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Thursday, March 17, 2011

World Nuclear News Update

Worth it.
Power cable in.

NISA 28th update, as of 5:30 on the 17th their time. Diesel generator working and is being used alternately for both 5 & 6. Some data on those reactors.

KI and You; it's not necessarily a beautiful relationship.

Comments:
7 out of 300 million doesn't sound so bad. How many draino calls do they get in a typical week? How many iodine calls have they fielded?

What ticks me off, is the likely over-reaction the other way. Instead of suffering 7 fools, the FDA will make it so you have to pay a ransom to a licensed "medical gatekeeper", to get the stuff. And hey, it's not like the govt can be trusted to have enough on hand. An accident happens half a world away and suddenly the US is sold-out for a month?

And what do they have against the Chinese hoarding iodized salt? As far as I can tell they hoard everything over there... rice, copper, condos. Besides, it's not sooo hard to isolate the iodide out of a iodized salt. I bet it's on Wikipedia. Sure, wouldn't be my first choice, but if KI is outlawed all we're left with is back-alleys and DIY, just like herb and hooch. We've been down this road before. I blame women's suffrage.
 
Allan - surely making it prescription only would be self-defeating. If we ever do need it, it will have to be taken quickly by a very large number of people.

And realistically, most will probably have to have on hand beforehand. That's why a lot of people who live near reactors keep it. Cheap insurance.

Having it available isn't the problem. Lack of clear communication is the problem.
 
Dear Mom,
on one of my occasional visits to your excellent blog I see you have been displaying much anxiety about events in Japan. Quite right so perhaps. But it did strike me that you are concentrating on the nuclear aspects to the exclusion of those lost or who are bereft of all they once had.

While I appreciate the worries all we can do from a distance is pray for the people working to overcome the difficulties, some of whom are perhaps taking risks that may have consequences. I hope they will get on top of matters in the next week, especially those to do with Daiichi #4 whose fuel is in the building pond.

Please do not lose all hope and remember that they will be doing their very best in horrendous circumstances, so say a silent prayer for them.

Regards Barry (UK reader)
 
MoM, you're too nice. :-)
 
Barry - I am sorry, I cannot write about the quake/aftershock/tsunami part. It is too similar to Katrina.

US coverage of Katrina was terribly bad, so few understand that power and road access was knocked out over hundred of miles, and way inland.

I cannot even watch much of the live Japanese coverage related to the Daiichi plant control efforts because they keep cutting to relief efforts, and over it I see a series of images from what I saw in the Katrina zone.

Deaths from the quake, aftershocks and tsunami plus the logistical limitations on effective relief efforts for the survivors should be far higher than those related to the Daiichi nuclear crisis.

Over 20K deaths it looks like so far, and every day now they are probably see 50-350 extra deaths that would be unavoidable if they had full resources.
 
Dear Mom,
I recall Katrina well thanks to the wide coverage it gained via the web. An exercise I pursued in the aftermath to try and glean the lessons.

I see the similarities although of course what Japan has just experienced is far worse because there was so little warning. At least Katrina announced it was coming and thanks to superb forecasting everyone was, or should have been ready.

That this proved not to be the case is down to human cussedness and those historic decisions that led to building a city where it had no place to be. The old part of New Orleans might have been ok but ramshackle levees are no match for mother nature when indignant.

I understand that part of town has been largely abandoned. Is that so?

Anyway I sympathise with your sentiments, take it one day at a time, but still say a silent prayer for those who need it.

The latest updates seem to show that matters are not getting anyworse at Daiichi, but there is so much to do to help the million or more who need help.

Regards Barry
 
Barry - oh, I don't mean to imply that these situations are in any equivalent. Japan is a much, much worse situation.

It's not just the lack of warning they had. The quakes continue.

But logistically - the timing - those situations are similar, and one of the problems in Daiichi is that it may cut transportation routes. It's not helping.

I have been praying for them hours each day. Many of the survivors will not know the fate of others in their families for weeks.
 
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