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.
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