I will be back....

[frans]

Due to the shaky nature of things right now I am leaving for Sweden with my wife on Sunday. We don't know when we will be back but I guess 2-4 weeks.

[me_in_japan]

We'll all be here when you get back Enjoy Sweden, and travel safe I wish I was in a position when I could pop back home when I felt like it, but unfortunately if I were to do that my employer would...not be pleased

[Seb]

Actually, I arrived in Sweden yesterday.. Due to the situation in Japan right now I am here with my wife, thought that we might as well visit my parents, it was a good excuse to go home for a while.

I'll be back too in 2-4 weeks

[ashmie]

I'll be back most likely on April 3rd now as I'm still reeling from jetlag and the shock.
Do any of you guys feel like going for a beer when I get back just to chill out and have a bit of a moral boost after everything thats happened.
Right now if I'm going to live in Japan for the rest of my days I feel like I need my mates around me more than ever.

[Admiral-Badruck]

As Mij says we will be here when you get back. And Ashmie if you lived in ogaki I would hang out with you every day bro.

[me_in_japan]

@ash - absolutely up for a drink. Gimme a call when you get back (Im gonna be back from the 29th, albeit in a tired-from-travelling state)

[Spevna]

I'll be back most likely on April 3rd now as I'm still reeling from jetlag and the shock.
Do any of you guys feel like going for a beer when I get back just to chill out and have a bit of a moral boost after everything thats happened.
Right now if I'm going to live in Japan for the rest of my days I feel like I need my mates around me more than ever.

Well the missus will be having the baby on the 7th of April so will be up for a beer I'm sure

[ashmie]

With all the international media going mad and the Japan media keeping things calm does anyone have a clearer insight on what we should be thinking right now?
I'm due back on Monday to Japan. My girlfriend honestly thought I wasn't going to come back what with the nuclear scare.
Should we be thinking about moving?
A lot of people left the country last week to gain perspective but to be honest the international media has been very hard to follow and there is a lot of scaremongering.
Of course this is serious and we need to address it.
Anyone up for doing some anti nuclear power protests. There is a huge plant in Nagoya we could stake camp outside of.

Seriously though guys what are your plans? Maybe we should all take a trip to Jamaica or somewhere for a break.
We have picked up the radiation in Scotland yesterday by the way.

[Primarch]

Anyone up for doing some anti nuclear power protests. There is a huge plant in Nagoya we could stake camp outside of.

There is a nuclear power station in Nagoya? Are you sure? The nearest one I have heard about is in Hamaoka in Shizuoka prefecture. Given that parts of the country are suffering from massive power shortages, I cant see the plant being shut down due to protests anytime soon. I'm just guessing, but I think most of the government/power companies are going to start looking around for alternatives in the coming weeks.
From what has been said in the various papers and news shows (Globally, not just in Japan), the situation is still ongoing, but TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) has just announced that it intends to shut down the reactors and bury them as they cant be saved.
Radiation is very easy to detect so it can be measured in very low amounts. When the UK papers say that radiation has been detected over Europe, the level they are talking about is incredibly small. You received more radiation flying home than you would have done if you lived in Tokyo.
This is what I have found from reading the papers everyday, I am in no way an expert on Nuclear Power or Radiation however. I am staying put for now and I think that for those of us who live in Aichi, Gifu and Mie that there is no risk to stay. I do feel sorry for the workers who have been exposed to high levels of radiation at the plant and I'm worried about my nephews in Tokyo, but there has been no noticeable difference in life in Nagoya since the quakes.

[me_in_japan]

News reporters piss me off.

They really do. They have no understanding of the situation, and seek only to sell their newspaper/TV report/whatever. They do not, by any stretch of the imagination, report the news. The scaremongering, dramatization and sheer outright bullshittery of these reports on the situation in Fukushima is downright shameful.

This report http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-g ... t-12892383 is one of the most ridiculous wastes of web-space I have ever seen.

Lines like this annoy the crap out of me.

the concentration of iodine 131 detected in air samples was minuscule and there was no public health risk in the UK.

THIS IS NOT NEWS, PEOPLE!

"Tepco has been accused of a lack of transparency and failing to provide information promptly. "

Accusation is not equal to guilt. I can accuse anyone I want of being a baby eating monster, but that doesnt mean they did it.

"The new readings near reactor No 1 - 300m (984ft) from the shore - showed radioactive iodine at 3,355 times the legal limit, said Japan's nuclear safety agency."

Whats the legal limit? If it's measured in microsieverts, then 3355 times that still aint shit.

What I find interesting is that nowhere in this report (to take an example) is there ANY mention of hard figures. Its all "XXXX times the recommended level." or "XXX times what it was yesterday."

Yes, but HOW MUCH is that?

These reports dont miss out the information by accident. They miss it out because its not very exciting. "3355 times the legal limit" sells more papers than "0.003 sieverts, equivalent to a mammogram." (note: I dont know what the level actually was. Mostly cos the gorram reporters wont tell me... )

My mate (Gordon, in Scotland, for those who know him) works for Scottish Power. He knows power generation very, very well. Its his job. He's good at his job. He knows many, many people who also work for Scottish Power. Some of them run nuclear power plants. These people are also good at their jobs. In response to my commenting that the press are blowing the whole thing ridiculously out of proportion, Gordon, and the people he works with, had this to say about the situation in Fukushima.

Couldn’t agree more. I have lost count of the number of people I have explained the relatively insignificant effect of the incident at Fukushima in comparison to the tsunami (10,000 dead compared to zero dead). I now just send them this link: http://blog.xkcd.com/2011/03/19/radiation-chart/

The link in question seems a bit complex, but when you actually work it out, its jaw droppingly simple.

This chart is simpler:
http://people.reed.edu/~emcmanis/radiation.html

Finally, my uncle, who is a lecturer in Physics down south in Engerland (London, I think) and general all-round smart sciencey bloke, agrees with Gordon. I cant quote him cos it was a spoken conversation, but basically he said there is hee-haw danger to anyone from this unless they (like yon poor emergency workers) wander into the power station and start sloshing about in radioactive water. Which the rules say tehy shouldnt, btw.

ok. rant over.

Ash - come back to japan. Unless you plan on roasting chestnuts over the reactor core, you have nothing to fear.

*edit* where's AGP? Andy - you have a degree in physics n stuff, and are the resident science geek in whichever room you happen to be occupying. Any chance of you weighing in with a qualified opinion?