Thousands evacuate as Fukishima nuclear emergency is declared

[Peter Lemkin]

I dare not ask if it can possibly get any worst in case it almost certainly will.

Well, at that particular plant, it is as bad as it can get....except if 1,2 or all 3 meltdown....the other reactors had been off for maintenance; however, there are other nuclear plants currently struggling to keep the cooling pumps going after both damage and now without electricity! It is a real mess.....

[Peter Lemkin]

Update, best I can get information. Interestingly it is the last [#2] reactor to have 'problems' that now looks like the most likely to melt-down...although all three are still at risk. The exact reasons for this the Japanese are not saying. But they do admit that that one has the most exposed and melted core, of the three.....all very worrying. Given the images from the tsunami, plus the potential for a nuclear accident it is like Hiroshima II waiting behind the curtains...

[Peter Lemkin]

Reactor #2 has once again had the tops of the fuel rods exposed. It had happened once earlier today, but they then started pumping in sea water [many problem involved with that...but definitely will cool]...and it stabilized....until just now, when it was said that the tops were again exposed. They have three very unstable reactors on their hands and the sea water will corrode all the pipes quickly; add to that, if there is a great deal of the water boiling off, the salt may remain and clog up the pipes....many problems remain, but they are keeping the details quiet and trying to calm everyone. Again, those who have been removed from near the reactor and are in a school now...who think they may soon go home will [I think] find, at best, it will be many months to a year or more.....

[Peter Lemkin]

I was hoping I would be proven wrong....think not. Reactor #4 is now on fire [a very dangerous scenario - as it can spread radiation a la Chernobyl if the fire grows]. A fire in this type of reactor is the most serious scenario. A meltdown puts most [not all] of the radioactive material deep in the Earth; a fire [or an explosion] puts it in the air.....where it will travel worldwide and settle out and get into the food chain and in the environment as a whole. The total amount of radioactive materials now in danger is equal to 400 x that in Chernobyl [although no one expect that much to be released, even in the worst case scenario. How much will be released is not possible to judge, at this point. The Prime Minister of Japan just admitted dangerous levels were now being emitted!......

Some of those being asked to evacuate are unable to, as there is no fuel for cars and public transport is down. A total mess.....

Winds are now blowing toward Tokyo and they have asked all unneeded personnel in the plant to leave!.....that bad. The reactor #2 also exploded [hydrogen explosion]...making that having happened to 1,2, 3 and 4. [a perfect Bingo!] The 20Km exclusion zone is now 30Km. Measured at 100 Km the levels are 100x those considered acceptable. It will get worse.....how much is not known - the worst case scenario is almost too horrible to mention....I personally don't understand why the pumping in of sea water isn't working...they are NOT saying why. That should be straight forward and only: 1] destroying the reactors to ever be used for power again and 2] slightly contaminating the ocean....but it seems NOT to be working for unknown reasons!...hang on.... the surrounding area from the plant, Tokyo, Japan all are in peril of this pending accident [it is releasing radiation, but not so very much - relative to what horrors could be imagined - yet!], as is the entire Planet...to some extent! Oh, and yes, they have brought in a few hundred thousand Iodine pills for the locals....a very bad sign! Japan has also immediately requested experts from the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] and GE [who built the plant] to come to help. A sure sign they feel they have lost control!!!! They have raised the danger level from 4 to 5 [7 is equal to Chernobyl]......:what:

This also has taken out 20% of Japan's electrical supply.....a lesson...a hard one. There is NO repair or rebuilding of these reactors - they are finished and only now can be buried, when under control. Nuclear power, IMO, is just playing with fire......literally.

Not directly related, but a sign of just how powerful the quake was, the ENTIRE main island of Japan was shaken [it moved] 2.4 meters [almost 10 ft.] East!!!

Update: Reactor #2 now has a fire under [repeat UNDER] the core.....now the MOST serious situation of many....it all seems to quickly be spinning out of control. I fear in a few hours or days they will have to evacuate those few radiated souls now fighting the situation.....and Nature will take its course..... :what::what::what::popworm::joystick:

[Peter Lemkin]

Radiation levels up to 11,000 mSv have been measured.....an AMAZINGLY high amount. [equivalent to getting 44 million X-rays!] It is more 'regularly' at about 5,000 in the area....unacceptable. Police are now going around and forcing the removal of persons in the exclusion zone! It looks increasingly like the 'worst' is about to happen soon...a total meltdown of one to four of the reactors!...other things could happen too. The situation really now seems to be out of control. I don't even understand how reactor #4 overheated and caused a fire, as it was shut down for maintenance before the earthquake, but details are being withheld.

While the amounts of radiation now coming out are HUGE, the risk factor is by time exposed. For those evacuated, they might get by without cancers, et al. For those now working in the plant.....:darthvader:

[Peter Lemkin]

1 Sv = 100 rem
1 mSv = 100 mrem = 0.1 rem
1 μSv = 0.1 mrem
1 rem = 0.01 Sv = 10 mSv
1 mrem = 0.00001 Sv = 0.01 mSv = 10 μSv

Dose Benchmarks
Living near a nuclear power station = less than 0.01 mSv/year[1]
Chest x-ray = 0.04 mSv[1]
Cosmic radiation (from sky) at sea level = 0.24 mSv/year[1]
Terrestrial radiation (from ground) = 0.28 mSv/year[1]
Mammogram = 0.30 mSv[1]
Natural radiation in the human body = 0.40 mSv/year[1]
Radon in the average US home = 2 mSv/year[1]
Smoking 1.5 packs/day = 13 mSv/year[2]
Gastrointestinal series = 14 mSv[1]

Symptom Benchmarks

Effects to humans of acute radiation (within one day):[3]
00.25 Sv: None
0.251 Sv: Some people feel nausea and loss of appetite; bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen damaged.
13 Sv: Mild to severe nausea, loss of appetite, infection; more severe bone marrow, lymph node, spleen damage; recovery probable, not assured.
36 Sv: Severe nausea, loss of appetite; hemorrhaging, infection, diarrhea, skin peels, sterility; death if untreated.
610 Sv: Above symptoms plus central nervous system impairment; death expected.
Above 10 Sv: Incapacitation and death.

[Peter Lemkin]

Now at level 6 on a 1 - 7 scale!....

[Albert Doyle]

You can assume China Syndrome at this point. There's nothing to stop it. They're past the point of no return.


They are going to have to burn people like at Chernobyl to build a last ditch sarcophagus...

[Peter Lemkin]

You can assume China Syndrome at this point. There's nothing to stop it. They're past the point of no return.


They are going to have to burn people like at Chernobyl to build a last ditch sarcophagus...

It is touch-and-go. We have not yet reached that point...and we should hope it won't happen. I also worry it might...but it has not yet and it is NOT inevitable. However, given the way this has all gone...it is getting more and more likely. Luckily [sic] even a total meltdown here will not LIKELY be as bad as it was at Chernobyl. Yes, it will be horrible and dangerous worldwide and to a few places [depending on wind and rainfall] really, REALLY horrible, it will not be a Chernobyl....but it will likely rate just between Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.....and I hope yet a new wake-up call about the dangers of Nuclear Power.

[Bernice Moore]

http://news.discovery.com/earth/japan-be...gn=rssnws1


discovery before and after earthquake

no cherbobylhttp://news.discovery.com/earth/nuclear-...gn=rssnws1