Restoring power is key to ending the crisis at reactors that have leaked radiation into the ocean and air and forced the government to evacuate thousands of local residents. Workers have been battling to prevent a meltdown after losing electricity that helps circulate cooling water to the units following the March 11 temblor and tsunami. Lights are on in the control room at the No. 3 reactor and there is some lighting working at No. 4. Tepco, as it is known, will check measuring instruments in the No. 1 unit before turning on the power.
Workers are attempting to restore an electricity-powered water pumping system at the No. 3 reactor by tomorrow, reducing the need to spray the unit from outside. Temperatures at the No. 1 reactor pressure vessel exceeded 400 degrees Celsius (752 Fahrenheit) before water spraying brought it down to 390 degree. Two workers were injured overnight while working to restore power.
The immediate power outage after the quake made communication difficult and it took about half a day to create an emergency operations center. “They’ve made considerable progress bringing equipment to the plant and restoring power. But THEY'RE NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET. THEY ARE WORKING WITH RAZOR-THIN MARGINS.”
The decay of radioactive fuel rods containing uranium and plutonium at the plant was suspected by company officials five days after the earthquake and tsunami. 70% of the fuel rods at the No. 1 reactor may be damaged and 33% at the No. 2 unit, Tepco said on March 16.
FIVE KINDS OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS released by damaged fuel rods were DETECTED IN THE SEA, including iodine-131, cesium-134 and cobalt. Screening food for radiation is being stepped up as Japan seeks to calm a population that eats more fish than any other nation except China. The levels found so far in milk and vegetables could cause a slight increase in the number of cancer cases. “A person would really have to continue to eat that food grown locally that’s contaminated." People eating vegetables from Fukushima for the past 10 days will have ingested half of the natural level of a year’s worth of radiatio. “Higher numbers have been detected since we imposed shipment restrictions, so the possibility of a greater degree of risk is rising. That’s why its desirable to refrain from consumption, as well as halting shipments.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.1 SOUTH OF JAVA, INDONESIA
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Yesterday -
3/22/11 -
5.1 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.1 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
6.2 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.0 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.2 MINAMI-TORI-SHIMA, JAPAN REGION
5.0 EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
5.6 EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
5.5 EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.6 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.3 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.4 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
6.1 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.9 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.8 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.5 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.6 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.5 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
6.6 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
6.3 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
6.6 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.9 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Japan: thieves steal £250k from bank vault crippled by earthquake - Thieves took £250,000 from a bank vault left wide open by the Japanese disaster. The earthquake and tsunami crippled the bank's security mechanisms allowing someone to walk off with 40 million yen in cash. The tsunami washed over the Shinkin Bank in Kesennuma, and police said between the force of the wave's power and the ensuing power cuts, the vault came open. "The bank was flooded, and things were thrown all over. It was a total mess. Somebody stole the money in the midst of the chaos." The bank told police today, 11 days after the disaster.
VOLCANOES -
INDONESIA - Heavy Rain Hampers Relief Efforts in N. Sulawesi. Weather across much of North Sulawesi is hampering efforts to distribute aid to residents fleeing the erupting Mount Karangetang, relief officials said on Monday. Humanitarian aid such as food and hygiene kits arrived in Sitaro district on Monday morning, but continuing heavy rains since Saturday made it difficult for aid workers to distribute it. “We have only been able to distribute aid to residents of Mini and Lehi villages. We haven’t been able to reach the people in Kinali because access to that village has been cut off.” The two bridges leading to Kinali had been heavily damaged, along with a church and one home. “The Kinali residents are currently being helped by the Indonesian Navy. We hope to be able to reach the residents with relief supplies as soon as we finish an assessment of their needs.”
The volcano was continuing to send molten lava and fast-moving clouds of superheated gas and ash, or pyroclastic flows, racing down its slopes. Karangetang began erupting just hours after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a tsunami that devastated the eastern coast of Japan. “People living around Karangetang believe that their village heads can see the signs of an impending eruption." The residents appeared well-prepared for the eruptions. “The threat is that the lava dome and the pyroclastic flows can move as far as four kilometers to the west.” Most of the volcano’s residents live on its western slope. Heat clouds from the volcano had been reported as far as 2.5 kilometers from the volcano’s peak, near the Sense and Nanitu rivers. A pyroclastic flow in 1997 killed three people. Karangetang has erupted more than 40 times since 1675, with several smaller eruptions. Its last eruption, in August 2010, killed four people.
Could a Link Exist Between Super Moons and Erupting Volcanoes? - A rare Super Moon occurred on Saturday March 19. Scientifically termed a lunar perigee-syzygy; it is a new or full Moon (syzygy) that coincides with the Moon at its closest approach to Earth (perigee) in 18 years.
O'Meara has been a rogue scientist his entire life. On a five day observing trip to Arenal Volcano in La Fortuna, Costa Rica O'Meara's disciplined astronomy background led him to recognize a pattern in the volcanic eruptions that correlated with lunar tides and the Moon and Sun's gravitational pull.
In the historic records a few people have noted lunar phases when viewing volcanic eruptions, but no one has ever investigated a serious link between the Moon and volcanoes and put it to a conclusive scientific test. Whether the Moon even has any affect on volcanoes has been a point of scientific controversy for decades.
As the Moon orbits Earth, the angles between the Sun, Earth and Moon change and create Moon phases. Twice each day Earth's ocean tides go in and out and up and down. The gravitational pull of both the Moon and the Sun cause four daily tides (two low and two high) each day at 6.25 hour intervals. If you could look back at Earth from outer space, you'd be able to see these tides bulging out on both sides of the planet. In addition, every two weeks the tides go from minimum to maximum heights when the Sun and Moon align at New Moon and Full Moon and the gravitational pull is strongest. These two big, maximum monthly tides are called fortnightly or spring tides.
Although the Moon looks small, its power is tremendous because of how close it is to Earth. The actual physical Earth is 'pulled' by the Moon and and bulges by as much as eight inches. The movement of underground magma and the movement of ocean tides is very similar. Magma under Earth's fragile crust is fluid and circulating. Could the Moon pull it a few inches and force it out through a crust weakened by earthquakes? Or give it an extra big push for large-scale eruption at an active volcano? Maybe the tides affect the gases inside the molten melt and help them to expand beyond some critical level — to the point of eruption. All eruptions are driven by the expansion of gases. O'Meara believes in theory that it seems plausible.
TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical cyclones.
NASA infrared satellite imagery shows Cyclone Cherono dwindling - Three days of NASA infrared satellite imagery provides a clear picture to forecasters of the effect wind shear has had on former Cyclone Cherono. Wind shear increased near Cyclone Cherono this weekend and weakened it down to a remnant low pressure area in the Southern Indian Ocean. March 21, Cherono's remnants were moving away from Mauritius and still causing ocean swells. Infrared imagery on March 19 at 09:35 UTC showed a concentrated center of circulation with a band of thunderstorms stretching from southwest to northwest outside the center of Cherono's circulation. At that time Cherono was still a tropical storm. On March 20 at 21:11 UTC, imagery revealed that those bands of thunderstorms around Cherono had disappeared as a result of the increased wind shear. On Sunday, March 20, the strongest convection (rapidly rising air that forms the thunderstorms that power a tropical cyclone) was located to the north of the center of circulation. By March 21 at 09:17 UTC, infrared imagery showed that Cherono had become asymmetric from wind shear. When a tropical cyclone becomes asymmetric it weakens.
The Mauritius Meteorological Service warns that as the remnant low pressure area formerly known as Cyclone Cherono continues to move away. As a result, rough surf and heavy ocean swells can be expected and residents are being warned not to go in the ocean, especially beyond reef areas.
The last warning on Cherono from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center came on Saturday, March 19, when Cherono was still a Tropical Storm with maximum sustained winds near 40 mph (35 knots/ 64 kmh). at that time it was located about 595 miles east of La Reunion Island near 19.7 South and 65.0 East, and was moving west-southwest near 9 mph (8 knots/ 14 kmh). Over this past weekend, vertical wind shear increased battering the structure of Cyclone Cherono and weakening the circulation. Now the remnant low continues to move away from Mauritius and is expected to dissipate over the next day or two.
EXTREME WEATHER -
HUNGARY - fruit, vegetable harvest plunges because of bad weather. Hungarian fruit and vegetable growers harvested a little less than 2million tonnes of produce last year, well under the 2.5-2.6 million average because of extreme weather conditions.
