A nice story on tonight's news: Unicef Japan had a drive to collect picture books for children in evacuation centres. They are delivering 80,000 books donated from all over the country and each book has a bookmark with a handwritten message of hope (scripted by the donors, mostly children). Unicef will set up 1,000 libraries at shelters or other available locations.
All of the Japan major league baseball teams playing today held charity events for the quake victims and I see that the same thing is going on in N. America. In addition, the American League has donated something like $500,000. Great.
On the flipside, another earthquake this afternoon - strong enough, at intensity 5+ in Ibaraki and 3 here. More nuclear reactor trouble to report too. See below.
See video on NHK's site
Text for video:
Radioactive water leaking from No.2 reactor crack
Tokyo Electric Power Company says it has found that radioactive water is leaking into the ocean from a 20-centimeter crack in a facility wall of the No.2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The power company said on Saturday that the level of radiation has been measured at over 1,000 millisieverts per hour.
It said water is leaking from the crack in the wall of a 2-meter deep pit that contains power cables near the water intake of the reactor. Water between 10 centimeters and 20 centimeters deep was found in the pit.
TEPCO is preparing to pour concrete into the cracked pit to stop the leak of radioactive water.
The radiation detected in water in the basement of the turbine building at the No.2 reactor was about 100,000 times that found in the water of an operating reactor.
The company said it will look into how radioactive water is linked to the water in the pit and how it leaked into the ocean.
The power company said on Saturday that the level of radiation has been measured at over 1,000 millisieverts per hour.
It said water is leaking from the crack in the wall of a 2-meter deep pit that contains power cables near the water intake of the reactor. Water between 10 centimeters and 20 centimeters deep was found in the pit.
TEPCO is preparing to pour concrete into the cracked pit to stop the leak of radioactive water.
The radiation detected in water in the basement of the turbine building at the No.2 reactor was about 100,000 times that found in the water of an operating reactor.
The company said it will look into how radioactive water is linked to the water in the pit and how it leaked into the ocean.
Saturday, April 02, 2011 15:46 +0900 (JST)
More news from NHK:
High-level radioactive iodine detected offshore
Radioactive iodine twice the country’s legal standard has been detected in seawater at a location 40 kilometers south of the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The Japanese Science Ministry on Saturday released the results of a survey based on samples taken 3 days ago. The sample was collected at a spot 10 kilometers off Iwaki City and 40 kilometers from the disabled plant, both in Fukushima Prefecture.
The detected level of iodine-131 was 79.4 becquerels per liter, twice the legal standard for water discharged from nuclear plants.
This is the first time that a radioactive reading that exceeds the legal limit has been detected off the shore of Fukushima Prefecture.
It’s believed that the radioactive substances were carried offshore from the plant by a north-south current.
It’s believed that the radioactive substances were carried offshore from the plant by a north-south current.
On Saturday, a crack was found in the compound of the nuclear plant through which radioactive water has been leaking into the ocean.
The Nuclear Safety and Industrial Agency says radioactive iodine will be diluted in seawater and does not pose a threat to human health. But it said it will continue to closely monitor the condition.
Saturday, April 02, 2011 17:49 +0900 (JST)
Radioactive water leak confirmed
Tokyo Electric Power Company says it has identified for the first time a place where high-level radioactive water is leaking into the ocean from the No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The power company said on Saturday that water has been seeping from a crack in the wall of a 2-meter deep pit that contains power cables near the reactor’s water intake.
Water measuring between 10 and 20 centimeters deep was found in the pit. The radiation level has been measured at over 1,000 millisieverts per hour.
The company says it is preparing to pour concrete into the cracked pit to stop the radioactive water leak.
A senior Nuclear Safety Agency official says the crack could be one of the sources of radioactivity found in the seawater near the water outlet.
He says the agency has ordered TEPCO to test samples of seawater at more locations near the plant and analyze them for different radioactive materials.
In the past week, the radiation detected in water in the basement of the turbine building at the No. 2 reactor was about 100,000 times higher than the normal level.
High-levels of radiation were also found in puddles in a utility tunnel outside the turbine building.
Saturday, April 02, 2011 17:33 +0900 (JST)
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