The disaster death toll is still listed at 28,000, a horrific statistic, but at this point it doesn’t seem to be increasing. While TEPCO and the government say that things are better at the Fukushima reactor, it is difficult to accept that. Rescue teams are just beginning to enter into the 12 mile evacuation zone to look for victims of the tsunami. Since beginning the search in this area a week ago, they have only covered one-sixth of the area.
It still boggles the mind when you look at the devastation. Prime Minister Kan was right when he said it was the worst crisis seen since WWII. My prediction is that they will get back on their feet in record time, but not overnight. The scale is too vast. Insurable losses are estimated to be as high at $34 billion, but note that much of Japan’s buildings are uninsured against these kinds of disaster. But the power of the free market will be up to the challenge.
Unfortunately not all of Japan’s leaders seem to know what they are doing. Check out this admission of stupidity:
Japan’s economy will overcome some temporary setbacks and may recover once reconstruction from last month’s earthquake and tsunami damage begins, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said.
“Japan’s economy will likely slump in the near-term, but it may start to recover once reconstruction activities start kicking in,” Noda said in Washington overnight, after a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from Group of 20 nations.
I’ll bet that he has never read Bastiat’s “Parable of the Broken Window.” I mean just think how great it would have been for their economy if the tsunami were 50′ high.
Radioactivity rises again in sea near No.2 reactor
The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says levels of radioactive substances in seawater have risen again near the water intake of its No.2 reactor. The Tokyo Electric Power Company, known as TEPCO, says it detected 260 becquerels of iodine-131 per cubic centimeter in samples taken on Friday. That is 6,500 times the legal limit. In the same area, levels of iodine-131 had been declining since April 2 when 7.5 million times the limit was detected.
On Thursday, the level was 1,100 times the safety limit. TEPCO says the level of radioactive cesium-137 was also up in the same area. It detected 130 becquerels per cubic centimeter, 1,400 times the legal limit. The firm says radioactive densities are leveling off or falling in most other areas. TEPCO has installed underwater barriers and metal boards near the intake to prevent contaminated water from leaking into the sea. The power company says the rise in the levels of radioactivity may have been caused by the installation work, but no new sources of leakage have been found.
Saturday, April 16, 2011 23:55 +0900 (JST)
Wastewater level at Fukushima reactor rising
The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says the level of highly radioactive water in an underground tunnel for one of the reactors is rising. Contaminated water in the plant’s facilities is hampering efforts to restore the reactor’s cooling systems. Leakages of contaminated water into the ocean and the ground are also raising concerns. Tokyo Electric Power Company says as of 6 PM Friday, the level of contaminated water in the tunnel had risen 4.5 centimeters even after part of the water was moved to a condenser in a turbine building on Wednesday.
TEPCO says work earlier this month to fix the leakage of highly radioactive water into the ocean may have caused water from the reactor to accumulate in the tunnel. TEPCO hopes to begin transferring highly radioactive water to a waste-processing facility by the end of next week so that work to fully restore the cooling systems can resume. Highly radioactive water may also be leaking underground. TEPCO says it will monitor underground water 3 times a week, instead of only once a week. A survey conducted by TEPCO on Wednesday showed radiation levels in underground water in storage facilities for the Number 1 and 2 reactors were up 38 times the levels observed a week earlier.
Saturday, April 16, 2011 23:54 +0900 (JST)
Over 14,000 missing in East Japan disaster
More than 14,000 people are now listed as unaccounted for after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami in eastern Japan. The National Police Agency says 14,175 people were missing as of Saturday evening. The agency says the number does not include people missing in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, as authorities are checking for any overlapping reports. 13,705 people have been confirmed dead. Most of the deaths occurred in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima — the 3 hardest-hit prefectures. Miyagi tops the list with 8,360 deaths, followed by Iwate at 3,952 and Fukushima at 1,330. More than 137,000 people are living in emergency shelters, mostly in the 3 prefectures. More than 22,000 people have evacuated outside the 3 prefectures.
Saturday, April 16, 2011 23:55 +0900 (JST)
Quakes may continue in wide area
Japanese weather officials are calling on people to stay on the alert, as strong earthquakes are expected to continue for some time. Aftershocks continue to rattle the Tohoku and Kanto regions along the Pacific coast, although the number is on the decline. On Saturday, a strong earthquake occurred in the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, which is outside the zone where most of the aftershocks have continued since the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. An intensity of 5 plus on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7 was registered in Hokota City. The Meteorological Agency is warning that strong aftershocks may still occur. It is calling on people to stay on the alert for possible landslides and collapsing buildings.
Saturday, April 16, 2011 23:54 +0900 (JST)
