Japan declares 'nuclear emergency' after quake - PART 2

a reply to: ScientificRailgun

Not true SR. (Can I call you SR. I like to shorten everything whenever possible). A meltdown will always be catastrophic. And spent fuel will always be a potential life threatening experience unless we were to find a way to safely store it which is probably impossible.

The key is changing the way we do things and all the answers we need are already available to us. The problem is that he PTB doesnt want to change anything as it would disrupt economic growth.

But the future is demanding change and more and hopefully we will one day have a sane safe society.

fukushima-diary.com...

Dont know if this has been mentioned, but the above photo from Fuku Diary is down right scary. To think how close we came on all levels of a much greater disaster is mind boggling. The pic above shows the fuel handling machine hanging precariously over the SFP. Had it fallen in, scary thought. And it still hangs there, posing probably as great a threat to western civilization as R4 SFP posed with the building on the verge of collapsing.

Germany is excelling in converting to green energy and weaning itself off nuclear altogether. Between solar, wind, water and Tesla's coil there is NO reason for any nuclear facilities. Economics has nothing to do with any of them - it's just an excuse that people don't question. The entire economy is a farce to begin with and designed to keep us enslaved which as far as I can tell works perfectly.

I wish I had bookmarked/copied a long article I came across a year ago - I've looked for it again 3 times unsuccessfully. It was written by a retired Japanese nuclear engineer who clearly explained in great detail how nuclear facilities can never ever be decommissioned, it's a lie that they can be - they remain radioactive 'forever'. He also spoke how all facilities are built in a sub-standard manner. There is 'nothing' safe about 'any' nuclear facility. The spent fuel rods are a problem for eternity that they haven't figured out how to deal with yet continue to stockpile them.

Why are they building things that destroy the environment when they know - and can do - better? It is not about economics. Solar panels, hydro dams and wind turbines are cheaper than what it costs to build, run and 'fix' broken nuclear facilities. Tesla already had solutions to energy yet we are not allowed to use (or create) it ourselves. I believe they are doing this on purpose for their own reasons and 'know' the short and long term effects.

Most everyone I mention Fukushima to responds the same... "Isn't that over with?" No, not by a long shot is my reply. Yes, is still a whole bunch of crap that can still hit the proverbial fan and a whole bunch of crap still exuding - like all the thousands of bags of radioactive dirt stockpiled around neighborhoods now breaking down after sitting for years exposed to weather... and the slow but sure deterioration of what's left standing/leaning at Fukushima... and the long term effects of the 24/7/365 toxic water spewing into the ocean... 'what a mess' is the understatement of the century.

From my way of seeing this, "if" they really wanted to fix this they would have asked for and welcomed global help from day one. Alternatively, if the world governments wanted to fix this they would have forced help on Japan even if they didn't want it. Since no one is doing anything they must all silently be agreeing to just let it go. I'm way too cynical to think otherwise, lol.

a reply to: zworld

Why am I up so early? Ugh. I hate midnight shifts. Really messes with your circadian rhythm. Least I have tonight off.

You can me Railgun if you like, or RG if you REALLY wanna shorten it.

I agree we need a major paradigm shift in our way of thinking, the answer ARE there, but they're not easy. And that's the problem. If it's not easy, it's not implemented. Japan has a problem of space issues as well so rolling solar farms or wind power isn't really an option unless the government just concedes and agrees to keep importing power or clouding our skies with hundreds of coal plants. NG could be a solution, but Japan would need to import the NG and again cost goes up.

I'm sure there are easier solutions for countries with larger landmasses, and I really hope to see a lot of solutions put in place so we can begin the arduous task of decommissioning these death factories. Maybe Low Energy Fusion will revolutionize the nuclear power industry, who knows? For now, I just use my lights sparringly, dry my clothes on the balcony or in my room (don't want those unmentionables hanging out for all the pervs to see), open windows rather than use air conditioning, and hope for a long term solution that keeps my pocket book full enough that I can at least eat well and live comfortably.

Thanks for all the kind input on the thread, and if you run into anymore Japanese articles I'd be happy to translate them.

Cheers!

a reply to: ScientificRailgun

We could shift the entire world, right now, to a hydrogen based energy system. Probably take five years and show real progress within two years. It would use all of the existing solar, wind and wave tech. Is quite simple but there would be a paradigm shift of ownership which is why the oil giants would never let it happen.


As for Fuki, the simple truth as I have said before is that there is no solution.

Other countries are keeping their distance because they do not want to be spattered when the SHTF.

If (or when) the masses understand this, Nuclear energy will die. People will demand it. The industry wants to put this off for as long as possible. Watch for share trading to figure out when.

P

Here is an excerpt from my book. This deals with why we are still in the state we are in even after all these years of disasters related to the energy industry. It doesnt pertain to just nuke power, but fossil fuels as well. The acronym WeSIC stands for the Wall Street Industrial Complex (the military industrial complex on steroids).



The grid and all the power plant monsters that feed it is an aging rotten mess. Pipelines bursting on a regular basis. Methane leaking from every gas line. Massive amounts of electricity wasted as it is shipped down long distance transmission lines that cut through once primitive, as well as populated, areas. Aging power generators that are belching and spewing forth toxic emissions en masse. The potential for mass destruction from oil spills or exploding gas pipelines or nuclear holocausts like Fukushima are very real, and possible at any time. These are the WMDs that we need to fear.
They have been saying for years that they are going to build a better grid system, new piping, new transmission lines, clean coal plants, safe nuclear power plants, yadayadayada. It will never happen, could never happen, let alone in time to solve the current crisis we face. They would have to invest every cent in the world's banks to even come close, and they can't forgo huge Christmas bonuses, let alone reinvest everything they have in a safe energy production and transportation system.
If the grid continues much longer, and if government and industry plans to convert fully to natural gas are realized, we are doomed. We can't let this happen. The conversion to true renewables, mass conservation and distributed microgrid power systems that don't rely on the main grid must happen, and happen fast if there is to be hope for this planet.
By true renewables I mean locally based renewables, not massive solar arrays and wind farms covering hundreds of acres, and huge hydroelectric dams, all of which produce their own negative environmental impacts.
Instead we need solar arrays on every home, small wind turbines that are wildlife friendly, methane digesters on farms and ranches, water watts and local hydro power generators using side flow piping instead of massive dams for water pressure, home storage in 12 volt systems, passive solar or energy efficient housing built from local stone and/or truly renewable resources, electric cars that tap into the home storage system at night. These are just some of the renewable tools of the future. The Back to the Land movement showed how we can have most creature comforts and still be off the grid and that lifestyle must be expanded upon worldwide.
In some places one location might produce enough energy for five, ten, a hundred homes. By having a local microgrid that fed from these locations to the surrounding homes and infrastructure we will have created a true distributed power system, one that operates independent of the grid, or connected to the grid for emergency backup only.
The other cure is simply conservation. By changing how we live and practicing intense conservation (ie avoiding flying and taking long distance vacations, turning down the thermostat, eating less meat and dairy, converting to a hemp based society instead of a fossil fuel one, stopping the military's massive carbon footprint, building homes that stay warm in the winter with little heating and cool in the summer with little air-conditioning, turning off un-needed lighting in cities and along hiways and in general eliminating any form of energy use that is not entirely necessary), we can reduce the amount of energy needed worldwide by a big margin.
Some of these things can be done by individuals with no input from their government and this is critically important because governments are by and large industrial pawns with no hope for redemption.
Just converting to hemp for clothing would save massive amounts of energy bypassing the current paradigm of using pesticide laden and water intensive cotton, or synthetic fibers and chemicals derived from fossil fuels. The US cotton crop requires the application of 22 billion pounds of toxic weed killers annually. Then the fiber is dyed or bleached and treated in toxic chemical baths to make it brighter, softer, fade resistant, stain resistant, water proof, fireproof or less prone to wrinkles. These toxic baths consume immense quantities of chemicals and water, which is then dumped into the environment. Then after all the chemical treatments, the fabrics have to be dried under heat lamps using enormous quantities of energy. The textile industry is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, consuming astounding quantities of resources, including more than 145 million tons of coal and between 1.5 and 2 trillion gallons of fresh water, every year. Synthetic fibers like polyester (now 60 percent of the market) are the worst: They consume between 10 and 25 times as much energy to produce as natural fibers.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Using hemp for paper and marijuana and other natural substances for medicines would have similar carbon reduction effects in those sectors as well, while investing in research for electric cars could eventually produce perpetual motion machines.
The only thing stopping all of above and much more from happening on a grand scale is once again WeSIC, who demand eternal economic expansion while bludgeoning anyone or anything that slows down monetary inflow. Our governments have been hijacked by them, our military and police forces are now ready to defend their monetary interests with brute force, and the needs of the populace and the planet have been thrown to the wind.

a reply to: zworld

Greetings:
MOST EXCELLENT!
Put me on the list for a signed first edition.

Yippi-Skippy!

One more down - and this is a 'sister' plant to Fukushima, a BWR from General Electric…
only 22 more of the BWRs to go here stateside.


Activists Permanently Shut Down Vermont Yankee Nuke Plant Today
29 December 2014
The Vermont Yankee atomic reactor goes permanently off-line today, Dec. 29, 2014.

Citizen activists have made it happen. The number of licensed U.S. commercial reactors is now under 100 where once it was to be 1,000.

Decades of hard grassroots campaigning by dedicated, non-violent nuclear opponents, working for a Solartopian green-powered economy, forced this reactor’s corporate owner to bring it down.

a reply to: zworld

I'm with the 4 winds Z, where do we sign up for autographed copies?

Radiation from Fukushima turning up in North American waters

www.cbsnews.com...

Plumes of radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant have been detected off the coast of Canada.

There have long been concerns that water laced with the radioactive materials cesium-137 and cesium-134 from the plant would make the 5,000 mile trip across the Pacific Ocean. Radiation in the atmosphere reached the West Coast within days of the Fukushima incident, and though it has taken much longer for it to make its way here by sea, a study out Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences confirmed that it has arrived.

More at the link...

TEPCO Diluted the Suppressant...

Sigh...they diluted the mixture with 100 parts per water instead of only 10 parts...

According to TEPCO officials, when workers were removing rubble from the No. 4 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, the dust suppressant was sprayed on the day before work and right before the removal of the rubble. The suppressant was either undiluted or diluted in 10 parts water.

However, from August 2012, when rubble removal began at the No. 3 reactor, the suppressant was diluted in 100 parts water, and it was used only once every several days or even once every several weeks, the officials said.

ajw.asahi.com...

Great job Z!

- Purple Chive

originally posted by: Purplechive
TEPCO Diluted the Suppressant...

Sigh...they diluted the mixture with 100 parts per water instead of only 10 parts...

According to TEPCO officials, when workers were removing rubble from the No. 4 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, the dust suppressant was sprayed on the day before work and right before the removal of the rubble. The suppressant was either undiluted or diluted in 10 parts water.

However, from August 2012, when rubble removal began at the No. 3 reactor, the suppressant was diluted in 100 parts water, and it was used only once every several days or even once every several weeks, the officials said.

ajw.asahi.com...

Great job Z!

- Purple Chive

Fantastic, there's global disaster at a nuclear power plant and they decide to pinch pennies by diluting the suppressant.

Words cannot accurately convey how hard I am facepalmming right now.

originally posted by: matadoor
a reply to: zworld

I'm with the 4 winds Z, where do we sign up for autographed copies?

Thanks youze guys. You got it. Should be done in a few weeks. I hope.

And to add insult to injury, the Japanese government thinks maybe they should have an evacuation plan for returning Fukushima residents.

ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME!!!

A nuclear plant that has already melted down, with the potential for even worse consequences, doesn't already have an evacuation plan in place for people forced to live nearby again. WTF! (and yes I believe they are being forced as the government is refusing to help them financially and they are forced to return to that which they own).

I am having trouble even reading this article. They are telling people to return to an area already radioactive, with 3 SFPs hanging by a thread and three cores eating their way through the earth and into the water table, and they think they might need an evacuation plan. No kidding, really, ya think.

www3.nhk.or.jp...

Nuclear Regulator Panel Discusses Evacuation

A panel of experts at Japan's nuclear regulator has discussed evacuation plans for people around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, in the event of another accident that could disperse radioactive materials.

Oh my god. Things just get stranger and stranger. The following is from this article;

ajw.asahi.com...

“The head of Japan's nuclear watchdog said contaminated water stored at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant should be released into the ocean to ensure safe decommissioning of the reactors.”

I can't stand it. How does this kind of insanity find such a strong voice without a revolution ensuing. And what is meant by “safe decommissioning of the reactors.” Poisioning the ocean and sending it to the west coast is the safe thing to do???

I can hear the queen screaming “OFF WITH THEIR HEADS”.

a reply to: zworld

Yes, it is indeed incredulous they should talk about an 'evacuation plan' in case residents need to evacuate - again. And it is obscene they talk about dumping any radioactive water into the ocean as if its actually going to 'help' decommission it. The list is very, very long of things that have been done wrong before, during and after the meltdown(s) and the vast majority of the world is fast asleep and oblivious to it all...

The ENTIRE situation lacks even the most basic common sense, yet these are very well paid 'experts' making all these ridiculous decisions and snowing us with their glowing (pardon the punn) reports. One would 'think' an evacuation plan in case of emergency would be in place in every city regardless... but it isn't. How difficult is it to do? A few days of thinking and planning and another few writing pamphlets? No one in any seat of power seems to play out all the "what if" situations and actually do things that make sense - and what's even worse is the people let it slide... and slide. And those who want to make a difference - if they actually get anywhere - end up discredited, disgraced, or suicided....

TPTB are (I believe) more insidious that most people can even wrap their heads around... we have problems fathoming it because we are not psychopaths without a conscious and don't care about life....

Despite all the apparent hopelessness, I still also believe it is worth talking our truths as much as we can to anyone open enough to hear it, otherwise they win without any resistance....

ps - Wishing everyone, everywhere the very best in the new year... and here's hoping we make it to the next one too ! Thanks everyone for their continued contribution and brilliant minds!

a reply to: zworld

Please count me in also...sorry that I had to leave
the thread towards the end of our first one...I was
dealing with health issues.
I am so glad you returned & that many others are still here.
Not sure Air Cooled is here or Silverlock as they were very
helpful in our understanding as to what was going on...

My great remembrance of you was all your hard work from
the beginning & the underground nuclear ammo plant?
Plus you were already working on your book then...
I am looking forward to your book & catching up here...

Cheers
Ektar

It just seems at this point with years now past that NO ONE
bloody cares any more. It is so sad but I do not rally see any
reports unless they come from here...
Who watches "here" only us on ATS. It is so hard to watch
people be so blind & not even care or worry about what
is REALLY going on & how it effects all life...so sad.

Happy New Years & I hope things improve for us ALL!

Cheers
Ektar

a reply to: wishes

One would 'think' an evacuation plan in case of emergency would be in place in every city regardless... but it isn't.

That is how we would think.

But THEY are not US.

It goes like this...

If a disaster is coming and you save 10 million people by moving them, you end up with a great many problems. How to house them, provide sanitation, provide drinking water, food, medical ...........

On the other hand, if the city and the people get wiped out ...... well, attend the memorial ceremonies, act sad and your done!

It is a numbers game to them. Consider how they would think if the San Andreas fault line was going to go off and drop 300 miles of coastline into the ocean. Do you just let it happen and say, Oh dear!

P