ARTICLES - HOT OFF THE FAGGOT

180K flee nuke-plant crisis intensifies

180K flee as Japan's nuke-plant crisis intensifies

Amplify’d from news.yahoo.com

180K flee as Japan's nuke-plant crisis intensifies

AP Photo/Kyodo News
In this Sept. 2010 photo, an operator works at Unit 3 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okumamachi. More photos »

By ERIC TALMADGE and MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Eric Talmadge And Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press
A technician in protective gear scans a child for signs of radiation at a makeshift facility to screen, cleanse and isolate people with high radiation
Reuters – A technician in protective gear scans a child for signs of radiation at a makeshift facility to screen, …

KORIYAMA, Japan – Japanese officials warned of a possible second explosion at a nuclear plant crippled by the earthquake and tsunami as they raced to stave off multiple reactor meltdowns, but they provided few details about whether they were making progress. More than 180,000 people have evacuated the area, and up to 160 may have been exposed to radiation.

Four nuclear plants in northeastern Japan have reported damage, but the danger Monday appeared to be greatest at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, where one explosion occurred over the weekend and a second was feared. Operators have lost the ability to cool three reactors at Dai-ichi and three more at another nearby complex using usual procedures, after the quake knocked out power and the tsunami swamped backup generators.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Sunday that a hydrogen explosion could occur at Dai-ichi's Unit 3, the latest reactor to face a possible meltdown. That would follow a hydrogen blast Saturday in the plant's Unit 1.

"At the risk of raising further public concern, we cannot rule out the possibility of an explosion," Edano said. "If there is an explosion, however, there would be no significant impact on human health."

Operators have been dumping seawater into units 1 and 3 in a last-ditch measure to cool the reactors. They were getting water into the other four reactors with cooling problems without resorting to corrosive sea water, which likely makes the reactors unusable.

Edano said residents within about 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the Dai-ichi plant were ordered to evacuate as a precaution, and the radioactivity released into the environment so far was so small it didn't pose any health threats.

Such statements, though, did little to ease public worries.

"First I was worried about the quake," said Kenji Koshiba, a construction worker who lives near the plant. "Now I'm worried about radiation." He spoke at an emergency center in Koriyama, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) from the most troubled reactors and 125 miles (190 kilometers) north of Tokyo.

Click image to see photos of quake, tsunami damage

AFP/Yomiuri Shimbun

A higher than usual level of radiation was detected at the Dai-ichi plant Monday, after levels rose and dropped in previous days. Naoki Kumagai, an official at Japan's nuclear safety agency, told the Associated Press that a person at the monitoring site for an hour would get as much radiation as a plant worker typically gets in six months, but added that the levels would be much higher of one of the reactors were on the verge of a meltdown.

The radiation was detected on the grounds, and Unit 1 was the closest reactor, but it was unclear whether that was where the radiation came from, said agency official Yoshihiro Sugiyama.

At the makeshift center set up in a gym, a steady flow of people — mostly the elderly, schoolchildren and families with babies — were met by officials wearing helmets, surgical masks and goggles.

About 1,500 people had been scanned for radiation exposure, officials said.

Up to 160 people, including 60 elderly patients and medical staff who had been waiting for evacuation in the nearby town of Futabe, and 100 others evacuating by bus, might have been exposed to radiation, said Ryo Miyake, a spokesman from Japan's nuclear agency. It was unclear whether any cases of exposure had reached dangerous levels.

Edano said none of the Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors was near the point of complete meltdown, and he was confident of escaping the worst scenarios.

Officials, though, have declared states of emergency at the six reactors where cooling systems were down — three at Dai-ichi and three at the nearby Fukushima Daini complex. The U.N. nuclear agency said a state of emergency was also declared Sunday at another complex, the Onagawa power plant, after higher-than-permitted levels of radiation were measured there. It said Japan informed it that all three reactors there were under control.

A pump for the cooling system at yet another nuclear complex, the Tokai Dai-Ni plant, also failed after Friday's quake but a second pump operated normally as did the reactor, said the utility, the Japan Atomic Power Co. It did not explain why it did not announce the incident until Sunday.

Edano denied there had been a meltdown in the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex, but other officials said the situation was not so clear.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, a senior official of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, indicated the reactor core in Unit 3 had melted partially. He said at a news conference, "I don't think the fuel rods themselves have been spared damage," according to the Kyodo News agency.


A complete meltdown — the melting of the radioactive core — could release uranium and dangerous contaminants into the environment and pose major, widespread health risks.


The steel reactor vessel could melt or break from the heat and pressure. A concrete platform underneath the reactor is supposed to catch the molten metal and nuclear fuel, but the intensely hot material could set off a massive explosion if water has collected on the platform. Radioactive material also could be released into the ground if the platform fails.


The explosion that destroyed the walls and ceiling of Dai-ichi Unit 1's containment building was much less serious that a meltdown would be — in fact, it was operators' efforts to avoid a meltdown that caused it.


Officials vented steam from the reactor to reduce pressure, and were aware that there was an explosion risk because the steam contained hydrogen, said Shinji Kinjo, spokesman for the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. The explosion occurred when hydrogen reacted with oxygen outside the reactor.


It is unclear how far the impact of a meltdown might reach. In the United States, local communities plan for evacuation typically within 10 miles of a nuclear plant. However, states must be ready to cope with contamination of food and water as far as 50 miles away. Radioactivity can also be carried to faraway places by the winds, as it was in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, though it will become increasingly diffuse. Acute radiation deaths would normally be expected only much closer to the plant.


The reactor that exploded at Chernobyl, sending a cloud of radiation over much of Europe, was not housed in a sealed container as those at Dai-ichi are. The Japanese reactors also do not use graphite, which burned for several days at Chernobyl.


Japan's nuclear crisis was triggered by twin disasters on Friday, when an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the most powerful in the country's recorded history, was followed by a tsunami that savaged its northeastern coast with breathtaking speed and power.


Nearly 1,600 people were confirmed dead and hundreds more were missing, according to officials, but police in one of the worst-hit areas estimated the toll there alone was more than 10,000.


All of the reactors in the region shut down automatically when the earthquake hit. But with backup power supplies also failing, shutting down the reactors is just the beginning of the problem, scientists said.


"You need to get rid of the heat," said Friedrich Steinhaeusler, a professor of physics and biophysics at Salzburg University and an adviser to the Austrian government on nuclear issues. "You are basically putting the lid down on a pot that is boiling."


"They have a window of opportunity where they can do a lot," he said, such as using sea water as an emergency coolant. But if the heat is not brought down, the cascading problems can eventually be impossible to control. "This isn't something that will happen in a few hours. It's days."


Japan's nuclear safety agency said 1,450 workers were at the Dai-ichi plant on Sunday, its usual staffing. The workers were in protective gear and were taking shorter turns than usual in units 1 and 3 to limit their exposure, said agency spokesman Sugiyama.


The emergencies at the nuclear plants have led to an electricity shortage in Japan, where nearly 2 million households were without power Sunday. Starting Monday, power will be rationed with rolling blackouts in several cities, including Tokyo.


Japan has a total of 55 reactors spread across 17 complexes nationwide.


Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writers Tomoko A. Hosaka and Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo, Tim Sullivan in Bangkok and Jeff Donn in Boston contributed to this report.






Explore Related Content










Read more at news.yahoo.com
 
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bu78h

on No comments:

Courts special animosity for Christians

Courts have 'special animosity' for Christians Attorney says there is no point in appeal to judges for fairness

Amplify’d from www.wnd.com

Courts have 'special animosity' for Christians

Attorney says there is no point in appeal to judges for fairness

FAITH UNDER FIRE

By Bob Unruh




© 2011 WorldNetDaily



Eunice and Owen Johns (Photo Christian Legal Centre)

An attorney for a Christian couple who faced religious discrimination in their request to provide foster care says there's no point in appealing a stunning decision that accused them of "infecting" children with their beliefs, because the nation's legal system is skewed against Christianity.

But Paul Diamond, who served as barrister to the Johns family in the dispute in the United Kingdom over the nation's mandatory promotion of homosexuality to foster children, said there is a solution: The people need to reverse the nation's surge toward treating homosexuals as a privileged class.

WND reported on the court ruling that Christians who want to provide foster care for needy children must promote homosexuality to them, and that there is only a "qualified" right to exercise their Christian beliefs.

The judgment came in a claim by Eunice and Owen Johns that their biblical beliefs in opposition to homosexual behavior were being used by the government to discriminate against them regarding their application to be foster parents.

The couple previously provided foster care and had applied to resume their work but suddenly were rejected because they expressed their Christian beliefs regarding homosexuality.

"Back Fired," by William J. Federer, shows how the faith that gave birth to tolerance is no longer tolerated!

According to the Christian Legal Centre, which also posted online the decision in the landmark High Court case, the judges refused to say the Johns should be allowed to provide foster care.

"There now appears to be nothing to stop the increasing bar on Christians who wish to adopt or foster children but who are not willing to compromise their beliefs by promoting the practice of homosexuality to small children," the organization said.

According to the opinion authored by Lord Justice Munby and Mr. Justice Beatson, "the laws and usages of the realm do not include Christianity, in whatever form."

They said "the aphorism that 'Christianity is part of the common law of England' is mere rhetoric; at least since the decision of the House of Lords in Bowman v Secular Society Limited … it has been impossible to contend that it is law."

"It is important to realize that reliance upon religious belief, however conscientious the belief and however ancient and respectable the religion, can never of itself immunize the believer from the reach of the secular law. And invocation of religious belief does not necessarily provide a defense to what is otherwise a valid claim," they wrote.

The judges noted Article 9 of the European Convention, which explains all have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and the related "practice and observance," but they said the "manifestation" of Christianity is subject to "qualifications."

Munby and Beatson endorsed the belief that it "cannot therefore be justified" that a position "held purely on religious grounds" could be defended by the law.

On the issue of requiring foster parents to promote homosexuality, the judges said, "If children, whether they are known to be homosexuals or not, are placed with carers who … evince an antipathy, objection to or disapproval of, homosexuality and same-sex relationships, there may well be a conflict with the local authority's duty to 'safeguard and promote' the 'welfare' of looked-after children."

The ruling continued, "While as between the protected rights concerning religion and sexual orientation there is no hierarchy of rights, there may, as this case shows, be a tension between equality provisions concerning religious discrimination and those concerning sexual orientation.

"Where this is so … the National Minimum Standards for Fostering and the Statutory Guidance indicate that it must be taken into account and in this limited sense the equality provisions concerning sexual orientation should take precedence."

Munby and Beatson said in their ruling that there is only a "qualified" right "to manifest religious belief" and that "interferences in the sphere of employment and analogous spheres are readily found to be justified, even where the members of a particular religious group will find it difficult in practice to comply."

The Christian Legal Centre subsequently warned, "The summary contained in the judgment sends out the clear message that orthodox Christian ethical beliefs are potentially harmful to children and that Christian parents with mainstream Christian views are not suitable to be considered as potential foster parents."

In a commentary posted by the Christian Legal Centre website, Diamond, who represented the Johns family, said it  now is up to the people to redirect their nation, as the courts have proved they won't.

"This liberal tyranny must be rejected by the British people. The law is now prejudiced, irrational and partial; it punishes individuals for 'thought crime' and the state endorses an inverse morality," he wrote.

"Many British people despair of the law enforcement agencies and have (rightly) little confidence that they will achieve justice in the courts. There is no reason in law or otherwise why sexual orientation rights should prevail over religious rights. There is something deeply wrong with the ethical and legal compass of Britain," Diamond  said.

In the article titled "Why the Johns case will not be appealed," he explains that the governmental Equality and Human Rights commission argued in the Johns court case that their beliefs would "infect" children.

That, he wrote, was an argument "implicitly accepted by the court who held that the views of Christian foster carers on sexual morality could be 'inimical' to the welfare of children in care. The commission has now said it was an 'error' to have used this term, but did not retract this statement when I raised it in court."

Diamond said the question is pertinent "in light of the fact that I have reluctantly advised the Johns not to appeal; such an appeal would normally be expected but now, in my opinion, futile – a waste of resources. The courts are so set against religious freedom for Christians that an appeal is likely to only make matters worse."

He said it's a combination of "bad laws" and "poor judicial appointments."

"Where there are excellent judges they are restricted by bad laws. Unfortunately, there are also judges making law based on personal predilections. Parliament must remedy this situation as a matter of urgency," he wrote.

There's a serious moral agenda being pursued by those who oppose Christianity, he suggested.

"The laws are currently being used to eradicate Judeo-Christian morality and usher in secular values. The secular movement is but a variant of the Utopian ambitions that have inspired man from the beginning of time. However, the end game of such programs is always the same. To repeatedly promote a failed ideology is base ignorance or at its worst criminal. Coerced morality or coerced immorality (depending on one's perspective) is not the hallmark of a free society," Diamond wrote.

He cited a "special animosity" reserved in courts for Christians.

"In recent years, I have argued cases that I would have thought of as unthinkable back in 1997. In the British Airways Cross case, our national flag carrier permitted the wearing of the hijab, the Sikh turban and the Siska Hindu ponytail, but banned the wearing of a small cross around the neck, the size of a sixpence. The court held that there was no discrimination against Christians because a Muslim would have received the same treatment and been similarly dismissed for wearing a cross. Astonishingly, the appeal court in the case required evidence to back the claim that the cross was a symbol that Christians wore as part of their faith. Further, the courts have made the evidential requirement for this so complex it is likely never to be satisfied," Diamond  said.

"In another case, an employee was disciplined for expressing an unacceptable view; namely his support for marriage in a private conversation with a fellow employee as this discriminated against people living together. In another, a nurse made the serious violation of asking a patient if she wanted prayer. Churches have had noise abatement notices served on them for singing hymns too loudly on a Sunday morning. I could go on about the countless other cases where no permissible accommodation of conscience is permitted for Christian marriage, registrars or bed and breakfast owners," he said.

"As the laws drive out the Christian faith from public life on absurd applications of anti-discrimination laws, the Lord Chief Justice and the Archbishop of Canterbury have supported the introduction of parts of Shariah law," Diamond said.

He said now it's up to the people.

"The British people have reversed silly laws in the past; the time is ripe for a review of the equality laws," he said.

The Johns told the Christian Legal Centre "we have been excluded because we have moral opinions based on our faith, and a vulnerable child has now probably missed the chance of finding a safe and caring home. … Being a Christian is not a crime and should not stop us from raising children."

Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre, said the family was "humiliated and sidelined and told by a government body … that their mainstream Christian views might 'infect' children. They have also effectively been told by British judges that their views may harm children."

Williams continued, "The judges have claimed that there was no discrimination against the Johns as Christians because they were being excluded from fostering due to their sexual ethics and not their Christian beliefs. This claim that their moral beliefs on sex have nothing to do with the Christian faith is a clear falsehood made in order to justify their ruling. How can the judges get away with this?"

J.E. Dyer, on the Hot Air Green Room blog, said the judges' interpretation of the law "is idiotic on its face. … The next obvious step is ruling that parents must endorse homosexuality to their own children."

"If the British High Court deems Christian beliefs on homosexuality 'inimical to the interests of children,' it will justify intervening between parents and their natural children, just as governments do the world over when child welfare is at issue."


Sponsored Link: Is this the End of America as we know it? Very few Americans are prepared for a day that will likely occur in the next 12 months, and will change our country forever. Eye-opening video explains the full story...
Read more at www.wnd.com
 
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bu77u

on No comments:

Japanese Nuclear Meltdown Confirmed

Amplify’d from www.infowars.com


Japanese Nuclear Meltdown Confirmed

Infowars.com

March 12, 2011

As we accurately reported earlier today, the explosion at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan was the result of a nuclear meltdown of the reactor core at the facility.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) confirmed the meltdown Saturday afternoon. Fukushima is one of the 25 largest nuclear power stations in the world. The NISA is affiliated with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

High levels of cesium and iodine, by-products of nuclear fission, are being reported and providing more evidence that a nuclear meltdown is currently underway.

It is now certain Japan is experiencing a Chernobyl event. “At this point, events in Japan bear many similarities to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Reports indicate that up to 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) of the reactor fuel was exposed. The reactor fuel appears to have at least partially melted, and the subsequent explosion has shattered the walls and roof of the containment vessel – and likely the remaining useful parts of the control and coolant systems,” Stratfor explains.

“Given the large quantity of irradiated nuclear fuel in the pool, the radioactivity release could be worse than the Chernobyl nuclear reactor catastrophe of 25 years ago,” said Kevin Camps, a nuclear waste specialist.

Prior to the explosion of the containment structure, exposure rates outside the plant were at about 620 millirems per hour. Radiation exposure for the average individual is 620 millirems per year. Virtually any increase in ambient radiation can raise long-term cancer rates, and authorities distributed iodine, which helps protect against thyroid cancer, The Oregonian reports.

As the image above illustrates, the prevailing jet stream moves from Japan to the United States across the Pacific Ocean. Airborne radiation would work its way into the jet stream and reach the United States in less than 36 hours. Jet streams flow from west to east in the upper portion of the troposphere.

Bt downplaying this serious disaster, the Japanese government is not only endangering its own people, but also millions of people in the United States and Canada.

The cover-up by the Japanese government provides more evidence that government cannot be trusted to safeguard the lives of its citizens.

Read more at www.infowars.com
 
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bu773

on No comments:

Fukushima nuke plant out of control?

Fukushima nuke plant out of control? RT talks to nuclear expert from Hiroshima, Japan

Amplify’d from www.youtube.com





Fukushima nuke plant out of control? RT talks to nuclear expert from Hiroshima, Japan


See more at www.youtube.com
 
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bu76g

on No comments:

Fukushima nuke plant out of control? RT talks to nuclear expert from Hir...

on No comments:

TSA Scanner Radiation ’10X Higher

TSA Scanner Radiation ’10X Higher than Expected’

Amplify’d from www.infowars.com


TSA Scanner Radiation ’10X Higher than Expected’

Read more at www.infowars.com
Amplify’d from www.usatoday.com

TSA to retest airport body scanners for radiation

Allison Young and Blake Morrison

USA Today

March 12, 2011

The Transportation Security Administration announced Friday that it would retest every full-body X-ray scanner that emits ionizing radiation — 247 machines at 38 airports — after maintenance records on some of the devices showed radiation levels 10 times higher than expected.

The TSA says that the records reflect math mistakes and that all the machines are safe. Indeed, even the highest readings listed on some of the records — the numbers that the TSA says were mistakes — appear to be many times less than what the agency says a person absorbs through one day of natural background radiation.

Even so, the TSA has ordered the new tests out of “an abundance of caution to reassure the public,” spokesman Nicholas Kimball says. The tests will be finished by the end of the month, and the results will be released “as they are completed,” the agency said on its website.

The TSA “has repeatedly assured me that the machines that emit radiation do not pose a health risk,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a written statement Friday. “Nonetheless, if TSA contractors reporting on the radiation levels have done such a poor job, how can airline passengers and crew have confidence in the data used by the TSA to reassure the public?”

Read full article

Read more at www.usatoday.com
 
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bu765

on No comments:

Fukushima nuke plant out of control?

Fukushima nuke plant out of control? RT talks to nuclear expert from Hiroshima

Amplify’d from www.infowars.com


Fukushima nuke plant out of control? RT talks to nuclear expert from Hiroshima

Russia Today

Saturday, March 12, 2011

RT talks about the earthquake and it’s effects to Dr. Robert Jacobs, a research associate professor of nuclear history and culture at Hiroshima Peace Institute.

Read more at www.infowars.com
 
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bu75l

on No comments:

Fukushima may be another Chernobyl

Amplify’d from www.youtube.com





History Repeating? Fears Fukushima may turn into Chernobyl


See more at www.youtube.com
 
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bu750

on No comments:

History Repeating? Fears Fukushima may turn into Chernobyl

on No comments:

Chernobyl Event Underway in Japan

Media Coverup of Massive Chernobyl Event Underway in Japan

Amplify’d from www.infowars.com


Media Coverup of Massive Chernobyl Event Underway in Japan

Kurt Nimmo

Infowars.com

March 12, 2011

Editor’s note: Forbes posted the following yesterday: “Without cooling water, the irradiated nuclear fuel could spontaneously combust in an exothermic reaction. Since the storage pools are not located within containment, a catastrophic radioactivity release to the environment could occur. Up to 100 percent of the volatile radioactive Cesium-137 content of the pools could go up in flames and smoke, to blow downwind over large distances. Given the large quantity of irradiated nuclear fuel in the pool, the radioactivity release could be worse than the Chernobyl nuclear reactor catastrophe of 25 years ago.”

A large explosion at Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiich nuclear power plant reveals that a meltdown is now underway following the exposure of the core following an 9.1-magnitude earthquake.

The media in Japan is not reporting this fact in order to prevent mass hysteria.

Prior to the explosion today, the media reported the radiation level was 1000 times higher than the permissible level.

Kyodo News agency said radioactive cesium had been detected near the 40 year old facility, citing the nuclear safety agency.

Government spokesman Yukio Edano said radiation levels around the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan had not risen after the explosion, despite earlier press reports it had.

Earthquake epicenter and its relation to the two nuclear plants.

It is obvious the Japanese are attempting to cover up the deadly seriousness of events unfolding in their country.

The white smoke emitted from the Fukushima plant resembles the smoke emitted at Chernobyl after the Ukrainian nuclear plant blew up and caught fire on April 26, 1986. Here is a documentary on the events at Chernobyl.

Chernobyl has been blamed for thousands of deaths due to radiation-linked illness.

“If the pressure vessel, which is the thing that actually holds all the nuclear fuel … if that was to explode — that’s basically what happened at Chernobyl — you get an enormous release of radioactive material,” said Prof. Paddy Regan, nuclear physicist from Britain’s Surrey University.

Reuters reports this morning that experts examining pictures of “mist above the plant suggested only small amounts of radiation had been expelled as part of measures to ensure its stability, far from the radioactive clouds that Chernobyl spewed out when it exploded in 1986.”

This characterization is at odds with video of the explosion showing large plumes rising high above the crippled plant.

Even though 210,000 people were evacuated from the region, Japanese authorities and the corporate media insist the situation is not serious. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said that only a small amount of radiation has been released from one of the reactors.

Wind charts reveal that radiation released from the plant will adversely impact nations surrounding Japan.

See more at www.infowars.com
 
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bu74b

on No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)