The Earthquake Check In thread

It seems like CNN, at least, is now letting people know how they can help.

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/impact.your.world/

Me and some friends are thinking on donating something, instead of money. But if it's too problematic we'll be making a group donation to one organization.

By the way, you gotta praise the japanese people for their respect for each other. No supermarkets suffered problems with stolen goods or any violence was registered. Everybody was in line, respectfully, even after a disaster like that. I think that in any other place in the world, people would be punching themselves for a water bottle.


Edited: This is the kind of news i want to see (it's in portuguese)

http://g1.globo.com/jornal-hoje/not...ontrado-com-vida-em-meio-lama-de-tsunami.html

A baby was found alive in the middle of the mudd. The rescue people heard him cry. He was there since friday! Also a 75 years old woman was found alive at home, plus 3 people were found alive inside a car. Miracle rescues indeed.

 

That sounds good. Was this a official News?

 

Yup, true - because they want to sensationalize it. Most of them left out that, had it been a first generation reactor, the disaster would have been a lot worse.

Fukushima I is far more safe than Chernobyl was, even though they're both Boiling Water Reactors. Then again, I don't think anyone would question a 1960s Japanese reactor's superiority to a 1970s Soviet reactor! :lol:

How are things at Fukushima II, Onagawa and Tokai? We don't hear anything really about them over here, but I know they all had their SCRAM mechanisms kick in after the earthquake. As they are all BWRs, they are designed to maintain integrity in an emergency, so long as the reactors are kept sufficiently cooled.

Any news on those other Sendai members? Is their identity a big secret or something?

 

Yeah is there any news about them ?

 

4th reactor has a breach and it's on fire again... also the head of the european energy department said that the situation is running out of control and an apocalipse is a chance in the situation...

my friends keep yourself ready to move in case you're in those danger zones... i have the feeling the japanese gvt has been understating the problem A LOT to avoid spreading panic around the country...

 

I heard on the radio that the Goldman/Sachs branch in Tokyo has evacuated the country. It doesn't really mean much but if the super rich are leaving it may be a sign. Hope everyone in Japan is safe right now.

Most of the major news outlets are stating that the radiation quickly dissipates, which is why only 20 miles has been evacuated. Same with the news that it wouldn't reach USA etc, it would dissipate over the ocean. Lets hope thats all true.

 

Wow, so Tokyo's governor, Ishihara, thinks this whole thing is 'divine punishment" and that the selfishness of the Japanese people needed to be washed away.

http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0314/TKY201103140356.html

 

Is he on the site, by any chance?

He's a fuck head.

Anyways, I'm heading to the states. Boss called me this morning and convinced me. Company dime, so what do I care, eh?

 

That brought a tear to my eye. Let's hope the poor little baby is given a good life.

Yep, you're right there.

I take it that your family is also moving with you?

 

Rats typically are the first to flee from a flood....

 

Just for a few weeks or a longer stay?
:033:

 

"Tepco says the reactor 3 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been emitting white smoke for about 45 minutes, Kyodo News reports. The plant's reactor 4 was the one where a fire broke out earlier this morning, Tepco said."


hmmm thats not good

 

and another shock!

 

Same here. I'm hoping more good news like that continue to happen.

Loved your quote. Totally right.

 

They just pulled the last of the workers out of the plants. They said they will try to possibly drop water by air, if its safe to do so. I hope all our japan members are south enough away where you'll be safe.

 

I was having a nap in the car after lunch when the police drove past saying there had been an explosion in the plant. I didn't get most of it as I was still half asleep as they drove past.

 

Quoting this from a website forum mostly to put some people at ease, I'm hoping this is right as it shows the amounts of radiation to be overblown at least on the news:

"Here is how to put Fukushima in the context of Chernobyl. The radiation levels at Chernobyl were of the order of 30,000 roentgens per hour near the plant.

30,000 roentgens is 3,579 sieverts. One million micro sieverts to one sievert. Doing a little quick math, if we are comparing the magnitude of radiation levels coming from 'meltdown' at the Fukushima power plant to the 'meltdown' at Chernobyl we get 1 / 3,579,000

Again, doing the math, a relative comparison suggests Fukushima is 0.00002% of the Chernobyl levels of radiation. These 'meltdowns' have nothing in common, unless you believe .000002% - below the mSv of a CT scan - is a public health threat."

Now, of course, we've seen some spikes beyond the 3,579, but not a helluva lot more.

My point isn't that it's not serious. But comparisons to Chernobyl are disingenuous."

and this:

"The workers have been exposed to, as far as I've read, upwards of 40 to 50 rems. How much is that? About 4 to 5 CT scans. In acute terms, that's pretty bad. But given that the radiation levels dropped quite quickly, the poor guys working there are more likely to die in a hydrogen explosion than from radiation. "

 

For now. Chernobyl was a full meltdown. Fukushima I has suffered a partial meltdown, but it could escalate. It's true enough to say that it should be compared more to Three Mile Island than Chernobyl, though.

By the way, the calculations you quoted are extremely inaccurate. I hope that person isn't a Nuclear Safety Inspector! His name isn't Homer Simpson, is it? ;-)

I believe the workers were evacuated because radiation levels rose to 10mSv/hr, which later dropped to 6 mSv/hr.

The area around Chernobyl Reactor 4 was up to 300,000 mSv/hr after meltdown. Yes, there's a big difference... but Fukushima I hasn't suffered a full meltdown.

You can't compare single-dose situations to a situation where you're getting an hourly dose. Incidentally, a chest CT scan gives a dose of around 6-18 mSv. 1 rem = 10 mSv, so your second quote is also way off if they think 40-50 rem (400-500 mSv) is the equivalent of 4-5 CT scans. Even a brain scan is likely to be at leave 0.8 mSv.

When they vented gas at Three Mile Island, the reading directly above the stack was 12 mSv.

There were over 30,000 people on record as living within 5 miles of the plant, and it is believed that the average dose to anyone living within 10 miles was 0.08 mSv, with the maximum dose being 1 mSv. The average radiation received in an entire year living next to a properly functioning nuclear plant is under 0.001 mSv. Over 18 years, studies failed to show any conclusive proof that the accident had ill effects on anyone's health.

Incidentally, natural background radiation is around 2 mSv a year, but up to 6 mSv in America. So you can see that living near a nuclear plant is usually fairly safe, but the increased dosage even from venting radioactive steam could be the equivalent of half of your yearly dose, all delivered within a day. Doesn't sound so good.

As for constant exposure, within a day you'll feel sick if you are submitted to 1 Sv, with possibility of damage, but you'll probably recover. Anything over 3 Sv and you'll be very sick, may haemorrhage, your skin could start peeling and you may become sterile... plus you may die. Anything above 6 Sv and your nervous system will be affected and death is probable. You won't be able to move if it's over 10 Sv, and you'll certainly die.

The lowest dose in the vicinity of Chernobyl reactor 4 was 10 Sv/hr. The highest was 300 Sv/hr.

Food for thought.

 

British Embassy:

http://on.fb.me/gzwodG

tl;dr the French are a bunch of pussies (and there's no reason to flee Tokyo).

 

Hopefully, things will get better... I just can't imagine how it must be to live in a place that has been devastated by a natural catastrophe and on top of that having to handle a nuclear crisis....

All in all I have faith in the fact that Japanese people have a history on "doing it right". I am confident that a solution will be worked out.

The french... well, they cannot be trusted.