Tokyo 2020 Bid News

[paul]

No no no...
They have no way to safely remove the rods, they are desperately trying to plan how to do it. It will be VERY difficult and has to be done without computers, by hand. There is a huge risk involved, this is not over. The cranes that remove the rods are collapsed into the pools or whats left of the pools and the whole thing is a mangled mess.

Fukushima Headed for Meltdown?

Added by James Turnage on August 20, 2013.
Saved under James Turnage, Japan, World
Tags: spot

Revelations of 1,300 fuel rods weighing 400 tons which need to be removed from Fukushima reactor number 4 last week, created cause for more than alarm; a major disaster is now an extreme possibility. They must be removed by hand, and one at a time. While Japan and the world wait, many are asking; ‘Is Fukushima headed for a meltdown?

Tuesday, TEPCO, Tokyo Electric Power Company, which is charge of the clean-up, admitted that at least 300 tons of ‘highly contaminated’ water has been released into the ocean, and it is continuing. All of the storage tanks for contaminated water used to cool the fuel rods have been full for some time. Makeshift receptacles have been used and are overflowing. TEPCO said that until Monday morning they had not believed that the ‘highly contaminated’ water had flowed into the Pacific Ocean.

A spokesman says that about 300 tons of water are leaking each day, and that it is a very real possibility that the leakage has been constant since the tsunami destroyed much of the Fukushima plant and caused a triple meltdown on March 11, 2011, after a 9.0 earthquake struck off the Japanese coast.

An official from Japan’s nuclear regulation authority said: “We have instructed TEPCO to find the source of contaminated water – from which tank the water is leaking – and to seal the leakage point.

“We have also instructed them to retrieve contaminated soil to avoid a further expansion of toxic water, and to strengthen monitoring of the surrounding environment.”

But, is it too late?

The incident in 2011 was given a severity level of ‘7,’ the same as Chernobyl 25 years earlier. Japan’s nuclear regulatory agency gives this a level ‘1.’

What is being called a puddle, was discovered near one of the storage tanks, registered 100 millisieverts an hour; five times the annual exposure limit for nuclear plant workers in Japan.

TEPCO’s inability has caused Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to lose faith in the company, and is beginning to believe they will be unable to secure the situation without the assistance of the government.

Other nations are voicing serious concerns regarding seepage into the Pacific, primarily South Korea.

The question to be asked is; ‘if TEPCO cannot control the contaminated water, should they be trusted to remove the more dangerous fuel rods?’

One incident with a fuel rod could begin a chain reaction that would be unstoppable, resulting in an even more serious meltdown.

James Turnage Reporting

Edited August 25, 2013 by paul

[phandrosis]

So they are doing something then?

[Athensfan]

So they are doing something then?

What a strange response to this news. Do you understand the gravity of this situation? Do you see how Japan is trying to minimize its importance?

[baron-pierreIV]

Paul, when do we seal ourselves in our underground bunkers??

[Jean Finel]

Disturbing thyroid cancer rise in Fukushima minors

August 21, 2013 Russia Today

90 percent of those who are exposed to hazardous level of radiation don`t meet criteria for cancer screening provided by Tokyo Electric

Power Company.

Six minors in Fukushima Prefecture who are 18 or younger have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Ten other children are believed to

have developed the same form of cancer.

The latest figures bring the number of children who have been diagnosed with having cancer to 44, up from 28 as of June. Of the 44, 18 have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and 25 others are showing symptom. Another child suspected of having cancer is later diagnosed with benign tumor.

The 2005 Japanese rate for thyroid cancer in the age 0-18 is given as 0.0 per 100,000.

There can be 200,000 cancers in 10 million of population in the 200km radius of the site in the next 10 years, and 400,000 over 50 years.

http://rt.com/news/fukushima-children-thyroid-cancer-783/

http://archive.kremlin.ru/eng/subj/22378.shtml

[paul]

New Japan.

fukushima devastation: carlos ayesta and guillaume bression - design boom

[Jean Finel]

Call for the withdrawal of Tokyo's Olympic bid

26 August 2013 Saudi Gazette

Japan is expected to issue gravest warning about the state of the Fukushima nuclear power plant on Wednesday — gravest since the facility on the Pacific Coast suffered a triple meltdown in 2011. Even if the warning does not come for some reasons — Tokyo Electric Power Co has been accused of covering up the extent of the problems at the plant — things look pretty grim. The worsening situation at Fukushima has prompted a former Japanese ambassador to Switzerland to call for the withdrawal of Tokyo's Olympic bid. South Korea's Asiana Airlines Inc. said it would cancel charter flights between Seoul and Fukushima due to public concerns over the radioactive water leaks. Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority, likens the stricken nuclear plant to a house of horrors at an amusement park.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130826178158

[paul]

Fukushima: a disaster with a long half-life-Al Jazeera

The Japanese are masters of self-restraint, stoic despite great suffering. You are reminded of this when you consider the disaster at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant: 18,600 dead or missing, 160,000 displaced because their homes were destroyed or contaminated, and an unresolved radioactive catastrophe that rivals Chernobyl.

But unlike Chernobyl, which was contained fairly quickly, Dai-ichi is a slow, simmering, leaking menace.

Almost three years have passed since the power station was damaged, and it is clear that while its location on the coast and surrounded by rivers aided the initial battle against its three meltdowns, it is now hindering its full shutdown. The reactors are leaking radiation, and the area is still too dangerous to approach.

In short, it cannot be contained.

Proposals to seal off the area, drain the water table, treat the radioactive waste and fix dangerously broken reactor number 4 come and go. Nothing much actually happens.

Edited August 26, 2013 by paul

[mattygs]

Paul, when do we seal ourselves in our underground bunkers??

It's too late for me Baron, I was there 2 months after Fukushima, im positively glowing and without a doubt completely sterile.

However, I am happy to see our friend Jean back on the scene.

[FYI]

Doesn't it seem odd that the last four doom & gloom Tokyo posts are by paul & the troll jean finel. And the last two are only 25 minutes apart, hmmmmm. :-/

[runningrings]

Is Paul the mult??

[baron-pierreIV]

Do Paul and "Jean Finel" own majority stock in Hazmat clean-up firms??

[paul]

Doesn't it seem odd that the last four doom & gloom Tokyo posts are by paul & the troll jean finel. And the last two are only 25 minutes apart, hmmmmm. :-/

I don’t know any of those “Fukashima only” posters. I’m posting cuz it’s unbelievably nuts how numb everybody seems to be to the crisis. There are soooooooooooooo may major stories every day…….I don’t think anyone is even listening… And that’s what Japan and Tokyo 2020 bid leaders are hoping. I’m about to give up on this, it’ll take another - melt down to get your attention, and that’s a real possibility.

Fukushima Leaks Prompt Government to ‘Emergency Measures’ (1) - Bloomberg

“We’ve allowed Tokyo Electric to deal with the contaminated water situation on its own and they’ve essentially turned it into a game of ‘Whack-a-Mole,’” Trade Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters today at Fukushima. “From now on, the government will move to the forefront.”

Fukushima operator to seek foreign advice on toxic water-Reuters

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority said last week it feared the disaster was "in some respects" beyond Tepco's ability to cope.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday visited Chernobyl in Ukraine, the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster, and said he hoped to apply lessons learned there to Fukushima. ...great news.

[Athensfan]

Paul is not crazy and I'm really confused as to why other posters are dismissing this issue out of hand and trying to discredit him. It's a totally valid point and deserves way more attention than it's getting.

[mr.bernham]

Paul is not crazy and I'm really confused as to why other posters are dismissing this issue out of hand and trying to discredit him. It's a totally valid point and deserves way more attention than it's getting.

I agree with Athens, I think many of us want Tokyo to win and are dismissing these stories because they do damage the bid. Many are okay with pointing out Spain and Turkey's downfall, but Tokyo is the angel. Well Paris was the angle in 2012, but I recall seeing the Olympic Rings over the Tower Bridge last summer. Odd...

[baron-pierreIV]

But it's KINDA stupid. Do you really think one of the planet's MOST technologically advanced societies will just let this thing sit and fester and affect its people and waters more? Do you really think that...and if so, then you just don't know this planet yet.

Didn't they put out the burning oil wells in Kuwait?

Didn't they fix the Leaning Tower of Pisa's lean?

Didn't they clean up the Exxon Valdez and Gulf of Mexico oil spills?

Aren't they uprighting the Costa Concordia and fixing Venice's flooding problems?

And this site is 150 miles from the epicenter of a 2-week event that will take place SEVEN years from today. It just seems a HIGHLY misplaced "fear/scare" tactic esp in the light of someone who has already publicly acknowledged his dislike for the Japanes bid (as I once was) and therefore putting the two LESSER qualified bids in a better light? I mean, it's such a cheap, transparent tactic -- insulting even to one's intelligence. That's what's deplorable about paul's and jean finel's attempts.

Edited August 26, 2013 by baron-pierreIV

[paul]

Do you really think one of the planet's MOST technologically advanced societies will just let this thing sit and fester and affect its people and waters more? Do you really think that...and if so, then you just don't know this planet yet.

Yes because that's exactly what has happened for the past THREE YEARS since the quake!

And this site is 150 miles from the epicenter of a 2-week event that will take place SEVEN years from today. It just seems a HIGHLY misplaced "fear/scare" tactic esp in the light of someone who has already publicly acknowledged his dislike for the Japanes bid (as I once was) and therefore putting the two LESSER qualified bids in a better light? I mean, it's such a cheap, transparent tactic -- insulting even to one's intelligence. That's what's deplorable about paul's and jean finel's attempts.

I’ve lost interest in 2020 a while back, if I had to choose I’d choose Madrid cuz at least the people would be passionate and joyful, and Istanbul seems unsettled at this point. I also think it’s a good time for the IOC to stage a games under 40billion dollars…what a concept. And if I have to see one more Zaha Hadid twisted evil “the future as seen from 1998” concept, I’ll puke all over my Barcelona chairs.

I’m not thinking anyone can harm a bid here with forum posts, but when you bring up Japan this is all I can think about. Like I said I’m about to give it up again anyway.

Hey…..you live in California….you should take this a little more seriously. Just cuz Europe and Asia are upwind they are blowing this off but we’re/you're getting screwed.

[FYI]

I’ve lost interest in 2020 a while back, if I had to choose I’d choose Madrid cuz at least the people would be passionate and joyful, and Istanbul seems unsettled at this point.

And Spain doesn't seem "unsettled" at this point, as well? You talk about everyone just "ignoring" all about Japan's troubles, but how hypocritical & disingeneous of you, to say the least, when you're doing exactly the same with Spain. They're "unsettling" economy is blatantly a factor in a country nearing 30% unemployment. Where many of the country's young & educated are leaving for other countries to seek much better opportunities. That doesn't seem like a stable enough environment to place a gargantuan 21st Century Summer Olympic Games. And I think that Turkey's population can be just as passionate & joyful, if not moreso, in a country that's never hosted the Olympics before. Seriously, your glaring double-standards never cease to amaze me!

I also think it’s a good time for the IOC to stage a games under 40billion dollars…what a concept.

But NONE of the 2020 bidders are proposing $40 Billion Games. Tokyo's budget is just slightly over double that of Madrid's. Which quite honestly, is very low & some parts of it even cited by the IOC's 2020 E.C. I very much doubt that Madrid would be able to keep the budget at a meagher $1.9 Billion. That budget would ballon. And this is another hypocritical aspect of their campaign, when Barcelona spent over $12 Billion (in today's Olympic dollars) on their 1992 Games revitalizing their city. Now they're saying that "the IOC should be more fiscally responsible". Please, it's a convenient spin to cater it to their current tumultuous economic state. And this is also laughable coming from you, the San Diego cheerleader, where even civic leaders there have said that a Games there would cost $10 Billion. But that is of course, I'm sure on the low-end. The cost would be, at the very least, twice as much for a Games there & by 2024 Olympic dollars.

[Treo]

OMG, this 2020 race has become a race of three cities crawling on the floor, back-stabbed by their own problems, fighting to be the first to arrive in the finish line just alive enough to grasp a win. Certainly not a glamorous race...

[paul]

...just imagine how exciting it'll be at games-time when there's (take your pick):

1.Total nuclear meltdown

2.Total financial meltdown

3.Total political meltdown

[FYI]

That's your most objective post yet. And that's just it. Each of the three 2020 candidate cities all have their filthy baggage. But it's which dirty laundry does the IOC want to get down & nasty with. It's kinda like our presidential races. You're just voting for the lesser of the two (or in this case, three) evils. So based on that, & with all things being drama equal, why go with the one with the least amount of real potential.

[paul]

It's kinda like our presidential races. You're just voting for the lesser of the two (or in this case, three) evils.

.....in order of "evilness":

1. Irradiation

2. Political and social oppression

3. Being poor

[FYI]

In order of most potential:

1) "fabulous Games"

2) financially viable & organizational know-how

3) bargain basement

[world atlas]

[deloxley]

In order of most potential:

1) "fabulous Games"

2) financially viable & organizational know-how

3) bargain basement

Writing with a borrowed ipad on the street... please, somebody give me something to eat because here in Madrid, although we have an above the average per capita income and the city is home of some of Europe's largest multinationals, we are poor.

It was seen at the latest FINA world championships how poor we are and how the financial crisis, a crisis that only affects Spain and not the rest of Europe or other parts of the world. Oh, wait, other countries spent much more money rescuing their banks than we did... like for example, the UK who just organized the Olympics and some of the UK banks had to be bought by a Spanish bank called Santander.

Seriously, if you think Spain is "poor" you should come here and see it for yourself. It´s funny how some of you post here like if you were geopolitics/economic experts and it is obvious you lack a lot of knowledge.

Anyway, I think that Istanbul is again the front runner. In my opinion, Tokyo's nuclear issue is too big and Istanbul seems quiet for the moment, so that´s good for them. About Madrid, let´s see what happens... in the meantime I´ll keep begging for money. Im so hungry!