Friday, March 25, 2011

Breach Suspected at Fukushima power plant

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_japan_earthquake
TOKYO – Two weeks after an earthquake and tsunami triggered a crisis at a nuclear plant, the facility is still not under control, and the government said Friday there is a suspected breach at a reactor. That means radioactive contamination at the plant is more serious than once thought.
Japanese leaders defended their decision not to evacuate people from a wider area around the plant, insisting they are safe if they stay indoors. But officials also said residents may want to voluntarily move to areas with better facilities, since supplies in the tsunami-devastated region are running short.
The escalation in the nuclear plant crisis came as the death toll from the quake and tsunami passed the grim milestone of 10,000 on Friday. Across the battered northeast coast, hundreds of thousands of people whose homes were destroyed still have no power, no hot meals and, in many cases, no showers for 14 days.
The uncertain nuclear situation halted work at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex, where authorities have been scrambling to stop the overheated facility from leaking dangerous radiation. Low levels of radiation have been seeping out since the March 11 quake and tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling system, but a breach could mean a much larger release of contaminants. The most likely consequence would be contamination of the groundwater. end quote.

I think it is very important for people to move away from the whole Fukushima area at least 50 miles in diameter around the site both from the land and from the sea. The likely radiation, (especially for those living outside with no shelter) is so high that likely their exposure in a month is more than U.S. nuclear workers are allowed so this is not sustainable without people getting ill from radiation. So moving away is a good solution for people who don't want to get ill and possibly eventually even die from it at the very least until the nuclear plant is completely encased in cement.
radiation per hour
Info on radiation dose chart
Radiation Dose Chart

No comments: