Bando
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
I've got some regrets!
Posts: 2,431
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Japan
Mar 11, 2011 16:21:41 GMT -5
Post by Bando on Mar 11, 2011 16:21:41 GMT -5
All our Hoyatalkers over there ok?
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
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Japan
Mar 12, 2011 10:43:37 GMT -5
Post by SirSaxa on Mar 12, 2011 10:43:37 GMT -5
Devastating images from Japan... and a very scary situation with those nuclear reactors.
2 US Carriers and others ships on the way. Whatever help we can provide, we should.
Praying for those affected.
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The Stig
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,844
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Japan
Mar 12, 2011 10:59:38 GMT -5
Post by The Stig on Mar 12, 2011 10:59:38 GMT -5
Devastating indeed. Even the aftershocks are huge earthquakes.
Japan certainly isn't out of the woods yet. There was just a big explosion at one of their nuclear power plants. Reports are also coming through of evacuated villagers showing signs of radiation exposure.
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derhoya
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 584
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Japan
Mar 13, 2011 1:28:41 GMT -5
Post by derhoya on Mar 13, 2011 1:28:41 GMT -5
In the American Airlines lounge at Narita Int'l Airport right now (flying through). Don't see any damage, but have been guaranteed an after shock or two during my 4.5 hr layover. Spoke with an Lady from Ohio who had just landed when the big one hit. the chaos afterwards didn't sound fun. she has been stuck here for 48 hrs. Luckily for her she's leaving now.
From the air, the vast inland irrigation system and coast in the central part (near Tokyo, Narita is a bit southwest of tokyo), show some surf signs, but nothing crazy like what hit up north (I was coming up from the south so didn't see any of the northern coast).
Keep Japan in your prayers. News showed entire towns covered by landslides and thousands missing from the waves.
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The Stig
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,844
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Japan
Mar 13, 2011 9:39:39 GMT -5
Post by The Stig on Mar 13, 2011 9:39:39 GMT -5
Police now saying the death toll will be above 10,000.....
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theexorcist
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,506
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Japan
Mar 14, 2011 12:34:11 GMT -5
Post by theexorcist on Mar 14, 2011 12:34:11 GMT -5
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Boz
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
123 Fireballs!
Posts: 10,355
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Japan
Mar 14, 2011 12:58:13 GMT -5
Post by Boz on Mar 14, 2011 12:58:13 GMT -5
Jebus. That is quite possibly the worst apology in the entire history of apologies. Also, raise your hand if this is the first time in your life you've ever heard of Cappy Pondexter.
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guru
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,599
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Japan
Mar 14, 2011 13:12:01 GMT -5
Post by guru on Mar 14, 2011 13:12:01 GMT -5
Jebus. That is quite possibly the worst apology in the entire history of apologies. Also, raise your hand if this is the first time in your life you've ever heard of Cappy Pondexter. Cappy Pondexter is really, really, REALLY stupid.
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SFHoya99
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 17,737
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Post by SFHoya99 on Mar 14, 2011 13:25:42 GMT -5
Jebus. That is quite possibly the worst apology in the entire history of apologies. Also, raise your hand if this is the first time in your life you've ever heard of Cappy Pondexter. I doubt you can raise your hand. Cappy was the player that Don Imus was referring to in regards to her hairstyle.
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HoyaNyr320
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,233
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Japan
Mar 14, 2011 23:18:48 GMT -5
Post by HoyaNyr320 on Mar 14, 2011 23:18:48 GMT -5
Jebus. That is quite possibly the worst apology in the entire history of apologies. Also, raise your hand if this is the first time in your life you've ever heard of Cappy Pondexter. I doubt you can raise your hand. Cappy was the player that Don Imus was referring to in regards to her hairstyle. Wow.... talk about things coming full circle, that's just strange.
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Japan
Mar 15, 2011 6:21:25 GMT -5
Post by strummer8526 on Mar 15, 2011 6:21:25 GMT -5
Shouldn't she, like Imus, have to do the "apology circuit"—you know, beg for forgiveness from every interest group out there, sit down with Japanese social leaders, etc.? And then still lose her job? (Although, if I recall correctly, Imus made some other bonehead comment before he got canned.)
Back to Japan, anyone with knowledge about nuclear power and radiation have any thoughts on the meltdown situation? What damage might it cause there, and is there any possibility of harm to our west coast?
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Boz
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
123 Fireballs!
Posts: 10,355
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Japan
Mar 15, 2011 7:27:15 GMT -5
Post by Boz on Mar 15, 2011 7:27:15 GMT -5
Back to Japan, anyone with knowledge about nuclear power and radiation have any thoughts on the meltdown situation? What damage might it cause there, and is there any possibility of harm to our west coast? You don't need any knowledge. Just look at our news media the last couple of days. They really do disgust me sometimes (yes, Fox too; sometimes especially Fox). There has been some responsible and measured reporting, but for the most part, I think the overall approach seems to have been, "Let's see how much fear and panic we can stoke." Sorry for that interjection.
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EasyEd
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 7,272
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Japan
Mar 15, 2011 7:46:30 GMT -5
Post by EasyEd on Mar 15, 2011 7:46:30 GMT -5
The news coverage got the Obesity Crisis off the front page.
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The Stig
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,844
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Japan
Mar 15, 2011 20:09:47 GMT -5
Post by The Stig on Mar 15, 2011 20:09:47 GMT -5
Back to Japan, anyone with knowledge about nuclear power and radiation have any thoughts on the meltdown situation? What damage might it cause there, and is there any possibility of harm to our west coast? I'm no expert, but from the responsible reporting I've heard, there's little risk. The radiation exposure that civilians near the station are experiencing are about the same as you'd get from eating a banana. The key is the steel containment vessel around the reactor. If that is breached, it's a full-fledged nuclear disaster. If that stays intact, it's not a big worry. Stuff can blow up around it, you can have fire everywhere, and you can have the reactor completely melt down. As long as the containment shell stays intact, the dangerous radioactive material stays inside of it, and basically nobody gets hurt. At Chernobyl, the containment shell was breached in a big way, and the reactor's core was exposed to the environment. As a result, huge amounts of the worst types of radioactive material were released into the environment. In Japan, none of the containment vessels have shown any signs of serious damage. In other words, the chances of any sort of incident that poses a serious threat to civilians in the area, much less the US West Coast, are very low. One important thing to note is that a meltdown itself is not a serious danger. The reactor can melt down completely, but as long as the containment vessel stays intact, the melted down reactor material stays inside the vessel, and does not pose a major health threat. There appears to be a decent possibility of a meltdown in Japan (and one might already be underway), but a meltdown without a breach of the containment vessel isn't something to worry about.
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
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Japan
Mar 15, 2011 22:54:51 GMT -5
Post by SirSaxa on Mar 15, 2011 22:54:51 GMT -5
As far as the meltdown situation Stig, you are correct.
BUT, as I understand it, there is another very substantial risk in reactor 4 and maybe 5 and 6 as well. All three of those reactors were off line when the quake hit. Unfortunately, at least 4 (and maybe the other two) store their spent fuel rods above -- and outside -- the reactor vessel. They are kept cool in a pool of water 30 Ft deep. But they have been unable to keep that water pumping and circulating... due to the lack of electricity from the grid (quake damage) or the backup generators (Tsunami damage). Bldg 4 has had two fires in the last 24 hours... indicating the likelihood the rods were uncovered and heated up enough to cause a fire. They are using fire trucks to pump sea water into the reactors (including 4) to keep them cool. But there have been significant spikes in radiation levels.
800 workers were pulled out of the site leaving only 50 to try to keep all these pumps going. In the past 90 minutes, radiation levels spiked so high, the 50 workers were withdrawn. They are now back.
Whether the containment vessels on 1, 2 & 3 can hold -- have not suffered too much damage from quake etc, is one part of the equation. But the spent rods in the other reactors -- outside the containment vessels -- is another crisis altogether. This situation is far from over and still holds the possibility of an extremely serious catastrophe.
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
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Japan
Mar 15, 2011 23:11:01 GMT -5
Post by SirSaxa on Mar 15, 2011 23:11:01 GMT -5
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
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Japan
Mar 17, 2011 0:05:45 GMT -5
Post by SirSaxa on Mar 17, 2011 0:05:45 GMT -5
This just keeps sounding worse and worse: NY Times - U.S. Calls Radiation ‘Extremely High,’ Sees Japan Nuclear Crisis Worsening
Excerpt WASHINGTON — The chairman of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave a far bleaker appraisal on Wednesday of the threat posed by Japan’s nuclear crisis than the Japanese government had offered. He said American officials believed that the damage to at least one crippled reactor was much more serious than Tokyo had acknowledged, and he advised Americans to stay much farther away from the plant than the perimeter established by Japanese authorities.
Mr. Jaczko’s most startling assertion was that there was now little or no water in the pool storing spent nuclear fuel at the No. 4 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, leaving fuel rods stored there exposed and bleeding radiation into the atmosphere.
As a result, he said, “We believe that radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures.”
While radiation levels at the plant have varied tremendously, Mr. Jaczko said that the peak levels reported there “would be lethal within a fairly short period of time.” He added that another spent fuel pool, at Reactor No. 3, might also be losing water and could soon be in the same condition. The US is planning to send an unmanned drone with radioactivity detection devices on board to try to get more factual information.
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theexorcist
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,506
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Japan
Mar 18, 2011 8:03:58 GMT -5
Post by theexorcist on Mar 18, 2011 8:03:58 GMT -5
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rosslynhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,595
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Japan
Mar 18, 2011 9:51:21 GMT -5
Post by rosslynhoya on Mar 18, 2011 9:51:21 GMT -5
That seemed kind of cool? Kesennuma's 'mascot' is a cheerful little anime warrior named Hoya Bohya who wears an orange sea critter like a hat!!! Go Kesennuma!!!
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
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Japan
Mar 23, 2011 16:00:33 GMT -5
Post by SirSaxa on Mar 23, 2011 16:00:33 GMT -5
Tokyo Says Radiation in Water Puts Infants at RiskExcerpt Ei Yoshida, head of water purification for the Tokyo water department, said at a televised news conference that infants in Tokyo and surrounding areas should not drink tap water. He said iodine-131 had been detected in water samples at a level of 210 becquerels per liter, about a quart. The recommended limit for infants is 100 becquerels per liter....
But it was not entirely clear why the levels of iodine were so high, said a senior Western nuclear executive, noting that the prevailing breezes seem to be pushing radiation out to sea.
“The contamination levels are well beyond what you’d expect from what is in the public domain,” said the executive, who insisted on anonymity and has broad contacts in Japan. “There is no way that stored fuel did not burn in a very significant way.”
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