Japanese Prank show
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Fukushima Radiation Spread: Wide Dispersion and Localized Hot Spots
Yesterday’s issue of PNAS contains two papers that are first steps in tracking the radiation released by the meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Both contain bits of good news: a substantial amount of the radiation went out over the Pacific, and most of the remainder is concentrated immediately northwest of the crippled reactors. However, they also indicate that some isotopes released by the damaged reactors were spread fairly widely across the country, raising the prospect of localized hot spots.
The two papers take somewhat different approaches to understanding where the radiation went. One of them actually involves environmental sampling of the radiation emitted by five different isotopes that were released from Fukushima. The second builds an atmospheric model of the isotopes’ spread, and calibrates the model against real-world data.
Both studies indicate that the dominant factor that determined when and where contamination occurred was rain, which brought radioisotopes released into the atmosphere to earth. That interacted with the specific timing of different events—the explosions that destroyed the reactor buildings and the venting of radioactive steam—to create complex patterns of radioactive contamination. So, for example, a large release on March 15 ended up primarily contained in the prefecture of Fukushima itself. In contrast, a release on March 21 was able to travel further, and resulted in contamination of a number of neighboring prefectures (Japan has 47 prefectures overall).
Typhoon Talas claims 20 in Japan, dozens missing in landslides from record rains.
Source: MSN
Hayabusa’s Reentry
Copyright: Hayabusa Reentry Observation Team, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Koyu Abe, chief monk at the Buddhist Joenji Temple, has distributed at least 8 million sunflowers to soak up toxins from the soil in Fukushima. “It is said that Sunflowers can remove 95% of the radiation in soil in 20 days.” (video)
Japanese breakthrough will make wind power cheaper than nuclear
A surprising aerodynamic innovation in wind turbine design called the ‘wind lens’ could triple the output of a typical wind turbine, making it less costly than nuclear power.
Hayabusa’s Reentry
Copyright: Hayabusa Reentry Observation Team, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Slow Dance
Nagano - Japan
Circumpolar startrail image made by a multi-hour exposure from above Mount Norikura. As noted by the photographer “I saw the wonderful starry sky on the Yari-Hodaka mountain range this night. Stars were dancing in the north sky.”
Copyright: Shingo Takei
Geiger counters, used to detect radioactivity, registered more than 10 sieverts an hour, the highest reading the devices are able to record, Junichi Matsumoto, a general manager at the utility, said today. The measurements were taken at the base of the main ventilation stack for reactors No. 1 and No. 2.
The Fukushima plant, about 220 kilometers (137 miles) north of Tokyo, had three reactor meltdowns after the March 11 magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami knocked out power and backup generators. Radiation leaks displaced 160,000 people and contaminated marine life and agricultural products.
The utility, known as Tepco, tried to vent steam and gas the day after the earthquake as pressure in reactor No. 1 exceeded designed limits. A buildup of hydrogen gas subsequently caused an explosion that blew out part of the reactor building.
“I suspect the high radiation quantity was an aftermath of venting done,” Matsumoto told reporters in Tokyo. “The plant is not running. I don’t think any gas with high radiation level is flowing in the stack.”
Tepco sent three workers around the ventilation stack today after a gamma camera detected high radioactivity levels in the area yesterday, Matsumoto said. The workers were exposed to as much as 4 millisieverts during the work, he said.
The utility will create a no-go zone around the stack and cover the area with protective material, he said.
I liked the commentary here:
The truth likely is much uglier: this is simply the highest reading the devices are able to record. In other words, there does not exist a device that can capture the true extent of the catastrophe at Fukushima!
At least with Chernobyl, 5 months after the explosion it was pretty much well-known what the damage really is. In Japan, however, the ongoing attempt to hide everything from the general population, many of whom will pay for their government’s lies with their lives, means that reality will only gradually be comprehended. By the time all is said and done, Japan’s demographics will be far, far worse than even today. But who cares: that will be some other administration’s (and unborn generation’s) problem.
Remember folks, just because it’s not in US news doesn’t mean it’s no longer a problem. Japan is still suffering from the problems of the Nuclear plants that failed. I suppose nuclear disasters that cause irreparable damage aren’t top new stories for long here.
Stars and Thunderstorm
Site: Nagano - Japan
Stars shine above thunderstorm clouds, as seen from Mt. Norikura in Japan.
Copyright: Shingo Takei
Released emails reveal that the British government launched a PR campaign specifically to play down the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The business and energy departments approached British energy companies like EDF, Areva and Westinghouse to come up with a plan to prevent the nuclear situation at Fukushima Daichi from doing damage to plans for new nuclear stations. The emails, which the Guardian got a hold of, show a fear of the “anti-nuclear chaps and chapesses,” as one official put it. They were particularly concerned about what comparisons to Chernobyl might do to the public image of the nuclear energy industry. View the emails here. (AP Photograph.)
Tokyo, the megacity that works
Although Tokyo dwarfs other megacities, it has less air pollution, noise, traffic jams, litter, lots of green space and a humming public transport system.
Old People Line Up To Clean Radiation in Japan
Mr. Yamada:
“I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live. Even if I were exposed to radiation, cancer could take 20 or 30 years or longer to develop. Therefore us older ones have less chance of getting cancer.”Basically a group of 200+ retirees are volunteering to expose themselves to high levels of radiation so the younger men and women don’t have to.
Making the ultimate sacrifice to protect the lives of their children, and their children’s children. <3
Slow Dance
Nagano - Japan
Circumpolar startrail image made by a multi-hour exposure from above Mount Norikura. As noted by the photographer “I saw the wonderful starry sky on the Yari-Hodaka mountain range this night. Stars were dancing in the north sky.”
Copyright: Shingo Takei
