3/10/11 Hawaii Tsunami Warning

[JERRY2KONE]

Just picked this up in one of the news reports. They seem to be burying these very important notes deep in old statements as if they are trying to hide them.
Because one of the things that I noticed was how they are starting off in new reports using one or two paragraphs of new news, and then just adding old news over them to make it look like a huge story. Pretty shoty journalism if you ask me.

The discovery of plutonium, released from fuel rods only when temperatures are extremely high, confirms the severity of the damage, Nishiyama said.

When plutonium decays, it emits what is known as an alpha particle, a relatively big particle that carries a lot of energy. When an alpha particle hits body tissue, it can damage the DNA of a cell and lead to a cancer-causing mutation.

Plutonium also breaks down very slowly, so it remains dangerously radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years.

"If you inhale it, it's there and it stays there forever," said Alan Lockwood, a professor of Neurology and Nuclear Medicine at the University at Buffalo and a member of the board of directors of Physicians for Social Responsibility, an advocacy group.

[JERRY2KONE]

Now this will show you just how desperate this situation truly is. Even they are realizing that if this is not brought under some level of control soon that the entire island of Japan will become unlivable.


The mother of one of the atomic "samurai" working to bring Japan's stricken nuclear plant under control has said her son and his colleagues expect to die as a result of their efforts. Meanwhile, there are reports that additional workers are being offered big money to dash into the radiation-drenched heart of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, perform a job, then withdraw.

In a phone interview with Fox News, the tearful mother of a 32-year-old worker said: "My son and his colleagues have discussed it at length and they have committed themselves to die if necessary to save the nation."

"He told me they have accepted they will all probably die from radiation sickness in the short term or cancer in the long term," the woman added.

"They know it is impossible for them not to have been exposed to lethal doses of radiation."

The woman did not give her name, because she said the workers had been asked by management not to speak publicly about their ordeal, in order to minimize panic.

There are also indications that the workers aren't being provided with some crucial safety equipment. Japan's interior minister said that not all of the workers were given lead sheeting to protect themselves from the floor--which may be contaminated by radiation--while sleeping.

"My son has been sleeping on a desk because he is afraid to lie on the floor. But they say high radioactivity is everywhere and I think this will not save him," said the mother.

In another bleak sign, there are reports of additional workers being offered up to $5,000 a day to act as "jumpers"--so called because they "jump" into highly radioactive areas to quickly perform a task before fleeing with minimal exposure. But even at those rates, many candidates are turning the work down, Reuters reports.

"My company offered me 200,000 yen ($2,500) per day," one subcontractor in his 30s told a reporter."Ordinarily I'd consider that a dream job, but my wife was in tears and stopped me, so I declined."

And Ryuta Fujita, 27, told the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper he was offered $5,000 to go into Reactor 2, but likewise declined.

"I hear that guys older than 50 are being hired at high pay," Fujita said. "But I'm still young, and radiation scares me. I don't want to work in a nuclear plant again."

Last week two workers in Reactor 3 were taken to hospital after their feet were exposed to 170-180 millisieverts of radiation. The average dose for a worker at a nuclear plant is 50 millisieverts over 5 years.

Because so few workers want to venture into the plant, it's proving hard for TEPCO, that company that runs it, to assess whether efforts to cool the fuel rods are working, or even to fully diagnose the problems.

Robots are usually used for this type of work, but Fukushima's interior is so filled with debris that it's difficult for robots to operate there.

[thzero]

While its no doubt a disaster, and one that peopple need to learn from and not follow in the stupidity of TEPCO and Japanese govt, this is a bit of extreme; it is just fear mongering. It is one thing to be concerned, rightly so, and understand what is going on and be truthful and forthright (an issue with the gov/TEPCO, and usually most governments anyways), but another to listen and pass on the yammerings of the over sensationalized media or reports from yokels no matter what country they are from.

This has turned out worse than Three Mile Island, but it is still not anywhere near Chernobyl.

But nonetheless, as always there are those individuals that one must be impressed with; the workers who are braving serious health risks to resolve this very serious problem. These men and women are on the same scale as the 9/11 responders and those of any major (or even minor) disaster.

Originally Posted by JERRY2KONE

Now this will show you just how desperate this situation truly is. Even they are realizing that if this is not brought under some level of control soo that the entire island of Japan will become unlivable.

[JERRY2KONE]

This has turned out worse than Three Mile Island, but it is still not anywhere near Chernobyl.

But nonetheless, as always there are those individuals that one must be impressed with; the workers who are braving serious health risks to resolve this very serious problem. These men and women are on the same scale as the 9/11 responders and those of any major (or even minor) disaster.[/QUOTE]


WOW REALLY? Are you trying to compare what these poor souls are going through (certain death) to save an entire population to those of the 9/11 NYC recovery crews? Are you kidding me. Look no one is for any reason douting that what the crews went through in NYC was a terrible situation. Certainly the death toll of those who perished in the subsiquent collaps of the twin towers was awful. All of this being casued not by Mother Nature, but by morons who are surely set on hurting the American way of life. Recovery yes was difficult, but nothing on the level of what these workers are faced with. Even if they do get in and out without having any of the structure fall on them they will more than likely either get extremely sick from radiation poisoning, or they will die a painful death from an invisible killer that causes cancer and the like.

This tiny Island nation was hit by one of the largest natural disasters to date being a 9.0 Earthquake, followed by part of their island sinking two feet leaving them wide open for a Tsunami that wiped out what will more than likely turn out to be over 20K to 25K people, and also crippling this nuclear power site to the point of nuclear disaster that is unrivaled in size and possible level of contamination involving not one, not two, not even three, but four damaged reactors, along with all of their spent fuel rod pools which involves a very large number of dangerous nuclear fuel.

No this has not reached the level of disaster of Chernobyl yet, but it can surely get much worse if things keep encountering setbacks that are making things impossible to overcome the damage already created after three weeks of attempting to get things under control. 9/11 was ten years ago, and we have long since recovered from that. Not sure what your point is here, but this is far from over and there has been nothing so far that points to the resolution of the growing problems that these reactors present to the nation of Japan or that of the world who are all extremely worried about the very real posibilities that this has the potential of causing. Lets just say for the sake of arguement that Japan keeps working at this for another month and finally just says we do not know what we can do. By then we would be in what like the 7th week of radiation leakage. From all of the conflicting reports up to now I really do not believe that anyone knows just how much contamination is actually leaking out of this plant. This is relitively new ground for most of the world and exactly how much damage can be done by these reactors probably won't even make it to the surface until long after the damage is done. Life in Chernobyl is still desolate and many many people have died and have been adversely affected by that disaster. How high will those levels reach in this one. No one yet knows and that is why we are here discussing this situation. If you do not like reading about it on here, or seeing it on TV, then don't.

[thzero]

I did say the FIRST RESPONDERS, not necessarily the recovery crews but nonetheless the did face consequences to their actions. The point was that just as many FIRST RESPONDERS do they went in and have done their jobs putting others, instead of their own safety, first.

And I generally don't pay attention to the majority of the media, because time and again they are proven to be misleading, over sensationalized, and just often plain wrong.

[JERRY2KONE]

Just to clarify the first responders of the 9/11 terror attack never expected the towers to collaps on top of them. They went in (yes risking their lives) thinking that they could save hundreds of people, which they did, and then hopefully get out alive. It did not work out that way. It was a very sad moment in the history of the USA and we all suffered the losses in our own way ten years ago. The heros of that event have been and will be celebrated for many years. None of this discussion has had anything at all to do with that disaster.

The workers at this Japanese nuclear power plant come to work every single day and try their best to keep themselves and that of the general public out of danger by doing their job well. Today they know that they will more than likely die working in these reactor buildings, and yet day after day they are sacrificing their lives to try and avert a complete meltdown of this facility. I am sure that they are well aware of the catostrophic damage this facility can create if it is not brought under control not just for them, but for the world at large. They are being asked to give their lives for the future of their families, their people, and their country, as well as the safety of our planet as their families watch. It seems from your post that all you hope to do is downplay their sacrifice as if it does not deserve recognition, or equal that of the 9/11 responders. Comparing this to 9/11 as if it is no more of a sacrifice is completely irrelivant to their efforts in Japan today. I dout seriously if the twin towers were left to lay where they fell that it would have had any negative affects on the rest of New York or that of the world to the level that this could. So once again what is your point?

Please don't take offense but I do not understand what you are trying to say. Oh and if the information that we share on here is fear mongering than what relative facts do you have to share in this thread that will lead anyone to follow your thinking? What details about this facility do you have that should help us all believe that this is nothing at all for us to worry about? Please share your professional assessment of the current situation that contradicts what is being shared in the news, and in this thread. Please help us understand what your point is and how it is relative to this discussion. Please shed some devine light on this matter that will eleviate everyones fears on the matter and we can all just go home and forget about it. Just to add some of us have family and friends still in Japan.