Since it was just the 25th anniversary of the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, I thought I'd write a bit more about the reactor situation. Thankfully, the situation in Japan is nowhere near the disaster of Chernobyl, it still appears that it will take a very long time before things are resolved. The current timeline is about six to nine months to clean everything up, but they're constantly running into new problems and challenges.
There's a lot of information regarding this situation, but I'll try to sum things up in short order. Maybe this will be a little more detailed information than you are getting in America.
At the Daiichi nuclear power complex, there are six reactors. Reactors five and six didn't get as much damage and their main problem was that the power went out, but now that the power is being restored again, there's not much in the news about them. Reactors one through four are the ones that got the major damage.
Reactor four was not in operation because of servicing, so there was no nuclear fuel in the reactor chamber. It did have a lot of used fuel rods being store in a pool. The water leaked out and these caught on fire. Since then water is being pumped into the pool. The level is still low, but all the rods are completely submerged and are in a relatively safe state although they still could need more cooling.
Reactors one and three were both in use. When the power and the pumps went out, the water inside the reactor started to vaporize and the fuel rods started to heat and possibly melt. On these two reactors, steam was vented to help reduce the temperature, but there was a lot of hydrogen being vented too which caused both of the reactor's outer buildings to explode.
In reactor two, the hydrogen gas in the containment vessel that surrounds the reactor seems to have exploded in a lower area of the structure causing some kind of internal damage.
Right after the earthquake, water from outside the reactor building was pumped into the reactor chambers to keep things cool. Unfortunately, because of the damage, contaminated water is leaking out which has to be treated and put somewhere. The main dilemma being that they can't stop pumping water because the reactors will over heat, but at the same time they can't fix the damage because of all the contaminated water that is leaking into the reactor and turbine buildings.
They've been getting international help including robots from America to check things out in the dangerous areas, and water treatment systems from France. Even with the help it looks like it's going to be a long time before they figure out how to clean everything up.
In the meantime, local residents are getting very angry about being told to leave there own homes without any way of knowing when they can return. Farmers and dairy producers in the area have come to the Tokyo electric headquarters to protest because they can no longer sell their products. All of the above groups are demanding some kind of compensation. In addition to that, the recovery of earthquake and tsunami victims is being hampered because workers can not be in the radiation danger area for long periods of time. In nearby areas, just outside of the evacuation zone, new regulations are being made about how much exposure school children can receive. Therefore, many of the schools have to do physical education and recess indoors.
That's about all I have time for now. We'll just have to wait to see how things turn out. In the meantime, the radiation levels in our area are still extremely low and staying at a stable level. It will be a relief when this situation gets fixed just the same.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
GIANT Bikes for earthquake refugees
Being a bicycle fan myself, here's a story I thought was cool. The international bicycle company GIANT is going to be donating 1,000 mountain bikes to earthquake and tsunami survivors to help in the recovery. These are mountain bikes that were specially outfitted for people to get around the disaster areas where gas and clear roads are scarce. They come with a rack for carrying supplies and front suspension for riding in rough areas. A spare tire tube, tube patch kit and air pump are also included. The bike will also have a special decal because of the occasion.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
New Blog reports on Japan start here
Hello,
Thanks once again to all of you for the kind words of support. There have been quite a few tremors this last week, but we're still doing fine.
Starting from now on I will be making all of my updates on this blog. I think it will be a lot easier for me to update with both news and interesting bits as events occur. Also, I hope it will be easier for you to check things out when you get the chance.
I've reprinted all of my emails starting from the day of the earthquake for those people who got in on the reports only part way through and for anyone else who wants to look back on the events.
Wish me luck. I'll try to keep this updated as best I can. There are so many interesting things going on over here. I might have to go back in time to report a few things so please bear with things if they seem to be out of order.
Bye.
Thanks once again to all of you for the kind words of support. There have been quite a few tremors this last week, but we're still doing fine.
Starting from now on I will be making all of my updates on this blog. I think it will be a lot easier for me to update with both news and interesting bits as events occur. Also, I hope it will be easier for you to check things out when you get the chance.
I've reprinted all of my emails starting from the day of the earthquake for those people who got in on the reports only part way through and for anyone else who wants to look back on the events.
Wish me luck. I'll try to keep this updated as best I can. There are so many interesting things going on over here. I might have to go back in time to report a few things so please bear with things if they seem to be out of order.
Bye.
April 12, 2011 Getting Back to Normal
Hi there,
I suppose things have been getting back to normal, at least until recently. There have been a few major aftershocks in the past few days, but we're OK where we're at. In general, all of the major activity has been two to three hundred miles away form us, more or less. We usually can feel the earthquakes where we are at, but it's not causing any damage.
Same thing goes for the nuclear reactor business. We are right on the outer fringe of the above normal radiation readings. I'm attaching one of the daily newspaper clippings of the radiation reports. These levels have been going down as time passes. As you can see Chigasaki has one of the lower readings on the chart.
Now this situation is being compared with Chernobyl, but the amount of released radioactivity still has been much less than there. Also, the major difference being that at Chernobyl the reactor core exploded. In Fukushima, the containment structures are largely in tact and in a basically stable condition. They still have a long way to go to fix the problem though.
Other than that I've been back to work for the past three weeks. Business isn't too bad either considering all the events. Right after the big earthquake, there were a lot of people going out and stocking up on things unnecessarily, which caused some shortages, but supplies are pretty much back to normal in our area. For some items, stores limited the number of items people could buy at one time to help control the problem. Most of these items included bottled beverages, instant noodles and canned goods, batteries, diapers and toilet paper.
For the first week after the earthquake, we had power outages once or twice a day. It was about every other day by the second week. From the third week on we haven't had any power outs. Businesses are doing a lot to save energy. Most stores and train stations turn on only half of their lights. Some of the trains have the interior lights turned off during daylight hours. The electronic stores turned off most of their display televisions. Even vending machines have their display lights turned off.
Of course the communities that have been affected by the tsunami are still struggling to recover, but I might have to write about that at another time. There are so many stories to tell which you might not be getting in the American news these days.
Gotta go. Take care.
I suppose things have been getting back to normal, at least until recently. There have been a few major aftershocks in the past few days, but we're OK where we're at. In general, all of the major activity has been two to three hundred miles away form us, more or less. We usually can feel the earthquakes where we are at, but it's not causing any damage.
Same thing goes for the nuclear reactor business. We are right on the outer fringe of the above normal radiation readings. I'm attaching one of the daily newspaper clippings of the radiation reports. These levels have been going down as time passes. As you can see Chigasaki has one of the lower readings on the chart.
Now this situation is being compared with Chernobyl, but the amount of released radioactivity still has been much less than there. Also, the major difference being that at Chernobyl the reactor core exploded. In Fukushima, the containment structures are largely in tact and in a basically stable condition. They still have a long way to go to fix the problem though.
Other than that I've been back to work for the past three weeks. Business isn't too bad either considering all the events. Right after the big earthquake, there were a lot of people going out and stocking up on things unnecessarily, which caused some shortages, but supplies are pretty much back to normal in our area. For some items, stores limited the number of items people could buy at one time to help control the problem. Most of these items included bottled beverages, instant noodles and canned goods, batteries, diapers and toilet paper.
For the first week after the earthquake, we had power outages once or twice a day. It was about every other day by the second week. From the third week on we haven't had any power outs. Businesses are doing a lot to save energy. Most stores and train stations turn on only half of their lights. Some of the trains have the interior lights turned off during daylight hours. The electronic stores turned off most of their display televisions. Even vending machines have their display lights turned off.
Of course the communities that have been affected by the tsunami are still struggling to recover, but I might have to write about that at another time. There are so many stories to tell which you might not be getting in the American news these days.
Gotta go. Take care.
March 28, 2011 Nuclear News
Hello from Japan,
Hope all of you are doing well. We're doing OK over here. Haven't been writing much lately. First our internet was out for about three days before we tracked the problem to our computers. Apparently it had something to do with the power going out. Also, I've been back to work for the last week. Due to the power outages, the schedule has been fairly mixed up on the weekdays.
I'd like to thank all of you for the messages of support. It's very reassuring to know we have people to call on if the need arises.
It seems that the big news still coming to America from Japan has been about the nuclear reactors. So I'll start from there.
The best we can do is to keep as well informed as possible and not to panic. Some days it's seems to be two steps forward and one step back. Other days it's one step forward and one step back. I think the news television and newspapers are doing a very good job of trying to inform the public about what the situation is and getting the opinions of many professionals and scholars. As you can imagine, ever since World War 2 there has been a lot of research being done in Japan about the effects of radiation. So far, there have been daily reports about the condition of each reactor and the progress that is being made. I've attached a newspaper clipping for you to check out.
Another interesting thing they've been showing on TV are the reports of the radiation levels in the area. It's almost like getting a daily weather report for radiation. The nearest checkpoint to us is in Yokosuka which is about 15 miles away from us. The readings from there are slightly above normal, but the readings from the next point on the other side of us are normal, so we're just on the fringe of the radiation exposure. Here's some trivia... Yokosuka is the home of the US Naval base in Japan, and a few years ago the nuclear aircraft carrier the USS George Washington was deployed there. Of course, there were some protest about having a nuclear powered ship being stationed in Japan. Kind of ironic.
You may have heard reports of radioactive iodine being found in the Tokyo water supply. Although we are about 50 miles from Tokyo, our water is supplied from a different system, so we still are OK. The Tokyo water returned to safe levels after a few days, but where my friend Musashi lives in Ibaraki, there still are radiation warnings for the water there. The problem with this is that it's very bad for infants under 1 year and may lead to thyroid cancer, so you can imagine we are watching this very closely.
There also has been radiation leaking into the environment and into farm products such as milk and vegetables. These are being monitored very closely as Japan has very strict regulations for food safety. In general, the government sets very high standards for personal safety on many different levels. It's disappointing that the farmers are not able to sell their products and loosing a lot of business. An expert was explaining that this low level radiation affected mostly the outer leaves and some of it could even be rinsed off with water.
It's also a big deal for the city and local governments to take care of all their citizens in the evacuation zones around the reactors. Not all of the people want to leave. It's difficult to get supplies in these areas since the shipping companies don't want to send their drivers into the affected areas.
Basically to sum up a lot of the reports, this low level radiation is not harmful for short periods of time and we shouldn't worry about it. On the other hand, the news from the Tokyo Power Company say it may take a long time to get these reactors properly under control. So it's any one's guess how things will work out. Now that they're getting the power back on line and trying to get the machines running again, they're getting a better idea of what's really going on inside.
Finally, let's all give a big hand to the brave power plant workers, firemen and self defense force workers who are going into harms way to get this problem under control. They've even been getting help from the US armed forces on certain missions.
I guess that's enough of a report for now. Take care.
Hope all of you are doing well. We're doing OK over here. Haven't been writing much lately. First our internet was out for about three days before we tracked the problem to our computers. Apparently it had something to do with the power going out. Also, I've been back to work for the last week. Due to the power outages, the schedule has been fairly mixed up on the weekdays.
I'd like to thank all of you for the messages of support. It's very reassuring to know we have people to call on if the need arises.
It seems that the big news still coming to America from Japan has been about the nuclear reactors. So I'll start from there.
The best we can do is to keep as well informed as possible and not to panic. Some days it's seems to be two steps forward and one step back. Other days it's one step forward and one step back. I think the news television and newspapers are doing a very good job of trying to inform the public about what the situation is and getting the opinions of many professionals and scholars. As you can imagine, ever since World War 2 there has been a lot of research being done in Japan about the effects of radiation. So far, there have been daily reports about the condition of each reactor and the progress that is being made. I've attached a newspaper clipping for you to check out.
Another interesting thing they've been showing on TV are the reports of the radiation levels in the area. It's almost like getting a daily weather report for radiation. The nearest checkpoint to us is in Yokosuka which is about 15 miles away from us. The readings from there are slightly above normal, but the readings from the next point on the other side of us are normal, so we're just on the fringe of the radiation exposure. Here's some trivia... Yokosuka is the home of the US Naval base in Japan, and a few years ago the nuclear aircraft carrier the USS George Washington was deployed there. Of course, there were some protest about having a nuclear powered ship being stationed in Japan. Kind of ironic.
You may have heard reports of radioactive iodine being found in the Tokyo water supply. Although we are about 50 miles from Tokyo, our water is supplied from a different system, so we still are OK. The Tokyo water returned to safe levels after a few days, but where my friend Musashi lives in Ibaraki, there still are radiation warnings for the water there. The problem with this is that it's very bad for infants under 1 year and may lead to thyroid cancer, so you can imagine we are watching this very closely.
There also has been radiation leaking into the environment and into farm products such as milk and vegetables. These are being monitored very closely as Japan has very strict regulations for food safety. In general, the government sets very high standards for personal safety on many different levels. It's disappointing that the farmers are not able to sell their products and loosing a lot of business. An expert was explaining that this low level radiation affected mostly the outer leaves and some of it could even be rinsed off with water.
It's also a big deal for the city and local governments to take care of all their citizens in the evacuation zones around the reactors. Not all of the people want to leave. It's difficult to get supplies in these areas since the shipping companies don't want to send their drivers into the affected areas.
Basically to sum up a lot of the reports, this low level radiation is not harmful for short periods of time and we shouldn't worry about it. On the other hand, the news from the Tokyo Power Company say it may take a long time to get these reactors properly under control. So it's any one's guess how things will work out. Now that they're getting the power back on line and trying to get the machines running again, they're getting a better idea of what's really going on inside.
Finally, let's all give a big hand to the brave power plant workers, firemen and self defense force workers who are going into harms way to get this problem under control. They've even been getting help from the US armed forces on certain missions.
I guess that's enough of a report for now. Take care.
March 16, 2011 Japan Update
Hello,
Hope you don't mind getting these reports. I actually have something to talk about these days.
Don't know if I mentioned it, but the big earthquake had a magnitude of 5 where we are at. Last night there was another one of about 4 and one of 3 tonight.
I've been off from work since Saturday. Hopefully my location will be back open by next Saturday. It's kind of nice being around home to help take care of my family during these times, but my company made me use three paid holidays since they're not making me go to work a the Tokyo locations. Since there still are a lot of train delays, I'd hate to get stuck somewhere a long way from home.
We've had the power out the last two days. Fortunately it's planned so that the area is divided into groups. Each group is given a time slot. If the power needs to be cut at any time, it will be cut in the assigned area for the assigned time. This way, people can plan on when to expect the power outages to happen and schedule their business accordingly. Also, the power is out for no longer than three hours at a time.
Next thing, I'm sure all of you have noticed the news about the damaged nuclear reactors. Seems like all the units in the Daiichi complex have developed some kind of problem. In case you were wondering, we are about 170 miles from the reactors as the crow flies. It actually sounds like there has been a trace of radiation that has made it as far as we are, but was incredibly small. For example, on the scale that is being used, an x ray like you get at the doctors would be about 50. The radiation that we got was 0.16 I think. Here's some trivia, on a jet flight from Tokyo to New York, because of the high altitude's lack of atmosphere above, you actually get more radiation than in an x ray.
Sounds like a water cannon just arrived at the reactor site and it's going to be used to cool the reactors from the outside. Let's hope this helps.
Other than that we're doing OK. My best friend over here, Musashi, lives in Ibaraki prefecture much closer to where the big earthquakes were. He and his wife also just had a baby about five months before Lynn was born. Fortunately they're unhurt. They weren't near to the ocean or tsunami, but they still had a fair amount of damage from the earthquake. In addition to that, they live about 90 miles away from the reactors and are pretty worried about it as you could imagine. So please keep them in mind too when you think about us.
That's about it for now. It's only been five days since the quake, but we're looking forward to life getting back to normal as soon as possible.
Take care.
Hope you don't mind getting these reports. I actually have something to talk about these days.
Don't know if I mentioned it, but the big earthquake had a magnitude of 5 where we are at. Last night there was another one of about 4 and one of 3 tonight.
I've been off from work since Saturday. Hopefully my location will be back open by next Saturday. It's kind of nice being around home to help take care of my family during these times, but my company made me use three paid holidays since they're not making me go to work a the Tokyo locations. Since there still are a lot of train delays, I'd hate to get stuck somewhere a long way from home.
We've had the power out the last two days. Fortunately it's planned so that the area is divided into groups. Each group is given a time slot. If the power needs to be cut at any time, it will be cut in the assigned area for the assigned time. This way, people can plan on when to expect the power outages to happen and schedule their business accordingly. Also, the power is out for no longer than three hours at a time.
Next thing, I'm sure all of you have noticed the news about the damaged nuclear reactors. Seems like all the units in the Daiichi complex have developed some kind of problem. In case you were wondering, we are about 170 miles from the reactors as the crow flies. It actually sounds like there has been a trace of radiation that has made it as far as we are, but was incredibly small. For example, on the scale that is being used, an x ray like you get at the doctors would be about 50. The radiation that we got was 0.16 I think. Here's some trivia, on a jet flight from Tokyo to New York, because of the high altitude's lack of atmosphere above, you actually get more radiation than in an x ray.
Sounds like a water cannon just arrived at the reactor site and it's going to be used to cool the reactors from the outside. Let's hope this helps.
Other than that we're doing OK. My best friend over here, Musashi, lives in Ibaraki prefecture much closer to where the big earthquakes were. He and his wife also just had a baby about five months before Lynn was born. Fortunately they're unhurt. They weren't near to the ocean or tsunami, but they still had a fair amount of damage from the earthquake. In addition to that, they live about 90 miles away from the reactors and are pretty worried about it as you could imagine. So please keep them in mind too when you think about us.
That's about it for now. It's only been five days since the quake, but we're looking forward to life getting back to normal as soon as possible.
Take care.
March 13, 2011 Japan News
Hello,
Sorry for the group mailing, but I wanted to get in touch with all of you.
We're still doing OK and in good health. Hopefully the nuclear reactors will be taken care of soon. It already seems that one of them is "under control" enought that it shouldn't be a danger anymore. There still is another one that is in serious shape, but it seems that resources are being sent there to stablize it. Maybe you're getting all of this news in Amreica (or other areas of the world) already, but starting from tomorrow, since Chigasaki is in the Tokyo Elecetric company's range, our power will be shut off for about three hours each day. Don't know how long this will go on for, but it might be a matter of weeks. So I might have difficulty replying to my emails for some time.
The place were I work was closed for the last few days. Since there still is a chance for a very large after shock earthquake within two or three days, things may be shut down even longer since we are next to the ocean. (Just in case of another tsunami.)
Take care.
Sorry for the group mailing, but I wanted to get in touch with all of you.
We're still doing OK and in good health. Hopefully the nuclear reactors will be taken care of soon. It already seems that one of them is "under control" enought that it shouldn't be a danger anymore. There still is another one that is in serious shape, but it seems that resources are being sent there to stablize it. Maybe you're getting all of this news in Amreica (or other areas of the world) already, but starting from tomorrow, since Chigasaki is in the Tokyo Elecetric company's range, our power will be shut off for about three hours each day. Don't know how long this will go on for, but it might be a matter of weeks. So I might have difficulty replying to my emails for some time.
The place were I work was closed for the last few days. Since there still is a chance for a very large after shock earthquake within two or three days, things may be shut down even longer since we are next to the ocean. (Just in case of another tsunami.)
Take care.
March 11, 2011 We're OK
Hello,
Just wanted to let you know we are OK over here.
I made it safely home at 10:00 tonight. I was at the aquarium drawing customers when the earthquake hit a little before 3:00 pm. It was pretty scary, but I don't think anyone was hurt. In one part of the aquarium, there were some hanging lights that were swinging and broke against the wall, but other than that I don't think there was much damage. For safety reasons the aquarium was closed at that time. Also all the trains were stopped for the rest of the day. Because of the danger of tsunami, all the aquarium staff had to go to the 3rd floor of a nearby school building. We had to wait there for a few hours. Then everyone had to return to the aquarium to get our things and then go back to the school building. Shortly before 9:00, the aquarium people arranged a shuttle to take staff to a location where they could get home from. In my case I was able to get a bus from the Tsujido station.
There was a slight tsunami in our area. The water flowed backwards from the ocean into the river area. I don't know if it was big enough to cause much damage. I didn't get to see it myself, but I heard it looked pretty strange.
My cell phone and email wasn't connecting properly either.
A lot of things will be closed tomorrow for safety reasons. Especially checking buildings for structural damage.
I was just checking out the TV and I didn't know until now how bad things were in the northern part of the country. I'll be at home tomorrow and looking after my family.
Wow, just felt another aftershock just now.
That's about it for now. Better go.
Just wanted to let you know we are OK over here.
I made it safely home at 10:00 tonight. I was at the aquarium drawing customers when the earthquake hit a little before 3:00 pm. It was pretty scary, but I don't think anyone was hurt. In one part of the aquarium, there were some hanging lights that were swinging and broke against the wall, but other than that I don't think there was much damage. For safety reasons the aquarium was closed at that time. Also all the trains were stopped for the rest of the day. Because of the danger of tsunami, all the aquarium staff had to go to the 3rd floor of a nearby school building. We had to wait there for a few hours. Then everyone had to return to the aquarium to get our things and then go back to the school building. Shortly before 9:00, the aquarium people arranged a shuttle to take staff to a location where they could get home from. In my case I was able to get a bus from the Tsujido station.
There was a slight tsunami in our area. The water flowed backwards from the ocean into the river area. I don't know if it was big enough to cause much damage. I didn't get to see it myself, but I heard it looked pretty strange.
My cell phone and email wasn't connecting properly either.
A lot of things will be closed tomorrow for safety reasons. Especially checking buildings for structural damage.
I was just checking out the TV and I didn't know until now how bad things were in the northern part of the country. I'll be at home tomorrow and looking after my family.
Wow, just felt another aftershock just now.
That's about it for now. Better go.
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