniels Midland Co, based in Decatur, Illinois, and Bunge
Ltd. of White Plains, New York, are among companies shipping to Japan,
according to Chino.

Corn prices as much as doubled in the past 12 m as global inventories
declined. Farmers will fail to produce enough again this harvest, driving
world stockpiles to the lowest since 2006-2007, the USDA predicts. Japan's
projected imports would be the lowest since the 1985-1986 marketing year, USDA
data show.

The impact of the decline in Japanese corn demand on commodity shipping will
be limited. The 800,000-ton slide forecast by Continental Rice Corp's Chino
compares with the 3.43 bn tons of bulk commodities that Clarkson Research
Services Ltd, a unit of the world's largest shipbroker, expects to be shipped
this year.

Coarse Grain

Global cargoes of wheat and coarse grain, the category that includes corn,
will rise 2% to 252 mn tons, Clarkson estimates. Grain is usually hauled to
Japan on supramax vessels that can also carry coal and iron ore, said Derek
Langston, a London-based analyst at Simpson, Spence & Young Ltd, a unit of
the world's second-largest shipbroker.

The cost of hiring a supramax for a single voyage fell 28% in the past
12 m to $13,282 a day, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange, which
publishes rates for more than 50 maritime routes. The global fleet of
supramaxes expanded 31% in a year, with orders for new vessels equal to 48% of
existing capacity, data from Redhill, England-based IHS Fairplay show.

U.S. beef exports to Japan will probably rise 33% to 140k tons this year,
Philip Seng, chief executive officer of the US Meat Export Federation, said
in May. Shares of Osaka- based Nippon Meat Packers Inc, Japan's biggest meat
processor, slumped 4.2% on July 19, when authorities banned cattle
shipments from Fukushima.

Four Decades

The US is expected to ship the most beef ever this year, according to
Centennial, Colorado-based CattleFax, which has researched the industry for 4
decades. The surge will help generate record income of $94.7 bn this y
for American farmers, the government estimates.

The cargoes, typically carried in refrigerated steel boxes, are also
bolstering demand for shipping. An index for 6 types of container rates from
the Hamburg Shipbrokers' Association climbed 14% this year, extending a
132% advance in 2010. About 90% of global trade moves by sea, according to the
Round Table of International Shipping Associations.

Cattle futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange increased 23 percent
in the past 12 months. They reached a record $1.21625 a pound on April 4 after
the disaster in Japan spurred speculation exports would accelerate.

Supermarket Chain

Japanese authorities found 2,906 cattle fed with hay tainted by radioactive
cesium and shipped to market, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries said today. The Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant was damaged by the
magnitude-9 earthquake and 23-foot tsunami that hit Japan on March 11.

Aeon Co, the country's biggest supermarket chain, said yesterday that beef
now suspected of being contaminated was inadvertently put on sale at 174
stores across Japan.

Orders for domestic beef have declined this month, said Kohei Akiyama, a
spokesman for Nippon Meat Packers. He declined to estimate the scale of the drop
.

"Supermarkets are adding shelf-space for foreign beef and reducing displays of
local meat as the radioactive contamination is widening," said Susumu Harada,
a senior director at the US Meat Export Federation in Tokyo.

U.S. beef exports to Japan jumped 53% in the 1st 5 m of the y and that
expansion will probably continue, said Takamichi Tawara, who runs Tyson's
Tokyo office. Japan represented 10% of the Springdale, Arkansas-based
company's $4.4 bn in international sales in the 2010 fiscal year, according to
a report on its website.

Net Income

Tyson will report a 4.4% drop in net income to $745.9 mn in its fiscal y
ending in September, according to the mean of 7 analysts' estimates
compiled by Bloomberg. Shares of the company gained 5.3% this year, compared
with a 6.6% advance in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

"It's the single most important thing for the profitability of a protein
company right now, growing exports, because that means that margins expand,"
said Timothy S. Ramey, a Lake Oswego, Oregon-based analyst at D.A. Davidson &
Co, who has a "buy" rating on Tyson. "We are the best supplier of protein to
the world."

MYREF: 20110726180002 msg2011072620269

[224 more news items]

---
[On knowing your constituents:]
I always thought faremers were a gullible bunch!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 9 Feb 2011 12:09 +1100

[Mr Posting Robot v2.1]

[coal lobby spin]

Japan creates nuclear compensation fund

PHOTO: Reactor buildings 1 and 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
Station in the wake of the tsunami that hit the power station on March
11. [ABC]


Australia News Network
Wed, 3 Aug 2011 18:18:00 +1000

Japan's parliament has passed a law forming a state-backed entity that will
pay damages worth tens of billions of dollars to the victims of the Fukushima
nuclear disaster.

The government is expected to contribute $US26 bn in the form of special
government bonds, but the eventual cost is expected to be far higher.

Under the bill the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, and other nuclear
power companies will also pay into the fund, which will then compensate the
victims.

The world's worst nuclear disaster since Russia's Chernobyl disaster - which
was 25 y ago - has forced the evacuation of more than 80k people from a
20-kilometre zone around the damaged reactors.

The nuclear crisis was caused by the powerful earthquake and tsunami on March
11 also damaged the farm, fisheries and tourism sectors.

MYREF: 20110803213333 msg2011080324440

[229 more news items]

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[If I make history stop in 1899 things can not get worse:]
Yes, but [Yasi was] not as bad as the cat 5 Mahina in 1899!
And what about 1918 when Qld had TWO CAT 5 CYCLONES!
-- ***@27-32-240-172 [100 nyms and counting], 3 Feb 2011 16:09 +1100