Hardly a difference to this intelligent way of contaminating the planet by using nuclear power but totally neglecting the consequences. Is this what is called intelligence related to what human beings supposed to have, sometimes called brainpower?
Radiation inside the reactor 2 containment vessel at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has reached a lethal 73 sieverts per hour and any attempt to send robots in to accurately gauge the situation will require them to have greater resistance than currently available, experts said Wednesday.
Exposure to 73 sieverts for a minute would cause nausea and seven minutes would cause death within a month, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.
The experts said the high radiation level is due to the shallow level of coolant water — 60 cm — in the containment vessel, which Tepco said in January was believed to be 4 meters deep. Tepco has only peeked inside the reactor 2 containment vessel. It has few clues as to the status of reactors 1 and 3, which also suffered meltdowns, because there is no access to their insides.
The utility said the radiation level in the reactor 2 containment vessel is too high for robots, endoscopes and other devices to function properly.
Spokesman Junichi Matsumoto said it will be necessary to develop devices resistant to high radiation.
High radiation can damage the circuitry of computer chips and degrade camera-captured images.
For example, a series of Quince tracked robots designed to gather data inside reactors can properly function for only two or three hours during exposure to 73 sieverts, said Eiji Koyanagi, chief developer and vice director of the Future Robotics Technology Center of Chiba Institute of Technology.
That is unlikely to be enough for them to move around and collect video data and water samples, reactor experts said.
"Two or three hours would be too short. At least five or six hours would be necessary," said Tsuyoshi Misawa, a reactor physics and engineering professor at Kyoto University's Research Reactor Institute.
The high radiation level can be explained by the low water level. Water acts to block radiation.
"The shallowness of the water level is a surprise . . . the radiation level is awfully high," Misawa said.
While the water temperature is considered in a safe zone at about 50 degrees, it is unknown if the melted fuel is fully submerged, but Tepco said in November that computer simulations suggested the height of the melted fuel in reactor 2's containment vessel is probably 20 to 40 cm, Tepco spokeswoman Ai Tanaka said.
Tepco has inserted an endoscope and a radiation meter, but not a robot, in the containment vessel. It is way too early to know how long Tepco will need to operate robots in the vessel because it is unknown what the devices will have to do, Tanaka said.
A Quince was exposed to radiation of 20 sieverts per hour for a total of 10 hours, and the device worked fine, Koyanagi said. If the team conducts further experiments, it may find out the robot can resist even more radiation, he added.
According to experts, even though high radiation in the containment vessel means additional trouble, it is not expected to further delay the decommissioning the three crippled reactors, a process Tepco said will take 40 years.
The experts noted, however, that removing the melted nuclear fuel from the bottom of the containment vessels will be extremely difficult.
Tepco inserted a radiation meter into the containment vessel of reactor 2 Tuesday for the first time, measuring atmospheric radiation levels at several points inside the vessel. The readings logged 31.1 and 72.9 sieverts per hour.
Tepco has not been able to gauge the water depths and radiation levels of the containment vessels for reactors 1 and 3, as, unlike unit 2, there is no access.
I normally do not copy articles in full; this one, however, makes one break out in sweat, right to the very end where reactors 1 and 3 are declared un-accessible. All by the experts!
This all while mainstream discusses Cameron's sausage rolls, his gas station advisory capacities and ominous £250,000 dinner parties.
Here is the transcipt of the video in case things moved too fast and where too unbelievable...
Is year 2012 the end of the world? We will know about it very
soon…Before that, as long as the earth is still spinning, you, have to
pay tax.
Tax revenue and other non-tax income are collectively called fiscal
revenue. And money has to be spent, right? Then do you have any idea
WHERE taxpayers’ money has gone?
“I need to build houses.” “I need to build roads.” “I need to buy
cars.” “I need mistresses.” “I…need ‘em all!” -_-|| Don’t worry. There
must be some plan for spending money. The formal name of such a plan is
“Budget Plan.”
In Chicago, USA, the government needs 7 months to draw up its budget
for the next year. Besides, it has to be put to the test by various
public hearings. The budget deal can’t be reached?! Government shutdown!
This is so not harmonious! The budget plan made public by Chicago’s
government runs as many as 600 pages. Anyone can find it on the Web,
through media or paperwork.
In China, we also need about half a year to draw up the budget for…
the current year…And the budget plan in print hardly runs more than 20
pages, and it always passes muster…
In many countries, a government budget can be visually seen.
Moreover, each year, each taxpayer receives from the tax department a
list detailing what the taxpayer’s money is used for and how much,
rounded to the nearest 100th. How considerate the service is! But here,
in our country, taxpayers and their money are in two different
universes. So, if you also sit at home, expecting a tax list delivered
to you… “Time to take mental health medications~ Dear~”
In 2010, government expenses of our country approached 9 trillion RMB
(1.33 trillion USD), 1.6 trillion RMB (237 billion USD) of which was
the central government’s spending. It fell into 25 categories. However,
the most heart-rending part is…Category 26: “Three Public Expenditures,”
which are the legendary…food and entertainment, overseas trips and
vehicles purchases on the government’s dime. In 2011, 95 out of the 98
central government agencies disclosed their “Three Public Expenditures”
of the previous year. The total amount was 9.47 billion RMB (1.4 billion
USD). State Administration of Taxation, which reported the biggest “3
publics” figure among them all, spent 2,214 times as much as State
Bureau for Petitions did, which placed at the bottom.
The expense for food and entertainment of Red Cross China was only 150,000 RMB (22,230 USD). They did spend 10,000 RMB on a single meal (News here). So the money was merely enough for 2 weeks! What did they have for the other 50 weeks?
In 2010, the local governments at all levels spent about 7.3 trillion
RMB (1.08 trillion USD). It fell into 23 categories. The biggest among
them was spending on education, 1.2 trillion RMB, representing a 721
percent increase over year 2000. However, what is really puzzling is, in
this decade, the number of elementary schools in rural China dropped
almost by half. They even ousted 448,000 substitute teachers during this
time.
In many places, government buildings become their landmarks. How
magnificent, imposing and sumptuous they are! The government office
building of a certain county takes up 40,000 sqm (9.88 acres, or 430,556
sq ft), which is equal to the land area of 8 White Houses, and have
enough office space for 2,180 county heads. But such an expense is
categorized as “general public service.” Then, how much is the “Three
Public Expenditures” of local governments?
。。。。。。。。。。。
According to stats, in 2004, China’s administrative expenditure was
1.2 trillion RMB. The figures for other years remain a secret. Providing
all primary and secondary schools with school buses costs 460 billion
RMB. Providing universal free health care costs 160 billion RMB. How
great it would be if all money were spent on these! “Time to take your
meds again…Dear~”
The end of each year marks the season for discounts, Christmas, and
time to rush spending as well. Suppose a work unit had a budget of 1
million RMB last year, and spent only 800,000 this year, then all the
200,000 saved at year-end will have to be handed over to the state, and
the budget for the next year will be cut to 800,000. That’s why each
year there’s the important year-end task of rushing spending. As for how
to rush it…Ahem~Sorry, it’s a secret.
The good news is, a draft revision to the Budget Law has been passed
by the State Council and will be handed over to the National People’s
Congress for review.
Wait a sec, under “expenditure” of the budget, there’s a category
called “Other,” which amounted to 270 billion RMB (40 billion USD). What
the heck is this “Other expenditure?”
[Children's song]
I just won’t tell you!~ *3
[This video is dedicated to you, me, and them, who have the right to
know and supervise, and yet are nothing but frogs in a well with limited
view.]
[All the statistics come from the Web, the media and China Statistical Yearbook. For reference only.]
...on a day in 2013, it is very hot. But you can’t see the sun.
Whatever. I haven’t seen the sun for a long time anyways.
I drive my car to the nearest gas station to gas up. I’ve learned that gas there is cheaper.
There aren’t many cars at the gas station. Now you don’t have to line to gas up. It feels so great.
The worker there asks, “How much gas do you want?”
“About 1,000 yuan (US$150) of gas,” I say without taking a glimpse at the gas pump.
“With this little gas, how far can you possibly go? Why don’t you fill it up?” The worker says scornfully.
“No. I would rather spent that much money on a kilo of leafy greens.”
I stare at the sky and can’t figure out what color it is.
“Okay, it is ready to go. Do you want an official invoice?”
“No invoice is needed. Thanks!”
The worker is stunned, “Oh, my god. You are awesome! A private car owner has the nerve to gas up?”
I crack a smile. I do feel proud at that moment.
I drive the car away with much contentment, because I know, this little gas is enough to get my car to the dealership.
The price of gas has
risen. The price of apple has risen. The price of egg has risen. The
price of radish has risen. The price of instant noodles has risen…
But I am gonna tough it out, because the price of grave plot has risen too.
It is 2 o’clock in the afternoon. The weather is still hot. And I still can’t see the sun.
Holding a small wad of banknotes in my hand, I walk out of the dealership.
I think to myself, “It’s been a long while since kids last ate any meat. It is time to satisfy their cravings.”
I look at my watch. It is already 2 p.m.
“It’s quite late. I have to get home with a kilo of meat before 7 p.m.”
I quicken my steps.
Suddenly, I find to my joy that the air hasn’t got a markup, and in
fact, it contains way more ingredients than before.
Once you boil down mainstream there is not much left that enables you to see light at the end of the tunnel; numbers are hard to find, it needs a German website querschuesse.de to help out; UK mainstream rather discusses more bread and game like topics:
Above UK production since January 1985; January 2012 sees usback on the level of 1993, that are those brilliant 20 years of progress and growth, of securing and intensifying the industrial base? It is rather like somebody wants to de-industrialise the country on the fast lane.
The chart starts in January 1977, the output in January 2012 is the same like in October 1978. Shamed be he who thinks this is past peak UK oil and gas, only.
We are living in a bubble economy where the City is sanctimoniously defended because financial services seem to be our only answer on the question on how the UK will feed a population of +62m people in the (near) future. Financial Services that in their majority today are totally focused on betting against the masses and their economies per se by speculating, gambling, on energy and food, all kinds of past-peak resources, debts and bonds.
The UK, we all, are more and more depending on imports of energy and food of all kinds which we will have to pay for with a hard currency; so help us if the Pound should drown in these heavy European waters where no matter what, a collapse or a prolonged artificial life of this brain-dead but at any cost defended Euro will enhance the depression.
Already there are more than 50% among young black men with no job (The Telegraph); yes, in the UK; at the same time the unemployment of the <25 year old in Greece soared to 50.5%, in Spain it is 49.9%, a figure just below 50% very likely for saving the statistics from bursting into tears.
Average unemployment rate in the Eurozone hits 10.7% with the rate for the <25 year old now above 20% that`s 2 out of 10 with no job; and probably another 4 or more in jobs that are simple or financial service, interim or trainee like jobs. and do not forget, these all are official numbers; official as in doctored and faked.
It might comfort us that production output all over Europe is eroding - but we all know the reason; no need to wake up, though, with deep cuts into education, R&D, training and lecturing it is too late, anyway!
Even if you live in this country for ten years now, you speak and understand the language fairly well, you are still not immune from being laughed at and from people with a question mark plus at least two exclamation marks in their eyes while they are congesting what you just said.
So happened when I explained to a friend (lucky me?) that I now was certified.
Mind you, for a one-dimensional German brain it is not really easy to understand that you hold your hard-earned Certificate in your hand but then you should not declare yourself certified.
The German translation of "to certify" does not offer any hint that this could mean anything other than what one has learned in school and only way further down it mentions certified sick as something like krankgeschrieben, i.e. signed off ill which for my understanding is still far from the British imagination seeing the men in white jackets arrive taking away what my gom*-friend would call a certifiable, anyway!
Carpe diem!
p.s. In case you find or found any other similar two and three dimensional bemusement in these pages please, please let me know and save me from having to go through all this for another ten years!
It is almost like one must sympathise with Mr Obama in his fight for his second term. But while his fight in the end might help to not see one of those reactionary Republicans named Romney or even worse Santorum, latest rumours even threat us with Palin's comeback, to move into White House it is still pure bullshit Obama is giving us; most likely not only in reference to the unemployment situation in the US. Fair enough, it is election time and mainstream just follows the flag:
In a boost to president Barack Obama's pledge to keep cutting
unemployment a priority, the US enjoyed the longest stretch of solid jobs
growth in almost a year. Government data showed 227,000 non-farm jobs were added last month, ahead of the 210,000 rise forecast by economists.
... but in the same article ...
The unemployment rate, however, remained at 8.3% as expected as more
people came back into the labour market after not previously seeking
work.
Pure nonsense, nothing changed to the good. Karl Denninger, a US blogger, calls it the Bureau of Lies and Scams when referring to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics and says:
We have not added a single
job, adjusted for population, since 2006 -- and even then going all the
way back to 2000 the "gains" were tiny and fleeting. Until and unless
we stop sending jobs overseas there will be no durable economic improvement.
Indeed, the jobs [labour] and the greenbacks [money] are both meeting up somewhere overseas.
Again, like that letter from PRC, China, to the indebted nations of Europe here is something that helps to understand the dramatic changes China is going through. It is most probably more than one fifth of the world's population, so we should at least try to understand; you have six days to watch...
rockenergy is concerned with man made change and manipulation - from economy to ecology - and what should or should not be done; topics that will govern our lives for many years to come; topics that will be unpleasant to discuss with our children as they will ask us: "How could you?" or "Why didn't you?". Topics that we soon will be - or are already - fed up with. Becoming fed up with our very existence will not feed us, warm us, or carry us; it threatens our survival – and that of our children.
