Huge Earthquake Hits Japan

[al kusanagi]

You'd think they'd just dump cement in rather than trying to salvage the things for the future.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Al Kusanagi' timestamp='1300324011' post='95505']

You'd think they'd just dump cement in rather than trying to salvage the things for the future.

[/quote]



That's going to be the really last resort I think, creating a sarcophagus similar to Tschernobyl.

They are going to try to cool down the rods as much as possible first.



It seems water cannon trucks are also on standby.



It's surreal how much power these rods have.

[AquaChan]

[quote name='Ap2000' timestamp='1300325165' post='95509']

It's surreal how much power these rods have.

[/quote]



it's also the scariest part about nuclear.

[Gerald]

[quote name='Ap2000' timestamp='1300323543' post='95504']

I wonder what happened with the plan to re-connect the reactor with some kind of electricity to get the internal cooling systems working again.

[/quote]

Just said on the BBC News that they are hoping to reconnect to the main supply soon.





[quote name='Ap2000' timestamp='1300323543' post='95504']

Go brave workers and SDF guys, you can do this ! (I'm afraid this is not going to help much however)

[/quote]

They deserve a medal (at least) for the work they are doing.

[Madara]

L.A. area members may be interested in this event happening tonight (Thurs. March 17) in L.A. This is a press release I got from Chase Wang and whatever entity he's working for now:



SAVE THE DATE



WE HEART JAPAN



WHAT: In response to the calamitous events unfolding in Japan, individuals

and organizations around the world have banded together to show their

support and concern with the WE HEART JAPAN project. Thanks to generous

sponsorships and donations from HARMONY GOLD, GENEON ENTERTAINMENT, PACIFIC

MEDIA EXPO, COSPLAY IN AMERICA, BANDAI ENTERTAINMENT, AM2, CRUNCHYROLL, NAN

DESU KAN, LOVE THE TRUTH CLOTHING, NYAV POST and more, WE HEART JAPAN will

feature a silent auction with art from Shinichi "Nabeshin" Watanabe, Sweet

Streets LA, Cathy Clark, Zane DeGaine, Kevissimo, Dekker Dreyer, Aaron

Bjork, Shibuya Girls Pop, Sam Randazzo, Sawdust Bear, Sasha Palacio, Sara

Tea, Patrick Smith, Eron Rauch and many more! In addition, prizes will be

raffled off over the course of the night. More information can be found at

www.weheartjapan.com.



WHEN: Thursday; March 17, 2011; Starting 8:00 pm-11:00 pm



WHERE: MELTDOWN COMICS (7522 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046)



WHY: All proceeds will go to the “Japan NGO Earthquake Relief and Recovery

Fund” which provides support to organizations in Japan that are taking part

in the relief effort, as well as to ensure longer-term support for local

organizations working hard to rebuild their communities.



WHO: Special Guests Include:

Stephanie Sheh (Naruto, Bleach, Eureka 7)

Troy Baker (Generator Rex, Bleach, The Avengers)

Richard Epcar (Ghost in the Shell, Mr. Men, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe)

Wendee Lee (Cowboy Bebop, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Bleach)

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Naruto, Ghost in the Shell, Silent Hill)

Daran Norris (Team America, Fairly Odd Parents, T.U.F.F. Puppy)

Liam O'brien (Naruto, Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy, X-men: Destiny)

Ellyn Stern (Blue Dragon, Noein, Bleach)

Michelle Ruff (Gurren Lagan, Digimon Data Squad, Gungrave)

DC Douglas (Resident Evil, Mass Effect 2, Kyo Kara Maoh!)

Crispin Freeman (Hellsing, Blood+, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya,

Slayers)

Sam Riegel (Naruto, Yûgiô,Texhnolyze, Fallout: New Vegas)

JB Blanc (Darksiders, Iron Cross, The Unit, CSI: New York, Nikita)

Tony Oliver (Bleach, Robotech, Lucky Star)



Featuring music by COUNT NINJULA

Food trucks on site: PAPAS TAPAS, JOGASAKI BURRITO, and THE BOBA TRUCK

Free drinks provided by ARTA TEQUILA, COMIKAZE EXPO, and H2OM WATER

[strawberryjam]

Vivian Hsu donated 1 million Taiwan Dollars (~34K USD) for the earthquake. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... pyeyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':puppyeyes:' />

[aine]

For those interested, I translated an FAQ article from a leading Polish newspaper. It has a lot of factual information on the situation in the Fukushima NPP that seem to be missing from the English-speaking media. While the situation is certainly serious, maybe this will put at least some fears to rest. I don't feel like proof-reading it so you have to deal with my shoddy draft translation.

Is there a danger of a nuclear explosion?



It's physically impossible as the reactor fuel is not enough enriched with Uranium-235 (only 2-4%, while in an atomic bomb it's over 90%) and the chain reactions are proceeding too slow. Many countries who had nuclear reactors for a long time are unable to create an atomic bomb despite numerous attempts.



Moreover, the chain reactions in the Japanese reactors have been stopped after the earthquake. The worst that can happen now is the reactor core meltdown, uncontrolled rise of the temperature and pressure inside the reactor which may damage the concrete containment building and release the radioactive substances into the environment.





Why are the reactors still heating up despite the chain reactions having been stopped?



When the power plant is operational it produces the energy thanks to the chain reactions of the Uranium-235 nuclei fission. The majority of the fission by-products is radioactive, eg. Caesium, Strontium or Iodine. Until those isotopes break down naturally they will continue to emit radiation which heats up the nuclear fuel. There is no way to stop those reactions. This is why after shutting the reactor down (i.e. after stopping the chain reactions) it still needs to be cooled down. Immediately after shutting down the reactor continues to produce approx. 6% of the heat as during normal operation.





How did the explosions occur?



Reactors are similar to giant pressure cookers that contain extremely hot fuel rods which are being doused with sea water. This water boils, evaporates, and also undergoes chemical reactions that emit Hydrogen. To prevent the inside pressure from bursting the reactor walls the steam needs to let out. When doing so, Hydrogen also escapes, mixes with the Oxygen in the atmosphere and explodes.





Were the reactors destroyed by the explosions?



The explosions destroyed the roofs and the walls of the external buildings in which the reactors are housed, however each reactor also has a solid steel and reinforced concrete casing.



However, the Japanese informed that the explosions may have damaged the casings of the Reactors 2 and 3 which may make it more difficult to keep the cores under water.



Moreover, debris from one of the explosions have ruptured the basin in which the spent fuel was being cooled down. It caused the contaminated water to leak (the probable cause of the sudden spike in radiation that occured on Tuesday) and the spent Uranium rods to overheat. The basin is now being filled with sea water from the helicopters as the radiation level is too high for the ground crews to approach them.





How long the reactors will need to be cooled down for?



The first week is the most important as that's when the core is the hottest. Overall, the spent fuel needs to be cooled down even up to 2 years before it has cooled down enough to be transported to a disposal site or processed further.





What happens if the cooling system is shut down prematurely?



The reactor core will melt and flow down to the bottom of it's steel casing. Although it's walls are 20-30 cm thick then will most likely burn through. The molten core will flow down even lower - on the reinforced concrete floor of the reactor containment building. The experts say that it is designed to catch and retain the molten core and prevent it from escaping into the environment. However, if this containment building was damaged (eg. by the enormous pressure or the Hydrogen explosion then a very serious leak may occur.





What then?



We will face an environmental disaster the scale of which is difficult to predict.





Are the cores molten yet?



We don't know their exact condition. At the moment it is not possible to look inside the reactors. It is known, however, that for some period of time they were not completely covered with water and they partially melted then. The evidence of that are the radioactive isotopes of Iodine, Caesium and Strontium that escape together with the steam that's being let out of the reactors. The experts say that other radioactive isotopes may also be present, however no traces of Uranium or Plutonium have been detected. One this is for sure - the more the fuel rods melt the more radioactive isotopes will escape.



[skipped a longish part on different types of radiation here]





What does it mean that the radiation leven around the Reactor 3 in Fukushima NPP was 400 millisieverts (mSv) per hour?



In Poland everyone, whether they like it or not, receives approximately a 2.4 mSv dose every year. This is due to the radiation from natural sources - rocks, buildings, etc. We also undergo various medical procedures such as X-rays. Normally it is recommended not to exceed a dose of a few mSv a year. Eg. a dental X-ray is 0.02 mSv, chest X-ray is 0.5 mSv, brain computed tomography is 3 mSv.



In Fukushima, however, the radiation level on Tuesday was recorded at 400 mSv/h near the reactor and 12 mSv/h near the main gate. On previous days the largest recorded doses were far lower, approx. 1 mSv/h.



The current doses are a threat to health and life and can lead to a radiation sickness, cause cancer or infertility. Receiving 10000 mSv (or 10 Sv) causes death. The survivors of the nuclear attacks on Japan received a dose approximately 10x smaller, that is 1 Sv.



The workers in the nuclear fields are advised not to exceed a dose of 50 mSv per year, at least in Poland. In Fukushima you could have received such a dose within minutes. Right now the rescue workers need to be rotated very often as the ones who exceeded the allowed dose need to be withdrawn. The Japanese government has just increased the maximum annual dose for the rescue workers to 250 mSv.

If this wasn't tl;dr enough for you, check this article that gives a bit of an alternative view on the Chernobyl scare. I can't comment on the validity of the information, but Wprost is a reputable weekly that wouldn't publish sensationalist bullshit.

[Ap2000]

Thanks aine for the translation, that was very interesting to read.



Good news is Tokyos values have been normal the past two days.

Tepco says the water spraying was helpful and they want to do it again Friday morning. They've sprayed a total of 30 tons and the radiation on the west gate went down from [EDIT: Got the wrong numbers here, sorry], which to me seems like it didn't change at all.

The new power lines are also supposed to be finished on Friday.



NHK World just showed a new video (taken from a heli) and I have to say those reactors look horrible. Especially #3 and #4.

[neshcom]

No one wants Nuclear Boy to poo! Props for trying to explain the situation to children.

[Ap2000]

[quote name='neshcom' timestamp='1300394195' post='95558']



No one wants Nuclear Boy to poo! Props for trying to explain the situation to children.

[/quote]



Though not critical to Tepco, that's really pretty well done. (and the subs are from Shibatabread, who also subs DownTown stuff)

It lightens the mood a bit with the way it is presented. =)



According to new reports the next 48h will decide the future of the reactors.



Here's the link to the recent over-fly video I was talking about earlier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBXqiw6EJUk

[Madara]

The Tokyo governor, Shintaro Ishihara, an odd character on the best of days, made some remarks that were reported this way:



“Japanese politics is tainted with egoism and populism,” Ishihara had said Monday, according to Kyodo News. “We need to use tsunami to wipe out egoism, which has rusted onto the mentality of Japanese over a long period of time."



He later apologized for them, of course, but I'm curious what he meant. What is this "egoism and populism" he's talking about?



The reference to egoism was echoed in a column in today's New York Times by Japanese novelist Ryu Murakami, who lauded the Japanese spirit of cooperation in the face of great adversity, but then said this:



"Away from the eyes of the group, however, we also have a tendency to behave egoistically--almost as if in rebellion. And we are experiencing that too: Necessities like rice and water and bread have disappeared from supermarkets and convenience stores. Gas stations are out of fuel. There is panic buying and hoarding. Loyalty to the group is being tested."



I don't know. I'm missing something here. Does anyone here have any insights into what these quotes mean to the Japanese?



Thanks.

[eri]

^the younger generations are criticized for not upholding community-mentality as the post-war generation did. This "selfishness" (egoism) manifests in consumerism, not having babies, wearing too much makeup and not being quiet on the subway etc etc blah blah get off my lawn whippersnappers.

[Tsuki]

Not sure if this is exactly relevant to the "immediate" issues facing Japan right now, but I thought this was a very interesting article about the future of Japan as it faces rebuilding and maybe restructuring.





http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ ... story.html

[Madara]

Here's a letter in The New York Times today that responds critically to Ryu Murakami's avowal of trust in the Japanese government:





To the Editor:



Re “Amid Shortages, a Surplus of Hope,” by Ryu Murakami (Op-Ed, March 17):



While I respect Mr. Murakami as a novelist of considerable talent, I was frankly disturbed by his essay. His attitude was nothing short of passivity and meek acceptance of the authorities in Japan.



The devastation there is incomprehensible, and I can well understand his and the Japanese people’s shock, despair and feelings of helplessness. My heart goes out to everyone there.



But the Japanese authorities so far have acted in an irresponsible, incompetent and destructive manner with regard to the nuclear crisis. Mr. Murakami’s resorting to hope as a way of dealing with the crisis shows an unwillingness to criticize the government or Tokyo Electric Power.



This is the typical Japanese way. Japanese culture encourages and produces followers, not leaders. More than ever before Japan needs strong leadership, and it seems there is a vacuum.



 Shirley Kaneda

New York, March 17, 2011

[Madara]

An animator victim of this tragedy:



http://www.mechadamashii.com/news/news- ... arthquake/

[eri]

I just got this message on my Japan-academic list serve. Sorry to cut/paste it all but it was so damn incredible to read.

Dear List Members,



I would like to thank all the list members, old friends and new, who have

contacted me offline with offers of help, etc. Please allow me to use this

opportunity to thank you all.



First of all, I would like to point out the paradox that in this day and

age, people removed from the disaster have a better overall picture of what

is happening than those of us on the site. There are too many things to do

here, and even doing some of the simpler tasks takes longer than usual, so

that I get to watch very little TV, I do zero net-surfing, and newspaper

delivery is sporadic.



Concerning donations, information of various sites have been posted on this

net, and I cannot suggest anything better. I understand that people are

concerned that their donations will be used in meaningless ways, e.g.

financing charity organisations rather than people in need, but even if in

the case that not 100% of your donation is used in a direct way, I expect

that at least a large percentage of it will go through, and that is what

matters.



My wife (a clinical psychologist) went to the local refugee centre yesterday to assess the need for care there, and has gone back today to set up a play therapy area for the children who survived the tsunami but have no home to go back to. A lot of these children are showing the early symptoms of PTSD. They are children who spent the night or two after the tsunami on a pedestrian bridge, the second floor of a high-rise or an apartment, saw corpses floating by, have lost family, or are in the centre but their parents have to go to work (who restores the life-lines and cleans up the mess, or serves customers trying to buy life essentials?), or their parents have lost both their homes and their place of work and are traumatised. It is now a week since the disaster (I think - I myself have lost all track of time), and the deadline for saving the children from prolonged PTSD is said to be 1 week. In other refugee centres, the children are probably left to their own resources, as only the most basic of emergency services is functioning in the more outlying areas, and people are more concerned about things like getting food, medicine, fuel etc rather than non-visible damage. However, looking at the news, and what is transpiring within the housing complex where I live, the old people are being cared for (so far as is possible), but the children are being left out of the picture. Since the wind is blowing the nuclear fallout (such as it is) out to sea, more so than genetic damage to future generations, the mental damage left by this disaster will play itself out for many years to come.



Our daughter is working as a nurse in a major hospital in Sendai. She has come home once since the disaster, probably about 4 days ago. At that stage, the hospital had run out of food, and the patients were getting one piece of onigiri per day. The medical staff was living on canned dried bread rations. Her car is now low on gasoline and she has not come home since, nor has she had the energy to ring us up. I expect that the situation has improved a lot since then, most of inner Sendai now has running water and electricity, and they probably will get preferential access to gas. Her apartment sounds as if it not safe to live in, but since she can walk from there to the hospital, and utilities had started coming through there, then she is commuting from her apartment. If another huge (M7~8) quake comes through, then her apartment (and a lot of others like hers in the older "new" suburban buildups around Sendai) might dome down, creating a new disaster.



I have not gone into central Sendai yet. My wife got a lift in, in a friend's car 3 days ago, and says that the centre of the city is intact. The damage that you are seeing on your TVs and internet, even if it says "Sendai," come from the coastal areas, not the original city centre. Electricity is on, and traffic lights are working, but in the initial chaos after the impact, all traffic lights were down, so the local Uyoku (Rightwing extremist organisations) took over the self appointed job of traffic police at major intersections. Law and Order, and good publicity... If they had the time and energy, they could have got themselves on a rescue team somewhere. At the other end of the spectrum, by chance, I saw on NHK news that some Pakistani residents in southern Sendai had provided Paskitani beans and rice soup at a refugee centre. They then interviewed a representative of the group who put in great plug for "foreigners" as members of the local community. I hope that Ishihara Shintaro in Tokyo was watching!



Our water supply in Tagajo is due to come back on 1st April. Until then, we will have to depend on water distributed by fire engines.



On a brighter note, my son is organising a charity concert in Paris for

victims of the earthquake, to be held on the 7th April. At this stage we

have details, but if any list members are going to be in there, please do

attend....



John Morris

Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture.

[Ap2000]

This is just extremely amazing, CNN just reported of an african-american exchange student (if I understood this right) who survived EIGHT days in the wreckage of his house until they found him.

I can't even imagine how he must feel.

[Shoujo Q]

Cuca put up a video of her singing Tanpopo's Tanpopo. It's very sweet of her. And there's a special appearance from her brother.







Edit (cause I don't want to double post): I'm really surprised at the silence from UFA, it seems like everyone else is handing out donations or doing something and all of UFA seems quiet and only the H!P girls are leaving messages along the lines of conserve electricity and donate! But as a collective group they've done nothing. Please tell me I've been missing something that no ones talked about because it's making me feel like this is going to put UFA in a bad light if they don't do something.

[tsukinobyouin]

That was so cute, very sweet of them :(



Tsunku has a charity going, and some of the girls have mentioned that to get support behind it. Sayu, Ai, and Reina have also pointed out places where you can give donations. I don't think it necessarily casts UFA in a bad light if the entire group doesn't make some sort of effort to donate/help. It's not like UFA is the only agency that hasn't put together some mass effort. I think as long as the girls themselves don't start acting callous, they'll be viewed just fine. But they may have something to in the works, such as a future charity single/performance/unit - it takes more time to organize those things.

[Vikitty]

fuck that Cucca video is making me cry when you consider the lyrics :(



I’m a flower you can see anywhere

But I carry dreams all over the world

Like a flower that can bloom anywhere

I’m OK even if I’m sad

We’ll believe in each other and support each other

And change the things we want to change

With the strength of a dandelion



I’m a flower you can see anywhere

But even the wind blowing won’t defeat me

Like a flower that can bloom anywhere

I’m OK even if it rains hard

You might not feel very brave

But you’ve got to shine like a dandelion

[al kusanagi]

I much prefer what the girls are doing now than the "HAY GUYZ WEER GIVIN' MONEEZ!111!" attention other people are getting. It might be the media's choice to report it and not theirs, but it still ends up looking like PR.



The absolute worst has to be the stuff like, "if you retweet this/follow me 100,000 times, we'll donate money." Don't put stipulations on it you fuckers!

[Gerald]

[quote name='PKyu' timestamp='1300549324' post='95654']

Cuca put up a video of her singing Tanpopo's Tanpopo. It's very sweet of her. And there's a special appearance from her brother.

[/quote]

Awwwww <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />, and let's be brutally honest here, this girl pisses all over the 9th Gen. She can sing better, dance better than 3 of them and with a bit of training she could probably be better than what's-her-name (the one who can dance a bit). She's cuter and has more personality, which is presumably why Tsunku wouldn't consider her.

[alita87]

[quote name='PKyu' timestamp='1300549324' post='95654']

Cuca put up a video of her singing Tanpopo's Tanpopo. It's very sweet of her. And there's a special appearance from her brother.







Edit (cause I don't want to double post): I'm really surprised at the silence from UFA, it seems like everyone else is handing out donations or doing something and all of UFA seems quiet and only the H!P girls are leaving messages along the lines of conserve electricity and donate! But as a collective group they've done nothing. Please tell me I've been missing something that no ones talked about because it's making me feel like this is going to put UFA in a bad light if they don't do something.

[/quote]



Well Tsunku does have a donation line set up. The info is on his blog. But like someone else said, I am happy they are keeping it low key instead of blatantly advertising how much money they are donating. I am sure the company itself has donated quite a bit, they just don't see the need to tell everyone how much.

[Madara]

[quote name='donut' timestamp='1300495705' post='95624']

I just got this message on my Japan-academic list serve. Sorry to cut/paste it all but it was so damn incredible to read.

[/quote]



Thanks for sharing that with us, Eri.

It just points up the lack of a social service infrastructure in Japan, plus the dangers of that whole "We can take care of ourselves, we don't need any outside help" mindset.

[Gerald]

One of the Sky reporters was in Sendai and she was standing in front of the usual scene of destruction with nothing left standing but she said 10 minutes drive away, where the tsunami hadn't reached, it was almost impossible to tell anything had happened. She saw one house thats roof had slid off and was lying in front of the house and there were houses that had a few tiles missing from the roof but that was all that was visible.



I guess it shows how well the Japanese houses/buildings are built to deal with earthquakes however big but there is probably shit-all you can do against a tsunami.

[Ap2000]

This is the #1 thing I hate about Japan:

http://www.japanprobe.com/2011/03/21/te ... ommercial/



Somebody majorly fucks up, he apologizes, no consequences.

[al kusanagi]

It worked pretty well for BP too...

[momoirosaya]

Man I want to donate already, but I have to wait to get my allowance on Friday D:

[al kusanagi]

S/mileage is holding a charity live/event for their new single.

[Ap2000]

Radiation levels in Tokyo have been going a bit up the last ~two days.

Obviously they're nowhere near life-threatening (or even unhealthy).



I wonder wether this has to do with the (extremely) low radiation of water, the recent rain or the latest smoke puffing out of Fukushima.



The good thing however is that radiation levels around Fukushima have been constantly going down.



The New York Times has a pretty good status report about the reactors that it updates whenever news is released:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011 ... tatus.html



And here are radiation levels for several prefectures:

http://fleep.com/earthquake/



This is an extremely interesting comparison of all the Sievert values and how much is too much:

http://xkcd.com/radiation/

It puts all the values into a good relation.