OMG Earthquake?

[Wetcoaster]

Islands of debris and bodies from the quake and tsunami are causing problems in shipping lanes and may reach Canada and the US coasts in three years.

Floating islands almost 70 miles long of bodies and debris after the Japanese tsunami are causing chaos in Pacific shipping lanes.

Cars, tractors, boats and entire houses have been seen floating towards Canada and the U.S. after the March 11 earthquake.

The largest "island" of debris is 69 miles long and covers more than 2.2-million sq ft, according to the US Navy's 7th Fleet, which is monitoring the floating rubbish.

"It is very large and it's a maritime hazard," said Lieutenant Anthony Falvo, the deputy public affairs officer for the US Navy's 7th Fleet. "It can do anything from piercing the hull of a ship to leaving dents or getting wrapped up in propulsion systems."

Experts say it could take up to two years for the debris to reach Hawaii and another year to hit North America's west coast.

A research team from the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii based their predictions on a model built on previous travel paths of drifting buoys. The group, led by Nikolai Maximenko and Jan Hafner, said the debris field will first start to wash up in parts of Hawaii within one year and broaden its scope in the months and years after that.

"In three years, the plume will reach the U.S. west coast, dumping debris on Californian beaches and the beaches of British Columbia, Alaska and Baja California," the research centre said in a news release, noting that "marine debris has become a serious problem for marine ecosystems, fisheries and shipping."

The researchers said Hawaii will likely get a double dose of debris from the tsunami, with a more severe occurrence happening within five years. They said that after the debris reaches the west coast, it will then cycle into the North Pacific garbage patch — an infamous site where an enormous amount of marine waste has gathered — before making its way back to the Hawaiian islands.

"In five years, Hawaii shores can expect to see another barrage of debris that is stronger and longer-lasting than the first one," they said in the news release, adding that Hawaii often sees wayward waste from the garbage patch wash up on its shores.

The debris isn't the only after-effect of the 9.0 earthquake on March 11.

It also damaged Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, spreading concerns of high radiation levels, even in Canada.

Weeks after the earthquake, radiation monitors in Ontario, New Brunswick and B.C. detected minute traces of radioactive iodine suspected to have originated from the Japanese plant.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission characterized the quantities of Iodine-131 as infinitesimal and stressed there are no health hazards to Canadians. Iodine-131 is produced by the fission of uranium atoms in nuclear reactors and by plutonium (or uranium) in the detonation of nuclear weapons.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Tsunami+debris+heading+West+Coast+causes+chaos+Pacific/4584062/story.html#ixzz1IygK1Ld5

[Common sense]

Islands of debris and bodies from the quake and tsunami are causing problems in shipping lanes and may reach Canada and the US coasts in three years.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Tsunami+debris+heading+West+Coast+causes+chaos+Pacific/4584062/story.html#ixzz1IygK1Ld5

Can't we just blow it up?

[DonLever]

Remember the houses, cars , buildings you saw on TV during the Japan Earthquake? Well, you will be able to get some of them in 2014. I hope the bodies don't come with them.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/04/08/bc-japan-tsunami-debris-drift.html

[Wetcoaster]

See thread:

[DonLever]

<br />See thread:<br /><a href=' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://forum.canucks...00#entry9553249</a><br />

<br /><br /><br />

Well that was about the earthquake/tsuanami. This thread is about the debris.

[Wetcoaster]

<br /><br /><br />

Well that was about the earthquake/tsuanami. This thread is about the debris.

And the debris is a result of the quake/tsunami and is already noted therein.

[German_Canucks_Supporter]

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http://www.interfax.ru/txt.asp%3Fsec%3D1483%26id%3D184394

Interesting analysis by the former deputy head of Chernobyl. The text is in Russian, English translation by google.

In short: He draws a parallel between Fukushima and a massive earthquake (above 8.0) and a resulting nuclear incident. The Russians have learned from Chernobyl and brought in the experts as soon as possible. He says that, for the Japanese, it was obviously more important to get the management and the experts into a safe distance from the power plant and then sacrifice some locals.

[TheNoelPatrol]

Uggh, looks like there will be more stupid teenagers driving Skylines.

[KING ALBERTS]

Uggh, looks like there will be more stupid teenagers driving Skylines.

LOL

[Buggernut]

Remember the houses, cars , buildings you saw on TV during the Japan Earthquake? Well, you will be able to get some of them in 2014. I hope the bodies don't come with them.

I have a feeling we'll just get more feet washing up on our shores.

[Wetcoaster]

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) says they are really, really sorry for spreading radiation into the sea and they promise to do better in future.

The Japanese economy remains in crisis and it is forecast that Japan will slip into a full-blown recession.

A Japanese power company executive apologized on Saturday for spreading radiation into the air and sea as regulators said the pumping of radioactive water into waters off Japan from a crippled nuclear plant would end one day later than planned.

The apology from Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) came a day after China and South Korea expressed concern at the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi plant smashed by last month’s earthquake, reflecting growing international unease over the month-long nuclear crisis.

"It is almost a month since the earthquake took place. I would like to apologize from my heart over the worries and troubles we are causing for society due to the release of radiological materials into the atmosphere and seawater," Sakae Muto, a TEPCO vice president, told a news conference.

"We caused worry and trouble for having made this decision without taking sufficient time to explain the matter beforehand to those involved, to the press, to the fishing industry and to people overseas, and we are sorry for this," he added.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, a deputy director-general at Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, earlier told reporters "we are working on releasing water ... we are likely to finish this tomorrow."

He said a condenser at the No.2 reactor had been emptied of low-radiation water on Saturday, making room for engineers to shift highly radioactive water from the reactor’s trench.

"To prevent radioactive water in the trench from overflowing is an important step considering a possible further contamination of the sea," Nishiyama said.

Plant operator TEPCO said earlier it expected to stop pumping tainted water into the sea on Saturday, but work was interrupted by a powerful aftershock on Thursday.

TEPCO is struggling to contain the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl. Engineers say they are far from in control of the damaged reactors and it could take months to stabilise them and years to clear up the toxic mess left behind.

Nuclear reactor maker Toshiba Corp has proposed a 10-year plan to decommission four of the six damaged reactors at the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, said Kyodo news agency.

But the government has said it was too early to have a "specific road map" for ending the crisis.

Nishiyama said Japan would look into the electric power back-up system that had failed after the tsunami, leaving operators unable to cool the reactor. "Based on this experience, we need to review everything in the direction of safety," he said.

The magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11 left 28,000 people dead or missing, and northeastern Japan a splintered wreck.

More than 153,000 people affected by the tsunami and radiation are living in school gymnasiums and other evacuation centres, according to the National Police Agency. Several tsunami-damaged cities have begun moving families into temporary housing, NHK state television said.

Banri Kaieda, a minister whose portfolio includes the nuclear industry, said he hoped evacuees from the radiation zone in Fukushima could visit their homes as soon as possible.

Japan has made evacuation mandatory for people living within a 20 km (12-mile) radius of the crippled reactor and urged those living between 20 km and 30 km from the plant to stay indoors.

"There were expectations among the evacuees that they could return to their homes for one night, but they will only be able to stay for a few hours to gather their personal belongings," Kaieda was quoted by Jiji news agency as saying in Fukushima.

GLOBAL RADIATION CONCERNS

Several countries have restricted food imports from Japan over radiation fears as Japan’s economy reels from the country’s worst disaster since World War Two.

Food is a tiny part of Japan’s export-oriented economy, but disruptions to its manufacturing and electronics supply chains are reverberating around the world.

China will ban imports of farm produce from 12 areas in Japan, China’s quarantine authority said.

China said earlier it had detected 10 cases of ships, aircraft or cargo arriving from Japan with higher than normal levels of radiation since mid-March.

Xinhua also reported trace levels of radioactivity had been detected in 22 Chinese provinces.

On Friday, China said it would closely monitor Japan’s actions to regain control of the plant and demanded Tokyo provide swift and accurate information on the crisis.

South Korea has also criticised Japan, accusing it of incompetence for failing to notify its neighbours that it would pump radioactive water into the sea.

Radiation from Japan spread around the entire northern hemisphere in the first two weeks of the nuclear crisis, according to the Vienna-based Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation.

ECONOMY REELING

The world’s third largest economy is now in a "severe condition," the government said on Friday.

Finance leaders of the G20 group of countries will ask Tokyo for a plan to resuscitate its economy as they see the damage from the earthquake as a risk to global growth, Takatoshi Kato, a former IMF deputy managing director, told Reuters on Friday.

Automaker Toyota Motor Corp plans to idle some of U.S. plants late in April, while Honda Motor Co Ltd has extended reduced U.S. production until April 22.

Power blackouts and restrictions, factory shutdowns, and a sharp drop in tourists have hit the world’s most indebted nation, which is facing a damages bill as high as $300 billion, making it by far the world’s costliest natural disaster.

Economists expect Japan to slip into recession this year.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Tokyo+Electric+Power+apologizes+Fukushima+radiation+release/4589104/story.html#ixzz1J3HWCfb7

[flapjacks]

Another 7.1 quake hit north-east Japan

[DYU3ster]

Another 7.1 quake hit north-east Japan

A powerful earthquake has hit north-east Japan, exactly one month after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The 7.1-magnitude tremor triggered a brief tsunami warning, and forced workers to evacuate the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

The epicentre of the quake was in Fukushima prefecture, and struck at a depth of just 10km (six miles).

It came as Japan said it was extending the evacuation zone around the nuclear plant because of radiation concerns.

The cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were damaged in last month's disaster. Workers have been struggling to prevent several reactors from overheating, and avert a large-scale release of radiation.

The plant's operator, Tepco, said power used to pump water to cool three damaged reactors had been cut briefly but early indications suggested the plant had not sustained any further damage.

The zone around it will be widened to encompass five communities beyond the existing 20-km (12-mile) radius, following new data about accumulated radiation levels, officials said.

Top government spokesman Yukio Edano said the new evacuations would take place over the coming month, from areas including Iitate village, which lies 40km from the power station, and part of the city of Kawamata.

"There is no need to evacuate immediately," he told a news conference, but added that there were concerns about long-term health risks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13032122

Just devastating.

[Bieksa(not really)]

There have been pretty strong earthquakes/aftershocks for about 21/2 hours.

I felt the 1st one as very strong. My lights were flickering as I ran out the door.

Apparently, it was 2 where I am, but in normal days, I would have said it was really strong.

People are calm and it becomes too much to run outside every 10-20 minutes, so I really hope

this is not going to be dangerous. I haven't heard any reports of damage, so I hope people are okay up there.

I think people are just hoping it will be okay because it's exhausting.

There is also a feeling many people have described as seasickness. And you kind of jump at every creak

and sound.

The epicentre for most of these quakes tonight has been around Fukushima, with one way off in Nagano.

This is a useful source for info re quakes and radiation, and you might find it interesting to browse.

http://metropolis.co.jp/quake

click on If you experienced an Earthquake under resources for earthquake info. It's been 2s 3s for me, still going on.

Still haven't heard any detailed info from Fukushima, so hope it's ok. Very stressful, especially for people up there

Edited April 11, 2011 by Bieksa(not really)

[Captain Bob]

Surprised Wetcoaster hasn't posted this yet

Nuclear threat level raised

Tokyo (CNN) -- Japanese authorities Tuesday "provisionally" declared the country's nuclear accident a level-7 event on the international scale for nuclear disasters -- the highest level -- putting it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency announced the new level Tuesday morning. It had previously been at 5.

Regulators have determined the amount of radioactive iodine released by the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was at least 15 times the volume needed to reach the top of the International Nuclear Event Scale, the agency said. That figure is still about 10 percent of the amount released at Chernobyl, they said.

The amount of radioactive Cesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years, is about one-seventh the amount released at Chernobyl, according to the agency.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, the safety agency's chief spokesman, explained the final level won't be set until the disaster is over and a more detailed investigation has been conducted.

Tetsunari Iida, a former nuclear engineer-turned-industry critic, told CNN the declaration has no immediate practical impact on the crisis. It is a sign, however, that Japanese regulators have rethought their earlier assessments of the disaster, said Iida, who now runs an alternative energy think-tank in Tokyo.

According to the scale, a level 5 equates to the likelihood of a release of radioactive material, several deaths from radiation and severe damage to a reactor core.

The 1979 incident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island was a 5. The partial meltdown of a reactor core there was deemed the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.

The Chernobyl accident in the former Soviet Union rated a 7 on the scale, which equates to a "major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects requiring implementation of planned and extended countermeasures."

Japan's government called for evacuations Monday from several towns beyond the danger zone already declared around Fukushima Daiichi, warning that residents could receive high doses of radiation over the coming months.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the municipalities are likely to see long-term radiation levels that exceed international safety standards, and he warned that the month-old crisis at Fukushima Daiichi is not yet over.

"Things are relatively more stable, and things are stabilizing," he said. "However, we need to be ready for the possibility that things may turn for the worse."

And about an hour after he spoke, a fresh earthquake rattled the country, forcing workers to evacuate the plant and knocking out power to the three damaged reactors for about 40 minutes, the plant's owner, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, reported. The magnitude 6.6 tremor came a month to the day after the magnitude 9 quake and tsunami that knocked out the plant's cooling systems, and followed a magnitude 7.1 aftershock Thursday night.

Neither the 6.6 quake nor any of the smaller ones that rippled across the region in its wake inflicted any more damage to the plant, Tokyo Electric officials told reporters.

Tuesday morning, a fire broke out in a battery storage building in a water discharge area of reactors 1-4 at Fukushima Daiichi, Tokyo Electric said. The fire was out a few hours later and the company said it caused no radiation emissions and no effect on cooling systems.

Japan's government said it did not know how many people would be displaced by the new evacuation orders. Evacuation orders have so far covered about 85,000 people inside the 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) zone, while another 62,000 within 30 kilometers have been told to stay inside, Fukushima prefecture officials told CNN.

The decision announced Monday does not create a wider radius around the plant, said Masanori Shinano, an official with Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission.

Instead, "if there are areas in the northwestern parts where there is a risk of exceeding 20 millisieverts as a cumulative dose over a one-year period, the area will be designated an evacuation area even if it is beyond the 30-kilometer area," Shinano told reporters Monday night.

That dose is a tiny fraction of what would cause immediate radiation sickness, but it's more than seven times the amount a typical resident of a western industrialized country receives from background sources in a year. Long-term exposures to those levels of radiation could increase the risk of cancer -- and the presence of cesium isotopes that have half-lives of up to 30 years means that radioactivity could linger for some time.

"This policy does not require immediate evacuation right away, but we take the long-term perspective, considering the long-term effect of radiation on your health," Edano told reporters.

Japanese authorities attributed growing concentrations of cesium-134, with a two-year half-life, and cesium-137, which loses half its radioactivity over 30 years, to the decay of larger concentrations of iodine-131, which has a half-life of eight days.

Edano said residents of five towns and cities to the north and west of the plant -- Katsurao, Kawamata, Namie, Iitate and parts of Minami Soma -- should evacuate within a month if they have not already done so. Parts of Namie and Minami Soma are already within the 20-kilometer evacuation radius drawn in the first days of the accident, while Iitate, Kawamata and Katsurao are beyond the 30-kilometer range.

Residents of five other areas -- in Hirono, Kawauchi, Naraha and parts of Tamura to the south, and the rest of Minami Soma -- were told they should be prepared to clear out soon. Hirono and Kawauchi lie in the outer belt of the current zone, while Naraha and Tamura are beyond the current 30-kilometer radius.

The anti-nuclear group Greenpeace, which had warned about higher radiation levels in towns outside the evacuation zone two weeks ago, called Edano's declaration a good step, but said evacuations should take place sooner than the one-month goal Japan has set. Jan van de Putte, a Greenpeace radiation safety expert who took readings in Iitate and Namie, said the levels of radioactivity are likely to remain dangerous "for years to come."

"The bad news is what we're seeing today is going to decay very, very gradually," van de Putte told CNN.

After a month of improvisation and frustration, Tokyo Electric says it has no idea when it will be able to restore normal cooling for the reactors and spent fuel pools at Fukushima Daiichi, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Tokyo. Tokyo Electric President Masataka Shimizu visited the off-site headquarters for authorities attempting to manage the disaster Monday and met with local officials from Fukushima Prefecture, emerging to issue another apology for the situation.

"I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart to the people of Fukushima and residents of the host towns of the Fukushima power plant for forcing them to go through enormous difficulties due to the accident that occurred in the wake of the quake and tsunami," he said in a prepared statement released through the company.

Shimizu -- who was hospitalized for "fatigue and stress" in late March -- also expressed regret that he didn't apologize to Fukushima Prefecture residents before Monday. The province's governor skipped the meeting, however.

Engineers are working to drain highly radioactive water from the basements of the turbine plants behind reactors No. 1 through 3 even as they pour hundreds of metric tons of water a day into the reactors to keep them cool. The water must be pumped out in order to get to the machinery that runs the coolant systems, and Tokyo Electric has dumped more than 10,000 tons of less-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean in the past week to make room for the stuff -- a move that drew sharp criticism of the Japanese government, which approved the discharge as an emergency measure.

Other contamination is leaking into the Pacific behind the plant, most likely carried along by groundwater, Japanese regulators have said.

At the plant Monday, workers began installing sections of silt fence around the water intakes at the back of the plant to screen out radioactive particles. But the injection of nitrogen into the containment vessel around reactor No. 1 to counter a buildup of explosive hydrogen was stopped for the recent earthquake, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, the chief spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

In addition, Nishiyama said engineers have found gas escaping from the reactor containment vessel. But he said the nitrogen injections will resume, and the leaks were not affecting the stability of the reactor.

Hydrogen buildup is a symptom of overheated fuel rods in the reactor core. Spectacular hydrogen explosions blew the roofs and walls off the buildings surrounding the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors in the days after the tsunami, and another suspected hydrogen blast may have caused a leak in the No. 2 reactor. Tokyo Electric has said there is little danger of another explosion, but has begun pumping nitrogen into unit No. 1 as a precaution and plans to do the same for units 2 and 3.

[Homo Sapiens' Sapience]

A little bit of science regarding the fuel rods in the Fukushima reactor.

[Señor Hoff]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEf51ax5vWI&feature=player_embedded

Edited April 14, 2011 by Señor Hoff

[Señor Hoff]

The truth about Fukishima

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMXvpWoHzeE&feature=player_embedded#at=569

[Wetcoaster]

Problems are continuing at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plat - Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is considering building underground walls around damaged Fukushima reactors to try to control the leaking of radiated groundwater.

Also the plan to place a waterproof CCTV camera in the fuel rod pools is on hold due the water temperature.

The operator of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant is considering installing underground walls around its crippled reactors to prevent radioactive water seeping out, a broadcaster said Saturday.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is studying the measure to contain contaminated water leaking from the plant’s reactors which were damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, TV Asahi said citing unnamed sources.

Workers would have to dig to a depth of 15 metres (50 feet) to reach an impervious layer to build the walls on, it said.

TEPCO has dumped a massive amount of water into reactor containers and overheating pools containing spent nuclear fuel rods, after the magnitude 9.0 quake triggered monster waves which knocked out the plant’s cooling systems.

Workers battling to stabilise the battered nuclear facility later found highly contaminated water submerging turbine buildings and underground tunnels, with some running off from a cracked concrete pit into the Pacific Ocean.

They sealed the crack but have faced a challenge in trying to ensure no underground water seeps out of the plant.

The report came a day after former construction minister Sumio Mabuchi, who is now one of Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s advisors, suggested the plan.

A TEPCO spokesman stopped short of confirming the project would go ahead.

"The company considers many possible measures to to do, and it may be one of them," said a company spokesman.

Workers dousing the reactors and fuel rod pools have tried to control the amount of water they use, to limit the quantity of contaminated water produced by the cooling process.

But the temperature at reactor four’s fuel pool had risen to 91 degrees Celsius (196 degrees Fahrenheit), forcing workers to add more water to prevent the rods from being exposed and releasing radiation, TEPCO said Saturday.

"The company is considering sending a waterproof CCD camera into the pool, but the temperature is now at 91 degrees C, which is too high," the spokesman said. "But we also need to carefully watch how much water to inject."

The camera would be used to check on the condition of the fuel rods and see if any had melted.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/TEPCO+considers+building+walls+around+damaged+Fukushima+reactors/4665324/story.html#ixzz1KO7wDy9K

[Electro Rock]

WTF is going on over there? I mean considering the gravity of the situation, why aren't we seeing far more resources being thrown at the reactors beyond that of an incompetent corporation?

Is is a "face" thing? Is it symbolic of Japanese decline? Why isn't there more being done?