Earthquake has hit Japan

[rancor]

As an aside, today was the day the foreigners returned to Japan. I mean holeee-shit. The whole city is full of us now! I've been out and about everyday, and today was the day that I saw more foreigners than I've seen since the quake.

[dcharlie]

As an aside, today was the day the foreigners returned to Japan. I mean holeee-shit. The whole city is full of us now! I've been out and about everyday, and today was the day that I saw more foreigners than I've seen since the quake.

yup, my family arrived over here on holiday two weeks ago and i've noticed a steady rise in people here. Perhaps it's tourists or something? I can't imagine it's workers only just returning after now.

[GaijinPunch]

Most of my friends & acquaintances were back before me. My gym, however, has finally gone back to normal hours!

[originalz]

Hmm, I didn't have any difficulties running into foreigners the past few weeks. I even remember being surprised at how many there were when I went to Shinjuku station at night at the beginning of this month. I personally didn't really know anyone who fled.

[dcharlie]

Kichijoji was absolutely packed with foreigners on sunday - were they bused in from somewhere? there's never usually THAT many!!

[Skyknight]

And the situation proceeds to get worse: Reactor 1 actually DID suffer meltdown.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... plant.html

My main worry is how far the longer-lived isotopes can be expected to drift on the ocean before they finish dissociating into stable isotopes...Kamchatka's going to have problems as is, I imagine...

[Ex-Cyber]

My main worry is how far the longer-lived isotopes can be expected to drift on the ocean before they finish dissociating into stable isotopes...

I guess it depends on what you consider "longer-lived". It seems like the biggest risks in the next few decades would be from the "medium-lived" isotopes Strontium-90 and Cesium-137.

[austere]

Reactor 1 actually DID suffer meltdown.

That was clear from the chart I posted, even moreso when you look at the temperature and pressure. The critical reading has now vanished of course, its been a while so it has scrolled off but the SW reading should still have been going. Whatever, TEPCO.

Like I said, it has entered a phase I am not familiar with. There is nothing of value I can contribute at this point except to say: it's time for Japan to collectively pull the stick up from its rear and bring in some foreigners with nuclear disaster experience (TMI and Chernobyl for instance). An uncontrolled meltdown is far worse than "losing face", to be frank.

There's a very long thread about the whole thing here: http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=480200

Astronuc's posts are particularly worth reading given his experience as a nuclear engineer.

[Blackbird]

Is there any place to keep tabs on what's happening at the fukushima plant? US news agencies have completely stopped reporting on it, particularly after the "We Killed Bin Laden Day" national holiday bonanza =P.

Additionally, has anyone heard anything from Yotsubane recently? It seems crazy to think it's been two months already, but he still hasn't said a peep on his blog. I really fear that he is dead.

[Observer]

We just got the news that a worker collapsed and died at Fukushima but the causes are "unknown" (heh). Oh, and another earthquake there. But the whole "we killed Obama" blocked everything else here as well.

Also worried about Yotsubane... It seems to be pretty much one of the few doujin devs that didn't give any life signs.

edit: I'm joking with the "Obama", it's just that they made that type so many times on TV it became a joke here.

[Blackbird]

I emailed him, but I didn't get a response. Of course, that doesn't mean anything by itself, because a reply might not arrive for a number of reasons:

1) He might be displaced and unable to access the internet.
2) He might have simply ignored a random person he didn't know emailing him out of the blue.
3) I wrote the email in English because I'm not confident in my Japanese. He might not have understood how to reply, or wanted to bother translating it.
4) He might be on vacation from the internet/dealing with personal stuff/ etc... basically any number of reasons.

[rancor]

We just got the news that a worker collapsed and died at Fukushima but the causes are "unknown" (heh).

No radioactive substances have been detected on the man, who was in his 60s, and he apparently sustained no injuries, the utility said. The man had started working at the plant on Friday and was wearing protective gear at the time of the accident. He was exposed to radiation totaling 0.17 millisievert.

A 60+ year man old doing heavy physical labor dies after one hour on the job? It really could have been almost anything.

[GaijinPunch]

We just got the news that a worker collapsed and died at Fukushima but the causes are "unknown" (heh).

No radioactive substances have been detected on the man, who was in his 60s, and he apparently sustained no injuries, the utility said. The man had started working at the plant on Friday and was wearing protective gear at the time of the accident. He was exposed to radiation totaling 0.17 millisievert.

A 60+ year man old doing heavy physical labor dies after one hour on the job? It really could have been almost anything.

過労死 from what I heard. He started working on Friday? How does TEPCO have the time to hire people?

[moozooh]

Is there any place to keep tabs on what's happening at the fukushima plant?

Knock yourself out: http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/

[austere]

No real updates, just a bit of a post-mortem from TEPCO:

[Elixir]

History always repeats itself.

By BNO News
TOKYO (BNO NEWS) -- A powerful earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Japan on late Sunday morning, seismologists said, prompting tsunami advisories for local coastlines.
The 7.1-magnitude earthquake at 10.57 a.m. local time (0057 GMT) was centered about 212 kilometers (131 miles) east of Sendai, the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture. It struck about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

The Japanese government immediately issued tsunami advisories for the coasts of Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, and Fukushima Prefecture. It said a tsunami could have a height up to 0.5 meter (19.6 inches), which would unlikely cause serious damage.

http://wireupdate.com/wires/18724/power ... es-issued/

For those of you unaware, this happened in the exact same place as the previous quake.

[RNGmaster]

Also worried about Yotsubane... It seems to be pretty much one of the few doujin devs that didn't give any life signs.

Yeah, I mentioned this a few months back. He didn't even give a reassuring "I'm fine" post, so he's either hard at work on Black Label or he's dead.
Yeesh...

Did he live in Tokyo, and if so can you guys tell me what the fatality numbers were like after the first quake?

[Elixir]

5.5 in Ibaraki

http://typhoon.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/e ... index.html

[rancor]

Was in a restaurant tonight when that one hit. No one minded at all - just business as usual! It wasn't one of the fast jolty ones, more of the slow, sliding kind. Still, it lasted a good 20 seconds...

[BryanM]

The uh, situation with the plant isn't going as well as was claimed. As in, it's about as bad as it could possibly be. A core has happily melted its way into the ground, merrily fissioning the days away.

At this point it seems like their options are to sprinkle boron on it and pray the pressure doesn't cause the ground to explode outward, expelling fallout that'll kill everyone on the island, including those cats on Cat Island.

(Also the "if the water's safe, why don't you drink it!" guy was kind of amusing. His hand trembled quite a lot when he did it <3 )

... Or Tepco's totally telling the truth that that's nothing to be concerned about. Hurm....

[sven666]

(Also the "if the water's safe, why don't you drink it!" guy was kind of amusing. His hand trembled quite a lot when he did it <3 )

he had some sailor moon vitamins in his pocket so he's ok now...

[DEL]

BryanM wrote;

The uh, situation with the plant isn't going as well as was claimed. As in, it's about as bad as it could possibly be. A core has happily melted its way into the ground, merrily fissioning the days away.

At this point it seems like their options are to sprinkle boron on it and pray the pressure doesn't cause the ground to explode outward, expelling fallout that'll kill everyone on the island, including those cats on Cat Island.

(Also the "if the water's safe, why don't you drink it!" guy was kind of amusing. His hand trembled quite a lot when he did it <3 )

... Or Tepco's totally telling the truth that that's nothing to be concerned about. Hurm....

The Nuclear Industry makes billions and there are/were 55 Nuclear reactors in Japan, so they will do their level best to cover this nightmare up and save their industry/their big bucks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxFF3RzieIU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdvfsBsXNS4

Professor Chris Busby advocates taking magnesium and calcium tablets evry day to block the plutonium and Strontium 90. Not sure how you block the Caesium though.

[GaijinPunch]

... Or Tepco's totally telling the truth that that's nothing to be concerned about. Hurm....

The Nuclear Industry makes billions and there are/were 55 Nuclear reactors in Japan, so they will do their level best to cover this nightmare up and save their industry/their big bucks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxFF3RzieIU

TEPCO itself is not going to make any money for a very, very long time. It will hemorrhage for years. My guess is all electric companies in Japan are going to take a pretty big pounding in the next 3-5 years in bringing their reactors up to snuff, and of course, insurance. However, the nature of business is to make money (as much as possible) so I don't see how the "billions" statement is relevant... or at least unexpected. The government actually has more of a reason to paint a pretty picture: 13 million people panicked is a bad scene.

Professor Chris Busby advocates taking magnesium and calcium tablets evry day to block the plutonium and Strontium 90. Not sure how you block the Caesium though.

Someone smarter than me can chime in here, but Caesium (while shitty) isn't as big of a nightmare if you ingest it. The biological half-life is somewhere around 70 days, despite it's 30-year half-life. Strontium's biological and normal half-life are both an eternity, in human life time numbers, so that's the one you want to block. It also covers the same cell-space as calcium, so it gets in your bones. It's a bad one. Plutonium, of course, makes you explode.

[GaijinPunch]

7.4 bil

[Ex-Cyber]

IIRC, cesium is an analog of potassium. However, I doubt that potassium lasts long enough in the bloodstream to have any real "blocking" effect, as IIRC the kidneys will get rid of excess potassium.

PROTIP: large doses of potassium should generally only be administered under the direct supervision of a surgeon or an executioner.

[sven666]

tepco made $1.66billion profit 2010 which i have to say is surprisingly little?

swedish government owned "Vattenfall" (basically swedish tepco) made 4.2billion 2010 and i would think they have a smaller customer base?
altho theres alot of dirty goings on in the energy buisness around europe/russia.

Germanys decision to stop using nuclear power was not met by cheers exactly (like it should have), on the contrary Vattenfall are working on a lawsuit against the countrys government expect big bucks and big drama.

[scrilla4rella]

http://www.economist.com/node/21536625

Here's a scathing article on Tepco from the Economist. Check it out, apparently they've been employing folks from the burakumin class to clean up radioactive waste and paying them under the table with no heath insurance. effin' crazy! Japan needs to wake up and realize the severity of the situation. None of my Japanese friends or acquaintances are talking about this shit. I guess being slightly in denial is necessary to keep getting yourself up in the morning and going to work.

[DEL]

Sunday 06 November 2011
Log in | Register| Subscribe
Telegraph.co.uk HomeNewsSportFinanceCommentBlogsCultureTravelLifestyleFashionTechDating Offers Jobs UKWorldPoliticsObituariesEducationEarthScienceDefenceHealth NewsRoyal FamilyCelebritiesWeird NewsUSAUS PoliticsAsiaChinaCentral AsiaEuropeAustralasiaMiddle EastAfricaSouth AmericaJapan

Fukushima caesium leaks 'equal 168 Hiroshimas'
Japan's government estimates the amount of radioactive caesium-137 released by the Fukushima nuclear disaster so far is equal to that of 168 Hiroshima bombs.



^From The Telegraph, which is a bit of a surprise, as it is mainstream media unlike the only two sources of non controlled media info on Fukushima in the last few months- Russia Today (RT) and youtube.

So what does exposure or more to the point - ingestion of Cesium do?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Kkuo-IK-A
From what I can understand from Prof Chris Busby, Cesium attaches itself to muscle tissue and of course the heart is a muscle. It destroys that tissue. The heart can apparently repair 1% of damage per year, but any damage above that results in irrepairable damage (at least that's the gist I get from this vid).
Plotunium and Strontium 90 attach themselves to the bone. So between Cesium and Plutonium and Strontium 90, you've got a full service.

[Ex-Cyber]

Fukushima caesium leaks 'equal 168 Hiroshimas'
Japan's government estimates the amount of radioactive caesium-137 released by the Fukushima nuclear disaster so far is equal to that of 168 Hiroshima bombs.

Wow, way to trivialize the death toll from the Hiroshima bomb.

[BulletMagnet]

Wow, way to trivialize the death toll from the Hiroshima bomb.

How does comparing the amount of radioactive material released by the two with no other references to the latter do that, exactly?