New York Times carried a report HERE on Japan Confirms High Radiation in Spinach and Milk Near Nuclear Plant. Please read that article and be shocked!
In case you did not know, THIS LINK reported that a strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake has rattled Japan's Ibaraki prefecture south of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the country's meteorological agency said, but no tsunami warning was issued.
March 19, 2011
The Memory Continues to Haunt Them....
Please read this touching article from CNN News on Hiroshima Survivors Fear New Nuclear Fallout.
If you have time, please read my other post on Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This link just reported that a strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake has rattled Japan's Ibaraki prefecture south of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the country's meteorological agency said, but no tsunami warning was issued.
Let's hope the worst is over....
If you have time, please read my other post on Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This link just reported that a strong 6.1 magnitude earthquake has rattled Japan's Ibaraki prefecture south of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the country's meteorological agency said, but no tsunami warning was issued.
Let's hope the worst is over....
March 18, 2011
God bless the 50 Fukushima Heroes
How many people would still lay down their lives for the nation in this cruel world? Not that many. In the past, warriors and soldiers died in the battle field but today, we have 50 heroes in Fukushima who risked their lives for that of their fellow citizens, for their nation. I take my hats off to these heroes and pray that God will protect them as they endeavor to save their nation.
Here's a tribute written by Chris Hogg of BBC News reporting from Tokyo.
CLICK HERE to read Japan hails the heroic 'Fukushima 50'.
Here's a tribute written by Chris Hogg of BBC News reporting from Tokyo.
CLICK HERE to read Japan hails the heroic 'Fukushima 50'.
March 16, 2011
Bad, Worse Now and the Worst Has Yet to Come
Please read the following article. You will then realize that the worst is yet to come.
BBC News said HERE:
Japan's Emperor Akihito has said he is "deeply worried" about the crisis his country is facing following last Friday's earthquake and tsunami.
In an extremely rare appearance, the emperor went on live TV to make his first public comments on the disaster, and urged an all-out rescue effort.
He spoke after technicians temporarily abandoned a quake-crippled nuclear plant as radiation briefly surged.
Thousands of people were killed in the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami.
The stricken Fukushima Daiichi power facility has sent low levels of radiation wafting into Tokyo, spreading alarm in the city and internationally.
TV stations interrupted programming on Wednesday to show the emperor describing the crisis facing the nation as "unprecedented in scale".
The 77-year-old - deeply respected by many Japanese - said: "I hope from the bottom of my heart that the people will, hand in hand, treat each other with compassion and overcome these difficult times."
Japan's titular head of state - who acceded to the throne in 1989 after the death of his father Hirohito - said he prayed that every victim would be saved.
He spoke as snow blanketed swathes of the disaster zone, where many survivors have little food, water or heat.
About 450,000 people have been staying in temporary shelters, many sleeping on the floor of school gymnasiums.
Nearly 3,700 people are listed as dead, but it is feared the total death toll will top 10,000 following the catastrophe, which pulverised the country's north-east coast.
Read the rest of this entry HERE.
BBC News said HERE:
Japan's Emperor Akihito has said he is "deeply worried" about the crisis his country is facing following last Friday's earthquake and tsunami.
In an extremely rare appearance, the emperor went on live TV to make his first public comments on the disaster, and urged an all-out rescue effort.
He spoke after technicians temporarily abandoned a quake-crippled nuclear plant as radiation briefly surged.
Thousands of people were killed in the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami.
The stricken Fukushima Daiichi power facility has sent low levels of radiation wafting into Tokyo, spreading alarm in the city and internationally.
TV stations interrupted programming on Wednesday to show the emperor describing the crisis facing the nation as "unprecedented in scale".
The 77-year-old - deeply respected by many Japanese - said: "I hope from the bottom of my heart that the people will, hand in hand, treat each other with compassion and overcome these difficult times."
Japan's titular head of state - who acceded to the throne in 1989 after the death of his father Hirohito - said he prayed that every victim would be saved.
He spoke as snow blanketed swathes of the disaster zone, where many survivors have little food, water or heat.
About 450,000 people have been staying in temporary shelters, many sleeping on the floor of school gymnasiums.
Nearly 3,700 people are listed as dead, but it is feared the total death toll will top 10,000 following the catastrophe, which pulverised the country's north-east coast.
Read the rest of this entry HERE.
March 15, 2011
Nuclear Crisis is WORSENING + Another Earthquake 6.1
According to CTV:
Responding to Japan's struggle to contain a possible nuclear catastrophe, the French nuclear safety authority has upgraded the severity of the ongoing accident to level six out of seven on the international scale.
Level seven on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale has been invoked only once, following the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
The head of France's Nuclear Safety Authority, Andre-Claude Lacoste told reporters on Tuesday that the situation in Japan is less severe than the core explosion at Chernobyl, but worse than the 1979 partial core meltdown at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania.
"We are now in a situation that is different from yesterday's. It is very clear that we are at a level six, which is an intermediate level between what happened at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl," the ASN president said at a news conference in Paris.
The incident at Three Mile Island was rated a level 5, which corresponds to "an accident with wider consequences," while level 6 is reserved for a "serious accident." Japanese officials had rated the situation at the plant in Fukushima prefecture as a 4 on the seven-point scale, meaning it's an accident with "local consequences."
But, pointing to the explosions that continued to wrack the Dai-ichi nuclear plant despite days of frantic efforts to cool them, Lacoste said the outlook is worsening.
"We are clearly in a catastrophe," he said.
Radiation levels spike, drop
Lacoste's announcement came as a Japanese nuclear safety official said water inside a waste storage pool at the crippled Dai-ichi plant may be boiling, just hours after radiation levels spiked then dropped after a fire erupted at its No. 4 reactor.
Japanese Economy Ministry spokesperson Hidehiko Nishiyama told reporters that "we cannot deny the possibility of water boiling" in the Dai-ichi nuclear power plant's spent fuel storage pool.
READ MORE HERE.
At the point of writing, another earthquake at the depth of 10km just struck the area of Tokyo (Tokai region) at 9.31pm. (Malaysian time).
Details OVER HERE.
Check HERE.
Responding to Japan's struggle to contain a possible nuclear catastrophe, the French nuclear safety authority has upgraded the severity of the ongoing accident to level six out of seven on the international scale.
Level seven on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale has been invoked only once, following the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
The head of France's Nuclear Safety Authority, Andre-Claude Lacoste told reporters on Tuesday that the situation in Japan is less severe than the core explosion at Chernobyl, but worse than the 1979 partial core meltdown at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania.
"We are now in a situation that is different from yesterday's. It is very clear that we are at a level six, which is an intermediate level between what happened at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl," the ASN president said at a news conference in Paris.
The incident at Three Mile Island was rated a level 5, which corresponds to "an accident with wider consequences," while level 6 is reserved for a "serious accident." Japanese officials had rated the situation at the plant in Fukushima prefecture as a 4 on the seven-point scale, meaning it's an accident with "local consequences."
But, pointing to the explosions that continued to wrack the Dai-ichi nuclear plant despite days of frantic efforts to cool them, Lacoste said the outlook is worsening.
"We are clearly in a catastrophe," he said.
Radiation levels spike, drop
Lacoste's announcement came as a Japanese nuclear safety official said water inside a waste storage pool at the crippled Dai-ichi plant may be boiling, just hours after radiation levels spiked then dropped after a fire erupted at its No. 4 reactor.
Japanese Economy Ministry spokesperson Hidehiko Nishiyama told reporters that "we cannot deny the possibility of water boiling" in the Dai-ichi nuclear power plant's spent fuel storage pool.
READ MORE HERE.
At the point of writing, another earthquake at the depth of 10km just struck the area of Tokyo (Tokai region) at 9.31pm. (Malaysian time).
Details OVER HERE.
Check HERE.
There IS Reason to be AFRAID!
According to BBC News HERE:
Radiation from Japan's quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has reached harmful levels, the government says.
The warning comes after the plant was rocked by a third blast which appears to have damaged one of the reactors' containment vessels for the first time.
If it is breached, there are fears of more serious radioactive leaks.
Officials have extended the danger zone, warning residents within 30km (18 miles) to evacuate or stay indoors.
The crisis was sparked by a 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami on Friday.
'Don't go outside'
On Tuesday morning, reactor 2 became the third to explode in four days at the Fukushima Daiichi plant - 250km (155 miles) north-east of Tokyo.
A fire also briefly broke out at the plant's reactor 4 on Tuesday and is believed to have led to radioactive leaks.
Reactor 4 had been shut down before the quake for maintenance but its nuclear fuel rods are still stored on the site.
Radiation levels in the Japanese capital were reported to be higher than normal, but officials said there were no health dangers.
In a televised address, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said: "There is still a very high risk of more radiation coming out."
He added that the last remaining people within the existing 20km (12 mile) exclusion zone around the plant must leave.
Those living between 20km and 30km were also at risk and should not leave their homes.
"Now we are talking about levels that can impact human health," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.
He told residents: "Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make your homes airtight.
"Don't turn on ventilators. Please hang your laundry indoors."
READ MORE HERE.
Radiation from Japan's quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has reached harmful levels, the government says.
The warning comes after the plant was rocked by a third blast which appears to have damaged one of the reactors' containment vessels for the first time.
If it is breached, there are fears of more serious radioactive leaks.
Officials have extended the danger zone, warning residents within 30km (18 miles) to evacuate or stay indoors.
The crisis was sparked by a 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami on Friday.
'Don't go outside'
On Tuesday morning, reactor 2 became the third to explode in four days at the Fukushima Daiichi plant - 250km (155 miles) north-east of Tokyo.
A fire also briefly broke out at the plant's reactor 4 on Tuesday and is believed to have led to radioactive leaks.
Reactor 4 had been shut down before the quake for maintenance but its nuclear fuel rods are still stored on the site.
Radiation levels in the Japanese capital were reported to be higher than normal, but officials said there were no health dangers.
In a televised address, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said: "There is still a very high risk of more radiation coming out."
He added that the last remaining people within the existing 20km (12 mile) exclusion zone around the plant must leave.
Those living between 20km and 30km were also at risk and should not leave their homes.
"Now we are talking about levels that can impact human health," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.
He told residents: "Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make your homes airtight.
"Don't turn on ventilators. Please hang your laundry indoors."
READ MORE HERE.
