You are in Mothership 11 coverage of the Japan Nuclear Disaster. Please Rec this diary, and this diary, only. Unrec previous diaries in the series. In general, try to use the ROV's for discussion and commentary. This diary will serve as a reference and anchor point.
We are currently in ROV 26: Japan Nuclear Disaster by Drewid. All Previous ROVs are now stored on the Japan Nuclear Disaster group page.
**BREAKING NEWS***
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Raised to Level 6: Government increasing evacuation zone parameters
Radiation from Fukushima exceeds Three Mile Island (AJW by the Asahhi Shimbun reported in English on the newspaper's Facebook page) h/t Drama Queen Asahi.com link to the same story
Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, crippled by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, has discharged more radiation than the infamous Three Mile Island nuclear plant in the United States, according to calculations by the central government.
...It has already reached a level 6 serious accident on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES).
Separately, calculations made by experts place the level of soil contamination in some locations at levels comparable to those found after the Chernobyl accident in 1986.
(snip)
Meanwhile, calculations of soil contamination by experts have already produced results that are at the same level as for Chernobyl.
Cesium-137 levels of 163,000 becquerels per kilogram of soil was detected in Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, about 40 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima plant, on March 20. That was the highest figure in the prefecture.
According to Tetsuji Imanaka, an associate professor of nuclear engineering at the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute, if the Iitate figure was converted to one square meter, the figure would be 3.26 million becquerels.
After the Chernobyl accident, residents who lived in regions with cesium levels of 550,000 becquerels ore more per square meter were forcibly moved elsewhere.
"Iitate has reached a contamination level in which evacuation is necessary," Imanaka said. "Radiation is still being released from the Fukushima plant. The areas of high contamination can be considered to be on par with Chernobyl."
We are currently in ROV 25: Japan Nuclear Disaster by Drewid. All Previous ROVs are now stored on the Japan Nuclear Disaster group page.
In other breaking news, the government is encouraging individuals to voluntarily extend the evacuation zone and move 20-30 km from the power plant. Towns some 40 km have already been vacated as citizens fear the government is not properly informing them of the potential dangers from nuclear fallout.
From NHK: Serious concerns about crack in #3 responsible for such high levels of radiation. TEPCO officials suggesting the quake may have caused dislocation of some pipes and other equipment, and that water from the reactor or other places may be leaking out and flowing into the turbine building rather than being contained entirely in the reactor. TEPCO officials indicate that when the power plant is operating under normal conditions, water within reactor is not so contaminated because the rods are covered. Such high levels of radioactivity mean the casing may have been damaged as well, and that the fuel rods in #3 may be damaged and melted partially.
It was the injuries to three workers yesterday who suffered severe beta radiation burns on their feet from walking in highly contaminated water while working in the turbine building for reactor #3 which led officials to recognize the reactor was leaking highly radioactive water.
Combined Sources:
IAEA Briefing
All Things Nuclear
NHK World
Asahi
UCS Daily Briefing
Join us for discussion and further updates in the current ROV linked above.
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Regularly Updated Data Sources
• Japanese Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) reports, which record such key factors as conditions of core and fuel integrity, water level and containment. The Guardian DataBlog is updating analysis and publishing highly contextualized charting and graphs.
• RSOS Emergency & Disaster information Services - Japan
• Daily Telephone Media Briefings from Union of Concerned Scientists
• Energy.gov: The Situation in Japan (Updated 03/22/11)
• EPA RadNet Map View & EPA's Radiation Air Monitoring
Timeline
• NPR TIMELINE: A Nuclear Crisis Unfolds In Japan
timeline through 23 March
• Nuclear Reactor Crisis in Japan FAQs
Latest Stats & general info as of evening Saturday AM AM 26 March. Japan. (combined sources)
- 10,102 deaths and 17,053 missing.
- 240,000 people were still sheltering in about 1,900 evacuation centers
- Direct damage from the disaster, including destroyed homes and roads, is estimated at between 16 trillion to 25 trillion yen
- U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Friday held a teleconference with senior members of U.N. agencies to respond to the ongoing crisis at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
- 17 workers have suffered radiation of more than 100 millisieverts, the maximum level to which nuclear plant workers may be exposed per year.
Coverage @ KOS:
- A database of temperature, pressure, radiation levels, etc readings over time can be found in: The Daiichi Database This is an evolving diary that will be updated regularly.
- h/t Siri and middleagedhousewife
- Due to extensive coverage, the Japan Nuclear Incident Liveblogs team is now saving all ALL Coverage @ KOS to the group page. You can save any relevant diaries to the group's queue.
- Today's coverage:
jamess: Reactor Three -- Nobody could have foreseen ... the Dangers+
rb137: Breaking: Officials fear radiation leaking from core
DemFromCt:Japan's nuclear reactor crisis looking more extensive and slower to resolve
Donation Suggestions
• Plubius also has a diary on aid groups needing donations.
• CS Monitor has a great list
• JapanVolunteers- - donations, materials, volunteer opportunities and needs, fundraisers, resource sharing
• Japan RedCrossasks individuals to direct funds to a bank account.
• ShelterBox on the Ground in Japan(h/t texmex)
IN TRANSLATION: From Japan
• Japan Earthquake 2011 Global Voices Online provides outstanding ongoing translations of articles and information from Japan, including:
• Map of Quake Centers
• Shelter locations
Media Coverage
Japan Tsunami – Live Streaming/AutoUpdates
Asahi on Facebook
Tepco's webcam operating again
Kyodo Nuclear News Feed
The Guardian
NHK Japan Live:NHK Japan Live
AJ LiveBlog
Reuters
Fukushima Wikispaces
Twitter – Real Time Updates:
Global Voices Online Japan Twitter List
Japan Reuters
IAEA
Japan's PM
GP Japan
Twitter #earthquake
Twitter #japan:
Facebook
Crisis Mapping
Google Fukushima GeoEye
Google Crisis Response Maps(Layers available)
Ushahidi Local Reports Color Coded for Trusted Sources (Japanese/English)
Satellite Imagery
Media Monitoring Japan's Humanity Road
Rules of the Road
Please be kind to kossacks with bandwidth issues. Please do not post images or videos. Again, many thanks for this.
Both the Mothership and the ROVs are for reporting and discussing the developing news. Neither space is for opinions or editorializing on the subject of nuclear energy.
Remember when posting to the thread: STICK TO THE FACTS. Source and link all new information. (This includes insuring authenticity of twitter sources.)
Please post news items to the ROV.