I thought you didn't really have a major problem with your Government.

That's not what I mean, if they won't be able to fix the problem and the problem becomes worse than anticipated. Then it would be better for the public to know, so they can get out of there asap. I know they have evacuated up 20km, but will that be enough?. I'm no scientist, so I don't know, but it won't be surprising if many people think the same, so the public have a genuine reason to be concerned.

That is crazy :eek: :eek:

Sadness
 

God bless the dead, their families, and friends and all of you......this came out of nowhere.....it could happen to any of us....hang in there, folks....

This is from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office website;

Japan travel advice

I don`t think that this is really because there is a major problem with the government. Just how incredibly SLOW they are being to release information on the state of things with the reactors.

I can kind of understand, as it is hard to confirm the exact situation (can`t really just stick your head inside and check)... But not saying ANYTHING is what is fueling stress and rumors. And then saying "There is nothing that needs to be reported at this time" kind of makes you raise your eyebrows because obviously SOMETHING is still happening.

By the way, the first Tokyo stock market since the earthquake had opened about an hour ago. And as I expected, stock average went down more than 500JPY since last Friday. Bank of Japan (central bank ) had decided to pour 7,000,000,000,000JPY into the market for the short term stability. And　I had decided not to give up all my stocks.

If you don't mind losing some money, please buy some Japanese stocks. and if you already have some, please do not give them up. That's another way to support Japan.

And if you are into foreign exchange market, sell JPY. Getting JPY weaker makes it easier for debtor nations to repay us. We might need instant and sufficient money.

after watching these events unfold you see that their is no god in this world.

The following link is a long read but hopefully will give some peace of mind regarding the reactors. There appears to be a lot of speculation that has little to do with reality going around. This is only a blog but I think it reasonably outlays the possible outcomes.

Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors. | Morgsatlarge – blogorific.

a part of international response
 

13.03.2011, 18.21

MOSCOW, March 13 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had a telephone conversation with Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu to hear the latter’s report on the implementation of his order to render assistance to quake-hit Japan, the Kremlin press service said.

Shoigu told the president that two teams of rescuers, one from Moscow, and the other one from Khabarovsk, will take off for Japan later on Sunday. The two planes will deliver equipment and tools necessary for rescue operations. He also said that in case Japan asks for more help, the Emergencies Ministry is ready sent extra assistance.

13.03.2011, 18.54

MOSCOW, March 13 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian rescuers have taken off to take part in a rescue operation in Japan hit by a devastating earthquake.

“At 18:40 Moscow time on Sunday an Ilyushin-76 plane of the Russian Emergencies Ministry took off from the Ramenskoye airport outside Moscow. The plane is carrying 50 rescuers from the Centrospas rescue team, three rescue motor vehicles and necessary equipment,” a spokesman for the Russian Emergencies Ministry told Itar-Tass.

13.03.2011, 19.33

MOSCOW, March 13 (Itar-Tass) -- A Mi-26 helicopter of the Russian Emergencies Ministry has taken off from the city of Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East to help conduct rescue operations in earthquake-hit Japan,” a spokesman for the Russian Emergencies Ministry said on Sunday.
The helicopter with 25 rescuers and a emergency vehicle took off at 18:55 Moscow time.
Earlier in the day, an Emergencies Ministry’s Ilyushin-76 plane with 50 rescuers and three rescue motor vehicles and equipment took of from Ramenskoye outside Moscow.

ITAR-TASS news agency


A British rescue team has arrived in Japan to join the search for survivors of the earthquake and tsunami.

Fifty-nine search and rescue experts, four medics and two sniffer dogs flew out on a private charter plane with 11 tonnes of equipment on board.

.....The UK International Search and Rescue (ISAR) team arrived in Japan at around 1100 GMT (2000 local time).

It is made up of experts from fire brigades across the UK, and was put together by the Department for International Development.

A spokesman for the department says the team is expected to deploy to Ofunato, about 100 miles north of Sendai on the east coast.

They will start work at first light on Monday morning, together with American search and rescue experts.

National co-ordinator for ISAR, Peter Crook, told the BBC the town had not yet been searched by rescue teams.

"We're already fighting against the clock and the logistical challenges", he said. "The quicker the team can get on the ground, the better, and they are working very hard to make that happen now."

The British team is one of only 17 in the world classified as a "heavy team", meaning it travels with the specialist tools needed to penetrate reinforced concrete and metal to reach trapped victims.

BBC News

Switzerland has joined the international relief effort in Japan, sending a rescue team to help locate missing people and distribute aid.

.....The Swiss rescue team, which includes experts in natural disasters, water, medicine and engineering, were due to arrive in Japan on Sunday. Two specialists from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit in Beijing were also flying into the country on Saturday night.

Toni Frisch, head of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit, told Swiss radio that the Japanese disaster needed specialists as it was bigger than the “standard rescue operation” that follows an earthquake.

The Swiss team includes 25 rescuers and nine sniffer dogs. The group will split into two, with some searching for victims underneath the debris of the tsunami and others “clarifying the most urgent needs, including in the environment, helping coordination with the authorities, and putting the first aid measures in place”.

Around 45 countries have offered their help to Japan and the United Nations is sending a group to coordinate work by the international community. A spokesman said four teams from the United States, New Zealand, Australia and South Korea were already on their way.

SWISS info

3rd reactor exploded a few minutes ago

wind is blowing from south to north around fukushima.

Why-he-is-not-worried-'cause-he-is-too-far-from-reactor
 

According to that brilliant theorist, japanese authorities just wasted their time when ordered to evacuate a population from twenty-kilometer zone....

winds
 

Damn. Authorities must order local people (who is not evacuated yet) stay mostly indoor and use protective breathing gear (masks)

Thank god! The core and containment has got no damage. and the level of radioactive around plant is only 20 micro sievert/hour. I wish they make right actions before it gets worse.

explosion
 

Sounds good. Does NHK provides live coverage now? Or what TV channel do you watch?

Nah. A guy from nuclear institution is explaining what's happening now on NHK. Japan TV is broadcasting live vision of the plant

Really? I assume that they were just taking the normal emergency precautions. I think that brilliant theorist as you call him will be shown to be mostly correct. The affected reactors have been flooded with sea water and boron which will make them totally inoperable in the future but the crisis of a breach of the containment structures has been averted. There is virtually no chance now of a massive release of radioactive material like what was seen in Chernobyl. In fact due to the far superior constructions codes in Japan compared to the Chernobyl reactor there never really was that risk.

nuclear reactions
 

The difference between RBMK adn PWR was discussed earlier on this forum. But even in "far superior design by comparison to Soviet one", the partially-melted core in vessel containment of PWR may cause serious damage to health and environment.

Three Mile Island accident

Japan you will get out of this stronger and better. Stay strong. My prayers are with everyone. It was shock hearing about the earthquake.



Best wishes from Columbus, OHIO

Only if there is a leak of the contaminated sea water/boron coolant mix. Which doesn't appear likely at all at this stage. It's good to be aware of risks and all and it is still a serious situation but from what I can tell here they have managed it well and any major crisis has been averted. The safety measures in place appear to have worked well. Every hour that goes by means the cores continue to cool and the likelihood of anything worse happening continues to decrease.

This is an incredible, and I mean INCREDIBLE video that really gives you the experience of a tsunami in real time.

It is six minutes long, and I recommend watching it all with no fast forward. Mind blowing.

Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide

There does appear to have been a hydrogen explosion at the #3 reactor similar to the one at the #1 reactor. I don't believe there has been any damage to the containment vessels though so no significant release of radioactive materials. They had warned that an explosion was likely. The explosion occurs outside of the containment vessels from release of gases to reduce pressure.

Mind blowing is the the thought here too.
The water more or less drag cars, house...
I really hope there do not get any worse right now...
I look at CNN live and and hope to donate more money for those who still fight, those who is need ...

Self defensive force has saved 9,700 lives so far. Go self defensive force! You guys are the real hero of Japan!

I haven't been reading this thread for a while nor watching the news but I was looking at a few British news websites and found this,

Super earthquake No2 set to hit Japan | The Sun |News

"Super earthquake
No2 alert in Japan

SHATTERED Japan is braced for a fresh quake nightmare - with a mega aftershock likely to hit at any moment.
The alert was issued as millions who survived the tsunami that devastated the hi-tech superpower spent a third day without food and water - let alone electricity.

Japan's world-renowned centre for earthquake prediction said there was a seven-in-ten chance of a tremor with a magnitude of seven or more hitting "within the next three days"."

OMG!! The water just talking the houses off the floor was devastating. I need to help but dont know how :$ alredy donated money but i dont think thats enough i hope you guys are ok !! Best wishes and regards to everyone..

Bank of Japan spent 7,000,000,000,000JPY (approximately 85,370,000,000USD) just to stabilize the market. But they suddenly realized that wasn't enough. They spent extra 8,000,000,000,000JPY. That's too much for one day. That's too much for just to stabilize the market. We can't spend money only for stabilizing the market. World please cooperate.

Many might say that the opposite is true.

+1 Sangetsu

explosion
 

"I don't believe there has been any damage to the containment vessels", you said. But nobody knows perfectly about real-time events inside cores of nuclear reactors in damaged blocks. We saw two powerful explosions of hydrogen. Blocks of reactors were significantly destroyed. Can any "paper theorists" figure an impact to core vessels caused by those explosions?! Containment vessels were built 40 years ago or so.
They have to work upon ALL possible negative consequences, include heavy leak of radioactivity and further radioactive poisoning of nearby territory. Nobody of japanese engineers and technicians have a right to claim something like " I don' care about reactor 'cause it's not soviet but proven western design" like that "paper theorist" already did.

The link didn`t work for me, but doing a search brought it up.

As with a lot of the other videos out now... It honestly looks like some of the 高台 people were on to escape are also going to be submerged.

A few days before this happened, for some strange reason I remembered some strange book I had found years and years ago. It was about a tsunami washing away a town... At the time the book was hugely amusing because it was clear that while the author had set it in Japan, they knew virtually nothing about the country.

I wondered why there weren`t tsunami like that anymore, and what would happen if one did come along. Now, unfortunately, I know...

cooling system of 2nd reactor is going wrong now.

For some reason this link isn't working for people in Japan. Nyororin, please post where you were able to see it.

On Gizmodo Australia.
This Is The Scariest First-Person Video Of The Japan Tsunami Yet | Gizmodo Australia

Finally i get to see this. My uncle and his wife live near this town and they also experienced massive tsunami. It really was a relief when I got a phone call from him yesterday. He told me all man made bulwark were useless. He evacuated to junior high school on the top of mountain.

It`s good that they were able to evacuate.
I`d never given it much thought, but this is probably why almost all the schools along the coasts that I have seen have been up on mountains.

My husband`s family lives within 3 minutes of the water, just above sea level. They used to live within 1 minute, but they made an addition to add land.

Luckily they do not live somewhere that was hit... But all the towns they show videos of are typical coastal towns, and look similar so it`s really terrifying to think about.

I even don't want to imagine that. We just have to thank god those who are important to us are still alive.