Strong earthquake hits Kanto region

[robdogbucky]

Strong earthquake hits Kanto region

A strong earthquake jolted the metropolitan Tokyo area on Friday evening.

The quake registered 5-minus on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7 in the city of Mouka in southern Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo.

There is no possibility of a tsunami.

The Meteorological Agency estimates the quake at magnitude 5-point-4, with a focus 66 kilometers underground in southern Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo.

Friday, July 15, 2011 21:22 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/15_41.html




Finding that radiation-tainted straw was produced far from nuclear plant causes shock

Revelations that radiation-contaminated rice straw used as feed for beef cattle was produced far away from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant have sent shockwaves through the livestock farming community in Fukushima Prefecture.

Consumers have also been filled with a sense of growing distrust in the government over delays in responding to the problem of radiation-tainted beef.

Forty-two beef cows that ate rice straw contaminated with radioactive cesium were found to have been shipped from a livestock farm in the Fukushima Prefecture town of Asakawa from April 8. The rice straw had been supplied by a farmer in Shirakawa, about 75 kilometers away from the tsunami-hit nuclear power station.

"It's unbelievable that this (contamination) occurred in an area so far away from the nuclear plant," said a 34-year-old man who has run a livestock farm in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, for nearly 10 years...

(Mainichi Japan) July 15, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110715p2a00m0na002000c.html




TEPCO checking for gas leak from No. 3 reactor

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is checking for gas leaks in the No. 3 reactor, into which nitrogen is being injected to prevent a hydrogen explosion.

Tokyo Electric Power Company has injected more than 200 cubic meters of nitrogen into the reactor's containment vessel since Thursday evening. But it says the interior air pressure has increased very little.

TEPCO says gas may be leaking from a damaged part of the container.

Also on Friday, TEPCO restarted a system for decontaminating highly radioactive water after a 9-hour stoppage to vent air from a pipe that was slowing down operations...

Friday, July 15, 2011 20:14 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/15_37.html




420 million yen stolen from ATMs near Fukushima nuclear plant

Some 420 million yen was stolen from ATMs near the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant between the onset of the nuclear disaster and the end of June, National Police Agency (NPA) figures have shown.

Figures released by the NPA on July 14 showed thieves broke into convenience stores within the 20-kilometer evacuation zone around the plant 25 times during the period, stealing roughly 420 million yen from ATMs in the stores. There were also 106 cases of vacant houses being burglarized.

Access to the zone was restricted by the government on April 22. Police stepped up checkpoints and other control measures from early April, and the NPA believes that most of the burglaries occurred between the onset of the nuclear disaster and the end of March.

Convenience store ATM burglaries also occurred in areas outside the 20-kilometer zone where residents evacuated due to tsunami damage. As of the end of June, there were 14 confirmed cases in Miyagi Prefecture in which some 165 million yen was stolen, four cases in Fukushima Prefecture in which 57 million yen was taken, and two cases in Iwate Prefecture in which thieves took 27 million yen...

(Mainichi Japan) July 15, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110715p2a00m0na009000c.html




TEPCO deadline looms

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is aiming to meet its first stage deadline to bring the plant under control by injecting nitrogen into its No.3 reactor containment vessel. But a problematic wastewater system may delay their goal...

...The injection is essential for the utility to complete the first step of its plan to bring the plant under the control by the target date of July 17th.

But a French-made system installed to recycle radioactive wastewater continues to work below its target capacity. The device is meant to decontaminate radioactive wastewater and send it back into the reactors as coolant. Tokyo Electric says the problem has been malfunctioning filters.

The utility plans to introduce a newly developed device as an alternative in August.

Friday, July 15, 2011 02:16 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/15_03.html




TEPCO again stops key reactor cooling system

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant continues to struggle in its efforts to stably cool the facility's reactors. Workers have again halted a key wastewater system after discovering that it was operating below capacity.

Early Friday morning, Tokyo Electric Power Company stopped the system, which decontaminates and recycles radioactive wastewater. The system had just resumed operation on Thursday after a leak was repaired.

TEPCO says it found that even after the repair, the system was able to treat only 37 tons of contaminated water per hour, which is 20 percent below target. The company is now inspecting the cause.

TEPCO says the latest shutdown had not led to a rise in fuel rod temperatures, as cooling operations are continuing with water that had previously been decontaminated...

Friday, July 15, 2011 12:51 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/15_17.html




Fukushima hay tests high for cesium

Fukushima Prefecture says hay found with radioactive cesium far exceeding safety limits had been left outdoors for at least 4 days after the March 11th disaster.

It says the hay was collected from 7 farms in Shirakawa, a city about 80 kilometers southwest of the crippled nuclear power plant. Tests found up to 97,000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram of hay -- 73 times the government-set safety limit.

The city lies outside the government-designated evacuation zone.

The hay was later wrapped and stored inside a barn in the city. A farm in Asakawa Town, located near the power plant, bought the hay in early April and fed it to its cattle...


Friday, July 15, 2011 06:48 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/15_04.html






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1. kick

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[Kaleko]

2. K & R

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3. K&R for Truth we are not getting from ABCNNBCBSFixedNoiseNutworks...

...and the rest of Corporate McPravda.

Thank you, robdogbucky! Your Journal is a must-read for all interested in Fukushima and its people.