Radiation Leak Crisis Sends Japanese Masses Indoors
- Posted on March 15, 2011 at 3:14am by
Scott Baker
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SOMA, Japan (AP) – High levels of radiation leaked from a crippled nuclear plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan after a third reactor was rocked by an explosion Tuesday and a fourth caught fire in a dramatic escalation of the 4-day-old catastrophe. The government warned 140,000 people nearby to stay indoors to avoid exposure.
Tokyo also reported slightly elevated radiation levels, but officials said the increase was too small to threaten the 39 million people in and around the capital, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) away.
In a nationally televised statement, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation has spread from four reactors of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima state, one of the hardest-hit in Friday’s 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that has killed more than 10,000 people, plunged millions into misery and pummeled the world’s third-largest economy.
Officials just south of Fukushima reported up to 100 times the normal levels of radiation Tuesday morning, Kyodo News agency reported. While those figures are worrying if there is prolonged exposure, they are far from fatal.
Kan and other officials warned there is danger of more leaks and told people living within 19 miles (30 kilometers) of the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex to stay indoors to avoid exposure that could make people sick.
“Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make your homes airtight,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told residents in the danger zone. “Don’t turn on ventilators. Please hang your laundry indoors.”
“These are figures that potentially affect health. There is no mistake about that,” he said.
Weather forecasts for Fukushima were for snow and wind from the northeast Tuesday evening, blowing southwest toward Tokyo, then shifting and blowing west out to sea. That’s important because it shows which direction a possible nuclear cloud might blow.
The nuclear crisis is the worst Japan has faced since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. It is also the first time that such a grave nuclear threat has been raised in the world since a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine exploded in 1986.
Some 70,000 people had already been evacuated from a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius from the Dai-ichi complex and about 140,000 remain in the zone for which the new warning was issued.
Workers were striving to stabilize three reactors at the power plant that exploded in the wake of Friday’s quake and tsunami, after losing their ability to cool down and releasing some radiation. A fourth reactor that was shut down caught fire on Tuesday and more radiation was released, Edano said.
The fire was put out. Even though the fourth reactor was shut down, the fire there was believed to be the source of the elevated radiation.
“It is likely that the level of radiation increased sharply due to a fire at Unit 4,” Edano said. “Now we are talking about levels that can damage human health. These are readings taken near the area where we believe the releases are happening. Far away, the levels should be lower.”
He said another reactor whose containment building exploded Monday had not contributed greatly to the increased radiation.
Officials said 50 workers, all of them wearing protective radiation gear, were still trying to put water into the reactors to cool them. They say 800 other staff were evacuated. The fires and explosions at the reactors have injured 15 workers and military personnel and exposed up to 190 people to elevated radiation.
In Tokyo, slightly higher-than-normal radiation levels were detected Tuesday but officials insisted there are no health dangers.
“The amount is extremely small, and it does not raise health concerns. It will not affect us,” Takayuki Fujiki, a Tokyo government official said.
Kyodo reported that radiation levels nine times higher than normal were briefly detected in Kanagawa prefecture near Tokyo and that the Tokyo metropolitan government said it had detected a small amount of radioactive materials in the city’s air.
Japanese government officials are being rightly cautious, said Donald Olander, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering at University of California at Berkeley. He believed even the heavily elevated levels of radiation around Dai’ichi are “not a health hazard.” But without knowing specific dose levels, he said it was hard to make judgments on the evacuation orders.
“Right now it’s worse than Three Mile Island,” Olander said. But, he said, it’s nowhere near the levels released during Chernobyl.
On Three Mile Island, the radiation leak was held inside the containment shell—thick concrete armor around the reactor. The Chernobyl reactor had no shell and was also operational when the disaster struck. The Japanese reactors automatically shut down when the quake hit and are encased in containment shells.
Olander said encasing the reactors in a concrete sarcophagus—the last-ditch effort done in Chernobyl—is far too premature. Operators need to wait until they cool more, or risk making the situation even worse.
The death toll from last week’s earthquake and tsunami jumped Tuesday as police confirmed the number killed had topped 2,400, though that grim news was overshadowed by a deepening nuclear crisis. Officials have said previously that at least 10,000 people may have died in Miyagi province alone.
Millions of people spent a fourth night with little food, water or heating in near-freezing temperatures as they dealt with the loss of homes and loved ones. Asia‘s richest country hasn’t seen such hardship since World War II.
Hajime Sato, a government official in Iwate prefecture, one of the hardest-hit, said deliveries of supplies were only 10 percent of what is needed. Body bags and coffins were running so short that the government may turn to foreign funeral homes for help, he said.
Though Japanese officials have refused to speculate on the death toll, Indonesian geologist Hery Harjono, who dealt with the 2004 Asian tsunami, said it would be “a miracle really if it turns out to be less than 10,000″ dead.
The 2004 tsunami killed 230,000 people—of which only 184,000 bodies were found.
The impact of the earthquake and tsunami on the world’s third-largest economy helped drag down the share markets. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average plunged for a second day Tuesday, nose-diving more than 12 percent to 8,422.21 while the broader Topix lost 13 percent.
To lessen the damage, Japan’s central bank injected $61.2 billion Tuesday into the money markets after pumping in $184 billion on Monday.
Initial estimates put repair costs in the tens of billions of dollars, costs that would likely add to a massive public debt that, at 200 percent of gross domestic product, is the biggest among industrialized nations.
In a bid to stop the reactors at the nuclear plant from melting down, engineers have been injecting seawater as a coolant of last resort.
Yuta Tadano, a 20-year-old pump technician at the Fukushima power plant, said he was on the second floor of an office building in the complex when quake hit.
“It was terrible. The desks were thrown around and the tables too. The walls started to crumble around us and there was dust everywhere. The roof began to collapse.
“We got outside and confirmed everyone was safe . Then we got out of there. We had no time to be tested for radioactive exposure. I still haven’t been tested,” Tadano told The Associated Press at an evacuation center outside the exclusion zone.
“We live about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the facility. We had to figure out on our own where to go,” said Tadano, cradling his 4-month-old baby, Shoma. “I worry a lot about fallout. If we could see it we could escape, but we can’t.”
The Dai-ichi plant is the most severely affected of three nuclear complexes that were declared emergencies after suffering damage in Friday’s quake and tsunami, raising questions about the safety of such plants in coastal areas near fault lines and adding to global jitters over the industry.
___
Yuasa reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
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godfather
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 12:21pmBut wait, I thought all the news of danger from the meltdown was just propaganda from George Soros. If Glenn can connect Soros to a story through six degrees of Kevin Bacon, the story can’t be true right? And since there isn’t really any danger from this nuclear power plant, this story just can’t be true, meaning the blaze is pushing false information, right?
Report Post »Katayno
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 12:33pmWhy in hell can’t we just wait to see what happens. Glenn is trying to be optimistic….the Libs want everyones face to melt off so they can say, “See…. Glenn is crazy.”
Report Post »godfather
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 12:50pmWith all his talk about the coming insurrection, new world order, and global caliphate, this would be the first thing he’s been optimistic about,
Report Post »NickyLouse
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 11:51amWere the explosions that occurred a hydrogen-oxygen reaction or were they fissile reactions of the nuclear material? And if it is the former, isn’t this akin to a “dirty” bomb where contaminated particles quickly fall out of the atmosphere that is far different from a fissile reaction of the nuclear material itself? Or does the material have that kind of explosive fissile reaction when it melts down completely?
If anyone has a good understanding or can refute my premises, please reply.
Report Post »Katayno
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 11:40amFinally…after all these years I know why as a child we were given yummy little chocolate IODINE pills in school. It was the era of hiding under our desks and taking chocolate pills because of the nuclear threat from Russia. Hopefully Glenn is right and the real nuclear threat is being exaggerated by those who want to use this crisis to promote their cause.
Report Post »Ken
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 9:38amSo does this make GE the BP of 2011?????
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 10:57amAs much as I would love to blame GE, there wasn’t an 8.9 or 9.1 quake in the Gulf of Mexico. If there had been, I doubt BP would have been blamed for the leak. Not to mention that every other rig would have been leaking.
Report Post »NickyLouse
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 11:55amVery good point, Ken. This was the fifth largest earthquake on record. It had 20 times the energy that the earthquakes that caused the Mississippi river to reverse its flow had back in 1811-1812.
Report Post »peezee
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 8:09amLook how calm and dignified these people are. Our nation of perpetual children could learn a lot from them. Progressives created the disgusting weakness exhibited by many of our countrymen when a disaster occurs.
Thank a progressive next time you run into one.
Report Post »felina g
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 9:28amThere are no beggars in Japan and even the very poorest people have pride in what they do have—–even in this day and time. Asking for help would be such a sign of everything not good. It is an amazing culture and if this disaster makes the rest of the world realize that, guess it will have done some good.
Report Post »Katayno
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 11:44amMakes me want to take a vacation in Tokyo. What amazing people.
Report Post »JJ1640
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 7:43amThe Japanese are such a stoic people; they will endure. Meanwhile back home, the anti-nuclear crowd is trying its best to use this catastrophe to stifle our nuclear efforts and create a little hysteria. Not to minimize the severity of this situation, steady as she goes.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 7:42amThe press loves a disaster. It’s almost as if they are all drooling over the possibility of some unthinkable outcome to this nuclear emergency. I hope they are wrong and they may well be.
Report Post »Let’s pray for Japan and see how it turns out, the Japanese are due for some good news.
heavyduty
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 7:24amCan we send the liberals over there to soak up some of the radiation? I mean that they can soak up all our money so easily, surely they should be able to advert the disaster happening to these people. Pray for them, because I am sure their going to need all the prayers they can get.
Report Post »wash1776
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 7:19amStaying indoors will not keep these people totally safe. Radiation can penetrate a lot of different things and has a long 1/2 life. So that radiation will be around for a long time. Also as the earth rotates, a certain amount will be spread world wide in that latitude.. No where near what they have, but some particles will fall elsewhere.
Report Post »NickyLouse
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 11:40amIs the type of explosion that occurred the same thing as a nuclear weapon that causes a fissile reaction? Or was it a hydrogen-oxygen reaction that dispersed nuclear material? If it is the latter, then it is comparable to a “dirty” bomb, which has some contaminated particles that quickly fall out of the atmosphere.
If anyone knows the answer or can refute my premises, please reply.
Report Post »wheresmystick
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 7:14amLooks like the M&Ms might be leaking out.
Report Post »The Poor Japanese, first we nuke them, now they nuke themselves.
GE, brings good things to life.
Diane TX
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 3:44amIt’s been 25 years since the last disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine. That’s a pretty good track record. Although, the Japanese People are currently going though hell, it has little to do with nuclear power plants, and more to do with Mother Nature.
The human race learns from each disaster, and this should not deter us from building nuclear power plants in the USA. We should also be drilling for oil in ANWAR, because it takes many years to safely build a nuclear facility. Windmills and solar panels can be added into the mix, but neither is a reliable energy source.
Report Post »GONESURFING
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 5:16amLike what you say about drilling for more oil, but nuclear power scares me, and this disaster is why. I don’t want a nuclear power plant in my neighborhood. Oil or coal power plants will never have trouble of this magnitude, and then there is the nuclear waste. Would be great if solar technology was more advanced, no major dangers there, and plenty of power available.
Report Post »quarter horseman
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 7:06amThey could put a nuclear plant in my back yard! as long as my electric is cheeper than the past few years, you should see my bills!
Report Post »heavyduty
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 7:28amYes, but just look at what happened after the BP oil spill. Our beloved mesiah has effectively shut the oil industry down single handed. So what do you think he will do about our nuke plants?
Report Post »Tnredneck
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 7:50amI love the commercial for portable solor panels that advertise power in snowstorms and thunderstorms. The sun has to be shining and in northern ladditudes they barely work at all in the winter because of the low sun angle. Same for windmills. They only work in really windy places and at night the wind goes calm after sunset most nights out of the year. Nuclear power is safe. Earth quakes are not. Build reactors under ground and out of earth quake prone areas.
Report Post »dawg of gawd
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 11:36amI wonder why The Blaze isn’t showing Fox News coverage of this mess? (Actually I know why, I just want you to think about it)
Report Post »Katayno
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 12:00pmI also have worried about power plants….but only because of terrorism. I feel they are built with so many safe guards. A power plant in WI on the Lake Michigan has almost zero chance of incident. The worst may be a tornado. No quakes, no tsunamis. I fear hiring a nut job or a nut job being radicalized in a Mosque somewhere. Nuclear is clean and efficient. Ask France. If the Libs are going to take our oil and our coal….what else is there.
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 12:31pm@Katayno
Report Post »I didn’t want to mention that scenario because although it is a real threat, I thought it best not to talk about it, but you are absolutely right. We need to think outside the box, and terrorism is our clear and present danger. Jihadists are in our midst and they could act in that direction. No need to launch missiles; just sabotage a nuclear plant. Anybody who thinks that is impossible, I refer you to Hasan, Balawi (who infiltrated the CIA) and others.
neverending
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 3:43amThis entire disaster is just so heart wrenching. The Japanese are truly wonderful and decent people and they do not deserve to go through an additional circumstances.
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 12:20pmMy feelings exactly. Why did it have to be them. For those of us who are Christians, there is a “demonic agenda” in this horrible world upheaval.
Report Post »nocomment
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 3:38amWhen the Progressives have got us all living under windmills in huts… they will be the first to complain “It’s too cold! Why can’t the government do something?”
Report Post »felina g
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 9:26amRemember Glenn talking about “mutually assured destruction” ?
Prepare, stock up, get your ducks lined up, get your family and friends in the boat. Bahrain is in trouble along with our troops and if Saudi goes down we are screwed ROYALLY.
Report Post »Katayno
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 11:44amYes!
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 12:16pmWell, Felina, that pun was right on the mark.
Report Post »nocomment
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 3:33amCheck this for another perspective on the nuclear issue:
http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/13/fukushima-simple-explanation/
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 3:28amYikes!
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 3:42am“Radiation levels that can damage human health.”
Finally the truth… Have mercy, oh God.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 4:22amUnto the people of the Japanese islands…
May the Lord sustain you in this time of loss and grief.
May the Lord comfort you in the mystery of what will be yet.
May the Lord guide you into the dawning of a new day at hand.
May the Lord keep you with the memories of the best humanity has shown.
May the future bring blessing upon you, your household, your family, your community, and unto all you meet and aid into the future of the land you have as home.
May God keep you safe, the land quiet, the seas stilled, the fires quenched, the sun shining with its kindness on the harvests; may all find peace and comfort in the hands of the Lord.
Amen.
Report Post »GONESURFING
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 4:51amSNOW,
Amen
Report Post »SavingtheRepublic.com
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 6:28amYikes!!
Yikes aint even the half of it! This radiation disaster has caused the markets to collapse, the Nikkei dropped 1000pts…. cpl that with Japan running off their printing press for $180 billion which in effect will devalue the yen and what do you think will happen next? Keep in mind they WERE buying our debt, now thats out and word has it they are going to try and sell some of our treasuries they are holding. So who is going to buy our debt? China? Fed??
DOW Futures -288
NASDAQ Futures -66
S&P Futures -37
as of 6:27am ( I hate being up late and seeing what my day will be like when I wake up)
This thing is getting worse by the day and the markets are going to go berserk… this IS the perfect storm Beck has been warning about. Proggies WILL take advantage of all of this WATCH what the other hand is doing. We cant do much for the Japanese, its hard to say that but it is the truth, we must stay vigilant as the progressives will seek to take advantage of everything taking place with Japan, Middle East, our economy etc…..
Report Post »thepatriotdave
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 7:23amGeeesh, the hits just keep on coming for the Japanese.
Pray that their nightmare ends soon.
OT… We found a nut-case that blames the disaster in Japan on Climate Change. Dummy!
Report Post »http://tinyurl.com/4rv8xsm
G.W. Dobbs
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 7:38amContrast how people in New Orleans acted v. people in Japan after their tragedy; we see no LOOTING, no defecating on the floors in the sheltures, no gangs, no rioting and no lawlessness. Had such an enormous event occurred HERE, it would be added death and destruction and desecration by people; additionally, the President may or may not do a fly over when going to play golf. Troops would be sent in, not to help but to try to keep the peace. THANK YOU, JAPAN, for your strong character and the individual, collective, personal integity that you exhibit in yourtime of terror. We are praying for you. God Bless you in the Name of Jesus.
Report Post »encinom
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 10:22amBUt Beck, you said yesterday that there was nothing to fear from the meltdowns, they were like M&Ms in kitchenware.
Report Post »dawg of gawd
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 11:09amBut, but, but . . . this can’t be! Just yesterday nuclear energy expert Sean Hannity hosted a nuclear energy expert who said that Japan will never approach say, Chernobyl or TMI. Said the plants at Fukashima was a 3 on a scale of 7 (compared to a 5 at TMI and a 7 at Chernobyl). Said “at worst it might get to a 4, but will remain contained and safe”
Today I wake up and it’s a 6. Hundreds of thousands evacuated. Hundreds of thousands more forced indoors in a desperate attempt to avoid the radiation escaping from these plants.
You know, at some point you just have to set aside your ideology and focus on the truth. It’s a new concept for Fox, and I’m not confident they can muster the strength to do it. Scratch that, I KNOW they can’t do it.
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 12:13pmEncinom,
Report Post »Glenn has no idea what he is talking about. He still speaks of “potential danger.” He is totally off on this one.
HippoNips
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 12:14pmThere IS NOTHING to fear outside the 12 mile radius, which has been evac’d
Report Post »You get exposed to radiation everyday , Your computer is giving some off
My Two Cents
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 12:15pmMeanwhile, our President plays another round of golf and frets over his March Madness picks.
Report Post »theCREATORisGOD
Posted on March 15, 2011 at 3:32pmAmen Snow! Beautifully put, eloquent as always.
I think the reason Sean and Glenn were off on this one is because all the facts were not in yet and there had only been one explosion thus far and it was of the outer containment shell. If they are guilty of any erroneous reporting I would say that they just reacted prematurely, and who can blame them with the way progressives are so quick to take advantage of a crisis I.e. Gabby Gifford’s shooting.
Let’s wait and see how this turns out, but if the Japanese officials are telling citizens to stay indoors, it can not be good.
May god have mercy on the Japanese….
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