The Japanese the government and power company officials announced
that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has agreed to examine
the damaged Kashiwahara reactor and report to the public on its
conditions. This tells me the public does not trust the Japanese
government or the power companies! It is embarrassing. The government
is scrambling to establish credibility because there is a national
election this week, and tourism in the area has dropped off
precipitously and people are refusing to eat produce or fish from the
area because they fear radioactive contamination.
Ah, here is a news article in English:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=ag2oi7qye.Z4&refer=japan
NHK news on Sunday showed several still photos and videos of the
damaged plant, for the first in-depth look. They showed a grainy
still photo of the toppled radwaste drums, and several shots of
buckled roads, retaining walls and building walls with gaps and . . .
umm . . . (dansou in Japanese -- not sure what they are called in
English) . . . shear faults: vertical gaps as large as ~1 meter where
the land fell leaving the wall exposed or collapsed. Despite the
damage, the main facility seems intact to me, but who knows. The IAEA
will soon know.
Power company and government officials say they had no idea the plant
was near a major earthquake fault. It looks to me it is right on top
of a fault! Japan is the most earthquake prone country on earth, and
they spend billions researching and preparing for earthquakes, so I
do not believe for a second that they were unaware of this fault. The
public does not trust them because they say things like this.
The earthquake also damaged a Riken Corp. factory that produces a
engine parts for, it turns out, most cars made in Japan, including
cars by Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mitusbishi. Because they use
"just-in-time" supplies, production lines all over the country are
shutting down for lack of piston rings. Apparently they put all their
eggs in one basket. 600 experts were dispatched to the factory and I
think NHK said that partial production has already resumed, and the
factory will be fully back on line this week.
I have complained about the incompetence of officials in Japan during
this disaster, but I must say, overall they've done a splendid job.
Perhaps this is because of the upcoming election, as I said, but
that's the beauty of elections: officials at every level are
scrambling! The news showed a five-minute segment of Prime Minister
Abe sitting at a long table surrounded by local and national
officials and military people, and he was talking about diapers.
Diapers! Also hand wipes, water, electric fans and portable air
conditioners. What a contrast with the US response to Katrina! I
expect Japanese officials were thinking about Katrina, and also the
Japanese government's inept response to the 1995 Kobe earthquake.
Local neighborhood organizations also worked well in this disaster. I
have read that in major disasters affecting entire geographic areas,
most victims are rescued by neighbors and ordinary people, rather
than rescue workers. After the Kobe earthquake officials organized
neighborhood-watch groups to help old and disabled people. Thousands
of volunteers arrived from all over the country over the weekend to
assist in the cleanup.
Another remarkable technical accomplishment reported on the news is
an Internet connected earthquake warning device. Several of these
experimental gadgets were installed in houses in the prefecture. When
seismology lab sensors detect early waves, they issue an alarm over
the Internet ~30 seconds to one minute before the main quake shock
waves. Several of these devices worked according to spec. They flash
a light and chant in robotic Japanese "earthquake, earthquake,
earthquake . . ." Unfortunately, they were in houses distant from the
epicenter where the magnitude was only 4 or 5 and there was little
damage. I do not think any were installed in the severely damaged
areas. Still, they went off, and one mother and child interviewed on
the news said they had time to get out of the house before the quake
struck. Even 30 seconds warning would save lives.
- Jed
