Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan has stated he thinks the tsunami-induced crisis at the Fukushima nuclear reactors could in the worst case “ruin eastern Japan,” and that he is “incredibly knowledgeable about nuclear power.”
His comments to a cabinet advisor were reported by Jiji, Japan’s major news agency:
“In the worst case scenario possible in the current situation, we must consider the possibility of eastern Japan being ruined.”
Consequently, he is said to consider Tepco to be insufficiently alarmist, saying “their sense of crisis is extremely weak.”
Perhaps worst of all, he reportedly considers himself an expert on nuclear power – “I’m incredibly knowledgeable about nuclear power.”
He does hold a degree in applied physics, but has only worked as a patent attorney and then as a politician, so his level of expertise in fixing broken reactors is doubtful at best.
Tepco’s handling of the crisis has been less than reassuring, but the international consensus amongst experts on nuclear power and various nuclear energy bodies is that a nuclear explosion is impossible and Chernobyl-level contamination of a large area unthinkable.
The actual situation at the reactors has seen various explosions, fluctuating levels of radiation leakage and reactor temperature and pressure, and is evidently far from under control.
Concern generally centres on small amounts of mildly radioactive vapours being blown over a wider area – just what would possess Kan to make such mass-hysteria inducing prognostications of a nuclear wasteland engulfing half of Japan is not clear, but it is unlikely to be common sense and good judgement.
Assuming, of course, that he and Tepco do not know something about the crisis nobody else does.
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I hope the wind doesn't blow any of that to Korea...
Why? Fuck Korea.
So it's ok if it hits Korea? This is proof that sankaku posters are all fucking hypocrites.
Don't generalize, dude. We all wish physical harm for Little Kim, but the North Korean people are innocent. It's not like they elected him...did they? I'll have to look it up
cant you just hope that it dosent spread in general?
Indeed.
God knows what that wackjob in NK would do if he had a excuse to start throwing around missles.
What's that? The next Fallout game will take place in Japan? I welcome the change of pace.
And I suppose that Fallout will have one long decorated tube to go through, with disgustingly melodramatic teen-fodder of a story?
But bah.... I think the Japanese Fallout 3 comes with Japanese audio, so buy that one and play it if you're so desperate for a Japanese Fallout experience.
No...FFXIII isn't set in Japan.
That's for sure, on another note.
Didn't the Japanese government opposed a court order to shut down a nuclear power plant over concerns that the local population risks radiation exposure in case of an earthquake with a magnitude higher than 6.5. I heard the ruling had been overturned in 2009.
There was Taro Kono, a high-profile member of Japan's lower house, as saying that the Japanese Ministry of Economy had been covering up nuclear accidents and downplaying the cost and problems associated with the industry.
How do they get elected in first place anyways!?
By being born to previous politicians.
Its all about the money.
And when things go wrong everyone gets screwed.
*sigh*
Ever heard of these words?
"The Illuminati"
"Templar Knights"
Google any of them ;)
They probably just did not want to fit the bill, nor limit power throughout Japan to convert them to safer and more readily available Thorium.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Fukushima
Here stalker kun t..take this artifact ...it's not that I like y-you or anything...baka
Arigato!
Now if only we could get away from these bloodsuckers *tear*
please blow up please blow up please blow up
Or it could be the next Left for Dead 5. 100% Japanese game play
What a load of BS. Even if the worst case were to happe, it's going to risk only the immediate area of the power plant.
Sheesh, the trolls around here are so dimwit.
What the Hell Man, what the hell.
This situation is NO WHERE near the crisis of Chernobyl, the MOST that ever died from a nulcear accident is 65 !!!!
I thought the way people been talking about is that is the size of the nuclear bomb, it isn't
This is incomparable to the floods which took over 2000 lives. The only people that are risking their lives are the poor workers trying to get things under control.
Yeah just heard about it on the news. The 50 workers are risking their lives right now and 2 already gone missing in the explosions. They are probably dead.
And the remaining workers arent expected to live long after this big mess.
The official deadtoll is 4312 and 8600 still missing. And to make to it even worse it has started snowing there...
Hang in there Japan.
None of the workers have yet exceeded acceptable limits. Those that have maxed out their doses are being rotated out of the plant. So we have been told, and it makes sense.
Slight correction to Anonymous above: Chernobyl is estimated, within the nuclear power community, to have caused about 650 deaths. "Possible" deaths from long-term radiation effects are not included, as those risks are not well understood, even after studying the hibakusha (A-bomb survivors) for 50 years.
The clear fairly snow free picture alone is proof enough it's no where near as bad as Chernobyl which partly exposed film inside camera which is why footage of it looks dark.
CCD and CMOS image sensors are very sensitive to ionizing radiation.
Here's a video of a camera being exposed to X-rays from a medical X-ray machine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmSydErHvWw
I do not see this in the reactor pics.
Also a camera in a particle beam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCFQZqSxWns
Could it be that the pictures taken at Chernobyl from the helicopters and ground were using film, while the pictures taken from the Fukushima crisis were from a digital camera?
@ Anon 05:36
The CCD or CMOS image sensor in a digital camera is even more sensitive to radiation then film or a vidicon check the url's I posted.
In fact they're pretty good radiation detectors.
If your see snow in your digital camera around a known radiation source that should be taken as a warning to get out of there.
If your camera is picking up radiation you're probably already dead.
that guy is an idiot. I did a calculation of the nuclear radiation threat and it is not anything to be worried about at this point in time.
http://wp.me/pBBM0-ma
The earth/area will heal about as fast as they rebuild, I don't think it's disastrous but it something that will take a decade to recover from.
Does he mean eastern Japan may become a "Black spot" ?
Well so far there hasn't been any real chance of a major probem. Sure theres been some pretty dicey moments, but unless somthing really unlikely happens now it seems things will get better. Yes theres been a release of radiation, but it could of been ALOT worse.
Watching the video explaining the whole incident step by step showing the failsafes when they kicked in really shows how safe nuclear power is now. If a plant built 40 years ago can handle a incident like this I can only imagine how safe a plant built today would be.
Yeah, and that plant was designed to withstand a 8.2-richter earthquake, not a 7 times(!!) stronger one. So even the initial design was pretty solid.
As far as I know, the worst thing that could happen is an area with a few km radius being somewhat radioactive for a decade or two( even Tshernobyl has lower radiation than the natural radiation in my home town, ofc there much of the radioactive fuel was aerolized[that even a word? :D] thanks to using graffite in the reactor ).
Could you post a link to that video?
I'm really interested in the security measures of modern reactors.
I need something to talk some sense into all those panicking people over here...
I'm thinking the same thing for something 40 years old it did well.
They just had it in a poor location and the back up generators poorly protected.
If they had better back up power or even a Sterling driven pump to cool the reactor it would have been ok.
Reading the article, are we sure those comments are in the same context?
That is to say, did PM Kan say that Eastern Japan would be laid to waste, and that was due to Fukushima reactors and TEPCO taking the situation too lightly...
Or, was the first comment (tsubureru: laid to waste, bankrupt) rather about Eastern Japan falling on hard economic times due to the disruption to e.g. power supply, industry, manufacturing supply chains, etc?
The rest of the comments might just be him being frustrated with TEPCO's evasive answers telling him stuff he knows isn't true.
There is a lot of BS and conflicting opinions on what's really going on flying around.
It's hard to separate the good info from the sensationalist rubbish.
Eastern Japan becoming "no men land" is probably the absolute worst case, but the probability of that happening is probably pretty low unless everything goes wrong.
The TEPCO is also probably just being cautious with their words. Most of the plant's electronics are down, chances are they don't have the info to draw a confident conclusion.
dont know what to say ._...
*ahem*
Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannn!!!!
Bravo I would give you my vote if I wasn't a shady anon.
Artefact said: "Assuming, of course, that he and Tepco do not know something about the crisis nobody else does."
What? Has the Fukushima Daiichi plant somehow been secretly producing nuclear-grade fissionables? Are they secretly using Soviet RMBK designs (like Chernobyl) that are (or were, anyways) capable of producing the kind explosions required to make an accidental dirty bomb?
Kan's degree in applied physics is 41 years old. I'll grant, that's the same time as the Number 1 reactor was put online, but can you honestly believe that someone who hasn't been actively researching or working in the industry for 41 years will remember important details about nuclear reactor functionality? Hogwash. In a few months everyone will feel foolish for following a "nuclear scare."
"Has the Fukushima Daiichi plant somehow been secretly producing nuclear-grade fissionables?"
They have been burning plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel in reactor three which is more dangerous than the usual uranium fuel. Not exactly a secret though.
Que chinguen a Su madre los que cancelaron Madoka.
Saludos del otro lado del charco
Quiero a madoka de vuelta!!!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYAAAAYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!
onde esta mi madoka! y mi demo del touhou 13!
viva peron!
Viva los sudacas! panchitos!
Sorry my spanish is too bad.
porque mas bien no se dedican a ayudar a japon y asi tendran mas rapido su madoka?
y no la cancelaron, solo detuvieron su tranmision por tiempo indefinido
idiotas
ara nunca crei escuchar de peron en este blog XD igual tiene razon no la cancelaron solo detuvieron la tranmision como muchas otras series(Index,stardriver,etc)
on the other side of the nuclear threat that is disturbing and the worst is that the information is becoming more confusing hopefully not a major disaster occurs
So.. Ishithara saying this is divine retribution and now PM saying Eastern Japan might be doomed.
Japan is in need of some dire need of some confidence boost. Someone throw them a bone and say things will get better.
"no la cancelaron, solo detuvieron su tranmision por tiempo indefinido"
"no su Señoría sr. Juez, yo no la maté, sólo tuve una participación circunstancial en su paro cardiorespiratorio"
y bueno... gambare Japan!
(panchito? you wanna a hotdog?)
aweonao, lee bien las noticias antes de emitir opiniones, no la cancelaron. métete tus saludos en el culo