Legalectric

The saga at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear site continues, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better, officials continue to report the situation as “grave.”

Radiation doses spread unequally – Daily Yomiuri Online

TEPCO workers not warned of radiation risk- Daily Yomiuri Online

Iodine 1,250times over limit – Daily Yomiuri Online

Radiation spikes in sea off Fukushima plant – Market Watch

Radioactivity rises in seawater near Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant – Washington Post

Japan PM calls situation at nuclear plant “grave” – Business Week

The nuclear disaster in Japan continues, new twists unfolding each day…

Japan agency says crippled nuclear plant operator missed inspections before disaster struck – STrib

In a report released March 2, nine days before the disasters, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency cited Tokyo Electric Power Co. for ignoring inspection schedules and failing to examine 33 pieces of equipment at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.

And as for conditions at the Fukushima nuclear site, an update from Bloomberg News:

Cooling pools holding spent-fuel rods atop the plant’s six reactors were below 100 degrees Celsius (212 Fahrenheit), the boiling point of water, Japan Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said last night in a news conference. The company said it needs to replace power components at reactors 1, 2, 3 and 4.

No. 1: The temperature outside the reactor’s pressure vessel fell to 385 degrees Celsius, as of 3 a.m. from 400 degrees as of 3 a.m. yesterday, Hikaru Kuroda, an official in Tokyo Electric’s nuclear management department, said today. The reactor was damaged on March 12 by a hydrogen explosion that destroyed the building’s walls. The reactor is rated level five in terms of threat on an international scale of 1-7.

No. 2: The temperature outside the reactor’s pressure vessel fell below 160 degrees Celsius, as of 3 a.m., Kuroda said. Workers reconnected a 1.5-kilometer (1 mile) power cable on March 19 to the unit. A March 15 explosion may have damaged the containment chamber. The reactor is rated a level-five threat.

No. 3: Smoke was seen rising from the building of the reactor at about 3:55 p.m. local time. Workers were evacuated from the building, spokesman Kaoru Yoshida said. Workers connected a power cable to the No. 3 and 4 reactors. The temperature inside the reactor dropped below 200 degrees Celsius, the Fukushima plant operator said earlier today. The Japanese Self Defense Force and firefighters have doused a total of 3,742 metric tons of water on the reactor since March 17, the government agency said in a statement. A March 14 explosion damaged the unit’s fuel cover. The reactor is rated a level-five threat.

No. 4: Japanese Self Defense Forces have sprayed a total of 255 tons of water toward the reactor building since yesterday. A fire broke out in the pond containing spent-fuel rods. The nuclear agency said March 17 there may be no water in the cooling pool. It’s rated four in terms of threat. This reactor was undergoing maintenance when the earthquake hit.

No. 5: The reactor achieved cold shutdown at 2:30 p.m. local time yesterday when the temperature fell below 100 degrees Celsius yesterday, Megumi Iwashita, Tepco spokeswoman, said. The unit was idle for maintenance before the earthquake.

No. 6: The reactor achieved cold shutdown at 7:27 p.m. when the temperature fell below 100 degrees Celsius yesterday, Iwashita said. A backup generator was fixed March 19, according to a company press release. The unit was idle for maintenance before the earthquake.

Isn’t it time for those who did the deal allowing new and increased dry cask storage at Monticello (same boiling water reactor as Fukushima’s) and Prairie Island to say NO!   From the New York Times, for those of us here in Minnesota by our own GE boiling water plant in Minnesota, info on the design of that type of plant:

Deconstructing a Controversial Design

New Explosion at Japan nuclear facility – CBS News

BOOM!

Oh great… I dug through my pile o’ mail and found our voucher to get potassium iodide — we can get it at the Target here in Red Wing or in Cottage Grove.  Now I feel safe… right… life in a nuclear town.

Three injured, seven missing after explosion at nuclear plant

Hydrogen explosion rocks Japan nuclear facility…

Are people getting how serious this is?  Two reactors melting down?

Below, yesterday’s blast — today’s was much the same:

One suggestion of the fallout path from Beyond Nuclear and Australian Radiation Service:

Meltdown caused nuclear plant explosion: Saftey Body

BOOM!  Here we go… explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. I write this as I’m sitting here in Red Wing, near two nuclear reactors (which are built not far from a fault in downtown Red Wing), and in Delaware with the THREE Salem and Hope Creek reactors just across the Delaware River, this is NOT what I want to see.  Our reliance on nuclear power, Minnesota’s recent repeal of our nuclear moratorium, HOW STUPID CAN WE BE?  That this would happen in Japan makes it even worse.

At issue are the following nuclear plants (from NIRS fact sheet, linked below):

Regarding the map above, Michael Mariotte of NIRS claims the numbers are way off, that as it is “there would be no increased radiation in the United States, however, these wind patterns and increased levels would come into play in the event that the core melts down.” (emphasis added) …but folks, that’s what the map says, M-E-L-T-D-O-W-N! Here’s NIRS’ info about this:

Below, a transformer fire at the plant, prior to the explosion:

Just the kind of press we all love, getting ejected from a hearing for calling the other side on their “crap.” In a criminal case, the prosecutor is required to turn over everything they’ve got against the defendant. The prosecutor hasn’t, and yet the judge seems to think it’s OK to go forward without it, and that it’s a problem to object.  EH???? So there’s Tom, defending his client and their right to get the info, and the judge is telling him to shut up.  AND THEN THE PHONE RINGS!!!  Oh great… (hope the phone tune was a good one!)

Back at Clean Water Action, I learned from exchanging spitballs in board meetings that Dunnwald has an attitude a lot like mine, and he’s had some great legal successes in the shit-strewn land use area of feedlots. And he represented my buddy Victor in the Northfield shit-storm mess.  Yes, there’s a theme.  And he’s one of the few attorneys I’d recommend.  That’s Tom Dunnwald, partner of the equally talented Sonja Peterson, hence Dunnwald & Peterson!

Here’s the article about yesterday’s hearing, it was copied in the STrib.

YOU GO, TOM!!!

Attorney’s outburst halts hearing

February 17, 2011

By Dan Nienaber The Mankato Free Press
Thu Feb 17, 2011, 08:20 PM CST

MANKATO — A court hearing scheduled for an alleged drug dealer came to a quick end Thursday when his attorney was kicked out of the courtroom.

It didn’t take long for tension to build during the hearing for 32-year-old Cedric Lamont Berry. He is facing racketeering and drug charges for allegedly using gang connections to sell cocaine in Mankato. He was one of several people arrested after a Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force investigation last fall.

District Court Judge Kurt Johnson showed his first sign of irritation when Berry’s attorney, Thomas Dunnwald, said he wasn’t ready to argue his motion. Dunnwald said he wasn’t getting the evidence he needed from Chris Rovney, assistant Blue Earth County attorney.

A task force report was short dozens of pages that had been turned over to attorneys working for other defendants in the case, Dunnwald said. He also said he was waiting for a recorded interview Berry had with Hennepin County investigators, which took place after Berry’s arrest in Minneapolis.

Dunnwald’s argument came to an abrupt halt when his cell phone received a call. And Johnson just stared as the phone played its tune. After fumbling through his jacket pocket for a few seconds, Dunnwald eventually silenced the digital music.

Things got worse after Johnson asked Rovney to explain why Dunnwald hadn’t been given the information he needed. Rovney was explaining that the recording, which allegedly includes Berry saying he can sell large amounts of cocaine, isn’t clear. Rovney said he would provide a copy of the DVD after the sound is enhanced.

“The defendant is a mumbler,” Rovney said.

Dunnwald stood up, waived his arm toward Rovney and barked at Johnson.

“This is utter crap,” he said. “Never in court have I seen this.”

As a bailiff made his way toward the attorney, Johnson told him to calm down.

“Mr. Dunnwald, sit down and be quiet or I will have a bailiff remove you,” Johnson said.

Dunnwald said he would remove himself. Johnson said he should.

“Are you ordering me out?”

“I’m ordering you out. Go ahead.”

Once Dunnwald was gone, Johnson told Rovney to turn over a copy of the recording as soon as possible. Rovney said this isn’t the first time the two attorneys have butted heads while on opposite sides of a case.

Johnson said they needed to find a way to get along before ending the hearing.

“It’s not Mr. Berry’s fault that you two don’t get along,” he said.