A 7.3 magnitude earthquake has been measured off the Japanese coast, approximately 67km northeast of Iwaki. The USGS reported the depth of the quake at 10 km.
The epicenter is near Fukushima, Japan where an earthquake in 2011 caused a nuclear plant to have a meltdown. There are numerous warnings of a pending Tsunami as buoys have detected sea level rise. Live Stream of incoming Tsunami below: (more…)
Only one problem, you might not live long enough to spend it….. TOKYO — It’s a job that sounds too good to be true — thousands of dollars for up to an hour of work that often requires little training. But it also sounds too outrageous to accept, given the full job description: working in perilously radioactive environments. In its attempts to bring under control its radiation-gushing nuclear power plant that was severely damaged by last month’s massive earthquake and tsunami, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (more…)
Weapons-grade plutonium was found in the soil surrounding Japan’s crisis-stricken power plant yesterday, heightening fears at the facility, where workers have struggled for weeks to keep the nuclear lid from blowing off its damaged, leaky reactors. The world’s most serious atomic crisis in 25 years went from bad to worse after crews discovered traces of the material — a key ingredient in nuclear weapons. (more…)
I’m working up a thread on the current catastrophic events in Japan right now. Been all over the innerwebs working to discover the most recent fact based information on the reactor. I came accross two pictures (below)….. I have to walk away for a bit to collect myself.
Please take a moment and pray for these souls and those yet not found. I cannot imagine the personal grief within the families from such neccessary burials…… (more…)
Maybe you have heard about these guys. In Japan they are called the Fukusima Fifty or F-50. These are the guys who stayed behind and tried desperately against all odds to keep the Nuclear Power Plant Fukisima Daiichi from catastrophic meltdown. Well, here is a brief story and the first pictures of their ordeal. Brave men and definitely heroes. (more…)
- Thank You
Tokyo – Japanese police on Sunday found an 80-year-old woman and a 16-year-old boy alive under piles of rubble 9 days after a massive earthquake and tsunami that rocked north-eastern Japan, while the number of deaths and those missing from the disaster surpassed 20,000. The two – Sumi Abe and her grandchild Jin Abe – answered police calls in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, one of the worst-hit areas, and public broadcaster NHK showed footage of helicopter transporting them to a local hospital. The two were eating a meal when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck the region. They managed to survive, eating some food in the refrigerator. Sumi got mildly dehydrated while Jin suffered from hypothermia. (more…)
(Daily Mail) The boss of the company behind the devastated Japanese nuclear reactor today broke down in tears – as his country finally acknowledged the radiation spewing from the over-heating reactors and fuel rods was enough to kill some citizens. Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency admitted that the disaster was a level 5, which is classified as a crisis causing ‘several radiation deaths’ by the UN International Atomic Energy.
Officials said the rating was raised after they realised the full extent of the radiation leaking from the plant. They also said that 3 per cent of the fuel in three of the reactors at the Fukushima plant had been severely damaged, suggesting those reactor cores have partially melted down. (more…)
Update 3/17/11 10:00 EST (Reuters) – A water cannon began dousing an overheating nuclear reactor at Japan’s quake-stricken power plant on Thursday, after earlier being forced to withdraw because of high radiation levels, broadcaster NHK said.The water cannon had been called in to spray the Fukushima Daiichi complex’s No.3 reactor, which contains plutonium fuel and has been the top priority for authorities. [more below] (more…)
SAN FRANCISCO — Federal environmental regulators say they are adding more radiation monitors in the western United States and Pacific territories as concerns rise over exposure from damaged nuclear plants in Japan. The Environmental Protection Agency already monitors radiation throughout the area as part of its RadNet system, which measures levels in air, drinking water, milk and rain. (You can visit RadNet by Clicking HERE)
The additional monitors are in response to the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan, where emergency workers are attempting to cool overheated reactors damaged by last week’s magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami. Officials with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission say they do not expect harmful radiation levels to reach the U.S. from Japan. The EPA says data from the monitors are available on its website for coastal states, Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa. (article) (more…)
FUKUSHIMA, Japan — Emergency workers forced to retreat from a tsunami-stricken Japanese nuclear power plant when radiation levels soared prepared to return Wednesday night after emissions dropped to safer levels. The pullback cost precious time in the fight to prevent a nuclear meltdown, further escalating a crisis spawned by last week’s devastating earthquake and tsunami that pulverized Japan’s northeastern coast and likely killed more than 10,000 people. (more…)