After months of stonewalling and low balling figures, the utility finally admitted what many US physicists already suspected, that there was most likely a 100% core melt at all three reactors. Physicists in the West, given the meager data fed to the media by the utility, have run independent programs on their computers and have concluded that the accident was MUCH, MUCH WORSE than the government has been reporting. The new figures, although shocking, now agree with assessments made in the US.
If 3 reactor cores suffered 100% core melts, then why didn't we have three China Syndrome type accidents? Why didn't we see three Chernobyl accidents happening simultaneously? The answer is that, at the very last minute, sea water was flushed into the three cores, stopping the melted uranium from melting through the entire containment structure and releasing vast amounts of radiation into the environment. The utility, however, resisted flooding the reactors with sea water, since it would reduce the reactors to junk, and they hoped to salvage the reactors for future use. Apparently, the reactor operator was ordered to delay any plans to flush the cores with sea water. Instead, he did it anyway, going against his superiors. He should be considered a hero. Any delay back then might have led to an unimaginable tragedy.
The utility, under pressure, admitted that twice as much radiation leaked out as previously suspected, on the order of about 700 trillion bequerels of radiation (or roughly 20% of the radiation that poured out of the reactor at Chernobyl.) The reactors are continuing to release radiation. This was a mystery at first, since, if the core melting was under control, then water should not be in direct contact with melted uranium. Many suspected, therefore, that the uranium completely melted and even melted right through the vessel as well. This direct contact between water and melted uranium is probably the main source of radiation still leaking from the reactors.
Four hot spots have been identified outside the evacuation zone, causing further evacuations of residents of the area. Estimates for the clean up vary. Toshiba corporation estimated it would take 10 years. The Hitachi Corp estimated, however, that it would take 30 years. One nuclear engineer estimated that it might actually take 100 years. It took 14 years to clean up Three Mile Island, where there was no breech of containment. It has been 25 years since Chernobyl, and that accident still has not ended. So 30 to 100 years are not unreasonable guesses for the amount of time the cleanup will take.
Meanwhile, with Germany and Switzerland calling for phasing out nuclear energy entirely, and Japan calling for a moratorium, the shock waves from Fukushima will continue to rattle the commercial nuclear market.
when what we honored was father and mother
rather than all major credit cards.**
Robert Orben
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.5 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.5 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.0 NEAR COAST OF NORTHERN PERU
Yesterday -
6/18/11 -
5.0 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.9 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.5 TONGA
5.1 BALLENY ISLANDS REGION
5.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.2 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG., P.N.G.
5.1 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG., P.N.G.
6/17/11 -
5.0 SOUTHWEST OF SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.1 MID-INDIAN RIDGE
5.4 EAST OF KURIL ISLANDS
5.6 ERITREA - ETHIOPIA REGION
5.2 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G
5.0 QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS REGION
NEW ZEALAND - As of Friday night, there have been more than 7350 aftershocks since September's magnitude 7.1 quake in Christchurch.
VOLCANOES -
Volcanic ash affects Chile after round-the-world trip - Ash from a volcanic eruption in southern Chile has disrupted domestic flights at home for the first time, having travelled right round the world. The Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano started spewing ash into the atmosphere two weeks ago. This caused travel chaos, first in Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil, and later in Australia and New Zealand. But Chile remained relatively unscathed, until a number of flights were cancelled on Friday.
Chilean scientists monitoring the volcano say eruptions are continuing, but that activity there has diminished in recent days. For the time being, the authorities there are keeping the threat level on "red alert", although on Friday the government reduced the threat level from six to five. The country's mining ministry announced the volcano was throwing out 3 million cubic metres of volcanic material a day now, compared with over 30 times that amount when it first started erupting. Fall-out from the eruptions continues to affect areas across the border, in Argentine Patagonia.
Satellite Image Shows Nabro Volcano Eruption Is Ongoing - Satellite imagery of the Nabro volcano in Eritrea shows that the eruption is ongoing despite confirmation Friday from the Toulouse-based Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre that the activity at the stratovolcano had ceased.
NASA’s Aqua satellite flew overhead Saturday at 12 P.M. (local time) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument identified ash continuing to spew from the stratovolcano. Factoring in the calm conditions in the region, the image suggests that the eruption is spewing ash/SO2 emissions due west. The image clearly shows ash concentrations drifting south over the Ethiopia border and into parts of Djibouti.
The region has been hit by 6-8 moderate earthquakes during the past 36 hours, including a 5.6 magnitude quake early Friday. The quake epicentre was located 205 km Northwest of Djibouti (pop 623,891) and 88 km West of Asseb in Eritrea (population 72,114).
Sunday night’s eruption, the first ever recorded eruption of the stratovolcano, led to some flight cancellations in neighbouring Sudan, Djibouti and Ethiopia, and saw a massive ash plume being carried as far away as Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkmenistan, Somalia, the Central African Republic (CAR) and Egypt. A second eruption Thursday sent a massive ash plume westnorthwest over Sudan threatening to bring further disruption to air traffic in the east Africa region. Despite Friday’s brief lull in activity, the continued eruption of the north east African volcano is likely to cause some concern for airline operators in the region.
Part of the Afar Triangle, Nabro is one of many volcanic caldera complexes in the north easternmost part of the East African Rift valley region. The stratovolcano is located in the Danakil Depression, close to Eritrea’s border with Ethiopia and north of Djibouti, and has not erupted in at least 150 years. It is the most prominent of 3 large volcanoes (Nabro, Dubbi, Mallahle) in the region, each containing a large summit caldera. Nabro comprises lava domes, lava flows, and two calderas, 8 and 5 km in diameter.
The volcano is located along the Great Rift Valley, also known as the East African Rift. the divergent plate boundary extends from the Afar Triple Junction southward across eastern Africa, and is in the process of splitting the African Plate into two new separate plates, the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate. Seismic activity is frequent in Ethiopia. In 1961 alone, three thousand tremors were recorded from the centre of the Wollo province resulting in a 20km fissure being opened on the slopes of the Borkena graben. (photos & map)
Explosive Eruption “Likely” At Russian Volcano - Shiveluch, one of Russia’s largest and most active volcanoes erupted Friday sending ash more than 10,000 feet into the air. Officials said a much larger eruption is “likely”.
Shiveluch (also spelled Sheveluch) has been spewing ash and steam intermittently - with occasional dome collapses, pyroclastic flows, and lava flows, as well -for the past decade. Shiveluch has had over 60 large explosive eruptions during the past 10,000 years. Catastrophic eruptions took place in 1854 and 1956, when a large part of the lava dome collapsed and created a devastating debris avalanche. The last significant eruption ocured in late May 2011 resulting in ash being sent to a height of 7.5 kilometres above sea level. The ejection was accompanied by an earthquake at the volcano that lasted more than 10 minutes.
The Kamchatka Peninsula, located along the Pacific “ring of fire,” includes more than 100 volcanoes. While most of these volcanoes are not actively erupting, many are considered dangerous due to their eruptive history and their proximity to population centres and air travel corridors.
NIGERIA - The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency says there is a possibility of future eruption at the Abadaguri rocky range site in Funakaye Local Government Area of Gombe State. The agency said that the rock, which has been emitting smoke in the past seven months, was a sign of “a dormant volcano which may erupt in future’’. This was stated after inspecting and analysing the Gaseous substances oozing from the rock.
A chemist at the agency’s North-East Zonal Office in Gombe said that the smoke oozing from the rock was harmful to the environment. “The gasses coming out of the rocky range is capable of depleting the ozone layer, which can cause climate change." In a related development, a team of scientists from the Centre for Geodesy and Geodynamics of the National Space Research and Development Agency in Toro, Bauchi State, was also at the site for a similar assignment. A principal scientist at the centre explained that the smoke emanating from the rock was a result of the impact of an earthquake that occurred in Pindiga formation, Gombe State, hundreds of years ago. “There is a trace of an earthquake in Pindiga formation which has a link with Abadaguri rocky range. “The earthquake occurred some hundreds years ago, but no one can give a precise time."
Meanwhile, the Funakaye Local Government Council has fenced the site and warned pastoralists and other grazers to steer clear of the area. The Gombe State Government is also making efforts to relocate communities living around the area.
TROPICAL STORMS -
TROPICAL STORM 06W was LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 230 NM NORTHEAST OF MANILA, PHILIPPINES.
FORMATION OF A SIGNIFICANT TROPICAL CYCLONE IS POSSIBLE APPROXIMATELY 200 NM SOUTH OF SALINA CRUZ, MEXICO.
Tropical Cyclone Steers Toward China - The sixth western Pacific tropical cyclone (06W) of 2011 has developed near the Philippines. Tropical Depression 06W was dropping the heaviest rain over the open waters of the Western North Pacific Ocean Friday as the storm continues to move toward China. The Philippines have already received a lot of rain from tropical cyclones this season. Tropical storm Aere, Super Typhoon Songda and Tropical Storm Sarika have already affected the Philippines this year.
Now, 06W threatens even more rainfall. On Friday, it was located about 430 nautical miles east-southeast of Manila, Philippines. 06W is expected to skirt the eastern coast of the Philippines and head toward Taiwan. 06W is expected to make landfall in southeastern China today. (satellite photos)
EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / WILDFIRES / CLIMATE CHANGE -
Texas drought reduces cattle herds, water supplies - Texas cattle ranchers are selling their herds, and some communities are running out of water, as a punishing Texas drought shows no sign of waning with the driest months still ahead. More than half the state is now categorized as in "extreme" or "exceptional" drought conditions. Three months ago, none of the state was listed as "exceptional drought" and only a sliver as "extreme."
The state as a whole had ITS DRIEST MAY ON RECORD by a considerable margin. The period dating back to October 2010 will probably also work out to be the driest eight-month period since precipitation records started being kept in the 1890s. Huge tracks of pasture and fields usually covered in verdant grass or flourishing crops in June are now brittle and bare, interspersed with clumps of dead brush. "Because we're not raising the amount of grass that we usually do, we're having to destock these ranches. We are having to cut the numbers down and sell cows that we don't want to. And since it is dry in a huge area, most of these cows are going to go to slaughter....The impact on the consumer will be two-three years down the road. (The price of) Beef is going to get a whole lot higher."
It will take years for ranchers to restock their herds and many ranchers cannot afford to wait that long. Many will simply choose to sell their land to developers or recreational users. Each week without rain an estimated five percent of the cattle herd is sold. "I would say that overall in Texas, ranchers have already sold 30 to 40 percent of their herds. A lot of ranchers are just giving up."
In the state's towns and cities, the impact of the drought is also seen everywhere. Front lawns are brown, swimming pools are empty, and many communities have canceled their Fourth of July fireworks displays and banned use of fireworks. The Edwards Aquifer Authority, which controls the huge underground water pool that serves three million people from south Austin through San Antonio, is preparing to implement stringent "Stage Three" water rationing FOR THE FIRST TIME, drastically limiting water use for city and rural customers.
The community of Llano in central Texas is already dealing with what many communities are trying to avoid. The spring-fed Llano River, the sole water source for the town of 3,500, is literally running dry. "We fully expect the Llano River to cease flowing." When that happens - as early as this weekend - the community will turn to water stored in a nearby reservoir. But that water may be too filled with algae to be drinkable. "That water is twenty miles away and would require some trucking."
In addition to the drought, RECORD HEAT is also baking the state, with triple digit temperatures forecast across much of Texas well into next week. The situation is so dire, it may take tropical rains from MORE THAN ONE hurricane or tropical storm to bring any change in the weather. "Normally in the summertime the water level goes down. It is VERY VERY EARLY TO BE AT THIS LEVEL this early, and more than likely it's going to get worse before it gets better."
