Fukushima what the BBC reports and what it does not

The BBC love to report any negative news arising from the tsunami hitting the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. Search for Fukushima on the BBC news website and there are lots of articles many insinuating that the plant suffered more than has been admitted or just scaremongering. What you will not find is any mention of the IAEA's interim report on the Fukushima incident pdf here. Here are some extracts that I would have thought that an unbiased news organisation would want to report:

'The expert team made several preliminary findings and lessons learned, including:

* Japan's response to the nuclear accident has been exemplary, particularly illustrated by the dedicated, determined and expert staff working under exceptional circumstances;
* Japan's long-term response, including the evacuation of the area around stricken reactors, has been impressive and well organized. A suitable and timely follow-up programme on public and worker exposures and health monitoring would be beneficial;

...

To date no health effects have been reported in any person as a result of radiation exposure from the nuclear accident.'

It seems that the BBC are a little put out that despite a major earthquake and resultant tsunami that killed tens of thousands of Japanese people, the nuclear plant at Fukushima did not kill many more. In fact whilst the nuclear fuel rods did melt, the resultant radiation was largely contained in the reactors as it was designed to be. There were mass evacuations and the IAEA say that these were 'hard to justify on safety grounds'. They were easy to justify on the grounds that the word radiation causes panic amongst the unscientific majority.

The BBC are not alone in this love of disasters and reporting just bad news BUT they are meant to be unbiased, they are meant to report all the news not just that which fits their world view AND most importantly I am forced to pay for their news reporting so I should be able to hold them to account.

The most incredible piece of video footage of the recent post earthquake Japanes tsunami

I believe the footage is from Minami-Sanriku. The power of the earth's natural forces never ceases to amaze me.

Rescued after three weeks at sea following the Japanese tsunami

Rescued from floating wreckage some way off the Japanese coast, a small wiry dog who must have been very scared, hungry and thirsty for the last three weeks.

The bravest man alive?

Hideaki Akaiwa may be the bravest man alive; for the story of how he dived into the tsunami waters to rescue his wife, then his mother and then others take a read of this bad ass of the week article, there is a language warning but the story is uplifting.

Hideaki Akaiwa I salute you.

Life in north-east Japan post the earthquake and tsunami

Japanese residents forced to wash their dirty laundry in a river, can you imagine how you would feel if you were put in this situation.

The coastal town of Otsuchi has all but been reduced to nothing by the disaster, with more than half the 17,000 residents killed.


What has happened to this part of Japan is almost beyond belief and I really feel for them.

Japan earthquake update

Brave New Climate explains what's really happening in Japan's nuclear power plants and it's a tad more complex than the BBC make out! Here's an extract:

'Now, where does that leave us?

• The plant is safe now and will stay safe.
• Japan is looking at an INES Level 4 Accident: Nuclear accident with local consequences. That is bad for the company that owns the plant, but not for anyone else.
• Some radiation was released when the pressure vessel was vented. All radioactive isotopes from the activated steam have gone (decayed). A very small amount of Cesium was released, as well as Iodine. If you were sitting on top of the plants’ chimney when they were venting, you should probably give up smoking to return to your former life expectancy. The Cesium and Iodine isotopes were carried out to the sea and will never be seen again.
• There was some limited damage to the first containment. That means that some amounts of radioactive Cesium and Iodine will also be released into the cooling water, but no Uranium or other nasty stuff (the Uranium oxide does not “dissolve” in the water). There are facilities for treating the cooling water inside the third containment. The radioactive Cesium and Iodine will be removed there and eventually stored as radioactive waste in terminal storage.
• The seawater used as cooling water will be activated to some degree. Because the control rods are fully inserted, the Uranium chain reaction is not happening. That means the “main” nuclear reaction is not happening, thus not contributing to the activation. The intermediate radioactive materials (Cesium and Iodine) are also almost gone at this stage, because the Uranium decay was stopped a long time ago. This further reduces the activation. The bottom line is that there will be some low level of activation of the seawater, which will also be removed by the treatment facilities.
• The seawater will then be replaced over time with the “normal” cooling water
• The reactor core will then be dismantled and transported to a processing facility, just like during a regular fuel change.
• Fuel rods and the entire plant will be checked for potential damage. This will take about 4-5 years.
• The safety systems on all Japanese plants will be upgraded to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami (or worse)
• I believe the most significant problem will be a prolonged power shortage. About half of Japan’s nuclear reactors will probably have to be inspected, reducing the nation’s power generating capacity by 15%. This will probably be covered by running gas power plants that are usually only used for peak loads to cover some of the base load as well. That will increase your electricity bill, as well as lead to potential power shortages during peak demand, in Japan.

If you want to stay informed, please forget the usual media outlets and consult the following websites:

• http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Battle_to_stabilise_earthquake_reactors_1203111.html
• http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/12/japan-nuclear-earthquake/
• http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2011/03/11/media-updates-on-nuclear-power-stations-in-japan/'

Here's a rather low-key piece of video showing how the earthquakeimpacted some way away from the epicentre; the moving earth from 1:28 is seriously weird.


Meanwhile this link takes you to some seriously scary video of the tsunami flooding through Kesennuma, in Miyagi Prefecture.

PicassaWeb has some interesting photos from Japan and Boing Boing has an interesting 'Nuclear energy 101: Inside the "black box" of power plants' for anyone whose knowledge of nuclear power begins and ends with Homer Simpson's workplace.

The most incredible photos post the Japanese earthquake and tsunami

ABC Australia have the most incredibly detailed photos of Sendai, Natori, the Fukushima nuclear plant and more. Just pull the divide left and right for the before and after shots. Beautiful and very scary; I am not sure that people realise the true extent of the devastation that north east Japan has experienced.

The Japanese tsunami

There are some seriously scary videos of what's happened in Japan today as a result of the earthquake, this one shows just part of the force that nature can unleash against us...


This one shows just the sheer amount of water involved...


And this one the tsunami at an airport...


However it would seem that tsunamis are not that unknown in Japan. Here's some footage of one from 1983 hitting the Japanese fishing harbour of Wajima on Noto Peninsula...


And from 1993 footage of the aftermath of a devastating tsunami wave along the coasts of Hokkaidō resulting from a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, 80 miles offshore...

Tsunami watch

Following the earthquake in Japan this morning I thought this tsunami waning chart might be of interest...

Meanwhile I hear from Tokyo that the metro is not running and that many telephone lines are out of action. Is the Super Moon to blame? More on that later...