ABC Radio correspondent, Alex Stone, told the KGO Radio Morning News on Wednesday that he plans on trying to move south of Tokyo. Asked by Ed Baxter if he was beginning to worry about his own safety, Stone said, yes, he was concerned. (Hell, I'd be, wouldn't you?)
Events at the scene and close by get more dire and disturbing, reporters, many of them American and foreign correspondents, are beginning to think about splitting...assuming of course, they can find a way out of Japan.
Conditions are difficult. The threat of a nuclear meltdown makes even the most hardened reporter feel overwhelmed. You can imagine how the natives feel.
LOCAL NOTE: Both KTVU and KNTV, (NBC BA) are pulling their reporters from Japan.
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For those who believe in God, let's pray for the The Fukushima 50... 50 men who are selflessly working inside the plants, trying to stop this mess.
ReplyDeleteLet's also not let hysteria overwhelm us via frightening words like "meltdown".
Deaths from the earthquake - 5,000+ ?
Deaths from the tsunami - 10,000 - 50,000 ? (Wild guesstimate.)
Deaths from the nuclear reactors emergency - 0?
Mark, WC
P.S. Glenn Beck last night told a story of a heroic fireman who rushed IN TO Chernobyl when all hell was breaking loose with a horribly built, Soviet-style (think Yugo) nuclear power plant. After a few minutes, he was throwing up from the radiation as he applied water to the internal fires in the middle of the power plant. He stayed there for 1 hour, throwing up, fighting the fires, until he was unable to work from the radiation.
He's still alive.
Where does this disaster rank? (Sorry, Bubba /Christine, this is not far worse than Chernobyl.
ReplyDeleteFrom Alan Boyle on MSNBC Internet posting: "Experts on nuclear power say that the seriousness of the Fukushima Dai-ichi currently rates somewhere between Pennsylvania's 1979 Three Mile Island incident, in which the reactor's core melted down halfway but was kept contained within the facility; and the 1986 Chernobyl incident in Ukraine, in which a raging, uncontained fire spread radioactive contamination throughout Europe."
yes...Mark..you and Glenn go pray together.
ReplyDeleteAnd Glenn added, his name was Bruce (Ivan) Banner!
ReplyDeleteLook,the Japanese goverment is hiding facts as that reactor ( all 4) is closing in on a meltdown. I saw the CNN weather say that the jet stream is, incredibly, going to shift winds from the plant to over Tokyo this weekend. There is a possibilty Tokyo would be evacuated and if that wouldn't be one of the greatest feats and news stories ever-then,I dont life.
Those Japanese farm lands look an awful lot like the Salinas Valley & Oxnard Plains don't they? Kind of puts it in perspective. The Tsunami is the real story here.
ReplyDeleteDon't confuse people with the facts Mark. It's more believable from the NRC website:
"In general, the higher the radiation dose, the sooner the effects will appear, and the higher the probability of death. (The time between radiation exposure and cancer occurrence, for example, is known as the "latent period.") This syndrome was observed in many atomic bomb survivors in 1945, as well as emergency workers who responded to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in 1986. Approximately 134 plant workers and firefighters battling the fire at the Chernobyl power plant received high radiation doses of 70,000 to 1,340,000 mrem (700 to 13,400 mSv) and suffered acute radiation sickness. Of those 134, 28 died from the radiation injuries that they sustained."
Wonder what kind of a dose Alex is experiencing? Lets all stampede to the drug store for potassium iodide tablets, that way the people who really need it can't get it.
Funny 'Mr. Media'...I think earlier you were criticizing the local TV stations for having somebody there (George and Jana). Now it seems YOU are scared for their safety.
ReplyDeleteBubba / Christine,
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't surprise me in the least that you're an atheist. Is that one of the reason's you folks are so perpetually dour?
Anon 10:07 AM - thanks for the quote, and FACTS.
It's amazing how many people think they are nuclear power disaster experts now. I've heard Bill Wattenberg evolve from downplaying this situation as no big deal to it's a pretty big deal but let's deal with the facts as they come out and not speculate too much. On the other hand, I listened to a scaremonger expert on Pat Thurston's (i.e., Gene Burns') show Tuesday night who made it sound like the whole world was on the verge of glowing in the dark. He dwelled on the 50 workers and all but declared them dead men walking. If that proves true, it will be a great tragedy; but it's irresponsible to say that when you're not in a position to really know.
ReplyDeleteReportedly good (or great) news on The Chronicle website.
ReplyDelete1) A new power line is close to completion
2) There is also progress on repairing the existing power line.
Funny quote: "...the chief of the U.N. nuclear agency said he would go to Japan to assess what he called a 'serious' situation and urged Tokyo to provide better information to his organization."
Where has he been for 5 days? As wesay in Cal-ee-for-neee-a, No Cahones?
Mark, WC
do the math...Chernobyl one reactor ..and yes I know about the graphite...Fukushima 6 reactors..and multiple open spent fuel pools draining....CNN now reporting that this...SO FAR...ranks above TMI..just below the fully actualized effects of Chernobyl..and the japanese gov't has only revealed some 70% exposed fuel rods..This is absolutely, undeniably potentially many more times worse than Chernobyl...I am not an atheist...I am a Roman Catholic existentialist.. and yes the fact that there was a big earthquake and a big tsunami and that tens of thousands will likely be the final death count...none of that should obscure the meltdowns that are now occuring and their effect on Japan and the rest of the world..
ReplyDeleteyou can't buy potassium iodide in stores..it's all sold out.the govt only has a few mill doses..several states..including california want more..the surgeon general of the united states...a physician.. says the boy scout motto is smart. That won't help you with the cesium, uranium, strontium 90 and other isotopes in a meltdown plume...it can help fill your thyroid with good iodine..so that it can't take up the iodine 131. must be taken before exposure..I'll betcha Glenn Beck is on his prayer rug with a bag of potassium iodide and other powdery substances.
ReplyDeleteChristine/ Bubba,
ReplyDeleteWebMD: "...Fallout from Chernobyl fell heavily on Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, and Bulgaria...."
"A meltdown in Japan would be devastating to the local environment. Should there be a release of radiation, and should winds blow in the wrong direction, residents of Japan would be affected to some degree. But the effects almost certainly will not go far beyond the borders of Japan."
"...No radiation from the Japan disaster is expected to hit the U.S., say experts from the Oregon State University department of radiation health physics.
"Any radioactive contaminants released will end up raining out of the atmosphere into the Pacific Ocean, where they will be diluted and absorbed, or in the very near vicinity of the plants," Kathryn Higley, PhD, says in a news release. *** "This is not Chernobyl." ***
Christine, your PhD isn't showing.
Mark, WC
P.S. Iodine chiefly helps children; it also can have negative affects (risks).
"WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chief of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that all the water is gone from one of the spent fuel pools at Japan's most troubled nuclear plant, but Japanese officials denied it.
ReplyDeleteIf NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko is correct, this would mean there's nothing to stop the fuel rods from getting hotter and ultimately melting down. The outer shell of the rods could also ignite with enough force to propel the radioactive fuel inside over a wide area."
Lovely.
but Mark will hold his breath and pray..He believes as he states above that NO radiation from these meltdowns will reach the US. I gave a lot of information about potassium iodide last sunday morning on the radio. There are dosing issues based on age, physical condition, weight..etc. In an emergency...such as any evacuation in TOkyo..those who,unlike Mark..would prefer not to risk thyroid cancer..should consider beginning a course of potassium iodide..There are numerous sites that list the risks/benefits/protocols for same. Remember the thyroid takes up iodine in many forms ...only so much iodine..potassium iodide is the good witch...iodine 131..the very dangerous isotope from nuke plant meltdowns)..the head of the NRC must just be making the stuff up about the totally exposed spent fuel rods..he's just trying to upset Mark.
ReplyDeleteI think it's instructive to read materials on the NRC website about radiation.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/radiation.html
Reinforces and goes further than Dr Bill. Very informative in terms of understanding the types of radiation, the units of measurement and the doses people are being exposed to. Most of the doses we are hearing about are in *micro* Sieverts. I watched several Japanese scientist's and Dr's from the Hiroshima area translated on Japanese TV explaining the same thing Bill has been saying. The doses are nothing to get excited about so far. That being said I'd like a more thorough explanation of the MOX issue in Reactor 3.
Bubba you are skeptical of mammograms (hope I never need a CT scan), & flu vaccines, why would you recommend beginning potassium iodide? Dr Dean was on with Ronn this morning. He had some good comments as well. Heard Burton Richter on KGO evening news. Another big proponent of nuclear power, Nobel Prize winner from Stanford. A great asset to anyone that can snag him. Hope you saw the heart warming aw shucks dog story. Our animals pals have not been forgotten!
(Rich - thanks for this blog!)
Ha! Someone listens to Glen Beck. From Walnut Creek too. Oh man!
ReplyDeleteI like how the pro-nuke crowd has changed its tune from "Everything is going to be all right" to "It's really not that bad" and "It could never happen here"
ReplyDeleteIf I hear one more pr person say..'it's no more than a few dental xrays" all chirpy and pr-ish ...
ReplyDeleteSee NYT for details of jet stream path through SF and Sacramento by friday.
And yes there is a reason why dentists line their rooms with lead and put a lead apron on you.ionizing radiation exposure is CUMULATIVE.
Bubba / Christine:
ReplyDeleteI watched multiple news programmes last evening, and not a single person compared this to "dental xrays".
This is not the time for misinformation.
Mark, WC
this is not the time for pr bs.
ReplyDelete