Disaster in Japan
March 20, 2011 5:11 PM
Scott Pelley reports on the American team working to avert nuclear disaster in Japan after the tsunami crippled atomic power plants.
Japan's catastrophe and the disaster that awaits
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60 mins should have a Technical expert speak on the nuclear situation. It's not completely uncharted territory. There was a very similar situation. The real disaster is the tsunami, nobody has actually died from the power plant.
P.S. Thank you 60 min for being respectful and not using this tragedy as shock footage.
This may be inappropriate to put here, but any one know the make/model of the glasses that the Japanese guy in the interview is wearing? They are very stylish and would love to have those. If anyone could tell, I will make a donation to the Red Cross (I was going to make one anyway, but this way I will make it more!)
MSNBC site has a top story today that this plant skipped inspecitions
As the numbers are pointing now, there will be over a half million homeless when the rebuilding starts. Possibly 1/4th of Fukushima Prefecture will be uninhabitable because of the nuclear power plants fallout. Hopefully they keep the main casings intact and regain electricity at the plants to get the cooling pumps running again. From information I have received from the internet specifying that the world health organization agrees with the Japanese governments assessment of a 30km evacuation radius, it seems that things will begin to calm down.
But even then how long will it take for things to become normal in this area. The long term affects to the economy will be traumatic. Fukushima is not all industrialized area. Most of it is beautiful farmland. The farmers in Fukushima will have a hard time selling their products inside and out of the prefecture because of distrust in nuclear radiation. Many people won't trust eating fish taken out of the Pacific Ocean from the area either.
Whole families displaced by the earthquake, tsunami, and power plant problem are going to have to consider rebuilding or permanently relocating, relocating being the choice I believe many will choose. The City of Kyoto was offering displaced people from some areas of Fukushima Prefecture free rent for up to one year while rebuilding occurs. What would you do? After moving all the way across the country, finding a job to pay bills and buy food and regaining that feeling of safety you had before March 11th. Would you just turn around a go back one year later? Or, would you stay where you are, where your family has regained a sense of normal, where your kids are now enrolled in school, making new friends, and starting to forget the home they lost so far away?
For the first few days after the quake there was a look of disbelief, shock because of events and realization that this is both a natural disaster and a man made catastrophe. Even though we have lots of money here in Japan, we can't keep the people displaced by the disaster warm, we can't feed them, shelter them, or even provide them with clean drinking water. People were rushing the gas stations to get away without knowing the total damage. People in the area are finally starting to calm down and assess the damage and understand the true effect of this earthquake. The shelters are still overcrowded, lack enough food, clothes, and there is very little fuel getting into Fukushima Prefecture for heating houses or powering vehicles. The fuel that is getting here should be used for those that need to evacuate.
But people are at least looking out for sunrise and realizing how much we take for granted now. I was lazy. Why do I need to drive every time I go somewhere? I walked about 2 km to the grocery store today, said hello to the neighbors, made eye contact more than on most usual days. I remembered the value of recognizing your fellow man, be it through a smile, a wave, or just the nod of your head. My family is very lucky, we didn't lose anyone. We still have a roof over our head. At least at my apartment which is located with two rows of mountains between us and the power plants we have clean running water and the area has plenty of food. We are running low on heating oil but the weather is warming so we only need to use it in the evenings now, I try to not use it at all but I have a young daughter. Today, everyone was out riding their bicycles and walking to the places they need to go. It was calm and quiet. This evening we had another earthquake, 6.1 in Ibaraki, to remind us what some people are forgetting but just a subtle reminder.
Recovery from this disaster is going to take a long time. Places further away are already in the recovery phase and citizens there are trying to find out how they can help the people closer to the devastation. There are still many places close to epicenter that were hit by tsunamis that may never return and the people's shock is unexplainable and truly heartwrenching. The rest of us are waiting for government assistance in returning clean water, fuel to heat our homes and the ability to drive our cars. People are waiting to return to the homes they left out of fear and lack of supplies. We are watching the news hoping that the homeless are helped, not knowing what we can do for them.
Right now, here in Japan we are all just waiting and hoping. We are mostly hoping that the worst of this is over. We are hoping for brighter tomorrows. We are looking forward to a normal life again.
Fukushima
JP
i don't mean to mention other news organizations.
but on my way home last week, i was listening to NPR, BBC,.thats when i heard about the force 8 earthquake. i immediately thought "TSUNAMI!!"
i wanted to join in a mass comical little cores of "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES ,,IT'S A TSUNAMI"(even before i they said there was a tsunami. because its better safe than sorry and a force 8(now i know it was like a force 9 quake),, but an 8 would make a bad tsunami(if there was one))
.. i was sorry that i imaginned the metrropolitan coastal areas would be washed away.. but i know that japan is used to it. but i felt sad for the pending loss of structures..
i was sure that no body would be injured by the actual tsunami, because japan is famous of preparidness,, (i'm numb now. the guilt for feeling it was ok. but thats for later)
.. then a few miles down the strteet, then as i was about to pass under a massive freeway i heard the live report of 7 meeter high, waves.
(that was from a european news cast,, but in the usa everything is measured in feet.. so i quickly calculated thats a little more than 21 feet high.)
and i looked up at the bridge that i was going under, and it was 19feet high, i know the peak of the roof of my house is 20 feet so i guess if they have similar houses that it would imeadiatly be a heartwrtencher to hear about it.
but threw all that , i assummed all the people were safe. especialy the kids in schools where they impart knoledge.
its overwhelming to see this story about people who didn't just flat out run
now i believe that people who live on the coast, do not know enough about earthquakes to manage their lives.
its confusing.
can we do something now?
what is a government for?
just to harasds people about idiotic city codes?
god hel us. its ALL FALLING APPART.
what is "democracy"? just people shjooting each other?
any way..
i don't want to make too many comments about this catastrophe because
of several factors. peoples efforts in the cleanup .
and
people have had the netter part of 100 years to think about what to do "when" this happens.
i hope people will be inspired to fix it safely and quickly
it looks so massive and huge and heavy.
its disturbing that such a massive piece of almost solid steel could become so menacing. and that it could become so paramount to get rid of it!
i don't know its weight
i wish it was small enough to lift with huge powerful helicopters
i wish a stone crawler way could be built to allow it to be lifted by a super giant crane and put on a barge and hauled out to sea 1000 miles from anything or anyone.. then maybe encapsulate it in high temperature Fiberglas.
after the BP disaster. i can see that nobody will ever try to keep using the steel reactor housing.. even though its probably no more radioactive than it ever was after 50 years of service.
i think it must be made of iron, which is almost immune to radiation
the concrete foundation is probable another story
when i studied the wind patterns and discovered the fact that the winds shift and blow toward the land in the spring.
my heart sunk and i am trying to accept what will happen when they drag their feet like b.p. did when their sat on their hands as their crappy exploit reamed the u.s.a. ,,
1)u know it didn't make the cost of gasoline go up
2) u no it didn't increase the carbon footprint
3) you know it didn't pollute the food supply
this is no different..
this bay be as bad or worse.
maybe nuclear power exploiters will discover that neutrons don't give you cancer
like the cigarette companies discovered t hat tobacco doesn't give you cancer.
like alcohol doesn't give you cancer.
i almost think i heard a report of a man who smoked 3 packs a day actually lived to be 110. wow ! I'll have what he's smoking? i don't think so.
back to the issue.
I'm afraid the core housing is much much too big to be moved in time.
it makes me think they should cut it from its foundation rustically and then lift it. but i think it may be way to heavy when you look at the thickness of the walls of the pressure casing.
i hope it doesn't melt threw.
what a crappy exploit
- by davidperi March 21, 2011 12:54 AM EDT
- The cover that was suppose to be built over the Chernobyl plant still needs to be built...this is 25 yrs after their explosion. The problem is where to get the money to built it. Heard once things get stable in Japan, there is suppose to built a steel and concrete cover for that plant...so it still looks that it will be a long, long time if things will ever get back to normal in Japan.
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