Please Unrec this diary and Rec Mothership 3
You are in Mothership 2 coverage of the Japan Nuclear Disaster. Please Rec this diary, and this diary, only. Unrec previous diaries in the series. In general, try to use the ROV's for discussion and commentary. This diary will serve as a reference and anchor point.
We are currently in ROV#10 by ekyprogressive
ROV#9 by Julia Grey
ROV#8by "group"
ROV 7by nota bene.
Rov 6 by middleagedhousewife.
ROV 5 by Julia Grey
Rov 4 by Marcus Tullius
ROV3 by Marcus Tullius
Lets STICK TO THE FACTS. Please remember to source and link all new information. (This includes insuring authenticity of twitter sources.)
Timeline as of Wednesday AM.
The CS Monitor is hosting a constantly updated timeline of events, beginning at 2:46 Friday 11 March, when a minute-long 9.0 Earthquake off the east coast near Honshu was followed by a massive tsunami. Waves up to 33 feet traveled some 6 miles inland, destroying numerous towns. 11,000 people are unaccounted for.
The crisis accelerated into an unprecedented catastrophe as fires and explosions at the Fukushima Nuclear Power released radiation into the environment, and led to at least partial meltdowns of some of the reactors. Close to 200,000 have been evacuated from the area, with tens of thousands more instructed to remain inside until radiation levels are safe. Lack of adequate food, water, and shelter ,coupled with extremely cold weather, are exacerbating the situation.
All attempts to cool the reactors have failed. Attempts to use helicopters to drop water on the Number 3 Reactor have been aborted due to the intensely dangerous levels of radiation.
Latest Stats as of early morning, Japan, Wednesday, March 16:
• Missing up to 11,000
• Evacuated: 439,337 (from 10 prefectures)
• 185,000 people evacuated from towns near the Fukushima plant
• Tens of thousands within about a 20-mile radius trapped indoors for a second day
• 102 countries and 14 international organizations have offered assistance
• USS Ronald Reagan: Operation Tomodachi
• Proof of Life: At Core of Ruin, a Search for Life
SOME HOTSPOTS @ KOS:
• akmk writes No Matter What, Fukushima 50 are Heroes
• TomTech posts The Community Progressive Radio Schedule
• Richard Cranium: What the Fukushima? 2.0 - Big 2X Update w/photos (UPDATED 2X)+
• Meteor Blades Scramble to end Japanese reactor risk continues, media coverage muddled and Open thread for night owls: Emergency preparedness in five parts+
• Pluto: On the Move in Japan: Voices of Suspicion, Uncertainty, and Invention+ and UPDATES: Chernobyl expert smacks Japan and mocks IAEA - GE reactor design flaw? Germany shuts down
• Japan Nuclear Incident Liveblog Page has republished several other diaries. Please feel free to add diaries to the group page.
• GlowNZ is hosting the Japan Disaster OpenThreadfor discussion, information and breaking news related to the earthquake and tsunami.
IN TRANSLATION: From Japan
Japan Earthquake 2011 Global Voices Online provides outstanding ongoing translations of articles and information from Japan, including:
•Map of Quake Centers
•Shelter locations
• Tomomi Sasaki translation from Japanese to English: Infographic of Radiation & Effects on Human body translated from Japanese
How can I help
Media Coverage
Japan Tsunami – Live Streaming:
NHK Japan Live:NHK Japan Live
Al Jazeera Japan Live: Al Jazeera Japan Live
Guardian UK:Updated every minute
France24 Live: France24 Live
Global Voice Online(Japan/English translation
Twitter – Real Time Updates:
Twitter:IAEA
Twitter: WFP
Twitter #earthquake: Twitter #earthquake
Twitter #japan: Twitter #japan:
Twitter #tsunami: Twitter #tsunami
#EQJP #japanearthquake, #JPQuake, #japaneq, #japantsunami, #ynwa, #japaneq
Facebook
Crisis Mapping
OpenStreetMap Foundation Japan is using Ushahidi to map crisis information. Volunteers can submit reports through a form or by tweeting location information along with the hashtags #jishin (earthquake), #j_j_helpme (call for help), #hinan (evacuation), #anpi (safety status), or #311care (medical support). The hashtag for people working on the service is #osmjp.
Google Crisis Response Maps(Layers available)
Ushahidi Local Reports Color Coded for Trusted Sources (Japanese/English)
Satellite Imagray
Media Monitoring Japan's Humanity Road
Photo Galleries
• italo_pol's photostream
• Takashi
• USS Ronald Reagan Delivers Aid to Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami Victims Takashi
• Satellite Images
• Google Before and Afters
• BBC: Japan Earthquake in Pictures
VideoStock
• Japan Earthquake 2011 - Twitter Messages
• Vancouver Sun
ACT! DONATE! SUPPORT!
• Plubius also has a diary on aid groups needing donations.
• CS Monitor Donation Suggestions
h/t Pam LaPier
I did a small help diary but diaries come and go and motherships are forever. The links and info I used are below:
Contribute to UNICEF here
The Japan Society of Southern California is taking contributions here
Support the American Red Cross here
Soldiers' Angels is collecting financial donations and the following products for our troops, families and friends in Japan
• Blankets
• Small/ NEW (not used) toys for the children
• International calling cards
• All types of hygiene, easy-to-ship care products- NEW/UNOPENED ONLY
• Shampoo/conditioner
• Soap
• Deodorant
• Chapstick
• Lotions
• Female Personal Hygiene
• Facial cleansing pads
• Wet Wipes
• Eye drops
• Toothpaste/Toothbrushes
Ship these items to the Soldiers' Angels Warehouse:
Soldiers' Angels
4408 N PanAm Exprwy
San Antonio, TX 78218
Folks searching for loved ones in Japan click here
Support MapAction here, they're providing mapping and information support for the international response effort
Support Doctors Without Borders here
Support Save The Children here
Support Peace Winds America here
Support the International Medical Corps here
Volunteers are needed to publish and queue up for subsequent diaries. To volunteer to host an ROV or the next mothership, please email to join the group. We will be able to queue diaries for publication throughout this crisis.
Background/Factsheets
Start with the basics .. the Economist reports on the Japan Syndrome
... Nuclear energy is produced by atomic fission. A large atom (uranium or plutonium) breaks into two smaller ones, releasing energy and neutrons. These neutrons may then trigger the break-up of further atoms, creating a chain reaction. The faster the neutron, the fewer break-ups it provokes. This is because an incoming neutron has to be captured to provoke fission, and fast neutrons are harder to capture. As a result, the chain reaction will peter out unless the neutrons can be slowed down sufficiently.
There also need to be enough fissionable atoms about for the neutrons to bump into—in other words, a critical mass. That is why uranium fuel has to be enriched, for only one of the two naturally occurring isotopes of the metal is fissile, and it is much the rarer of the two. In water-cooled reactors like the ones at Fukushima, the right combination of slow neutrons and enriched fuel leads to a self-sustaining process which produces energy that can be used to boil water, make steam and drive a turbine to generate electricity. Besides cooling the fuel (and thus producing the steam) the water also acts as a so-called moderator, slowing down the neutrons and keeping the reaction going.
So what happens when things cease to run smoothly, as when an earthquake interferes with the plant's systems? When designing reactors, engineers attempt to achieve what they call “defence in depth”. The idea is that if any specific defence fails, another will make good the shortfall. This is a principle that Fukushima Dai-ichi, the worst hit of the nuclear plants, has been testing to destruction. The defences have failed badly at all three of the reactors which were running at the time the earthquake hit.
h/t siri
Facts from from Nuclear Energy Institute Fact Sheet
♣ Used nuclear fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi plant is stored in seven pools (one at each of the six reactors, plus a shared pool) and in a dry container storage facility (containing nine casks).
♣ Sixty percent of the used fuel on site is stored in the shared pool, in a building separated from the reactor buildings; 34 percent of the used fuel is distributed between the six reactor fuel storage pools, and the remaining six percent is stored in the nine dry storage containers. There are no safety concerns regarding the used fuel in dry storage at Fukushima Daiichi.
♣ Used fuel pools are robust concrete and steel structures designed to protect the fuel from even the most severe events. Pools are designed with systems to maintain the temperature and water levels sufficient to provide cooling and radiation shielding.
♣ The water level in a used fuel pool typically is 16 feet or more above the top of the fuel assemblies.
♣ The used fuel pools at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors are located at the top of the reactor buildings for ease of handling during refueling operations.
♣ The used fuel pools are designed so that the water in the pool cannot drain down as a result of damage to the piping or cooling systems. The pools do not have drains in the sides or the floor of the pool structure. The only way to rapidly drain down the pool is if there is structural damage to the walls or the floor
Please be kind to kossacks with bandwidth issues. Please do not post images or videos. Again, many thanks for this.