flushcut
TreeHouser
Me too.
8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan!
- Thread starter Paul B
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Me too.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
A lot on the news about trying to deal with the huge amount of refuse that the tsunami created, somewhere between one and two hundred million tons. It is being compiled in sites all over. Close to 20,000 houses collapsed and were broken apart, and that doesn't include partial damage. The good news is that there is some order to collecting the materials, and items of a personal nature that would appear to be wanted by the rightful owners, are being put in warehouses. Reuniting the owners with their property is often difficult to impossible. In about two years the stuff that washed out to sea is expected to reach Hawaii and at some point, Alaska. It could be a big mess.
As might be expected from such a large scale disaster, restoring utilities and essentials...public services, providing temporary housing, is a big challenge and the costs enormous. There is talk if raising our sales tax from 5 to 10 percent to bring in more revenue. The politicians have been sitting on their hands the last fifteen tears while the economy went down the tubes, and now with the even more pressing need for money beyond the national debt, you know who the burden gets shifted to.
The nuclear plants are still a big problem that is not clearly defined. They say maybe thirty years to completely decommission them. They hope for a complete shutdown of the reactions going on in a few months, some progress made there. Clearing out the fuel will take about ten years, they speculate. They really don't know how much radiation was released into the environment, and if they have an idea, they aren't saying. It's too early to even begin to speculate about ways to deal with the ramifications of the meltdowns. They do know that a lot was released into the environment, and it is showing up in widespread areas, some quite a distance from the reactor site. Within a twenty kilometer radius, 80,000 people have been displaced, and it isn't known if and when they can return to their homes and former ways of life. In some paces they have started to scrape off 2 inches of contaminated soil. There is no effective plan in place on how to deal long term with all this soil that is being collected. It is being temporarily stored in warehouses and the like, sone places packed to the rafters.
I suppose that the good news is that the spirit of the people is rallying to persevere and move forward as much as possible, looking to a brighter future, Some obviously can do a better job at this than others, but it appears that the determination is there and growing. It is in the people's nature to endure and work hard, so hopefully some day the troubles can get put behind. Unavoidably it will take quite awhile.
As might be expected from such a large scale disaster, restoring utilities and essentials...public services, providing temporary housing, is a big challenge and the costs enormous. There is talk if raising our sales tax from 5 to 10 percent to bring in more revenue. The politicians have been sitting on their hands the last fifteen tears while the economy went down the tubes, and now with the even more pressing need for money beyond the national debt, you know who the burden gets shifted to.
The nuclear plants are still a big problem that is not clearly defined. They say maybe thirty years to completely decommission them. They hope for a complete shutdown of the reactions going on in a few months, some progress made there. Clearing out the fuel will take about ten years, they speculate. They really don't know how much radiation was released into the environment, and if they have an idea, they aren't saying. It's too early to even begin to speculate about ways to deal with the ramifications of the meltdowns. They do know that a lot was released into the environment, and it is showing up in widespread areas, some quite a distance from the reactor site. Within a twenty kilometer radius, 80,000 people have been displaced, and it isn't known if and when they can return to their homes and former ways of life. In some paces they have started to scrape off 2 inches of contaminated soil. There is no effective plan in place on how to deal long term with all this soil that is being collected. It is being temporarily stored in warehouses and the like, sone places packed to the rafters.
I suppose that the good news is that the spirit of the people is rallying to persevere and move forward as much as possible, looking to a brighter future, Some obviously can do a better job at this than others, but it appears that the determination is there and growing. It is in the people's nature to endure and work hard, so hopefully some day the troubles can get put behind. Unavoidably it will take quite awhile.
gf beranek
Old Schooler
Thanks for the update, Jay. With such a large amount of debris to sort through I'll bet much of it can be recycled for some good. For some reason I figured the debris that back washed out to sea would reach the west coast sooner.
The radiation is the real long term clincher to have to deal with. I do read local news papers but haven't seen or read much about the clean up efforts going on there. It's old news to the news stream I guess.
Thanks
The radiation is the real long term clincher to have to deal with. I do read local news papers but haven't seen or read much about the clean up efforts going on there. It's old news to the news stream I guess.
Thanks
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
In a way it's almost old news here as well, Jerry. If you are not in the immediate damaged area, it isn't that hard to almost forget about it. Then something comes on the news that even possibly you have seen before, and whoa! Those waves were an incredible thing. Every day at least, there is mention of something having to do with the reactors, you are right about the dimension of that situation. You don't much hear about the physical aspects of the areas that were evacuated, the animals and such left there and all the corpses along the coast, what might be transpiring. Either the news media doesn't want to talk about it, or one's imagination might be able to come up with some wild things close to the truth. No doubt a strange era for the country.
But then, that country is no stranger to strange eras. ( I wasn't trying a smart pun, it ois late and my brain isn't working at full steam).
Maybe that is why Japan seems to have an uncommon ability to shake it off and get on with life.
I remember the Kobe earthquake, they handled that so calmly. Around here, everybody and their grandmother would have been running around like chickens with their head cut off!
Maybe that is why Japan seems to have an uncommon ability to shake it off and get on with life.
I remember the Kobe earthquake, they handled that so calmly. Around here, everybody and their grandmother would have been running around like chickens with their head cut off!
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
Man. I'd GTF outta Dodge, it it was me.
Its nice to hear about personal items being saved, one tends to not think of those sorts of things from so far away, but its a reminder of how personal the whole thing is/was, not just buildings collapsing and ships being washed ashore, but people's daily lives.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
True, Fiona. I've seen some touching moments... A person looses all their possessions, as well as possibly some family members washed away. No way to touch any of their past, then a family album is found and given back. Quite an emotional thing.
flushcut
TreeHouser
I hope some of that massive amount of material can be recycled. I find it hard to imagine what that kind of loss is like.
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
Some billionaire philanthropist need to design and build a vessel that could go in there and suck it all up orrrrrrrr something. Where's Bruce Wayne!
jefflovstrom@sb
TreeHouser
Hi Jay,
Did you see this?
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/tsunami-hit-power-plant-opened-to-journalists-1321109750-slideshow/
Did you see this?
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/tsunami-hit-power-plant-opened-to-journalists-1321109750-slideshow/
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Yes, Jeff, it was on tv news last night. I don't believe the reporters were allowed to leave the bus while in close proximity to the reactors, or they didn't want to. Probably wise.
M
Mr. Sir
Guest
Up to 20 million tons of Tsunami trash heading toward Hawaii.
