Sunday, September 1, 2013

Last Call For Rising Core Temperature

Meanwhile, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster site, things aren't going real well with the whole "containment" thing two years later.

Radiation levels around Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant are 18 times higher than previously thought, Japanese authorities have warned.

Last week the plant's operator reported radioactive water had leaked from a storage tank into the ground.

It now says readings taken near the leaking tank on Saturday showed radiation was high enough to prove lethal within four hours of exposure.

The plant was crippled by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) had originally said the radiation emitted by the leaking water was around 100 millisieverts an hour.

However, the company said the equipment used to make that recording could only read measurements of up to 100 millisieverts.

The new recording, using a more sensitive device, showed a level of 1,800 millisieverts an hour.

The new reading will have direct implications for radiation doses received by workers who spent several days trying to stop the leak last week, the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports from Tokyo.

In addition, Tepco says it has discovered a leak on another pipe emitting radiation levels of 230 millisieverts an hour.

Yeah, this seems like a bad thing.  Fukushima is leaking, containment has completely failed, and radioactive material has been getting into the ocean for two years now.  There doesn't seem to be any way to slow it down. either.  This stuff could burn for decades, guys.  By then, the damage to the Pacific rim is going to be devastating, not to mention to Japan itself.

The plant is just as lethal now as it was in 2011.  That's horrifying, but not shocking.  We'll keep up with this story as we have for the last 30 months.

A Necessary Touch Of Frost

British broadcasting legend Sir David Frost has died this weekend at the age of 74, according to his long-time home, BBC News.

Veteran broadcaster Sir David Frost has died at the age of 74 after a suspected heart attack while on board a cruise ship. 
A family statement said he had been giving a speech aboard the Queen Elizabeth on Saturday night. 
Sir David's career spanned journalism, comedy writing and daytime television presenting, including The Frost Report. 
Internationally, he will be remembered for his revealing interviews with former US President Richard Nixon. 
A statement said: "His family are devastated and ask for privacy at this difficult time. A family funeral will be held in the near future and details of a memorial service will be announced in due course."

Best remembered for his interviews 35 years ago with Nixon, Frost had a huge career with the BBC spanning five decades, a giant in his field, and a true gentleman.  Those interviews in 1977 were turned into a very good Ron Howard movie, Frost/Nixon.



Also, here's a clip of the first part of Frost's actual interview with Nixon.



It was television that gripped the world then, and is still fascinating to watch now.  Godspeed, Sir David.