SilentCrossHairs Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I was talking to my friend last night who is in tokyo. She told me that her family which includes a pregnant sister is in Iwaki city Fukushima. Which is an hour away from the power plant. I hope they are far enough from that place. i didn't want to worry her. So I got off skype wiped my tears and said a prayer. Please understand I am not too big on religion. For the short time I was in Japan the people there treated me nicely. My friends from Japan have great hearts. It really suck that something like this has to happen anywhere on this planet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macross_Fanboy Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Hey all, this is Renato, currently in Aichi prefecture, just arrived last night. It seems panic is exacerbating the situation in Tokyo. The infrastructure was totally screwed a few days ago, I think things are returning to normal slowly, such as the trains but with the power outages and supply shortages I decided it be best to escape the chaos and go west. Just in case I had my re-entry permit extended, since it was due to expire in the first week of April. Reports say that radiation is negligible in the Kanto region, but who knows. I had half a mind to go to the UK, but after evaluating the circumstances, I decided to stay and just watch over the situation over the next few days. My nerves have calmed considerably since yesterday but I do have concerns. I'm waiting for that moment when we can say "well, the worst is over", but I haven't felt it yet. At least I managed to get drunk with my in-laws last night and got the first good night's sleep in several days. Good to know you're all good. Being all the way over here and hearing the news(inaccurate and misleading as they are) doesn't abate my anxiety when I got a wife and kid out there along with many good friends. My parents checking up on me and me just keeping myself distracted at home is the best I can do until the 31st. My head is itchy and I'm scratching it like hell, dandruff be damned thanks to this damned event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddhafabio Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 have they found the missing trains yet? i am so sorry that this has happened to Japan i lived on Okinawa in the early 90s and i know the Japanese to be a friendly nation. I also know them to be tough and if history proves to be an indicator they will bounce back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketchley Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 (edited) have they found the missing trains yet? i am so sorry that this has happened to Japan i lived on Okinawa in the early 90s and i know the Japanese to be a friendly nation. I also know them to be tough and if history proves to be an indicator they will bounce back. I believe they've found at least one of the trains, if not all of them. Alas, the photo that I saw implied that all passengers and crew were lost. Surprise "critical" warning raises nuclear fears: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12762608 In other news: it's snowing. Here. In Osaka. I can't even begin to image how cold and miserably the situation is for the people up North. :cry: Can we get local confirmation on reports that white smoke is coming from reactors 1,2,3 and 4 according to NHK? White smoke was seen leaving ONE of the reactors for part of the day, yesterday. About 24 hours ago. Sorry, can't remember which one. Take care of your news sources (said in general to all interested parties). Some are inadvertently inciting panic. Recommended sources are: BBC World News World Nuclear News Edited March 17, 2011 by sketchley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugimon Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Any updates on the new powerline to the reactors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renato Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Thanks Eugimon, Sketchley and all the guys providing info and news. I was up to date until yesterday morning, but since the move my understanding of developments is a little patchy now. The no.4 reactor that was supposed to be under maintenance and not in use is the main worry now, I believe, because of the exposed spent fuel rods. On a lighter note, I spoke to Gubaba and also Save on the phone earlier today just to see how they were coping, and all things considered, they are fine. I'm glad to hear that they are both mentally fine. I also wanted to phone Tochiro but I realized that I don't have his number! Just sent him an email and he's OK, too. Tokyo apparently is functioning as well as could be expected considering the circumstances, from what I hear. I heard shocking a sentence spoken by Save that I have never heard in my life before: "Akiba is normal." Got a bit laugh out of that. Everyone, stay safe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gubaba Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I heard shocking a sentence spoken by Save that I have never heard in my life before: "Akiba is normal." Well OF COURSE it is...dire catastrophes are normal in anime and tokusatsu culture... Anyway, yeah...MIT weighs in: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/nuclear-panel-japan-0136.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vepariga Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Terrible stuff going on,Im happy to hear you guys in japan are doing alright. keep out range of that powerplant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I read earlier today that there only ever really was one "lost" train, the others were mis-quotes etc. But it was found days ago, and everyone was killed. The only "good" news is that it was fairly small commuter train, and not a Shinkansen with hundreds and hundreds on board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repiv_Onex Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 430,000 people are in shelters, 1.6 million without water, and a cold front moved in, roads and bridges are washed out. They need supplies, not well wishes. Please donate money or time if money is scarce. Supplies are on the way. Yes, they are not enough, but what we can give more now than supplies are to give them hope, a jab of hope into their unfortune life. Other than giving more supplies, we can only give hope. No they are not well wishes. If money is scarce, how time can help them? Spend my time to pray? I would say by sending Hope, rather than spending time praying to god. A human body need food and water to survive, but a Man need hope to survive, need hope to carry on the hardship. I'm not sure if you have been through hard times(I apologise if this sounds offensive), I have been through those times. How scarce food was to come by, homeless, facing death at a young age. During those time, food was not what I think of even though we were so hungry. Hope was what I think of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugimon Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 (edited) Supplies are on the way. Yes, they are not enough, but what we can give more now than supplies are to give them hope, a jab of hope into their unfortune life. Other than giving more supplies, we can only give hope. No they are not well wishes. If money is scarce, how time can help them? Spend my time to pray? I would say by sending Hope, rather than spending time praying to god. A human body need food and water to survive, but a Man need hope to survive, need hope to carry on the hardship. I'm not sure if you have been through hard times(I apologise if this sounds offensive), I have been through those times. How scarce food was to come by, homeless, facing death at a young age. During those time, food was not what I think of even though we were so hungry. Hope was what I think of. If moneys tight, donate your time at places like the red cross doing the grunt work if you don't have specialized training or doing your expertise if it's needed. I've been homeless, I know what it's like to go a week without food and having rich people walk around saying, " I'm praying for you" did little to keep me warm or feed me. The temp in Sendai at night is dropping to -2 C, your fraking prayers aren't going to keep people from freezing to death. If you want to pray, send warm wishes, send positive vibes, whatever to japan, fine do so. But you're doing it to make yourself feel better. Further, if money is tight, donate clothes, blankets, little hats for babies. Entire towns have been washed away, the level of devastation is incredible. Don't let the low confirmed death numbers fool you. Edited March 17, 2011 by eugimon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugimon Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Some news: CNN: Stars and Stripes reports that the U.S. military on Thursday began voluntary evacuations for families and dependents on four bases in Japan: Atsugi Naval Air Facility, Yokosuka Naval Base and the Army's Camp Zama, all near Tokyo, the Misawa Air Base in northern Japan. Non-essential workers will also be allowed to leave [10:17 a.m. ET Thursday, 11:17 p.m. Thursday in Tokyo] Iwaki Kyoritsu Hospital, only 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, says it has only a five-day supply of food and a three-day supply of drugs for its 300 patients, the Mainichi Daily News reports. NHK is also reporting "high" levels of radiation, .17mSv, 30km northwest of the reactors. 6 hours of exposure is considered equivalent to 1 year of maximum "safe" radiation exposure. Other observation points are also reporting higher than normal readings but so far, the government is saying that the levels are "high" but SAFE and urging residents to stay indoors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketchley Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 (edited) Quake manual now in 31 languages: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110317b6.html Train services reduced, workers sent home after gov't warns of unexpected blackout: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110317x5.html Thousands swamp immigration: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110317a3.html Embassies list 400 foreigners as missing: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110317a7.html Kansai officials brace for sudden deluge of refugees: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110317b4.html Problems for units 3 and 4 : http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Second_fire_reported_at_unit_4_1603111.html The news at 23:00 was showing video footage taken from the SDF helicopter as it flew over the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Seeing the devastation in HD on the big screen had the pit in the bottom of my stomach getting deeper and deeper. The police water cannon/riot control vehicle used either earlier today or yesterday was abandoned because it couldn't spray far/high enough (I had read reports earlier that it was abandoned because the vehicle isn't shielded). SDF water cannon trucks (looks like the type used at airports) has been brought in, and are being used to attempt to spray water into the storage ponds. Edited March 17, 2011 by sketchley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenius Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 SDF water cannon trucks With the use of super dimensional mecha I'm sure this disaster will be resolved in no time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frothymug Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 With the use of super dimensional mecha I'm sure this disaster will be resolved in no time. I was waiting for someone to make a joke about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugimon Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Russian nuclear experts are saying, first, this is NOTHING like Chernobyl, but most importantly that if they can keep up cooling efforts for 10 days then the spent fuel rods should be cool enough to begin more permanent stablization strategies. For people on the west coast of the USA there's no risk of exposure. Instead of buying radiation pills, please donate the money to the red cross or other charitable organisations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big F Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 (edited) With the use of super dimensional mecha I'm sure this disaster will be resolved in no time. You gotta admit those water canon trucks do look like they belong on Macross. Edited March 17, 2011 by big F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macrossnake Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Engineers at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant have successfully connected a power line to reactor 2, the UN's nuclear watchdog reports. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12779512 hope things work out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macross_Fanboy Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 With the use of super dimensional mecha I'm sure this disaster will be resolved in no time. How about the radiation cleaning micromachines from GITS SAC? Now THOSE will definitely resolve the disaster in a short amount of time and then Japan will crush the US and China economically! For people on the west coast of the USA there's no risk of exposure. Instead of buying radiation pills, please donate the money to the red cross or other charitable organisations Yeah, I think it's a joke people over here are hoarding pills considered our distance from that part of the world vice countries like Russia, China and the Korean peninsula. Ah, yeah, one more thing to come out from the Navy, they are recommending all dependents GTFO, it's voluntary of course, and if they do it'll all be handled by the USAF AMC and/or commercial flights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenius Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 MSNBC has an interesting story on hoarders. Apparently someone in China informed the people on their East Coast that Iodized Salt will protect the thyroid so now they're having runs on iodized salt. Of course, that's not correct, and the radiation isn't at all coming their way... just goes to show you how scared people are about radiation and why Nuclear power never has many proponents. I am kind of a pro nuke guy but there's no denying the strength of people's fears of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugimon Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 MSNBC has an interesting story on hoarders. Apparently someone in China informed the people on their East Coast that Iodized Salt will protect the thyroid so now they're having runs on iodized salt. Of course, that's not correct, and the radiation isn't at all coming their way... just goes to show you how scared people are about radiation and why Nuclear power never has many proponents. I am kind of a pro nuke guy but there's no denying the strength of people's fears of it. considering people in california are buying out potassium iodide pills, I have no problem believing people in China are taking their own precautions. Just so everyone knows, experts are saying that even if there is a full scale catastrophic meltdown of the plant (that is, cores are breached, giant explosion) there's no threat of radiation poisoning on the west coast. Simply not enough radioactive materials, too much distance and dispersion for any measurable concentrations to reach the Americas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Plus half-life. Many of the types of fallout being put out have half-lives of seconds/minutes/hours----it'd have decayed to nothingness by the time it even got here. The jetstream doesn't move at Mach 5. Sure if you're 5 minutes away it's an issue, but if you're days away from something with a 20-second half-life, it'll be down to nothing by the time it gets to you. At which point a Banana will be worse for you, radiation-wise. Something I just read---the majority of Iodine-129 (the worst fallout with the longest half-life a reactor can put out) in the world exists in the environment due to air-test nukes in the 40's/50's. Yup, it's been there your whole life, you just probably didn't know about it. I don't really think a .001% increase or whatever is going to do anything. Remember, the sun is pumping out far more radiation constantly, and the ozone isn't what it used to be---that exposes you to much more radiation, every day. Fear that, if you want to fear something. The reactors WILL be stopped at some point---but the sun's going to keep pumping out UVA through the ozone holes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugimon Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 (edited) Yup, even the MOX (which is what the concern is over) isn't going to be harmful out of the immediate area, the plutonium is "heavy" and will come out of the atmosphere quickly. Not to downplay the concern for the people in the area, certainly local exposure to radiation and radioactive isotopes is a real concern for them but if you're in Korea, China, Taiwan, North America and the like, there's NOTHING to worry about. Besides, it wasn't long ago we were detonating nuclear weapons directly into the atmosphere... Edited March 18, 2011 by eugimon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugimon Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Livingsocial.com is working with the red cross. Donate 5 bucks and they'll match it, so 10$ will go the red cross. It's only 5 bucks, that's just one venti caramel something or other from starbucks. 10 bucks might not seem like enough but if enough of us do it then it can quickly turn into real money. https://livingsocial.com/deals/32115-5-for-10-donation-to-red-cross-relief-efforts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron5864 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 MSNBC has an interesting story on hoarders. Apparently someone in China informed the people on their East Coast that Iodized Salt will protect the thyroid so now they're having runs on iodized salt. Of course, that's not correct, and the radiation isn't at all coming their way... just goes to show you how scared people are about radiation and why Nuclear power never has many proponents. I am kind of a pro nuke guy but there's no denying the strength of people's fears of it. I can understand their actions(hording salt) with the limited information that they have. But at this point, probably a few applications of SPF 85 sunscreen offers more protection than iodized salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funkenstein Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Overdosing on potassium idodide can increase the likelihood of thyroid cancer. I hope those hoarders know that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Train Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 FYI: The pills are primarily designed to protect the thyroid which readily absorbs Iodine, as high incidences of thyroid cancers were observed following Chernobyl. The more common forms of thyroid cancers are actually very benign cancers that are relatively easily to treat with excellent survival rates.... KI does nothing to decrease the chance of other conditions like Leukemia or immediate threats like acute radiation poisoning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugimon Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 FYI: The pills are primarily designed to protect the thyroid which readily absorbs Iodine, as high incidences of thyroid cancers were observed following Chernobyl. The more common forms of thyroid cancers are actually very benign cancers that are relatively easily to treat with excellent survival rates.... KI does nothing to decrease the chance of other conditions like Leukemia or immediate threats like acute radiation poisoning. And it's ONLY good for iodine exposure and you need to take it in advance. And while iodized table salt can work, you need something like 160 tablespoons to equal one dosage for an adult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketchley Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 (edited) It looks like the tide *may* have turned, and the worst is behind us. Japan nuclear plant progress slow: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12781784 slow progress is still progress. The news about an hour ago had some pretty gut wrenching stuff. A 9 year old boy, who had lost both parents, and only managed to find his grandfather, is out, searching for his parents, with only a signboard with their names. Yesterday there was a news story with a hysterically upset woman and a young boy (as I caught only the tail end of it, I don't know the exact circumstance), that had 2 of the 3 news anchors in that program weeping after watching it. This morning a reporter was in the 20 to 30 km evacuate or stay indoors zone around Fukushima Daiichi. In the words of the reporter, "it's a ghost town". Aside from no heat, electricity or gas, earthquake damage is minimal to unnoticeable. However, convenience stores and so on are shut with "no food, closed" signs on the door. The reporter caught up with a trio of elderly people in face masks and sunglasses, trotting down the road pushing a shopping car full of bottles. They barely slowed down to answer one or two of the reporter's questions. What were they up to? Bringing river-water back home. The good news is that supplies are starting to arrive from other parts of the country, and lifelines are starting to be restored. The bad news is that the number of dead or missing may be 10 times larger than the official number; reason being the official number is based on the information that the police have. =Breaking news:= Japan raises nuclear alert level: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12783832 Related: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Nuclear_Event_Scale#Level_5:_Accident_with_wider_consequences Edited March 18, 2011 by sketchley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Save Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Big West has set up a "Macross F" Red Cross donation account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugimon Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 The alert levlel isn't new. France has been saying this event should be classified as a level 6 for a couple days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelsain Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 (edited) Here was another clip, aired on BBC & Rachel Maddow, that got to me. Especially with the father & kids stranded on the roof of their car. Darn fatherhood, getting me again. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/42142794#42142794 While I'm far away and can't really GIVE money to help, I can divert it. As an anime geek since the 80's, I feel this is a chance to give back something to the society that has given me a lot of entertainment. So starting this week, I'll be donating a portion of all my eBay sales to Global Giving's Japan Earthquake/Tsunami relief fund. I'll post links in the For Sale forum when they go up - mostly Transformers, but also some GI Joe & Warhammer stuff. Edited March 18, 2011 by Kelsain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain america Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367684/Nuclear-plant-chief-weeps-Japanese-finally-admit-radiation-leak-kill-people.html This is not good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CF18 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 OTOH dailymail is just UK version of foxnews, so take their report with a grin of iodized salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugimon Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Most of that stuff is widely known, it's non news but they need a way to keep the ratings up now that it looks like the situation has leveled out. Like all this noise about how they're going to have to case the plant... of COURSE they're going to case the plant, it's ruined and they're not going to open up the reactors to try and salvage the fuel rods. We've known that it was a complete loss the second they started dumping seawater on the reactors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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