Don't trust the mainstream media? This will explain the details of Japan's failing nuclear reactors. This is the most detailed article explaining the situation

By Jonathan Elinoff
Click here to view other works by Jonathan Elinoff

 UPDATED EVERY DAY OR AS NEEDED

It was a Level 7 Nuclear Disaster the Whole Time.  Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission revealed this week that it had waited weeks to publish information on elevated radiation levels from the plant last month partly to avoid panic. 

Surprise, surprise.  Like we didn't know, to all you out there who accused us of being 'alarmists' and blowing it out of proportion, we always said we were citing out sources.

An aerial photo taken by a small drone shows damage at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors. (Associated Press / Air Photo Service / March 24, 2011)

To see some more high resolution photos of the power plant, click here.

Check out the radiation contamination comparison between Fukushijma and Chernobyl for Caesium-137 show some places already worse

Ask yourself this question, is it possible for the government to initiate a mass cover up by raising the levels of radiation that are safe in the EPA and all other agency standards just to cover up a major environmental event knowing that the people are dumb enough to just stay quiet, as they always have been even when governments are caught red handed in corruption on a level unprecedented in history?  Maybe they know people will fall dead and they know you aren't going to do anything because lets face it, you aren't going to do anything and you never will.  You never have.  There are countless hundreds of whistleblowers and journalists killed and countless thousands of disclosures in the media about major corruption and pardons by the executive branch at all levels of government for this corruption, so why wouldn't they continue to see how far they can push this?

Well the government is quietly raising the acceptable levels of radiation in food and water right now.  Does anyone else think this is BIG F**KING NEWS and a BIG F**KING DEAL!?

EPA: "This guidance would allow cleanup levels that exceed MCLs [Maximum Contamination Limits under the Safe Drinking Water Act] by a factor of 100, 1000, and in two instances 7 million."

Canada: "Please note that as of March 25, 2011, the frequency of data collection by NRCan using the mobile surveys has been decreased due to the low levels of radiation being detected."

EU: "The EU implemented a secret “emergency” order without informing the public which increases the amount of radiation in food by up to 20 times previous food standards."

I personally think the effects of this disaster are going to be much more widespread and longer lasting than the governments of the world and the media they control would have us believe. There is still no end in sight for Japan, IMO it is likely this contamination will continue for months at best, decades at worst. Either way the entire planet is going to be far more radioactive in the coming years.

Here is a link to a really informative site on how you can flush out radioactive metals from your body.

If you want to see some of the radiation projections on of the fallout as it sits right now, below are some examples in this article.  Here are some right now.

The Mayor in Japan of Minami Soma City in Fukushima claims government has restricted them to stay in place and has not delivered supplies also claiming "the people are literally drying up as if they are under starvation tactics."  Click here to read this developing story

The workers at Japan's stricken nuclear power plant — known as the Fukushima 50 — expect some of them will die within weeks or months. As the crisis at Fukushima keeps getting worse -- the latest is the discovery of water underneath the reactor at 10,000x the legal limit -- a reminder of the heroic effort that workers inside the plant are putting in to save their country. 

A nuclear expert has warned that it might be 100 years before melting fuel rods can be safely removed from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant.

Low levels of radiation have been found in milk in Washington and California, says the Daily Mail. The Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it is increasing its monitoring of radiation in milk, rain and drinking water, but the levels of radiation found do not seem to pose any dangers to public health.

Japanese officials are planning to pump out contaminated water from the stricken reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Authorities hope the measure will help resume efforts to restore the facility's cooling system. It's unclear when the operation will start, as radiation levels around the site are continuing to rise. The latest tests show it's now ten thousand times the legal limit in groundwater near the plant.

Usually if the decision is to encase a nuclear power plant in concrete, that means there was a pretty serious nuclear disaster.  That said, official reports still downplay the severity of the disaster continually saying that there is nothing to worry about.  Now, the world has found out that at least one of the reactors will need to be encased in concrete. 

Augusta Chronicle

The world's largest concrete pump, deployed at the construction site of the U.S. government's $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, is being moved to Japan in a series of emergency measures to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors. Photos

From Weather Online:

This animation displays a potential dispersion of the radioactive cloud (Caesium 137 Isotope) after a nuclear accident in reactor Fukushima I. The continuous release rate is very uncertain, thus the calculations have to be interpreted qualitatively. Dispersion in the near surface level (Level 1), in appr. 2500 m height (Level 12) and in appr. 5000 m height (Level 16).

Source: EURAD

According to the Wall Street Journal, it has now been reported that Japan's health ministry said Saturday that an abnormal amount of a radioactive material was detected in spinach grown about 110 kilometers (about 70 miles) northeast of Tokyo.  The Wall Street Journal also reports that U.S. government officials repeatedly declined to give details of radiation measurements at Fukushima nuclear complex, saying the situation is shrouded in a "fog of war." Most information on the Fukushima plant containment efforts is classified right now and the public is being told what the government thinks it can handle unless it is dire.  Information is taking up to 48 hours to be relayed to the public while Japanese and US Officials review the information first.  The Hydrogen explosion on Monday was not fully disclosed until Wednesday night, for example.

Also, UC Berkeley has announced that West Coast rain has traces of radioactive iodine (I131,I132), radioactive cesium (Cs134, Cs137), and radioactive tellurium (Te132) according to their Nuclear Engineering Air Monitoring Station.

Rain water results show trace levels of radioactive iodine (I131,I132), cesium (Cs134, Cs137), and tellurium (Te132). The amounts show that the activity we are observing originated from one of the three operating reactors that was shut down since I-131 and Te132 half-lives are less than 10 days and the spent fuel from unit 4 had not operated for > 130 days. The calculated exposure to the public is so low that the consuming of ~500 liters of this water would only increase dose by the same amount received by taking a cross-country airplane flight.

Even if levels of radiation don't hit alarming levels here in the United States, preparing for fallout is not only responsible, but realistic when you consider that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission failed to resolve known safety problems, which lead to 14 'near-misses' in US nuclear power plants in 2009 and 2010, according to a newly released report from a nuclear watchdog group.  This in depth report can be read at NewWorldOrderReport.com as well as this article you are reading.

This 2005 file photo shows two then-active cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pa., located on an island in the middle of the Susquehanna River. Exactly 31 years after the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island, on March 28, 2010, the HB Robinson nuclear plant in South Carolina experienced electrical failure that led to a 'near-miss' accident.

Believe it or not, coming up in a few weeks here in the United States, FEMA, in May of this year, will be conducting a National Level Exercise (drill) to respond to a major US Earthquake:  http://www.fema.gov/media/fact_sheets/nle2011_fs.shtm

The United States not only has well over a hundred nuclear reactor sites, but that at least 2 nuclear power plants are located right on a very active fault line where earthquakes are common.  In fact, the rest of the country is literally downwind of the plants since the weather patterns and jetstreams move from the west coast to the east coast in the United States.

Nuclear Power Plant #1:

Diablo Canyon Power Plant is an electricity-generating nuclear power plant at Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, California. It was built directly over a geological fault line, and is located near a second fault. The plant has two Westinghouse-designed 4-loop pressurized-water nuclear reactors operated by Pacific Gas & Electric. The facility is located on about 750 acres (300 ha) in Avila Beach, California.

Diablo Canyon was originally designed to withstand a 6.75 magnitude earthquake from four faults, including the nearby San Andreas and Hosgri faults., but was later upgraded to withstand a 7.5 magnitude quake. It has seismic monitoring and safety systems, designed to shut it down promptly in the event of significant ground motion.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company went through six years of hearings, referenda and litigation to have the Diablo Canyon plant approved. A principal concern about the plant is whether it can be sufficiently earthquake-proof. The site was deemed safe when construction started in 1968.  In response to concern that ground acceleration, or shaking, could cause spillage of submerged fuel rod assemblies which, upon exposure to air, could ignite, Pacific Gas & Electric and NRC regulators insist that the foregoing scenario is anticipated and controlled for, and that there is no basis to anticipate spillage.

A Pacific Gas & Electric request to extend the life of the plant by 20 years has been postponed from April 2011 pending the resolution of the nuclear emergencies in Japan.

Diablo Canyon Power Plant

Location of Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California

Nuclear Power Plant #2:

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) is a nuclear power plant located on the Pacific coast of California. The 84-acre (34 ha) site is in the northwestern corner of San Diego County, south of San Clemente, and surrounded by the San Onofre State Park and next to the I-5 Highway.

Strong, spherical containment buildings around the reactors are designed to prevent unexpected releases of radiation. The closest tectonic fault line is the Cristianitos fault, which is technically considered inactive. Southern California Edison states the station was "built to withstand a 7.0 magnitude earthquake directly under the plant".

Unlike many pressurized water reactors, but like some other seaside facilities in Southern California, the San Onofre plant uses seawater for cooling, and thus lacks the iconic large cooling towers typically associated with nuclear generating stations. However, changes to water-use regulations may require construction of such cooling towers in the future to avoid further direct use of seawater. Limited available land next to the reactor would likely require the towers to be built on the opposite side of the Interstate 5 highway.

Location of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California

The nuclear plant chief wept in tears when the Japanese finally admitted that radiation leak is serious enough to kill people on Friday, March 18th, 2011.

Overwhelmed: Tokyo Electric Power Company Managing Director Akio Komiri cries as he leaves after a press conference in Fukushima

Suggesting that levels of radiation leaks from the stricken Fukushima plant are being grossly underreported by Japanese authorities, a Swedish government agency told Reuters today that not only will the radiation reach North America, but it will subsequently cover the entire northern hemisphere.

“Lars-Erik De Geer, research director at the Swedish Defense Research Institute, a government agency, was citing data from a network of international monitoring stations established to detect signs of any nuclear weapons tests,” reports Reuters.

“Stressing that the levels were not dangerous for people, he predicted the particles would continue across the Atlantic and eventually also reach Europe.”

De Geer said he was “convinced it would eventually be detected over the whole northern hemisphere,” according to the report, adding that radioactive particles would “eventually also come here,” referring to Europe.

De Geer’s prognosis arrives on the back of a study of data by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, which confirmed that the radioactive plume from Fukushima would reach the Aleutian Islands on Thursday before hitting southern California late on Friday. The CBTO has a network of radiation monitors deployed globally that can detect radioactive particles such as cesium and iodine isotopes.

Experts are correct in assuming that the initial waves of radiation will be low, but expect levels to rise in subsequent days as the effects of the three blasts to impact the Fukushima facility, which occurred on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, manifest themselves in the form of increased radiation injected into the atmosphere.

The French Government has classified this disaster at a level 6 while the Japanese have classified it as a level 5.  French Nuclear experts are making similar accusations as Swedish Nuclear experts that the situation at Reactor #3, for example, is being classified from the public and that it is a much worse situation than publicly disclosed.  That reactor is the only one with Plutonium, one of the most lethal of radioactive substances, leaking into the environment and it suffered the most damage.

Unlike the incident at Chernobyl, the worst nuclear disaster recorded in history which only had 1 reactor explode, this Fukushima Power Plant in Japan has had 3 reactors explode, one of which was a very powerful hydrogen explosion.  3 other reactors at that plant are still capable of the same destruction, specifically reactor 2.  To see more on the details of the reactor destruction, read further down in this article.

This is a projection map of the fallout from the Fukushima Power Plant based on the old jetstream from Monday.  The jetstream has since changed and pushed most of the plume north into the Arctic Sea where it is circling. Some radiation levels were detected in California on Thursday and Friday but they were in very small amounts that should not cause any alarm, however the leaks are still continuing at Fukushima Power Plant Reactors #3 and #4.  This map was falsely claimed to be originating from the Australian Nuclear Services on thousands of websites all over the internet but has since turned out to have not come from them.  It does, however, show accurate fallout scenarios based on the jetstream at the time of the 1st reactor explosion. 

Singapore is recommending all citizens within 100 km of the Fukushima plant should evacuate the area.

Some people say that nuclear fallout is not a real threat and that most will dissipate in the atmosphere.  Try saying that to Europeans who saw  hundreds of thousands of people die from radioactive poisoning from the very slow but highly radioactive leak at Chernobyl over the course of 15 years.  There was NO pattern and the jetstream moved the radioactive particulates all over the place in pockets, check out this map below: 

As you can see above, radioactive fallout from Chernobyl landed in clusters and in some cases, very high amounts of radioactivity landed at very distant ranges separated by hundreds of miles of low level radiation.  This means that although radiation clouds dissipate when released, they can stay in clusters because the environment they are entering can have higher pressure jetstreams and sometimes cloud forming ionization, like radioactive iodine released from a nuclear power plant explosion.  This means that clouds, like radioactive dust clouds for example, can form.  So people who are telling you this radioactive leak in Japan will dissipate may not understand exactly how this works.

Below is a picture of what the 6 Reactor structures used to look like at Fukushima Power Plant before they exploded:

This is what Reactor #4 used to look like inside:

Boiled dry: This shot shows of the inside of reactor number four at the Fukushima nuclear plant before the disaster. The spent fuel storage pool is seen at the front of the shot. The rods are at the bottom of the pool, which has now boiled dry

This is Reactor #4 now, below, completely exposed:

Exposed: this shot shows a gaping hole in the building of reactor #4. The green crane, circled, is normally used to move spent fuel rods into a 45ft deep storage pond, just out of shot. But the pool has now boiled dry and the spent rods are heating up and releasing radiation

Below is what Reactor #3 looks like now, it suffered the most damage.  Radiation spikes are so high that engineers can not go anywhere near the facility to contain the leak so this is one of the more critical reactors right now.  It also has Plutonium, which was finally disclosed to the public on Wednesday, which means it is leaking the most serious nuclear material.  This facility suffered the largest explosion.  No damage assessment has been officially released on the actual reactor itself, buried somewhere under that:

Below is a picture of Reactor #3 on the left and Reactor #4 on the right:

Below is a photo of Reactor #1 right now, its roof completely blew off in an explosion:

To give you some idea of what we are dealing with, below is a photo of Chernobyl's reactor explosion.  That disaster is known as the worst in history right now and it only had 1 explosion:

Radioactive Iodine released in these explosions and leaks can only be absorbed in human beings through their Thyroid gland, which will cause Thyroid cancer.  The only prevention for this is to ingest the recommended dosage of Potassium Iodide (KI) or Potassium Iodate (KIO3) which will fill the Thyroid gland with what is considered "good Iodine" and cause the Thyroid Gland to be incapable of absorbing any more Iodine.  Hence, when a nuclear fallout cloud hits your environment and you have taken the "good Iodine," your body will not absorb the deadly radioactive Iodine since your Thyroid Gland is full.  

Mass shortages of Potassium Iodide (KI) and Potassium Iodate (KIO3) have been reported all across the United States and Europe.  There is a debate between the World Health Organization and the FDA about the effectiveness of Potassium Iodide (KI) over Potassium Iodate (KIO3).  The FDA has approved of Potassium Iodide (KI) while the World Health Organization has approved Potassium Iodate (KIO3).  Many people are also looking into taking Kelp, which can have amounts of Potassium Iodide (KI) in it.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) stated July 1, 1998 in USE OF POTASSIUM IODIDE IN EMERGENCY RESPONSE:

"Potassium iodide, if taken in time, blocks the thyroid gland's uptake of radioactive iodine and thus could help prevent thyroid cancers and other diseases that might otherwise be caused by exposure to airborne radioactive iodine that could be dispersed in a nuclear accident."

Some quick notes about Potassium Iodide and Postassium Iodate before we continue about Fukushima Power Plant -

What is the difference between Potassium Iodate (KIO3) and Potassium Iodide (KI)?

Both Potassium Iodate tablets (KI03) & Potassium Iodide tablets (KI) are THYROID BLOCKERS. They will both do the same job for adult users.

However, there are some subtle but important differences:

According to chemical manufacturers of the base chemicals of Potassium Iodate tablets (KI03) and Potassium Iodide tablets (KI): KIO3 has a health risk of "1" (slight) KI has a health risk of "2" (moderate) (Either of these are preferred over Radioactive Iodine from Nuclear Fallout.) KIO3 is not bitter, which means that children can take KIO3 with less difficulty than KI. This is extremely important: If children are the most susceptible to the harmful effects of Radioactive Iodine, then the possibility of children not able to take the pills or tablets or keep them down is dangerous. For this reason, we ask those of you who have children to purchase KIO3 instead of KI.

The expected shelf life of KIO3 is greater than that of KI. Both supplies or stockpiles should be rotated every 5 years, and every 3 years rotation is recommended for KI.

Please note that Rad Block provides small coated tablets overcome typical KI bitterness when dosing children 3-12 years old with single whole tablet. Bottles are double safety sealed, with childproof cap and contain desiccant for extended storage life.

These Potassium Iodate tablets (85 mg USP Grade KIO3 each, yielding 50 mg Iodine to the Thyroid Gland just like Potassium Iodide) 200 tablets to a bottle. (2 tablets is an adult daily dose.) Easily dose children under age 3 with non-bitter partial tablets! Label dosing recommendations mirrors new WHO guidelines. (Especially important for dosing children.) Bottles are double safety sealed, with childproof cap and contain desiccant for extended storage life. 

How much should you have on hand?

First and foremost, you need to have a several weeks’ supply of KI or KIO3 on hand in storage, now. If we have a nuclear event, the chances of you getting it after the event are remote to nonexistent. Another point to consider: If we have one nuclear event we will most likely have others over the next several days. That is the reason we produce multi-dose bottles. We had to ask ourselves, "How much is enough?"

How do you Take KI and KIO3?

KIO3 can be taken in tablet form or sprinkled on food or dissolved in drinks. It is not bitter and children won't throw it up--which is the point. However, taking KIO3 on an empty stomach feels like taking an aspirin on an empty stomach so take it with food or water. If food or water is not handy then by all means don't delay--just swallow or chew up the proper dose. KI, on the other hand, is terribly bitter and the taste must be disguised. This from the FDA on disguising the bitter taste of KI: The mixture of potassium iodide with raspberry syrup disguises the taste of potassium iodide best. The mixtures of potassium iodide with low fat chocolate milk, orange juice, and flat soda (for example, cola) generally have an acceptable taste. Low fat white milk and water did not hide the salty taste of potassium iodide.

Risks of Exposure and Availability of Iodine Pills in the U.S.:
There are more than 100 nuclear reactors operating in the United States. As shown in the diagram below, states with the highest number of reactors are Illinois (11), Pennsylvania (9), New York (6), South Carolina (7), Alabama (5), Florida (5), North Carolina (5), California (4), Georgia (4), Michigan (4), New Jersey (4) and Texas (4), and Virginia (4)

Here is a Map (BELOW) of Power Reactor Sites

Source: Nuclear Regulatory Commission http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/map-power-reactors.html. A list of reactors is also available at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/list-power-reactor-units.html.

Here is a map (BELOW) of Radiation Network's radioactive detection.  These figures are updated every 60 seconds and can be checked at RadiationNetwork.com

It also shows Nuclear sites that may not show up on the other map to be aware of.

         Nuclear Site      Alert Level = 100 CPM

How the Map Works:

A growing number of Radiation Monitoring Stations across the country, using various models of Digital GeigerCounters, upload their Radiation Count data in real time to their computer using a Data Cable, and then over the Internet to this web site, all of this accomplished through GeigerGraph for Networks software.

How to Read the Map:

Referring to the Map Legend at the bottom left corner of the map, locate Monitoring Stations around the country that are contributing radiation data to this map as you read this, and watch the numbers on those monitoring stations update as frequently as every minute (your browser will automatically refresh).  The numbers represent radiation Counts per Minute, abbreviated CPM, and under normal conditions, quantify the level of background radiation, i.e. environmental radiation from outer space as well as from the earth's crust and air.  Depending on your location within the US, your elevation or altitude, and your model of Geiger counter, this background radiation level might average anywhere from 5 to 60 CPM, and while background radiation levels are random, it would be unusual for those levels to exceed 100 CPM.  Thus, the "Alert Level" for the National Radiation Map is 100 CPM, so if you see any Monitoring Stations with CPM value above 100, further indicated by an Alert symbol over those stations, it probably means that some radioactive source above and beyond background radiation is responsible.

Notice the Time and Date Stamp at the bottom center of the Map.  That is Arizona Time, from where we service the Network, and your indication of how recently the Radiation Levels have been updated to the Map.

More Details about the Fukushima Power Plant Damage in Japan:

Below is a video explaining how Reactors #3 and #4 are of a lot of concern because their entire structures have exploded, including the roof being blown off on both.  Reactor #3 is in the worst damage with its entire surrounding structure completely destroyed.

 American Officials announced on CNN Wednesday night that Reactor #3 suffered a Hydrogen explosion on Monday morning.  These radioactive rods are supposed to be under water at all times or they will get so hot that they melt and possibly even turn to gas.  The rods are so unstable in our environment because of the radioactivity they contain, but this is why they are used for power plants because they can heat up water to produce steam at a low cost and the steam can be used as a powerful force to run generators, just like falling water, wind, or combustion.  The problem is that after the tsunami hit the power plant, all the backup generators were destroyed so the cooling systems failed (since they need to be powered all the time).  As the cooling systems failed, water began to evaporate and the rods become exposed to air.  The heat continues to rise and the rods start to become unstable and melt, which can release radioactive particulates into the atmosphere and massive amounts of radioactivity.  The announcement of the water being evaporated, the destroyed reactor core, disabled cooling systems, and destruction of containment facilities meant that the worst case scenario possible was taking place.   All procedures in place to prevent this from happening failed.  According to Reuters, the U.S. State Department says it is bringing in chartered aircraft to Tokyo to help evacuate American citizens.

Here is a photo of the Hydrogen Explosion at the plant:

Fuel rods at Reactor #3 and spent rods at #4 and #1 may now be completely exposed or periodically since those three structures have exploded, blowing their roof completely off.  Containment is next to impossible for reactor 2 at this point assuming the information about the reactor's core being damaged and cooling procedures leaking below the structure.  If the rods melt, a complete meltdown, radioactive gas can form.  Most may dissipate in 10 days throughout the atmosphere.  The Ocean's tides is being bombarded with undisclosed amounts of radiation at this time.  Very little of the radioactive cloud will still be together by the time it reaches the United States, however, do not take any chances assuming this is a known fact.  Two helicopters can be seen on NHK News dropping water on Reactor 3.  Another helicopter has passed over Reactor 4, dropping collected seawater on the damaged building - as seen on NHK. It appears there will be prolonged water dumping.  Helicopter water drops have stopped to minimize radiation exposure. In total 4 drops took place. Lead plates were affixed to the bottom of each chopper and the crew were wearing protective suits. Source: NHK TV 

The Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa has stated (on NHK TV) that 11 "special purpose vehicles", operated by defense forces, are on their way to the reactors. They will be conducting water spraying operations from the ground.

According to Stephanie Ditta of Reuters, The NRC Chairman has said that the spent fuel pool at Reactor 4 is no longer covered with water and radiation levels are "extremely high".  The US embassy in Japan is urging any citizens within 80 km (50 miles) of the Fukushima nuclear power plant either evacuate the area or take shelter indoors.  The head of the IAEA says there has been core damage at units 1-3, according to Reuters.  It appears efforts to use a helicopter were thwarted due to high levels of radiation. Roads are being cleared to allow fire trucks and other equipment to reach Reactor 4, the highest priority situation.

The incident at Fukushima has been reclassified as level 6, a "Serious Accident", on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). This is higher than the Three Mile Island crisis and only one below Chernobyl.  It is being discussed to move this to level 7 soon, although that has not yet officially happened.  This might be one of the worst, if not the worst nuclear disaster in history for the planet.

Fires raged on Tuesday at Fukushima Reactor 4.  The fire at Reactor 4 is reported to be under control but white smoke can now be seen rising from Reactor 3.  TEPCO believes that the fuel pool may have heated, producing steam at Daiichi reactor No. 3.  The temperatures at the spent fuel pools in Daiichi No. 5 and No. 6 units are still on the rise.  Japan's chief government spokesman, Mr Edano, is reporting that the workers trying to douse the reactors with water were forced to retreat after a radiation surge.

Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant:

View Larger Map

Pictured above is the Power Plant located along the North-East shore of Japan.  How in the world did they build a nuclear power plant more powerful than Chernobyl on the edge of the water and not factor in a tsunami wiping out all their generators?  Who needs to be fired here!?  They built it to withstand an earthquake magnitude 5 times smaller than the earthquake they just experienced, they are lucky the entire plant didn't completely collapse.  The whole world is very lucky that those cores didn't completely collapse from the initial earthquake or tsunami that followed because if radioactive rods were ever to have washed into the tsunami and back out to sea, we would have one of the largest environmental and planetary catastrophes in history.  With that said, lets bring you up to speed.

Since there is a radius of 50 miles that has been established around the power plant as a zone off limits due to radioactive contamination continuing to take place, everyone should pay real close attention to the photo above.  Half the area that has been designated off limits due to continuing contamination is ocean front.  Do people understand how tides work?  There needs to be an IMMEDIATE assessment of what is happening in the Pacific Ocean and if that needs to be addressed or not.  Anything from the food chain being affected to mixing tides are serious concerns right now for many experts.  Unlike Chernobyl which was land-locked, this power plant is literally sitting on the ocean so containment is NOT EASY, in fact one could argue that containment is next to impossible (in some sense speaking in reference to the ocean side of the plant.  That just can't be contained)

They are incrementally releasing the assessment of what happened. As expected, Japanese officials initially low-balled damage estimates and downplayed the disaster to try and avoid panic, but given the reality of how severe the implications became once it was realized containment was impossible, information is now being released that correctly diagnosis the situation more accurately.  Some empathize with trying to keep everyone calm and not "in the know," but at some point the people are going to need to be told exactly what they need to be prepared for.  Apparently, a full meltdown is taking place at one of the reactors (reactor #3) that exploded.   1 or 2 (reactors #1 and #2) of the reactors suffered partial meltdown and another reactor (reactor #4) is still being cooled after having exploded.  2 more reactors (reactors #5 and #6) are rising in temperature and at least 5 other reactors are on watch totaling 11 reactors with problems, 4 of which are critical.  Chernobyl was the worst nuclear disaster in history and those who remember should understand that only 1 reactor failed and blew up in that scenario that needed to be dealt with so this is UNPRECEDENTED in terms of nuclear disasters.  Japan has 55 reactors so having 11 on watch, 4 of which completely exploding might sound like good news in a way because a much more horrific disaster could have taken place if all 55 reactors were to have failed.  It is not good news though, no matter how you look at it.  This appears to be much larger than Chernobyl ever was and we are not yet done.  We still have other reactors on watch and we still have potential for at least 3 more complete meltdowns, although unlikely.

NHK news announced that reactors 5 and 6 at the plant are unstable.  There are indications that the spent fuel pools at Reactors 4 and 5 are both actively heating up.  If those explode like the 4 reactors before them the situation will continue to deteriorate.

Fears of the worst-case scenario — a total core meltdown — might have come true.  This is exactly what was trying to be avoided.

It was not immediately clear how long the reactor #2 core lay fully exposed or to what extent it heated up.  The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog said that there was a "possibility of core damage" at the No. 2 unit of the damaged Fukushima power plant.  Since Monday it has been announced that partial core meltdown occurred there.

Monday, a hydrogen explosion occurred at the Fukushima nuclear power station, blowing off the housing of the No. 3 reactor into the sky and injuring 11 people.  That was the 3rd explosion seen at the plant.  A 4th explosion also took place since.  To see the video of the last explosion, see just below.

Senior Japanese officials have confirmed that there was a fire at Reactor Number 4 most of Tuesday and radiation levels were continuing to rise.  Rising levels of radiation have been detected in Tokyo and the surrounding region. This is the video of one of the reactor blasts, there have been multiple ones.  This video is the one experts are most concerned over.

There are 55 nuclear reactors in Japan.  At least a dozen of the 55 reactors in Japan are on watch for potential breakdowns.  A 7.2 magnitude earthquake actually hit on the 9th and small aftershocks continued regularly around 5 magnitude for 2 days until the 9.0 magnitude hit on the 11th.  Since then, aftershocks of 5 magnitude continue very frequently.  Every now and then a 6.0 or higher magnitude hits again.  Anything above 6.0 is considered serious and can cause problems with the nuclear reactors as well as the tsunami relief.  If any quake hits at 8.0 or higher, another tsunami will hit Japan.  Here is the chart to learn about the 6.0 earthquakes that keep hitting:  http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_big.php

The brief breakdown, 30 seconds or less, of the 4 reactors and their situation:

Reactor # 1:

The first reactor to fail has been cooled and dealt with to the best of their ability.  Radiation levels have skyrocketed near the front gate of the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power station, with 1 hour exposure being 8x the amount a human can healthily handle a year.  People within 50 miles of the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant have been ordered to evacuate, those 50 miles away are being instructed to stay indoors.  According to the news agency Kyodo, a 50 mile radius no-fly zone has been established over the deteriorating Fukushima Nuclear plant. A partial core meltdown occurred at this reactor so far. 

Reactor #2:

The radioactive fuel rods at the No. 2 reactor of the Fukushima power station were fully exposed at one point Monday, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said, and it has since been confirmed it suffered a partial core meltdown.  The 2nd reactor to fail was initially contained, however, it was announced that it has been leaking.  As of Monday evening, there are reports of another explosion at Fukushima Daiichi, reactor no. 2, according to Jiji News Agency.  Kyodo reported that the suppression pool may have been damaged at the second reactor, with up to half of the radioactive rods exposed to air. Operators are being evacuated.  TEPCO failed to raise the water level in reactor 2 for quite some time, leaving a large portion of the reactor rods exposed to air (increasing pressure and temperatures inside the chamber). A partial core meltdown also took place at this reactor so far. IAEA has been told by Japan that engineers were able to lay power cable to reactor 2. They will be reconnecting power once a round of spraying is complete. (Reuters)

Reactor #3:

The 3rd reactor's cooling systems began failing Monday morning and suffered a Hydrogen explosion as a result.   Damage assessments were not disclosed in full and were initially classified.  American officials announced Wednesday evening some of the damage assessment.  What we know now is that the containment procedures for reactor 3 are now basically impossible and complete core meltdown is happening there.  This was the largest of the explosions, the video of which is above in this article.  That explosion was a hydrogen explosion. Unlike the other reactors, this reactor may be suffering a complete core meltdown.

Reactor #4:

A reactor operator alerted the media that a fire broke out at Reactor Number 4, Monday evening.  Senior Japanese officials confirmed that there was a fire at Reactor Number 4 and radiation levels were on the rise. It was put out but the fire restarted Wednesday.  The IAEA has confirmed that the fire at Reactor 4 took place at the spent fuel storage pond, releasing radioactivity into the atmosphere. We have confirmation that the fire at Reactor 4 was caused by the 4th explosion we saw. The rooftop of Unit 4 has sustained damage, completely blowing off but further details have yet to be made public.  Kyodo is reporting that the ceiling of Reactor 4 has been reduced to its frame.

Reactor #5:

There are indications that the spent fuel pools at Reactor 5 is actively heating up.  Cooling systems may be in their initial stages of failing.

Reactor #6:

There are indications that the spent fuel pools at Reactor 6 is also actively heating up.  Cooling systems may also be in their initial stages of failing.

Here is a chart that was released on Thursday of the official damage assessments, click on the image to enlarge:

As the scale of Japan’s nuclear crisis begins to come to light, experts in Japan and the United States say the country is now facing a cascade of accumulating problems that suggest that radioactive releases of steam from the crippled plants could go on for weeks or even months.

The worst-case scenario we face as each reactor fails and we use current available containment methods are as follows.  If the seawater can not be used for treatment, the operators will have to continue to vent the water steam to avoid pressure buildup. The third containment may, in theory, then be completely sealed to allow the core meltdown to happen without releasing radioactive material.

After the meltdown for each reactor, there will be a waiting period for the intermediate radioactive materials to decay inside the reactor, and all radioactive particles to settle on a surface inside the containment. The cooling system will be restored eventually, and the molten core will cool to a manageable temperature.

The containment will have to be cleaned up on the inside. Then a messy job of removing the molten core from the containment will begin, packing the (now solid again) fuel bit by bit into transportation containers to be shipped to processing plants. Depending on the damage, the block of the plant would then either be repaired or dismantled.

Bare in mind that -

• Low levels of radiation have started reaching Tokyo. Radiation spikes have already been measured in several areas (in one case, potentially 33x higher than normal).
• Low radioactivity has allegedly been seen heading towards North America, although US officials are currently saying there is no confirmation on this.  Reuters is reporting that low concentrations of radioactive particles from Japan's disaster-hit nuclear power plant have been heading eastwards and are expected to reach North America in days, a Swedish official said on Thursday.  See the article on that here.
• Some radiation was released when the pressure vessel was vented. All radioactive isotopes from the activated steam have gone (decayed). A very small amount of Cesium was released, as well as Iodine.
• There was damage to the first containment. That means that some amounts of radioactive Cesium and Iodine will also be released into the cooling water, but no Uranium or other nasty stuff (the Uranium oxide does not “dissolve” in the water). There are facilities for treating the cooling water inside the third containment. The radioactive Cesium and Iodine will be removed there and eventually stored as radioactive waste in terminal storage.
• The seawater used as cooling water will also be activated to some degree. Because the control rods are fully inserted, the Uranium chain reaction is not happening. That means the “main” nuclear reaction is not happening, thus not contributing to the activation. The intermediate radioactive materials (Cesium and Iodine) are also almost gone at this stage, because the Uranium decay was stopped a long time ago. This further reduces the activation.
• The seawater will eventually be replaced over time with the “normal” cooling water since seawater can corrode the rods, which would be almost like leaving them exposed since they get so hot they melt.  We are trying to avoid the melting of the rods as much as possible so seawater corroding the rods is a scary thought
• The reactor core will be dismantled and transported to a processing facility at some point.
• Fuel rods and the entire plant will be routinely checked for potential damage and assessments made for safety. This will take about 4-5 years to complete the damage assessment but the radiation contamination of the area will be present for a minimum of 30 years before the half-life of the radioactive particulates begins to hit.
• The safety systems on all Japanese nuclear power plants will HAVE to be upgraded to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and a tsunami (or worse)
• The most significant problem will be a prolonged power shortage. 11 of Japan’s 55 nuclear reactors in different plants were shut down Monday and will have to be inspected, directly reducing the nation’s nuclear power generating capacity by 20%, with nuclear power accounting for about 30% of the national total power generation capacity.
• This is only part of a much bigger picture. Emergency response has to deal with shelter, drinking water, food and medical care, transportation and communication infrastructure, as well as electricity supply

Pentagon officials reported Sunday that helicopters flying 60 miles from the plant picked up radioactive particulates — still being analyzed, but presumed to include Cesium-137 and Iodine-121 — confirming widening environmental contamination outside the 50 mile radius "declared contamination zone".  Given the reality that this power plant is on the Pacific Ocean, any contamination zone will realistically be inaccurate and unreliable since the Pacific currents and tides will spread radioactive contaminates for thousands of miles and, in theory, even across to the shores of the United States.  Fears of the jetstream bringing contaminated particulates should be reduced since it is highly unlikely a contained cloud of particulates will remain intact the full distance, although not impossible.  The ocean should be more of a concern at this time since it is literally within the contamination zone.

Reactor 1	Current Status The outer structure was damaged by a hydrogen explosion. Due to a cooling failure there has likely been a partial meltdown of the core. Seawater has been pumped in, radioactive vapors have been vented.  Rods partially meltdown, occasionally exposed
Reactor 2	Current Status The building was damaged by Monday's blast at Reactor 3 and an explosion on Tuesday. Partial meltdown & containment vessel breaches. Seawater has been pumped in, radioactive vapors have been vented.  Rods are periodically partially exposed
Reactor 3	Current Status Structure damaged by Monday's hydrogen explosion. Suspected breaching of the containment vessel. Seawater has been pumped in, radioactive vapors have been vented.  Rods are fully exposed.  Fear of complete core meltdown
Reactor 4	Current Status Was down for maintenance prior to quake. Spent fuel rods have likely been exposed to air, emitting large doses of radiation. Building damaged by fires and an explosion.  Rods partially meltdown, fears of situation not under control
Reactor 5	Current Status Was down for maintenance prior to quake. The building is presently undamaged, but there are concerns about rising heat levels.
Reactor 6	Current Status Was down for maintenance prior to quake. The building is presently undamaged, but there are concerns about rising heat levels.

Initial Source

So here is a detailed breakdown of what happened at the plant that created this problem:

The earthquake that hit Japan was 5 times more powerful than the worst earthquake the nuclear power plant was built for (the Richter scale works logarithmically; the difference between the 8.2 that the plants were built for and the 8.9 that happened is 5 times, not 0.7). So the first hooray for Japanese engineering, everything held up.

When the earthquake hit with 8.9, the nuclear reactors all went into automatic shutdown. Within seconds after the earthquake started, the control rods had been inserted into the core and nuclear chain reaction of the uranium stopped. Now, the cooling system has to carry away the residual heat. The residual heat load is about 3% of the heat load under normal operating conditions.

The earthquake destroyed the external power supply of the nuclear reactor. That is one of the most serious accidents for a nuclear power plant, and accordingly, a “plant black out” receives a lot of attention when designing backup systems. The power is needed to keep the coolant pumps working. Since the power plant had been shut down, it cannot produce any electricity by itself any more.

Things were going well for an hour. One set of multiple sets of emergency Diesel power generators kicked in and provided the electricity that was needed. Then the Tsunami came, much bigger than people had expected when building the power plant. The tsunami took out all multiple sets of backup Diesel generators.  This was the biggest problem.  No nuclear reactor has EVER factored in a tsunami with incredibly high PSI pressure at 10-15 meters high slamming into the entire facility.  Hurricane's do not have that kind of force.  These reactors were not built to withstand the quake magnitude or tsunami that followed and there is no power in the region and very little access ability to get to the reactors to setup a containment effort given the fact that man-power is being used for relief and recovery efforts of 500,000 homeless people who need shelter now.  It is a pretty serious situation.

When designing a nuclear power plant, engineers follow a philosophy called “Defense of Depth”. That means that you first build everything to withstand the worst catastrophe you can imagine, and then design the plant in such a way that it can still handle one system failure (that you thought could never happen) after the other. A tsunami taking out all backup power in one swift strike is such a scenario. The last line of defense is putting everything into the "third containment", that will keep everything, whatever the mess, control rods in our out, core molten or not, inside the reactor.

When the diesel generators were gone, the reactor operators switched to emergency battery power. The batteries were designed as one of the backups to the backups, to provide power for cooling the core for 8 hours. And they did.

Within the 8 hours, another power source had to be found and connected to the power plant. The power grid was down due to the earthquake. The diesel generators were destroyed by the tsunami. So mobile diesel generators were trucked in.

This is where things started to go seriously wrong. The external power generators could not be connected to the power plant (the plugs did not fit). So after the batteries ran out, the residual heat could not be carried away any more.

At this point the plant operators begin to follow emergency procedures that are in place for a “loss of cooling event”. It is again a step along the “Depth of Defense” lines. The power to the cooling systems should never have failed completely, but it did, so they “retreat” to the next line of defense. All of this, however shocking it seems to us, is part of the day-to-day training you go through as an operator, right through to managing a core meltdown.

It was at this stage that people started to talk about core meltdown. Because at the end of the day, if cooling cannot be restored, the core will eventually melt (after hours or days), and the last line of defense, the core catcher and third containment, would come into play.

But the goal at this stage was to manage the core while it was heating up, and ensure that the first containment (the Zircaloy tubes that contains the nuclear fuel), as well as the second containment (our pressure cooker) remain intact and operational for as long as possible, to give the engineers time to fix the cooling systems.

Because cooling the core is such a big deal, the reactor has a number of cooling systems, each in multiple versions (the reactor water cleanup system, the decay heat removal, the reactor core isolating cooling, the standby liquid cooling system, and the emergency core cooling system). Which one failed when or did not fail is not clear at this point in time.

This is when the reports about “radiation leakage” starting coming in. The radioactive nitrogen as well as the noble gases do not pose a threat to human health.

At some stage during this venting, the explosion occurred. The explosion took place outside of the third containment (our “last line of defense”), and the reactor building. Remember that the reactor building has no function in keeping the radioactivity contained. It is not entirely clear yet what has happened because there has been no thorough investigation or assessment of the situation by multiple, credible parties.  Very little information is being disclosed publicly so any so called "experts" are really getting the exact same information the rest of us are getting and these experts are giving their personal opinions on a matter they have not had ANY privilege of seeing the damage reports on or any comprehensive understanding of what we are facing.  Most, if not all, experts are literally giving an outside opinion on the issue, which means they are not in "the know" and they have not been handed or given access to the damage assessments because those assessments have not even been disclosed publicly or privately to any group.  It is TOO EARLY to determine exactly what is happening.  To be sure of anything right now would be naive

While the pressure was under control during the cool down phases of the 1st nuclear reactor core, steam was vented. The core is covered by several meters of water in order to allow for some time to pass (hours, days) before it gets exposed. Once the rods start to be exposed at the top, the exposed parts will reach the critical temperature of 2200 °C after about 45 minutes. This is when the first containment, the Zircaloy tube, probably failed, according to what we are being told.

The cooling could not be restored before there was some (very limited, but still) damage to the casing of some of the fuel. The nuclear material itself was still intact, but the surrounding Zircaloy shell had started melting. What happened now is that some of the byproducts of the uranium decay – radioactive Cesium and Iodine – started to mix with the steam. The big problem, uranium, was still under control, because the uranium oxide rods were good until 3000 °C. It is confirmed that an amount of Cesium and Iodine was measured in the steam that was released into the atmosphere.

It seems this was the “go signal” for a major plan B. The small amounts of Cesium that were measured told the operators that the first containment on one of the rods somewhere was about to give. The Plan A had been to restore one of the regular cooling systems to the core. Why that failed is unclear. One plausible explanation is that the tsunami also took away / polluted all the clean water needed for the regular cooling systems.

The water used in the cooling system is very clean, demineralized (like distilled) water. The reason to use pure water is the above mentioned activation by the neutrons from the Uranium: Pure water does not get activated much, so stays practically radioactive-free. Dirt or salt in the water will absorb the neutrons quicker, becoming more radioactive. This has no effect whatsoever on the core – it does not care what it is cooled by. But it makes life more difficult for the operators and mechanics when they have to deal with activated (i.e. slightly radioactive) water.

But Plan A had failed – cooling systems down or additional clean water unavailable – so Plan B came into effect. This is what it most people who are experts are saying "probably" happened.  Remember, it is all just educated guessing at this point.

In order to prevent a core meltdown, the operators started to use sea water to cool the core.

Because the chain reaction has been stopped a long time ago, there is only very little residual heat being produced now. The large amount of cooling water that has been used is sufficient to take up that heat. Because it is a lot of water, the core does not produce sufficient heat any more to produce any significant pressure. Also, boric acid has been added to the seawater. Boric acid is “liquid control rod”. Whatever decay is still going on, the Boron will capture the neutrons and further speed up the cooling down of the core.

As happy as everyone wants to be, the entire described process basically needed to be repeated at entirely other nuclear reactors that failed. 

Problem is, just today it was announced that yet another nuclear reactor, a 3rd plant, was losing its cooling systems and was beginning to fail.  Now, Monday evening, it has been reported a 4th reactor is breaking down.  The reason people are freaking out is the same reason people are not telling you anything in the mainstream media, basically, each one of the nuclear reactors in Japan will eventually fail.  As they fail, that reactor faces the most critical situation the plant could ever face, if not dealt with properly, a core meltdown is 100% possible and not just possible, but really likely if things don't go as planned.  So for each time a reactor fails, we are no longer in a situation under control and enter into a situation that needs to be placed under control.

Japan is currently addressing the largest disaster in its history and has over 500,000 people without a home right now.  That is a lot of people, larger than refugee numbers after major wars.  Japan does not have the man power or resources to sustain a recovery and relief effort for this scale of a disaster so to add these failing nuclear reactors to their problems should be a concern for the whole planet, which is why the United States has sent the navy and other experts over there to aid in the whole thing. 

This is a situation that needs to be watched very carefully.

This is my personal advice to everyone:

First of all, everyone should understand it NEVER hurts to be prepared for any situation or scenario.  In fact, in all due respect, you should be prepared for any situation or crises as it happens.  Most people are not in this category, hence why most people throughout history die off in any major event largely because of lack of preparedness.  This is what separates the responsible and intelligent from the incompetent and unwise.  The question you have to ask yourself here is this.  Where do you see yourself?  Are you confident you are ready for anything?

With that said, since the massive quake hit in Japan, it became known rather quickly that Japan has an uncommon array of nuclear reactors in the northeast of the country.  I say uncommon because this is one of the only places on the planet with so many nuclear reactors right next to each other, unfortunately, on a freaking fault line.  If you remember Chernobyl, that was one reactor and that was landlocked with NO jetstream or contamination zone that included an entire ocean.  You can literally not contain a nuclear leak with an ocean in your fallout zone, period.  The big advantage authorities had in dealing with Chernobyl is that they were able to immediately begin containing the meltdown since it was the single catastrophe they were dealing with and they had the man power and resources, including electricity, to run a containment operation.

With this situation in Japan, we are in a completely different scenario. 

Everyone needs to understand something right now and that is that the media is NOT in place to alert people of how bad the situation may or may not be.  They are in place to keep people calm and to keep people orderly until the last possible moments.  They WILL NOT disclose what is currently happening.  They will disclose what happened today in 24-48 hours, as they have been doing.  They waited 2 days to explain that a hydrogen explosion occurred at the plant and up until then were claiming the situation was under control.  That means that they are clearly not going to communicate publicly whatever is current, so expect to hear information that is technically old.  So any "experts" or CNN, MSNBC, FOX, you name it program talking about this nuke reactor situation WILL NOT be telling you all the current facts due to national security.

No one should be alarmists here, however, with that said, you should probably be prepared to deal with nuclear fallout as a possibility due to the jetstreams and the leaking radioactivity here.  Potassium Iodide is what you need in nuclear fallout.  you can contact Bob at Farris Survival and he will educate you on all this, his website is below.

It never hurts to be prepared for anything and everything, but people should not be alarmists. Just remember the 1st rule of scouts, always be prepared.... Even if it is for something people would think you are crazy for being prepared to handle, like a nuclear fallout. I, personally, have prepared for years in survival-ism. Its kind of a second hobby, so not only do I have tons of Potassium Iodide, I have filters galore, tons of storage-able foods that last 30 years, masks and gear to deal with biological or viral outbreaks, med kits, butane stoves, cases of butane, volcanic rock stoves, huge barrels for water, water storage chemicals, etc, etc, etc, etc... So for me, unlike most people, I am actually completely prepared for a nuclear fallout scenario. I am not worried, but for others, I just don't know what to tell people...

I felt obligated to send emails on my newsletter throughout the 1^st week of the disaster and post this article so that people could get educated on this mess. Either way you look at this, you WILL NOT be told information you can trust at this time from ANY source you think may be "credible." 

This situation will MOST LIKELY be contained, HOWEVER, you should be prepared.  There may be only a handful of times in your entire life you need to stop what you are doing, and take something really serious, like you have never before, and think about actually being prepared for the worst.  THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES.

Like it or not, you should be prepared even if this disaster isn't imminent.  You should have weeks of food and water in your house, water filters, survival gear, and the like.  Most of you don't have any of this, in fact, most of you have food to last 3 days.  There is NOT enough supplies in any arsenal by military or anyone else to provide for everyone for any extended period of time.

So with all this said, I want everyone to know that you should plan for the worst, but hope for the best.  Plan for the worst though, be ready, don't be sorry.  You don't want to regret something like this, knowing you could have done something to be more prepared.  Survival gear and supplies are a HUGE commodity and are easy to sell if you want to get rid of that online.  There is a HUGE demand for that stuff, so worrying about wasting your money should not really be entertained.  

Like I said, I would suggest getting Potassium Iodide, but learn about survival-ism and look on the internet for a store in your town or city that carries survival gear.  In Colorado, I recommend Farris Survival and I know Bob Farris personally.  He is a very good, trusted friend of mine. 

He does sell online and ship so if people want to check it out, feel free.

Farris Survival's website is:

http://www.fsurv.com/

If this is the first you are hearing about all this, here are some links to bring you up to speed:

Here is the US NAVY'S website on it: http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=59065
here is the Pacific Fleet's website on it:
http://www.cpf.navy.mil/media/news/articles/2011/mar/mar13_C7F_reposition.shtml