Number of dead or missing in Japan tops 24,000 as radiation particles found in Iceland - Polidicks

[img]http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2011/03/23/1226026/783956-japan-earthquake.jpg[/img] Workers in protective suits conduct cooling operation by spraying water at the damaged N. 4 unit of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant / AP Source: AP Source: [url]http://www.news.com.au/world/number-of-dead-or-missing-in-japan-tops-24000-as-radiation-particles-found-in-iceland/story-e6frfl00-1226026557035[/url] [release] * Minuscule amount of radiation found in Iceland * Comes as fresh quake hits near Fukushima plant * Radiation detected in Pacific Ocean and US THE number of people confirmed dead or listed as missing in Japan surpassed 24,000 on Wednesday, 12 days after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the country's northeast coast. There are fears of a much higher toll from the disaster, which flattened entire towns along the Pacific coast of northern Honshu island. The National Police Agency said 9,408 people had been confirmed dead and 14,716 officially listed as missing - a total of 24,124 - as of 2pm (AEDT) today as a result of the March 11 catastrophe. A total of 2746 people have been injured. The news comes as radiation from Japan's troubled Fukushima nuclear power plant has reached Europe with minuscule amounts being detected in Iceland. Officials in Iceland have detected radioactive particles believed to have come from Fukushima, the Daily Mail reported. The British government said there were no reports yet of radiation reaching the country, though France predicted tiny amounts are due to arrive in hours. Levels in Tokyo rose ten-fold in the days after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake stuck, with tiny traces already detected in California and Washington in the US. It comes as the International Atomic Energy Agency crticised Japan over a lack of data on the temperatures of the spent fuel pools of reactors 1, 3 and 4 at Fukushima and claims the plant was storing more uranium than it was designed to hold. The criticism is the latest incident surrounding the troubled reactor after a strong magnitude-6 earthquake struck near the troubled plant this morning, but there was no fear of a tsunami, according to the meteorological agency. Public broadcaster NHK said there was no immediate report of further damage to nuclear power plants in Fukushima, including the Fukushima No. 1, which was crippled by the March 11 quake. Overnight, an external electricity supply was linked up to all six reactors at the Fukushima No 1 power station, more than a week after a 14-metre tsunami crippled the ageing facility. In another small step towards regaining control of the plant, the lights came back on in the control centre of the number three reactor, making it easier for workers toiling to get the vital cooling systems working again. "As of 10.43pm (local time) the control centre for reactor number three had its lighting on," an official from plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said late yesterday. The number three reactor is a particular concern because it contains a potentially volatile mixture of uranium and plutonium. The twin quake and tsunami disaster, Japan's worst crisis since World War II, has left nearly 23,000 people dead or missing, with entire communities along the northeast coast swept away. Now the shell-shocked nation faces an invisible threat from radiation seeping from the Fukushima No 1 plant, which lies just 250km from the greater Tokyo area and its 30 million inhabitants. The health ministry advised residents in five towns or cities in Fukushima prefecture not to use tap water to make formula milk and other drinks for babies due to abnormally high radiation levels. The government also ordered increased inspections of seafood after radioactive elements were detected in the Pacific Ocean near the Fukushima plant. At one spot 8km from the troubled plant, radioactive iodine 80 times the normal level was found. The government has halted shipments of some foodstuffs in nearby prefectures after the discovery of higher than normal levels of radiation in milk and certain vegetables, but it insists there is no health hazard. "Food products that present abnormal levels (of radiation) will not appear on the market, so please don't worry. And even if you put such foods in your mouth, they will not have an immediate health risk," said Consumer Affairs Minister Renho, who uses only one name. Nuclear plant staff and technicians, firefighters and military personnel are struggling to regain control of the overheating facility but spikes in radiation levels have at times forced the crews to suspend work. The government has declared an exclusion zone with a radius of 20km around the power station and evacuated tens of thousands of people, while telling those within 20 to 30km to stay indoors. An executive of the under-fire plant operator bowed deeply and apologised at evacuee centres to people forced from their homes by the crisis. "Since I have tried to manage this problem hand-in-hand with the government, my visit here to directly meet you was belated," said TEPCO vice president Norio Tsuzumi. "For this I also apologise from the bottom of my heart." The plant has been hit by a series of blasts since the March 11 tsunami, in the worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union in 1986. France's Nuclear Safety Authority warned that local contamination from the Japanese plant would last "for decades and decades". Workers were forced to evacuate part of the facility on Monday when grey smoke rose from reactor number three, TEPCO said. Smoke or steam was also seen rising from the number two and number three reactors yesterday but work later resumed at the site. Firefighters again used high-pressure water jets to cool the number three reactor. A truck with a pump 50 metres high also sprayed water on the spent fuel pool of reactor four, where reduced water levels had led to overheating. An even bigger truck-mounted concrete pump with a reach of more than 60 metres was on the way from China. Evacuees endured another night of freezing temperatures, but aid was flowing into the affected areas in greater quantities, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Some 533,000 people still had no household power and two million people were still without tap water, with 318,213 people huddled in evacuation centres across 16 prefectures, it reported. But about 90 per cent of the national highways damaged in the twin disaster are now open to the public and more than 90 per cent of disrupted telecommunications have been restored, the UN agency said. A series of strong quakes measuring above 6.0-magnitude rattled the northeast coast yesterday, keeping residents on edge, but there were no reports of damage or injuries. Tokyo's stockmarket, which took a pummelling for most of last week, jumped 4.36 per cent as the Bank of Japan pumped another Y2 trillion ($24.53 billion) into the money market to calm jittery investors.[/release]

:/ I feel so sorry for japan right now. At the same time, I'm also wondering how/if they're going to recover (economically)

Not surprised.

OH FUCK run bjork run as fast as you can

[QUOTE=thisispain;28761375]OH FUCK run bjork run as fast as you can[/QUOTE] It'll be pretty much everywhere in a few days

uh oh :ohdear:

Aw shit

itt: People saying shit [editline]23rd March 2011[/editline] Also, can't wait till these things hit the East Coast, that'll give me time to stay inside and finish Oblivion.

[QUOTE=apurplerock;28761235]:/ I feel so sorry for japan right now. At the same time, I'm also wondering how/if they're going to recover (economically)[/QUOTE] "But about 90 per cent of the national highways damaged in the twin disaster are now open to the public and more than 90 per cent of disrupted telecommunications have been restored, the UN agency said. Tokyo's stockmarket, which took a pummelling for most of last week, jumped 4.36 per cent as the Bank of Japan pumped another Y2 trillion ($24.53 billion) into the money market to calm jittery investors." They'll be alright.

Is the radiation actually harmful or is it just harmless bullshit

[QUOTE=Sift;28761683]Is the radiation actually harmful or is it just harmless bullshit[/QUOTE] Chernobyl

Sounds like harmless bullshit.

[QUOTE=Sift;28761683]Is the radiation actually harmful or is it just harmless bullshit[/QUOTE] Completely harmless, especially on the other side of the globe

[QUOTE=Sift;28761683]Is the radiation actually harmful or is it just harmless bullshit[/QUOTE] Have you eaten more than one banana a day once? Yes? You'll be fine.

[QUOTE=HeatPipe;28761712]Chernobyl[/QUOTE] Putting your hand in the microwave.

They only mention 'minuscule' and 'tiny' amounts and provide no hard readings, so I take it it's nothing to worry about. But damn, that toll. I'm confident Japan will recover from this, but for the people affected, it's really depressing to imagine what they're going through.

i demand the icelandic government puts out a statement guaranteeing the safety of all resident icelandic pop-stars

[QUOTE=Best4bond;28761808]Putting your hand in the microwave.[/QUOTE] Even less than that, hell, less than eating a banana.

I'm in Iceland and I feel so fucked :saddowns:

[QUOTE=TheIceman;28765022]I'm in Iceland and I feel so fucked :saddowns:[/QUOTE] The levels of radiation are like almost nothing Its something like if you dump a bucket of labelled water molecules (ie with a rare isotope of something in them) then you will be able to detect it all over the world in like a week. This is similar to whats happening here, the radiation WILL spread everywhere, but at not even slightly harmful levels.

Surely this number is a tiny, tiny underestimate? It's like the number of [i]reported[/i] missing. This seems kinda obvious and I feel like they should mention it on the news, especially when the anchorman is like "yeh 20,000 missing, and now to Dave Smith in Japan" and they cut to Dave and he's in a valley where there used to be a town with a population of 40,000 but all that is there now is driftwood.

I like how the Japanese have fixed most of their roads with a week.

[QUOTE=apurplerock;28761235]:/ I feel so sorry for japan right now. At the same time, I'm also wondering how/if they're going to recover (economically)[/QUOTE] economically? japan's already grown to a point it doesn't have anywhere else to grow, so it just accumulates money for this sort of stuff, they've already fixed many (if not all) roads affected by the earthquake. whenever a tragedy like this happens, they're economically equipped to handle and fix everything in a short period of time. [editline]23rd March 2011[/editline] i feel sorry for japan, but also relieved, knowing that they will recover out of this easily.

The radiation in Iceland is probably just the sun. Or a coal power plant.

good thing I stay inside a lot