Real Soon Now …
Via Mary at Left Coaster, check out the Japan Quake Map, a time-lapse graphic that shows what has been happening off the coast of Japan since March 11th. The colors correspond to the depth of the ‘quakes, while the diameter of the circles indicate the strength.
The BBC offers today’s update:
Tokyo’s tap water is unfit for babies to drink after radiation from Japan’s quake-hit nuclear plant affected the capital’s water supply, officials said.
Radioactive iodine levels in some areas were twice the recommended safe level.
People in Fukushima prefecture, where the nuclear plant is located, have been told not to eat certain vegetables because of contamination worries.
Workers have been temporarily evacuated from the plant after black smoke was seen rising from reactor No 3.
…The confirmed death toll from the earthquake and tsunami has risen to 9,408, and more than 14,700 people are listed as missing.
An estimated half a million people have been made homeless and some 300,000 people remain in evacuation centres or temporary housing.
…Meanwhile, work has been halted at the Fukushima Daiichi plant after black smoke was seen rising from reactor 3.
Radiation levels were reported to be unusually high before the smoke was spotted; they later fell but remain higher than in recent days.
Engineers were earlier forced to halt testing of the electrical system at reactor 2 after radiation levels spiked. There is also concern about the rising temperature at reactor 1.
…Tepco has said restoring power to all the reactor units could take weeks or even months. Engineers’ efforts have been frequently hampered by smoke and spikes in radiation.
On Tuesday, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) senior official, James Lyons, said he could not confirm that the damaged reactors were “totally intact” or if they were cracked and leaking radiation.
To summarize: The contamination is getting worse and more widespread. They have no idea when or if they will get cooling for the reactors working. They have no idea how bad the situation is.
The government has said that TEPCO with pay for the losses sustained by the farmers, which is all well and good, but you can’t eat money. Money has no intrinsic value. The value of money is in what it can buy. If there is no safe food, what good is the money?
