Tepco says plutonium "could have come from a reactor"

[flamingdem]

For those who are trying to figure this out - looks like the CNN reporter is just as confused.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/28/japan.nuclear.plutonium/?hpt=T2

[hatrack]

1. Well, it probably didn't bubble up a la Jed Clampett, nor descend from Heaven . . .

:eyes:

[damntexdem]

5. Wait, maybe it did descend -- from Pluto.

Angry at being demoted from a full planet.

;-)

Now, wherever did all that excess radiation come from?

;-)

[flamingdem]

7. Can a planet fart? nt

[cliffordu]

2. REALLY??? Maybe what's in the catbox came out of my cat, too.

:hurts:

[damntexdem]

6. What, your cat delivers kitty litter?

Wow, you must save a bundle at the store.

;-)

[nc4bo]

3. Ladies and gentlemen, the horse has left the barn and all it left behind was a pile of HS

and why anyone would believe anything TEPCO says at this point is being way to trusting for me.

I hope and pray more people trust their gut instincts.

As it happens in Fukishima. As it happened in Chernobyl, so it can also happen here. Oh we had some close calls but sooner or later our luck's gonna run out.

And then what?

[flamingdem]

4. I think they are in pray mode right now

Buddha is being invoked often, and Jesus more than a few times

[damntexdem]

9. Oh, it will probably be worse here.

For example, Diablo Canyon or Indian Point will take out major population centers.

[flamingdem]

14. At least we won't get any more bad special effects disaster movies from Hollywood nt

[JVS]

8. No way. It was planted there by North Korean spies!

[flamingdem]

11. Kim Jong drinks Tokyo water

[JVS]

19. That is not how the DPRK likes refreshments!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kHHUHCIwN8 is more like it.

[flamingdem]

20. lol they're using video equipment from the 1980s! nt

[damntexdem]

12. Hey, North Korea don't give away no plutonium.

[JVS]

15. I think we've just figured out who will be willing to clean this up.

[Junkdrawer]

10. Two points for anyone who watched the video:

1.) Plutonium does not occur naturally. Any leftover from the supernova that formed the solar system has long since decayed.

2.) Plutonium is DEADLY in "small trace amounts" - especially if it gets in your lungs. At the very least, workers need to wear respirators in the exclusion zone.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

13. The neutron beams 1.5 km southwest of reactors 1&2 may have be the result of nuclear fission too

Or they could just have been fairy farts.

[flamingdem]

17. Sounds scientifartly correct

[Lone_Star_Dem]

35. ...

:spray: :rofl:

Thanks for the unexpected laugh! :D

[SoCalDem]

16. Or perhaps the Tooth Fairy?

I am so damned tired of these "news people" feigning surprise at the stuff they are reading to us.. If they are really that stupid, they need to find a new job.. They only do this to make the person they are interviewing, look like they are breaking news.. and then an hour later with a different expert, they apparently have a total amnesia attack, because they are totally surprised again:)..

[backscatter712]

18. Why thank you, Captain Obvious!

[flamingdem]

22. Bart Simpson knows plutonium comes from a reactor

[Rex]

21. Why can't anyone in charge ever say 'did' or 'came from'.

All this 'coulda, woulda, 'shoulda' bullshit won't cut it for the Japanese people.

[flamingdem]

23. I think what they really want to say is "done for" nt

[Rex]

29. Or 'done in'.

To have a truthful govt in a time of crisis; brings back memories of 9/11 and how everyone was lied to about the safety of breathing the air around the WTC site.

[yawnmaster]

37. it does "cut it" for the Japanese people, usually. There is an etiquette built into...

interactions and discussions. It can be complex and it is different that what one is used to in most western countries.

[FLPanhandle]

24. Where else could it have come from?

It's one thing to be safe with answers with such a high profile disaster, but it's silly to hedge on the obvious.

[Vinnie From Indy]

25. I weep for intelligent life everywhere!

Everytime I think that our modern newscasters/reporters could not get any dumber, they surprise me yet again.

[Wilms]

26. Are they saying from a reactor, as opposed to from a containment pool? n/t

[Ian David]

27. Hmm... where could a synthetic nuclear element possibly come from? Maybe a reactor?

Maybe even THIS one... right here... next to where we found it?

[flamingdem]

28. Just a little leftover from nuclear testing

... whopper!

[hifiguy]

30. Considering that plutonium is not found in nature, IIRC,

this is pretty much a given.

<facepalm>

[kristopher]

31. Direct statements that hurt others are almost impossible for most Japanese.

What you are witnessing are internal rules governing socially acceptable manners of expression, not stupidity or duplicity on the part of the spokesman.
He could no more come out and made a direct, explicit statement than Obama's press secretary could say something like. "Yeah, the fucking plutonium on the ground came from the goddamned, mother fricking reactor!"

I've lived with this for 35 years, and the worse the news is, the more oblique the manner of expression. Perhaps someday we could have a discussion here about how this might have come to be, but for now, you should bear this instance in mind whenever you hear the use of the conditional phrase in news out of Japan.

For example, yesterday morning a physics professor was talking about the crane falling from the roof in #3. The new photos show that it fell into the spent fuel pond. The professor told everyone that as a result of this massive chunk of metal falling on them the fuel rods almost certainly sustained heavy damage at the beginning of the incident, however his actual words in Japanese were that he "can't deny" that fuel rod damage was "very likely".

That doesn't mean the conditional is never a conditional. It just means that information flow to establish facts follows a different path than what we are accustomed to.

[flamingdem]

34. The crane fell in the spent fuel pool?

That doesn't sound too good for whatever was in there..

I wonder if the translators should omit the conditional for a foreign audience.

[kristopher]

36. That is a subject of much discussion but it is not generally done.

In MOST cases when interpreters work (within that profession interpreting is verbal, translation is written) they are involved in a situation where both parties are aware of the relevant cultural differences or there is an opportunity for give and take that can clarify any ambiguities. If you had the chance to pursue your uncertainties you'd quickly nail down the facts.

Interpreters will filter out some of the most problematic areas (always a judgement call) but the general consensus considers it better to let the original manner of expression stand.

[yawnmaster]

38. thank you. eom

[truebrit71]

32. "could have" = TEPCOspeak for "it did, we just wanted to see y'all react to this announcement first"

...damn, did Tony Hayward start his own consulting business on how not to handle a crisis?

[spanone]

33. duh

...and japan might have an earthquake