Oh Good! Major Quakes Hit Fukushima, What Will They Keep Secret Now?

Bloomberg: [Tepco] crews prepared for strong winds and heavy rains at its wrecked Fukushima atomic plant […] The storm was skirting Japan’s eastern coast […] offshore wind speeds in Fukushima could reach 61 kilometers an hour, the JMA
said. […] The Fukushima Dai-Ichi station’s reactor buildings are strong enough to withstand storm winds and rains, [Tepco] said in an e-mailed statement. Equipment being used for the plant’s decommissioning was being secured ahead of the storm, the company said. Crews have also built high dams around storage tanks holding contaminated water as an extra precaution against leaks, site superintendent Akira Ono said in the statement.

AFP: The site’s operator said workers were bracing for the storm. “We are tying up cables and hoses… and making sure cranes and booms don’t fall,” a company spokesman said. “We will also beef up patrols in areas where water could flow in,” he said.

Kathryn Higley, head of Oregon St. Univ. nuclear engineering department: Radioactive Runoff[…] While the downpour may increase the amount of radioactive runoff from the plant into the ocean, it will be offset by dilution from off-shore rains […] “There may be a flushing of contaminated soils and sediments from rivers and streams out into the ocean, but I wouldn’t anticipate any increased dose effects,” Higley said in an e-mail.

AFP: A minor tsunami hit Japan’s Miyagi prefecture early on Saturday after a strong 6.8-magnitude quake jolted the northeastern Pacific coast, prompting advisories for regions including around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. A tsunami of 20 centimetres was observed at 5.12am local time in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. […] “We have not seen any damage or any change in radiation gauges after the quake,” said TEPCO spokesman Masahiro Asaoka. “Today’s operation has yet to start but we ordered workers to evacuate to high places,” Asaoka said. The meteorological agency advised people to leave the coast immediately, while Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said some local authorities had issued evacuation advisories.

Bloomberg: U.S. Navy is tracking a tropical depression about 689 kilometers east-southeast of Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. [Jim Andrews, a meteorologist with AccuWeather] said the depression may grow into a typhoon and move northward next week. He said Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea should monitor its progress.

The Weather Channel: ANOTHER Typhoon Threat Ahead? — Tropical Storm Nine is churning in the western Pacific Ocean, not far from where Super Typhoon Negouri first developed. […] a more ominous future may be in store. This system is expected to strengthen to a typhoon this weekend […] what will become Typhoon Rammasun (Thai for the God of thunder) is expected to continue intensifying, possibly rapidly, into early next week […] The key uncertainty in the track is whether the steering upper-level ridge of high pressure gives way to a weak southward dip in the jet stream […] that would bend Rammasun northward […]  It is far too early to determine the exact path of the storm. […] future Typhoon Rammasun may approach the northern or central Philippines by Wednesday, possibly as a strong typhoon.

Watch The Weather Channel’s broadcast here