Tuesday Fukushima updates

Stricken Fukushima nuke plant leaking oil

By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer

Oil was leaking into the sea from heavy oil tanks for reactors 5 and 6 at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Tuesday, adding the spill may have been ongoing since the March 11 quake and tsunami.

Tepco said workers at the site saw an oil slick floating on the sea at 8 a.m. Tuesday near the intakes of units 5 and 6.

The oil slick is believed to be 200 to 300 meters long.

The total amount of oil that has leaked is still unknown, and the utility plans to set up a boom to prevent the slick from spreading…

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110531x3.html




Heavy rains bring flooding, mudslides to disaster-hit Tohoku area

A low pressure zone formed from Typhoon No. 2 brought about heavy rains and winds that pounded the country from Kyushu in the southwest to Tohoku in the northeast on May 30, bringing flooding and mudslides in areas already hard-hit by the March 11 disasters.

Weather across the country improved on May 31, but the Japan Meteorological Agency was continuing to warn people to be careful of mudslides as there are areas where earthquakes and rain have loosened the ground. The agency also called for people to beware of high ocean waves caused by strong winds.

Rainfall over a 24-hour period from May 29 to May 30 was the highest 24-hour rainfall on record at eight measuring locations across the four prefectures of Fukui, Shiga, Kyoto and Tokushima, with the town of Oi in Fukui recording 370 millimeters...

...The meteorological agency forecasted very strong winds on May 31 for the Kanto region and the Pacific side of the Tohoku region. The agency warned that from May 31 until June 7 ocean levels will be high along the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region, where the ground was lowered in areas by the March 11 earthquake, and there will be the possibility of flooding.

(Mainichi Japan) May 31, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110531p2a00m0na007000c.html




TEPCO begins streaming video of Fukushima nuclear plant on homepage

Anyone seeking a peek inside the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant can now check up on the goings on there anytime of the day with a new 24-hour camera feed, available through plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)'s website.

TEPCO put the feed from the "Fuku-Ichi Live Camera" up on its homepage at 10 a.m. on May 31. The camera is mounted close to the plant's main administrative building, about 250 meters from the No. 1 reactor, and provides views of reactors No. 1 to 4. The video relay will lag about 30 seconds. TEPCO also says it hopes to provide annotations to explain any fires or other serious events captured by the camera.

The video feed can be found at: http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/f1-np/camera/index-j.html.

(Mainichi Japan) May 31, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110531p2a00m0na001000c.html




Kan rejects opposition calls to resign; vows to bring nuclear crisis under control

Prime Minister Naoto Kan rejected calls for his resignation by the largest opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on May 31, saying he cannot abandon his duty to bring the ongoing catastrophe at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant under control and overcome the national crisis...

..."I cannot abandon responsibility for what I have to do now. It is my role to settle the nuclear power accident (and overcome the crises)," Kan told the Diet session. "I am determined to fulfill that responsibility."
Nakagawa, a former LDP secretary-general, blasted the Kan government for its handling of the nuclear disaster and said, "Regrettably, we have to give you the coup de grace. We have no choice but to submit a no-confidence motion against your Cabinet..."

..."The prime minister appeared to have made decisions on specific measures in his office at the time, and we were told (by a senior TEPCO official in the office) that a continuation of seawater injections was difficult)," Muto explained.
(Mainichi Japan) May 31, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110531p2a00m0na014000c.html

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

:wtf:

PB

I suspect there are a lot of oil spill there, and have been since March 11.