Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

10 Apr 2011 11:31

tags

Tech, World: Fukushima now has its own unmanned remote-controlled mascot

  • This little guy right here? He’s a T-Hawk drone, a little unmanned remote-controlled flying thingamajig, built by Honeywell, that engineers used to get an up-close view of the situation inside the damaged Fukushima reactors. It can shoot both normal pictures as well as infrared shots. Plus, if you own one of these, you’ll be the coolest kid on your block. Engineers say that they’ll have some photos to share with the world on Monday. But we want them now! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Apr 2011 20:30

tags

U.S.: TEPCO: Fukushima’s radioactive water no longer leaking into ocean

  • The leaks were slowed yesterday after we injected a mixture of liquid glass and a hardening agent and it has now stopped.
  • A TEPCO spokesman • Explaining that the radioactive seawater leaks from the Fukushima reactor apparently stopped. It just required some liquid glass, a hardening agent, and a little hope. Which is exactly what we needed that one time we stopped our server from melting down when Andrew Sullivan linked to us. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Apr 2011 14:03

tags

World: TEPCO begins draining radioactive water, tries to find major leak

  • lesser evil TEPCO has begun releasing thousands of tons of radioactive water into the ocean, freeing up space to store the much more dangerously radioactive water they now have to contend with, a release of which would be much worse.
  • square one Dye was used to determine the location of a leak of highly contaminated water, which TEPCO has fought for days. They didn’t see it in the ocean outside, meaning the leak is not where they’d been trying to plug the past couple days. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Apr 2011 14:27

tags

World: Unintended consequences, priorities complicate Japan crisis

  • action Lacking the ability to pump water through the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant as they usually would, workers were hosing in as much seawater as they could to try to cool the unstable fuel rods.
  • outcome This consequently left the plant covered in contaminated salt water, and has made it extremely difficult for those in the plant to work near the reactors, thus impeding the crisis control effort. source
  • »And don’t forget about Japan’s other problems: Prime Minister Naoto Kan was pretty unpopular prior to the earthquake and tsunami that decimated the country, and his abilities at crisis management haven’t escaped public criticism. Reuters reports that many Japanese are unhappy with the Prime Minister’s focus on the nuclear crisis, feeling that not enough attention is being paid to other pressing humanitarian tolls caused by the earthquake; the number of dead or missing currently sits at 28,000 people, though obviously that estimate is changing all the time. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Apr 2011 19:51

tags

World: Radioactive water continues to leak into ocean from Fukushima

  • NO concrete fails to plug irradiated water leak at Fukushima source
  • » The flow has continued at a seemingly unchanged rate. This is bad news for pretty obvious reasons- the leak, coming through an eight-inch crack in a pit containing power cables, is sending water irradiated at 1000 millisieverts per hour into the ocean. Having tried pumping in concrete and failed to make any progress, TEPCO’s next plan is to employ a similar strategy using a type of polymer. Polymer spraying has already been happening throughout the plant, in an effort to prevent radioactive isotopes from escaping into the environment.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Mar 2011 10:41

tags

World: More Fukushima drama: Plutonium found in the ground nearby

  • Plutonium is a substance that’s emitted when the temperature is high, and it’s also heavy and so does not leak out easily. So if plutonium has emerged from the reactor, that tells us something about the damage to the fuel. And if it has breached the original containment system, it underlines the gravity and seriousness of this accident.
  • Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency deputy director Hidehiko Nishiyama • Discussing what the finding of plutonium in the ground near the Fukushima reactors means. No, that doesn’t sound very good at all. In other news, France sent over some of their most knowledgable nuclear experts to help out the Japanese. The surrender-prone European nation is also the one most dependent on nuclear energy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2011 09:53

tags

World: TEPCO spokesperson: Highly-radioactive water found in trench

  • The trench is located outside the building and the water contains radioactive materials. There is normally no water found in this area so it is difficult to compare this to normal levels.
  • TEPCO spokesperson Hiro Hasegawa • Discussing the finding of highly-radioactive water inside of a trench, outside of the Fukushima No. 2 reactor. The level matches the 1,000 millisievert level found inside the No. 2 reactor yesterday. “But we do not believe it is leaking into the ocean,” Hasegawa continued. “We are now working out where the cause of the leak is and finding ways to remove the water as soon as possible.”  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

27 Mar 2011 21:17

tags

U.S.: Don’t freak out: Increased radiation found in Massachusetts rainwater

  • The drinking water supply in Massachusetts is unaffected by this short-term, slight elevation in radiation.
  • Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach • Discussing the “OMG OMG WE GONNA DIE” revelation that there is radiation in some Massachusetts rainwater resulting from the Fukushima crisis. Friends, this is not Chernobyl. Ain’t nothing to be afraid of. Auerbach knows the deal. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2011 12:23

tags

World: The “Fukushima Fifty” comes forward with a harrowing story

  • It was just pitch black. It was the middle of the night and all we had to see with were our own head torches. We could see smoke and vapour coming up from the reactor. Everything else had failed, so they called us in to pump seawater to try to cool the thing. We don’t even work for the government, but for the city of Tokyo. They were desperate. They must have been on their last legs.
  • Fukushima crew leader Kazuhiko Fukudome • Describing what he saw as a member of the “Fukushima Fifty.” Fukudome was tracked down by The Daily Telegraph, who got the first interview with the once-anonymous crew of workers. We recommend you read the whole thing, but we’re sure you will after you read Fukudome’s description of the inside of the plant: “It was far worse than I expected. Everything was covered in rubble,” he said. Harrowing. (via Josh Sternberg) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Mar 2011 12:04

tags

World: TEPCO corrections: Not “10 million times” normal level, “100,000 times”

  • errors As you might have noticed earlier today, TEPCO reported a level of radiation that was insanely high — 10 million times the usual level — coming from the water at a Fukushima reactor. This was very wrong, so much so that we took down our posts about this.
  • correctionsTEPCO apologized — while noting the amount was a still-very-high 100,000 times its normal level. “I am very sorry,” said TEPCO’s vice president, Sakae Muto. “I would like to make sure that such a mistake will not happen again.” Good apology, Muto. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>