RECOVERY TEAMS OVERWHELMED

From one historic disaster scene in their own homeland, to travel forward to another disaster of epic proportions in a far away foreign land, Kiwi rescue teams are simply overcome by events. The following report tells a brief yet compelling story. Spread the word; the devastation from the tsunamis in Japan eclipses that of any war damage. - S.L.


JAPAN TSUNAMI: NOTHING KIWI SEARCHERS COULD DO IN DEVASTATED TOWN

by JONATHON HOWE at

Thoughts of home and a warm bed crept into Palmerston North firefighter Graeme Mills' mind as he lay inside a tent at a Japanese baseball field with the temperature at minus 17 degrees.

It was so cold the water in his drinking bottle froze, but the freezing conditions were nothing compared to the devastation outside.

Mr Mills was part of a 42-member urban search and rescue team sent to Japan after the earthquake and tsunami.

After co-ordinating search and rescue efforts in Christchurch for nearly three weeks because of the big Canterbury earthquake last month, Mr Mills flew out to Japan on March 14.

The USAR team were not concerned about contamination as they were 160 kilometres away from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, and were constantly updated about the radiation situation.

The more pressing issue was the lack of food, water and power.

Fuel was also hard to come by, but the team managed to get enough by swapping water and clothes with a local garage owner.

Mr Mills was taken aback by the level of destruction in Shizugawa.

"A four-storey school, which was sort of in the middle of the bay, was the only building left standing and that had a mussel farm wrapped right round the top of [it]."

Even areas of higher ground, some nearly 5km from the coast, were not spared the waves' wrath.

"The tsunami had gone up the main valley. You drove round a load of houses and you came around a corner and `boof', there it was right in front you, just debris for miles."

"Everything had gone. I reckon [the waves] would have been a good 50 to 60 metres high – unbelievable."

Though the town's population was small, there were still about 1200 people reported missing. But only a handful of bodies were recovered while the USAR team was there.

"We found one body, a young kiddie, probably eight years old, and she was up a tree. It was pretty plain to see that, where we were, there was not going to be any survivors.

"There could have been a lot more bodies under huge piles of debris and you needed heavy machinery so you could get through it, and there was none of that there.

"On the second to last day they said that if we find any victims... just mark them and leave them because I think they were overloaded and probably didn't have space in the morgues."

The team were pulled from Japan after they came to the realisation there was little more they could do.

A "knackered" Mr Mills arrived home on Sunday, along with four other Manawatu USAR members.

Mr Mills is now on a compulsory leave for eight days, where he is catching up on some much-needed rest.

"I'm pretty wrung out from the whole thing and it's going to take a few days to get back into it."


Read the entire story HERE

THREE MELTDOWNS - CONTAINED

"The first quality for a commander-in-chief is a cool head to receive a correct impression of things. He should not allow himself to be confused by either good or bad news." - Napoleon


While it is premature to draw conclusions from the tragedy in Japan, we can certainly consider what is taking place a "worst case" disaster, and thus far, even the most seriously damaged of its 54 reactors has not released radiation at levels that would harm the public. That is a testament to their design and construction, and the effectiveness of their employees and their emergency preparedness planning.

Following Friday's devastating earthquake, uranium fuel rods were exposed for at least two and a half hours. There was some burning of nuclear fuel, as evidenced by the presence of radioactive hydrogen and cesium, and partial meltdowns did occur.

However, as I pointed out yesterday, the explosions witnessed were not the reactors themselves blowing up, nor were they the primary containment. The primary containment that houses and protects the reactor vessel and fuel remains intact and is safe. This structure is made of steel and steel-reinforced concrete and is extremely robust.

Life-size, cut-away replica of a nuclear power plant containment wall. The reactor is located inside of the containment building. The rebar within the concrete is about the size of a man's forearm. Photograph courtesy Entergy.


The primary and secondary containment are designed to prevent radiation from being released into the environment in the case of an accident. However, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) intentionally vented steam from the secondary containment building in an effort to reduce pressure in that building. What we saw blow up was the secondary containment, the sheet metal building that sits on top of the cement containment. The reactor's containment performed according to design.

It appears that as the level of coolant in the reactor vessel lowered, a portion of the top of the uranium fuel rods was exposed. This may have caused zirconium cladding of the fuel rods to react with water to create hydrogen. This hydrogen was vented, then somehow ignited, causing the explosion.

As the explosion did not occur inside the reactor core, and the primary containment was not breached, there has not been a significant public health impact from the release of radiation from the containment structure.

Reactors 2 and 3 at Fukushima Daiichi were shut down in response to the earthquake. Units 4, 5 and 6 had been shut down prior to the earthquake for inspections and scheduled outages.

In response to the emergency conditions, TEPCO has been pumping seawater, laced with boron, into the reactor.

Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 was shut down at 2:48pm on March 11th. The reactor was shut down, reactor water level was stable, and offsite power was available.

At 8:19am, March 12th, there was an alarm indicating that one of the control rods was not properly inserted. However at 10:43am the alarm was spontaneously called off. Other control rods were confirmed fully inserted and the reactor was in a subcritical status.

o Status of main steam isolation valve: closed.

o Injection of water into the reactor by the Make-up Water Condensate System.

o There was not believed to be any leakage of reactor coolant in the containment vessel at this time.

o At 5:22am March 12th, the temperature of the suppression chamber exceeded 100 degrees. As the reactor pressure suppression function was lost, at this time it was determined that a "significant nuclear incident" had occurred.

o The Utility decided to prepare implementing measures to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessel (partial discharge of air containing radioactive materials) in order to fully secure safety. This preparation work started at around 9:43am March 12th and finished at 6:30pm the same day.

o Restoration work in reactor cooling function that was conducted to achieve reactor cold shutdown was completed and cooling of the reactor commenced at 1:24 am, March 14th.

o It was confirmed afterwards that the average water temperature of suppression chamber was constantly below 100 degrees.


Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2 was shut down at 2:48pm on March 11th. The reactor was shut down and reactor water level was stable, offsite power was available, and control rods were fully inserted, rendering the reactor in a subcritical status.

o Status of the main steam isolation valve: closed.

o Water was injected into the reactor by the Make-up Water Condensate System.

o It is not believed that there was leakage of reactor coolant in the containment vessel.

o At 5:32am March 12th, the temperature of the suppression chamber exceeded 100 degrees. As the reactor pressure suppression function was lost, at 5:32am March 12th it was determined that a "significant nuclear incident" had occurred.

o The Utility decided to prepare implementing measures to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessel - a partial discharge of air containing radioactive materials - in order to fully secure safety. This preparation work started at around 10:33am March 12th and was completed by 10:58pm March 12th.

o Restoration work in the reactor cooling function was in progress to achieve reactor cold shutdown.

o Restoration work in reactor cooling function conducted to achieve reactor cold shutdown was completed and cooling of the reactor commenced at 7:13 am, March 14th.

o It was confirmed afterwards that the average water temperature in the suppression chamber was constantly below 100 degrees.

A satellite photo of the Fukushima Daiichi plant showed the damage done to reactors 1 and 3, where there was an explosion on Monday.


Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 was shut down at 2:48pm on March 11th.

o The reactor was shut down, reactor water level was stable, offsite power was available, control rods were fully inserted, and the reactor was in a subcritical status.

o Status of the main steam isolation valve: closed

o There was not believed to have been leakage of reactor coolant in the containment vessel, but measures to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessel via partial discharge of air containing radioactive materials were implemented in order to fully secure safety. The preparation work started at around 12:00pm March 12th and finished at 12:13pm March 12th.

o Reactor cold shutdown occurred at 12:15pm March 12th


Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 shut down at 2:48pm on March 11th. The Reactor was shut down, reactor water level was stable and offsite power was available. At 0:43PM, there was a signal indicating that one of the control rods may have not properly inserted. However, another signal confirmed it completely inserted. The reason for this in under inspection.

o Status of main steam isolation valve: closed

o Injection of water into the reactor is done by Make-up Water Condensate System.

o There is not believed to be a leakage of reactor coolant in the containment vessel.

o In order to cool down the reactor, water was injected into the reactor by the Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System. However, at 6:07am March 12th, the temperature of the suppression chamber exceeded 100 degrees. As the reactor pressure suppression function was lost, at 6:07am March 12th it was determined that a "significant nuclear incident" had occurred.

o It was decided to prepare implementing measures to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessel - partial discharge of air containing radioactive materials - in order to fully secure safety. This work started at around 11:44am March 12th and finished at around 11:52am March 12th.

o Restoration work that was conducted to achieve reactor cold shutdown was completed and cooling of the reactor commenced at 3:42pm March 14th.

At approximately 11:01am, an explosive sound followed by white smoke occurred at the reactor building of the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3. It was believed to be a hydrogen explosion.

As of 4:00 pm, the measured value of radiation dose at the monitoring post in Fukushima Daiichi Power Station remained at ordinary levels. No radiation impact to the external environment has been confirmed.

The possibility of radioactive material being discharged from exhaust stack or discharge canal is continuing to be monitored in detail. As of 4:00 pm, the measured value of radiation dose at the monitoring post in Fukushima Daiichi Power Station remains at the ordinary level. No radiation impact to the external environment has been confirmed.

Timelines info source: TEPCO

Fact of the matter is the people of the tsunami-hit regions have a LOT more to worry about than conditions at the nuclear power plants. They need food, clean water, shelter from the elements, and medical assistance. Radiation can be mitigated by time, shielding & distance.

There is one thing of which we can be certain: A) Given the basic design features of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, a Chernobyl-type disaster was never a possibility.

The fact of the matter is that our modern society needs electrical power, and to get that electrical power, current must be generated by turbine generators. It takes energy to turn those turbines, in the form of steam (or in the case of hydro-electric dams, water driven by gravity). To boil the water to make the steam takes a source; heat, from either nuclear fission, or coal, oil or natural gas. Wind and sunshine simply cannot generate the current, and we cannot depend upon them for energy without accepting some serious cutbacks in our lifestyle; like, say, doing without air conditioning, television, X-ray machines, and modern manufacturing processes.

Incidents like what took place over the weekend are the risks we accept, to maintain our modern quality of life. It was bad, and our hearts go out to those injured in the events at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, to the hundreds of thousands displaced by Friday's terrible events, and to the tens of thousands dead, injured and missing.


- SEAN LINNANE SENDS



If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

- Rudyard Kipling





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JAP NUKE MELTDOWNS: GOOD NEWS - FALLOUT MAP IS A HOAX

The "radiation map" going around the Internet today is a hoax.


Now here's the bad news:

Nuclear Meltdown at Fukushima Power Plant in Japan: Stratfor calls it a full meltdown, although still contained: "Red Alert: Nuclear Meltdown at Quake-Damaged Japanese Plant."


MORE:

At ABC News, "Radiation Dangers Heightened at Japanese Nuclear Plant: Nuclear Expert Recommends Emergency Distribution of Potassium Iodine to Children Within Range of Reactor" Also, update on developments at Stratfor: "Officials Claim Positive Signs on Japanese Reactor"




New developments at Japan’s earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor No. 1 may suggest positive signs for authorities’ efforts to contain the problem. But many dangers and risks remain.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said that while an explosion did occur at the plant, it did not damage the steel container around reactor No.1, where emergency workers are still struggling to cool down the reactor core after nuclear fuel rods were damaged following the failure of cooling systems due to the earthquake damage and short power supply. Edano said the explosion did not occur within the reactor container and thus did not lead to a large leak of radioactive material. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency claims that radiation levels support the view that there has been no breach of the container around the reactor, though they have risen as a result of actions taken to relieve pressure in the container by releasing radioactive steam.

If accurate, these would be positive developments for the attempt to avert a meltdown in the reactor core . . .


Also, previously at Time's science blog, "Nuke Plant Crisis Worsens as Radiation Levels Rise."

Plus "Nuclear Meltdown at Fukushima Power Plant in Japan!" and "Meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Plant?"

RELATED: At New York Times, "Japan Pushes to Rescue Survivors as Quake Toll Rises"


Posted by Donald Douglas at American Power Blog March 13, 2011



Monday Bird HERE.



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SITUATION, JAPANESE NUCLEAR PLANT: "REALITY CHECK"

The dramatic headline blasts out at us from the Drudge Report:

NUKE PLANT EXPLODES


To the general lay public, what is inferred is that a nuke plant has gone ballistic, creating some kind of thermonuclear explosion, along with accompanying mushroom cloud, heat & blast, nuclear fallout, etcetera.

Even the so-called "expert" at the BBC suggests that a nuclear explosion is possible, although he stops short of claiming this is what we are seeing:





Truth be told, this is irresponsible journalism at it's best; it is physically impossible for a light water nuclear reactor - the kind used to produce electrical power - to explode.

That being the case, what is it we are witnessing here?

Most likely what we are seeing is either a steam explosion - which is really a mechanical phenomena - or an actual chemical explosion caused by buildup of hydrogen gas or something similar.

This is not to say that a meltdown of the reactor core is not happening - this is actually quite a likely scenario, but does not necessarily equate to the kind of catastrophe witnessed at Chernobyl in 1986, where a rupture of the reactor vessel and a series of explosions exposed graphite moderator components of the reactor to air and they ignited; the resulting graphite fire sent a plume of radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area, to include significant areas of Western Europe.

We have had nuclear accidents in the United States - most notably Three Mile Island in 1979, but also significant was the less well-known partial meltdown in 1966 at the Enrico Fermi demonstration nuclear breeder reactor (Enrico Fermi-1 fast breeder reactor) caused by a malfunction of the sodium cooling system. Like TMI, no contamination was recorded outside the containment vessel.

The difference between these events and the Chernobyl disaster is that our reactor vessels are located within thick concrete containment structures. At Chernobyl there was no containment - the reactor was located within a sheet metal building - and when the meltdown and resultant explosions occurred, radioactive gases and particles - i.e. fallout - were released directly into the atmosphere.

At TMI on the other hand - our most famous nuclear accident - a meltdown occurred, but due to containment, no radioactivity was detected in the surrounding countryside; this despite a deliberate release of radioactive gas to relieve pressure within the plant.

This is not to dismiss the events at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant out of hand; nuclear technology has definite hazards and requires special safety considerations. What is taking place at this plant is very critical, and a plan should probably have been in place to flood the reactor - perhaps with sea water - given a worst case scenario.

Bottom line: nuclear technology is inherently safe. As an engineer at an American atomic power plant once told me; "All we're doing here is boiling water." It is physically impossible for a light water to cause a thermonuclear event, i.e. an atomic explosion. I say again: it is AGAINST THE LAWS OF PHYSICS for a commercial-grade nuclear reactor to explode - the nuclear fuel is not refined to weapons-grade level of concentration, like the plutonium found in nuclear weapons.

Consider for a moment all the damage to the environment and to human health caused by fossil fuels over the ages. Death and destruction due to accidents at coal- and oil-fired power plants, petroleum refineries and coal and oil mining operations are simply too high to get an accurate count on. A boiler explodes at an oil-fired plant in Bangkok, nineteen men are killed, and it doesn't even make the headlines.

As a Special Forces Engineer, my training and work experience includes a working knowledge of industrial infrastructure, with a focus on the damage that can be wrought to industrial systems via conventional war damage and good old-fashioned sabotage. The fact of the matter is that it is far more safer from a statistical point of view to live next to a nuclear power plant than it is to get into your car every morning and drive to work.



- SEAN LINNANE SENDS

MOTHER NATURE IS THE BOSS

東北地方太平洋沖地震 情報地図

Japan Earthquake 2011

Tsunami, Miyagi Prefecture

Oil Refinery in flames, Chiba City

Rescue workers help injured people, Tokyo

Fires caused by tsunami floodwaters, Natori

Tsunami, Natori

Debris at Sendai Airport

A giant whirlpool formed off the coast of Ibaraki Prefecture

Thoughts & prayers to the thousands of people homeless, injured, dead, and missing in Japan after Friday's 8.9 earthquake and tsunami -S.L.
 

OZYMANDIUS

Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown

And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.

And on the pedestal these words appear:

`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,

The lone and level sands stretch far away".

CHRISTCHURCH NZ EARTHQUAKE - DONATIONS, FOOD DISTRIBUTION AND CONTINUING SUPPORT

Posting these over from Theo's - getting the word out and looking into what we can do to send some help their way - I'll keep you posted - S.L.


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CHRISTCHURCH IN THE AFTERMATH

Disaster relief Kiwi style. Six hours of distributing food and water buckets across the Eastern Suburbs by Bernard, Alex and an old Willys.

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CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKE - FIRST FOOD, WATER, BABY SUPPLIES - 6 MAR 2011

Received a distress call from Rowan Ave in Aranui that about 12 families in Pegasus Ave had no food, water or baby needs such as formula, nappies etc.

Went to Linwood Ave Salvation Army who were nearly out of supplies so went to Aranui Sallies as well and collected food. Also organised a water tanker to arrive with drinkable water for the locals.

We were the first relief they had seen since the disaster hit. Un-be-lievable. :(







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THE PHONE RANG

The earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti measured 7.0 on the Richter scale. The devastation is of Biblical proportions; witnesses have reported thousands of bodies litter the streets of the destroyed city. According to reports, every two-story building was flattened and the National Palace collapsed.

Telephone networks are disrupted throughout Haiti, even cellphones; with widespread power outages, once cellphone batteries die, there is no way of recharging them.







It is anticipated that the number of dead from this natural disaster is rising into the thousands. Emergency teams from the United Nations began arriving on Wednesday to assess the situation. The footprint of aid agencies - both governmental and NGO's - will be huge.

While Haiti awaits disaster relief efforts from other countries, I have already received my phone call; am I available for security work, and other follow-on services as the situation requires? The pay is the same as any of their overseas work. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you look at it) I am otherwise engaged.




The kind of people who take the overseas contracts - men and women with military skills - are extremely useful in situations like this. Not only can we pull security, we know how to carve civilization out of the wasteland. Military people know how to establish a perimeter, organize work gangs, get the water points going and get potable water to the people, run supply trains, build tent cities, secure fuel storage facilities and get the generators running, establish a field hospital - several field hospitals, distribute food, medicine, blankets, process displaced persons, widows, orphans, refugees; we have construction skills, mechanical skills, medical skills, electronic communications skills, we speak multiple languages . . . oh, and we can provide SECURITY while we're doing it.

The military will be there also, of course. But my critics take note; of the all humanitarian operations missions described in the paragraph above, NONE OF THEM are the reason or purpose the military exists. The military is used in these natural disasters for obvious reasons; no other single organization exists that has the vast resources of the military - hospital ships, carriers and their hosts of aircraft, logistical equipment & supplies organic to the military units, the uniquely skilled servicemen & women; and the military has the ability to deploy these assets to the other side of the planet at the drop of a hat.




Furthermore, military organizations possess an inherent ability to team up with and join in common cause with civilian agencies, non-governmental organizations, other nation's militaries, even irregular military formations (guerrilla or 'warlord' private armies). This is because of the leadership theme that pervades the military, and dedication to mission accomplishment.





But given a natural disaster of such epic proportions; no single organization, not even the military, can handle the humanitarian task at hand and at the same time maintain order and public safety. Private security contractors were in Houston and Galveston after Hurricane Ike in September of 2008, in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, 2005; and throughout Southeast Asia after the Great Asian Tsunami of December 26, 2004.




Private security contractors will be present in Haiti, assisting the civilian agencies and NGO's distribute emergency supplies while at the same time providing essential security services. This private security role will increase as the conventional military is withdrawn to return to the primary military mission; to maneuver, close with and destroy enemy forces.