3rd Reactor In Crisis, U.S. 7th Fleet Pulled

March 14th, 2011 2:45am CST
UPDATE 3/14/11 7:10am CST Please CLICK HERE to find information to donate to Japanese relief efforts.

Both AP and The Washington Post are reporting that a third reactor has lost cooling and they again will be attempting to inject seawater as a stabilizer:

"The operator of a quake-stricken nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan says a third reactor has lost its cooling capacity, which could lead to overheating and an explosion similar to two blasts at its other reactors.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. official Takako Kitajima said Monday that plant workers were preparing to inject seawater into the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant's Unit 2 to cool down its reactor following the loss of its cooling system.

Kitajima said officials are also set to take other steps, including a release of pressure through ventilation if the reactor overheats."

In other related news, MSNBC reports via AP that the U.S. 7th Fleet has been moved further offshore from the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex after the detection of low level radiation:

"The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was about 100 miles (160 kilometers) offshore when its instruments detected the radiation. But the fleet says the dose of radiation was about the same as one month's normal exposure to natural background radiation in the environment."

Some Very Smart People Say We Should Not Worry

March 14th, 2011 12:52am CST
UPDATE 3/14/11 7:10am CST Please CLICK HERE to find information to donate to Japanese relief efforts.

Only time will tell...

As we watch the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan and deal with conflicting information and patent errors, as well as one outright hoax, some very learned scientists have written and spoken out against rampant alarmism.

We hope and pray that they are correct. Most prominent, is this piece from Business Insider by MIT research scientist Dr. Josef Oehman which has gone viral:

"I have been reading every news release on the incident since the earthquake. There has not been one single report that was accurate and free of errors (and part of that problem is also a weakness in the Japanese crisis communication). By “not free of errors” I do not refer to tendentious anti-nuclear journalism – that is quite normal these days. By “not free of errors” I mean blatant errors regarding physics and natural law, as well as gross misinterpretation of facts, due to an obvious lack of fundamental and basic understanding of the way nuclear reactors are build and operated.  I have read a 3 page report on CNN where every single paragraph contained an error.

We will have to cover some fundamentals, before we get into what is going on."

I cannot begin to stress the importance of his scientific critique. The piece is long but highly recommended as it breaks down the actual physics and materials involved in this crisis.

Please also read Professor Barry Brook's work referencing the Oehman essay and adding to the understanding of the particular activity within the type of reactor found in the Fukushima Daichi complex.

The diagram above shows the design used at Fukushima Daiichi

USAToday notes:
"Cynthia McCollough, a medical physicist and professor at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, notes that the International Atomic Energy Agency has rated the danger from the damage in Japan a 4 on a 7-point scale. That's lower than the risks caused by the meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979, which rated a 5, and the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, which rated a 7. Thousands of people did develop thyroid cancer after Chernobyl."

"Preparing For The Worst"

Mar 13th, 2011

UPDATE 3/14/11 7:10am CST Please CLICK HERE to find information to donate to Japanese relief efforts.

Meltdown, Getting To The Truth

March 13th, 2011 5:45pm CST
UPDATE 3/14/11 7:10am CST Please CLICK HERE to find information to donate to Japanese relief efforts.

HAT TIP to Louis who stayed up all night trying to get a response from ARS.
by F. Grey Parker

It's become very difficult to determine what the truth is coming out of Japan. It would seem that in an effort to limit panic, the Japanese government's management of the ongoing nuclear emergency is having the opposite effect.

"I Do Not Believe The Japanese Government."

March 13th, 2011

UPDATE 3/14/11 7:10am CST Please CLICK HERE to find information to donate to Japanese relief efforts.

Russia Today interviewed Harvey Wasserman earlier about the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan:
"I do not believe the Japanese government when they say that no one is at risk... they are saying no one is at risk but simultaneously evacuating people."