Quake/Tsunami

[TheMercenary]

The news does not seem to be improving much from day to day.

[tw]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

The news does not seem to be improving much from day to day.

We are just learning symptoms of how bad it was many days ago. We know dangerous amounts of radiation were being emitted long ago when TEPCO was singing, "Don't worry; Be happy". TEPCO only started to address problems about Wednesday - about five days after the earthquake. Long after rods had or were exposed and melting.

Most of that radiation that came from inside the containment vessel is Cesium and Iodine. Iodine has a half life (if I remember) of about a week. Meaning that radioactive material should be mostly gone in a month.

The problem. Radioactive materials appear to cause seriously diminished mental abilities in infants and fetuses. Those low dosages may be that hazardous to that minority.

Due to radiation leaks, work to restore power in days is taking at least a week. Too much radiation is outside the plants. Hundreds were said to have exceeded their maximum dosage levels long ago when TEPCO was denying these leaks. Eventually 1400 workers were removed leaving only the fearless fifty. In order to prevent worse radiation problems, many workers along with JSDF soldiers and others were brought back to be exposed to radiation levels that limit work to maybe two hours per day.

It is not worse than last week. But last week, they were preaching "no problem" propaganda. Obviously were lying or were in total denial. This week, they are admitting how bad things had become last week. Which means things would have been so much worse had not third parties (ie US government) not read to them a "be prepared to start sending people in to their death" predictions. It could be that much worse. Which says how much has finally been accomplished now that TEPCO management admitted the seriousness of their problem.

Radiation risk is as bad as Americans were saying and TEPCO was denying. Another US carrier (George Washington) has left Tokyo harbor to avoid being contaminated. Fukushima reactors were leaking that much radiation last week when TEPCO was claiming all rods were safe, cool, and covered in water. If true, then those hydrogen explosions never happened. Resulting radiation is only now become apparent. At only unhealthy and not deadly levels. It almost was so much worse. It is now so much better than what would have happened if TEPCO had remained in denial.

[Pete Zicato]

On NPR this morning - three workers have been sent to the hospital with radiation poisoning. They were working in knee deep water, hooking up the electricity. The water was radioactive.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by Pete Zicato

On NPR this morning - three workers have been sent to the hospital with radiation poisoning. They were working in knee deep water, hooking up the electricity. The water was radioactive.

You'd think they'd be wearing some kind of lead clothing or something - anything to protect them from radiation.

[glatt]

I heard a bit of that on the radio. I think they said those workers got exposed to 150 mSv, which on this handy radiation chart is the equivalent of 3 years maximum permitted dosage for workers at a nuke plant and is more than enough to be clearly linked to an increased cancer risk.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by glatt

I heard a bit of that on the radio. I think they said those workers got exposed to 150 mSv, which on this handy radiation chart is the equivalent of 3 years maximum permitted dosage for workers at a nuke plant and is more than enough to be clearly linked to an increased cancer risk.

Yeah. Their skin was burned and their bone marrow damaged, if I heard correctly.