US rushes freshwater to help Japan nuclear plant

[Celebration]

Source: Associated Press

SENDAI, Japan (AP) — U.S. naval barges loaded with freshwater sped toward Japan's overheated nuclear plant to help workers who scrambled Saturday to stem a worrying rise in radioactivity and remove dangerously contaminated water from the facility.

Workers at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have been pumping seawater in a frantic bid to stabilize reactors overheating since a tsunami knocked out the complex's crucial cooling system March 11.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. is rushing to use freshwater instead because of the corrosive potential of the salt in seawater, Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency said at a briefing Saturday.

The switch was the latest tactic in attempts to regain control of the nuclear power plant near the coast, 140 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.



Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/US-rushes-freshwater-to-help-Japan-nuclear-plant-1307537.php

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[Vinee]

2. Good. The American military needs to be bending over backwards to help the Japanese

through this. The administration would be wise to treat this disaster with the same sense of urgency that they would treat a similar disaster that occurred in the U.S.

[Celebration]

3. agreed, but

they have to be asked! We do have experts over there helping, but they are mostly quiet publicly, not wanting to look like they are usurping Japanese authority. But we did set a different radius around the plant.

[Maine-ah]

4. looking at the past couple of disasters in the US

we don't have that great of a track record.

NOLA
BP

[avaistheone1]

7. We didn't do such a great job in Haiti either.

K&r

[Maine-ah]

10. no shit, right?

[avaistheone1]

12. Right!

Doesn't seem like we're learning much from these disasters.

[greiner3]

5. "barges loaded with freshwater"

Damn, my invention has not yet been perfected and this would have been the perfect time to put it into action. I am speaking of dehydrated water tablets.

You just add water!

[Turbineguy]

13. Dehydrated water tablets.

Genius. You're a fuckin' genius!

You must be rich!

[Marblehead]

6. hope it helps

don't know how they fix a cooling pool with that kind of radiation.

[jtuck004]

9. How are they going to unscrew the tops of all those water bottles with big heavy gloves on?

More seriously, I wonder if they could have moved a couple of ships into the area from the Navy. The onboard steam plant can create fresh water from sea water. Have to have it for the steam turbines, the same kind that are in the plants.

Maybe too much volume required.

[Omaha Steve]

8. US rushes freshwater to help Japan nuclear plant

Source: AP

By ERIC TALMADGE and MARI YAMAGUCHI

SENDAI, Japan (AP) - U.S. naval barges loaded with freshwater sped toward Japan's overheated nuclear plant on Saturday to help workers struggling to stem a worrying rise in radioactivity and remove dangerously contaminated water from the facility.

Workers at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have been using seawater in a frantic bid to stabilize reactors overheating since a tsunami knocked out the complex's crucial cooling system March 11, but fears are mounting about the corrosive nature of the salt in the water.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. is now rushing to inject the reactors with freshwater instead to prevent pipes from clogging and to begin extracting the radioactive water, Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Saturday.

The situation at the stricken plant remains unpredictable, government spokesman Yukio Edano said Saturday, adding that it would be "a long time" until the crisis is over.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110326/D9M6RFV80.html

---

U.S. Navy's barge YOGN-115, back, is towed by Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force's multi purpose support ship off the coast of Isumi, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, Saturday, March 26, 2011. The barge carrying 1.04 million liters (275,000 gallons) of fresh water departed Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY) Friday to support cooling efforts at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Yomiuri Shimbun, Yasushi Kanno) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

[flamingdem]

11. Guess the US is letting the Japanese take it to the site

Small wonder why.

[sendero]

14. What amazes me about this is..

... why wasn't this done on day 2 or 3? Because the Japanese in managing this problem, like just about every government before them, has been more focused on claiming this is no big deal than on FIXING THE FREAKING PROBLEM.

Because of that, their actions are a day late and a dollar short over and over and over.

[iwishiwas]

15. Its like our BP disaster in the Gulf--who really was in charge from

day one? No the US--but BP who wanted to save the rig from the beginning.

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. freshwater from where? Surely not all the way from USA. doesn't seem efficient.

[Celebration]

17. Good question

It seems to me there ought to be portable desalinization plants, put on ships........(??) Maybe no market for it?

[undeterred]

18. Next they'll be consulting Kevin Costner.