Has it just come down to this with mainstream msm in Japan and Japan pols and corporate elites - radiation readings for the sheeple ? And more on unit 4 as it continues its slow decline .....

http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/07/radiation-reading-on-weather-forecast-of-fukushima/

Radiation reading on weather forecast of Fukushima

Posted by Mochizuki on July 8th, 2012 · 1 Comment

This tweet grabbed my attention.

In Fukushima, NTV reports radiation level on weather forecast like precipitation.

よく見て、、、天気予報、降水量じゃない。今の福島、なう。twitter.com/bluesnow20tama…

— たまさん (@bluesnow20tama6) 7月 6, 2012

<Translate>

Look at this carefully. It’s weather forecast, but not precipitation. This is how Fukushima is at this moment.

<End>

and real men don't let jellyfish stop them.....

Ooi Nuke Plant Restart: Senior Vice Minister Tells KEPCO "Lowly Jerryfish Should Never Stop a Modern Nuclear Power Plant!"

Little does he know about nuclear power plants.

As the readers of this blog have tirelessly pointed out, jellyfish and nuclear power plants go together very well. (For more info, here, and here, for a start.)

But never mind that. To Seishu Makino, Senior Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, it's all about your fighting spirit. Against jellyfish.

From Jiji Tsushin (7/9/2012):

関西電力大飯原発３号機（福井県おおい町）がフル稼働に達したのを受け、安全監視の現地責任者の牧野聖修経済産業副大臣は９日未明、同町で記者団に「行き詰まっていたエネルギー政策が一歩前進した喜びはあるが、４号機の再稼働までミッション（任務）は続く。今まで以上に気を引き締め、安全のための職務を遂行したい」と語った。大飯４号機は１８日に原子炉を起動し、２１日にも発電と送電を再開する予定。

On the resumption of full operation of Reactor 3 at KEPCO Ooi Nuclear Power Plant (Ooi-cho, Fukui Prefecture), Senior Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Seishu Makino, who is in charge of special surveillance on site to secure safety, spoke to the press in Ooi-cho in the early hours on July 9. "I am happy that it is a one step forward for the energy policy that has been deadlocked. But the mission [he actually said this word in English, instead of using the perfectly good Japanese word for it] continues until Reactor 4 restarts. We will gird ourselves more, and perform our duty to insure safety", he said. Reactor 4 at Ooi is scheduled to restart on July 18, with power generation and transmission to restart on July 21.

また、３号機の海水取水口周辺でクラゲが大量発生し、出力低下が懸念されたことには、「科学技術の粋を集めた原発で、クラゲごときに惑わされてはいけない」と関電に対策を指示したと述べた。

Commenting on the concern for the power decline because of jellyfish swarmed near the water intake for Reactor 3, he said he instructed KEPCO to come up with countermeasure, because "We must not be disturbed by [lowly creasures like] jellyfish, at a nuclear power plant built with the best of science and technology."

That this person can only talk in cliches is amazing, and in this case extremely funny (for Japanese speakers).

One of my Japanese Twitter followers just tweeted me that the jellyfish at Ooi Nuke Plant are recognized as "enemy" of some sorts by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Science. Enemy, like a alien monster in a Godzilla movie.

NISA's email to journalists on the Ooi jellyfish that swarmed the water intake apparently describes the incident as "jellyfish attack/invasion" (クラゲ来襲）. Any Japanese who sees this word 来襲 would associate it with those alien monsters from outer space to be repelled by Godzilla or Ultraman.

The follower who tweeted the NISA's characterization of the incident astutely observes that this senior vice minister sounds (and looks, too) like the fictional minister in charge of science and technology who appears in those Godzilla/Ultraman movies and makes a futile attempt after futile attempt to direct the Self Defense Force to repel the alien monster invasion, telling them "We can't be defeated by such a creature! We will commandeer the best of the best of our science and technology to repel and destroy it!"

Someone already created an image of jellyfish swarming and protesting "再稼動反対　Saikado Hantai" (against restart).

and......


http://www.rense.com/general95/degra.html

Degraded Reactor 4 Structure Shows Signs Of Sinkage By Yoichi Shimatsu Exclusive to Rense.com 7-7-12

A few years ago, I had to make a decision to  either restore an old school building in Hong Kong for an environmental center - or demolish it. The long concrete structure was built atop a garbage dump, and the final decision was demolition due to uneven sinkage. Whenever heavy buildings are not foursquare and level, massive internal stresses build up and rip the structure apart. In a recent helicopter photo of Reactor 4, seen from the east (ocean side), there are similar signs of building sinkage. Along the middle-to-northeast corner (right side), cross beams have fallen out, and at least two adjoining pillars are of different height. The outer wall panels cracked and fell off as a result.  (Plus one can see clear through from the east to northeast through a gaping hole.) Cross beams snap off due to the displacement of pillars in opposite directions What the combination indicates is that the footing of the structure has cracked completely, with two-thirds of the building sinking at a slight angle into the broken edge, while the smaller north side, relieved of load, gradually rises with a series of popping noises. This springboard effect is  audible  whenever a column lurches upward, like the two pillars o n the right-hand side lifting the floor above it and breaking out. (The pincher-clawed back-hoe is parked on a pad that spreads the weight over the precarious structure.) It is very probable that the reactor below is tilting as well. The concrete footing for the structure is too thick to crack under weight alone or even in a major quake, and so the cleavage was probably caused by the corium searing along a line. Once burned, the concrete and rebar lose their strength and can buckle and crack under seismic vibrations and weight from above - especially if the ground is unstable. The March 11 quake probably caused liquefaction that opened an empty pocket below the footing, and water seepage from the tsunami, rainstorms and coolant leakage subsequently eroded the soil. Since the spent fuel pools are on the south side, the strongest end of the broken structure, one metal tank still appears to be intact, judging from the corner that can be seen.The twisted, overheated metal leaning out of the holes around the spent fuel pool indicate the framework under the pool is wrecked. If the pools are still level, it would be nothing short of miraculous. Odds are that the pools are tilting, adding massive stress to the    whatever remains of the supporting frame. The steel plate over the now-exposed floor/ceiling could be there to prevent people from seeing that the spent fuel pool is tilting and lower than its former position due to the bending of the metal frame below. A tarp would have been melted by the heat released from the jostling of the pool and loss of water in the two series of 2012 quakes that further degraded the structure. Two sheets of steel plate could resist temperature build-ups of up to about 1,000 C or around 2,000 F before bending. Notably, open space is left on either side of the plates to allow heat escape. The presence of the plates point to  flaring temperatures  on occasion since the spent pool fires of March 14 and 16, 2011. The demolition work of June 26 had to be done to remove the weight of the upper walls. This is consistent with what must be done when the footing is cracked and lower floors are tilting inward, causing stress buildup throughout the entire fabric of the structure. That old school building rocked like a boat whenever a bus or truck passed by on the adjoining road. For Fukushima workers, it would be terrifying to be on top of a fractured structure that amplifies seismic waves. The ongoing self-destruction is inexorable and cannot be repaired or reversed. When I checked the foundation of the old school structure, the concrete was broken clean through in many places along roughly parallel lines. Fixing a broken foundation is impossible, especially when it is on uneven landfill, since the rubble below will firmly not hold up an injection of concrete or jacking. Our team considered the possibility of artificial support for that school building but quickly gave up the idea as unfeasible. The far heavier Reactor 4 structure is following the same pattern of step-by-step degradation, or  phased collapse, in which the stress factors are so complex that there is no way to predict when or what part will be the next to go. The rate of soil loss under the structure is still the determining factor leading to a final collapse, and this problem of soil sinkage effects the entire Fukushima No.1 plant site, which rests on landfill compromised by  quake-caused liquefaction, erosion by the tsunami, incessant water leakage and melt-through of escaped nuclear fuel. Engineers therefore had to push back the TEPCO plan to remove two fuel rods from Reactor 4 in this month of July. For the same reason of soil instability no attempt has been made to set up a scaffolding or crane along the south wall to lift rods into a casket. Instead of an apocalyptic moment, as most observers had anticipated, the ongoing degradation of Reactor 4 remains one of nerve-racking suspense, of waiting for the next beam to drop. Author: Yoichi Shimatsu is an environmental writer and consultant based in Southeast Asia.