From the top: gov't must use SM

Admiral Allen who led the Gulf Oil Spill response outlines the key importance of social media in disasters.

Amplify’d from www.nationaldefensemagazine.org

Adm. Allen: Government Must Master Social Media in Disaster Response Retired Adm. Thad Allen, former commandant of the Coast Guard and leader of the federal BP oil spill response, said the U.S. government must do a better job informing the public in the aftermath of a disaster. If federal authorities aren’t forthcoming with information, news media, social networks and bloggers will fill the gaps, and the government will quickly lose credibility, he said March 30 at the GovSec conference in Washington, D.C. He likened the government’s choices on how to deal with social media to what someone once told him about climate change. It can either “suffer, adapt or manage.” “I would submit to you that with the Internet, cyberspace and the 24-hour news cycle ... the world we all live in right now is the sociological equivalent of climate change,” he said. The public expects the government to have the same understanding of the Internet as private sector companies such as Amazon do, but it doesn’t, he said. He is an advocate for pushing as much unfiltered information as possible to the public domain. Such thinking figured into his decision to allow live, streaming video of the oil leaking on the seafloor bed during last year’s spill. There was opposition to showing the disconcerting images for more than 80 days, he admitted. In the future, he would also support sharing geospatial, aerial imagery of disasters with the public “so they don’t have to ask questions,” he said. He noted that victims of the recent tsunami and earthquake in Japan have used Facebook to find out what has happened to their families. One problem is that senior U.S. leaders are still uncomfortable with technology, he said. “We have to put a premium on leaders in this country who understand technology,” he said. “We have to train senior leaders on what is going on in cyberspace.” Read more at www.nationaldefensemagazine.org

 

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Japan nuke crisis worsens

Where is this still going? How many years will it take to make the plant safe?

Amplify’d from homelandsecuritynewswire.com

DisastersJapan widens evacuation radius

Japanese officials have enlarged the evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, as workers continue their struggle to repair the damaged nuclear reactors; last Friday a "voluntary evacuation" of people still living within nineteen miles of the plant was issued; residents within nineteen miles have remained indoors unable to leave their homes to purchase basic supplies and companies have refused to deliver; the voluntary evacuation could add an even greater strain to existing temporary shelters; currently 242,881 people are still living in shelters around the country and officials are struggling to provide enough basic supplies like food, water, and sanitary goods

Japanese officials have enlarged the evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, as workers continue their struggle to repair the damaged nuclear reactors.

Last Friday Prime Minister Naoto Kan issued a “voluntary evacuation” of people still living within nineteen miles of the plant, but was careful to shy away from indicating that the government was ordering a full evacuation.

Previously nearly 180,000 residents within a twelve mile radius had been ordered to evacuate, while residents in a twelve to nineteen mile radius had been instructed to stay indoors.

“The situation still requires caution. Our measures are aimed at preventing the circumstances from getting worse,” Prime Minister Kan said. Read more at homelandsecuritynewswire.com

 

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Again, with bad communications comes ...

Fear, uncertainty and despair. This whole situation is a perfect example of the need for sound crisis communications planning and execution.

Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com

Japan Nuclear Crisis: Setbacks Mount In Leaking Plant

TOKYO -- Setbacks mounted Wednesday in the crisis over Japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear facility, with nearby seawater testing at its highest radiation levels yet and the president of the plant operator checking into a hospital with hypertension.

Nearly three weeks after a March 11 tsunami engulfed the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, knocking out power to the cooling system that keeps nuclear fuel rods from overheating, Tokyo Electric Power Co. is still struggling to bring the facility in northeastern Japan under control.

Radiation leaking from the plant has seeped into the soil and seawater nearby and made its way into produce, raw milk and even tap water as far as Tokyo, 140 miles (220 kilometers) to the south.

The stress of reining in Japan's worst crisis since World War II has taken its toll on TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu, who was sent to a hospital late Tuesday. Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com

 

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A huge write-off a Fukushima

These reactors were doomed as soon as they used seawater to try to cool them off.

Amplify’d from www.guardian.co.uk

Japan may have lost race to save nuclear reactor

Fukushima meltdown fears rise after radioactive core melts through vessel – but 'no danger of Chernobyl-style catastrophe' • In pictures: Fukushima nuclear emergency - week three • Interactive: Efforts to contain the nuclear accident

The radioactive core in a reactor at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant appears to have melted through the bottom of its containment vessel and on to a concrete floor, experts say, raising fears of a major release of radiation at the site.

The warning follows an analysis by a leading US expert of radiation levels at the plant. Readings from reactor two at the site have been made public by the Japanese authorities and Tepco, the utility that operates it.

Richard Lahey, who was head of safety research for boiling-water reactors at General Electric when the company installed the units at Fukushima, told the Guardian workers at the site appeared to have "lost the race" to save the reactor, but said there was no danger of a Chernobyl-style catastrophe.

Workers have been pumping water into three reactors at the stricken plant in a desperate bid to keep the fuel rods from melting down, but the fuel is at least partially exposed in all the reactors. Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

 

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All resources brought to bear in Japan

The race to recovery continues.

Amplify’d from www.cbc.ca

Japan on 'maximum alert' in nuclear crisis: PM

Plutonium found in soil near Fukushima plant

Japan's prime minister is insisting his country is on "maximum alert" to bring its nuclear crisis under control as officials race to stabilize an earthquake-damaged reactor complex and contain the spread of radioactive water.

Naoto Kan told parliament on Tuesday, before a new earthquake was recorded off Japan's main island of Honshu, that Japan was grappling with its worst problems since the Second World War.

"This quake, tsunami and the nuclear accident are the biggest crises for Japan" in decades, said Kan.

He said the situation remained unpredictable, but added: "We will continue to handle it in a state of maximum alert."

Tuesday's tremor, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3, struck around 8 p.m. local time near the spot of the devastating March 11 quake, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. There were no immediate reports of damage. Read more at www.cbc.ca

 

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The long road to recovery in Japan

The forgotten phase of emergency management.

Amplify’d from www.bjreview.com.cn

The Recovery Begins

Japan faces challenges as it begins to rebuild

Japan faces a tremendous challenge as it seeks to recover from the effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The most immediate challenge, of course, is the containment of radiation leaks from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. But ripples from the disaster will continue for some time, and Japan's recovery from the worst natural disaster in the nation's history will be costly and long.

The death toll is already far beyond the 1995 Kobe earthquake. The count continues as search and rescue teams scour the stricken northeastern coast for survivors. On March 20, an 80-year-old woman and her teenage grandson were found alive in the rubble of their home. But the current toll is expected to grow higher.

Japan is beginning to revive. Slowly, much-needed supplies are beginning to reach devastated areas as roads are reopened. Tokyo residents are adjusting to delayed trains, rolling blackouts, and national appeals to consumers not to stockpile food and water. Industry leaders are cooperating to manage shortages of goods and disruptions of the supply chain. Financial leaders around the globe met to facilitate Japan's intervention in the global currency markets.

Already, experts are debating the cost of rebuilding. The World Bank on March 21 estimated the amount at $230 billion, while the Japan Center for Economic Research produced a much lower estimate of 2 trillion yen ($24.6 billion). Despite the differences, experts agree this is likely to be the world's most expensive natural disaster.

In addition to the impact on infrastructure, the disaster will also have a major effect on the Japanese economy. The first impact, which has already been felt, is on Japan's industrial production. Interruptions in the supply chain have hurt some global Japanese manufacturers, including auto and semiconductor producers. Closure of major ports, airfields and roads has interrupted the flow of goods to and from Japan. Rolling blackouts beginning March 14 have also severely disrupted Japanese corporations and consumers. Read more at www.bjreview.com.cn

 

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Plutonium: scariest substance ever

Decades of contamination ?

Amplify’d from www.cbc.ca

Japan races to contain radioactive water spread

Plutonium found next to nuclear plant 'no threat to public health'

New pools of radioactive water have been detected around Japan's earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear complex, officials said Monday, as workers continued racing to contain leaks from the facility.

Scientists are still trying to devise a plan to safely store the radioactive water seeping from the coastal Fukushima Daiichi power plant, 220 kilometres northeast of Tokyo. On Monday, officials said soil samples and seawater taken from around the station showed traces of plutonium — a key ingredient in nuclear weapons.

Although operators insisted the presence of plutonium posed no threat to public health, they believe the contaminated water has sent radiation levels in the area soaring. They added that only some of the plutonium samples were from the leaking reactors, while the rest came from earlier nuclear tests. Years of weapons testing in the atmosphere left trace amounts of plutonium in many places around the world.

'We cannot say at this time how many months or years it will take.' Read more at www.cbc.ca

 

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Pandemic anyone?

Even after the H5N1 and the H1N1 scares, things need to improve.

Amplify’d from news.xinhuanet.com

World ill-prepared for severe influenza pandemic: expert committee

GENEVA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The world is ill-prepared to respond to a severe influenza pandemic or to any similarly global, sustained, and threatening public health emergency, an independent expert-committee entrusted by World Health Organization (WHO) said at its fourth meeting here on Monday. The Review Committee, tasked to look into the experience gained in the global response to the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in 2009, issued its preliminary report at the meeting. In the report, the Committee said, "global preparedness can be advanced through research, strengthened health-care delivery systems, economic development in low and middle-income countries and improved health status." It recommended that international society establish an extensive global public health reserve corps consisted of experts and public health professionals, which could be deployed to support countries in need, in case of future pandemics. Another suggestion was to create a contingency fund for public health emergencies to be held in trust at an institution such as the World Bank, in order to provide financial support during a declared public health emergency of international concern. The report also urged WHO member states to reach an agreement on sharing of viruses and access to vaccines, and encouraged them to run independent or cooperative influenza research program. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said at the opening of the meeting that the report had offered "critical guidance to all ministers of health who need to make far-reaching decisions." She said the recommendations in the report would help to " improve the capacity of WHO and the international community to respond to public health emergencies" and therefore should be taken with "added urgency." In January 2010, WHO's Executive Board established a Review Committee, at Chan's proposal, to review the experience gained in response to the H1N1 pandemic, as well as the International Health Regulations and WHO's functioning in tackling the disease. The Committee is expected to prepare its final report out of the current preliminary version, and submit it to the decision- making body of WHO in May.

GENEVA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The world is ill-prepared to respond to a severe influenza pandemic or to any similarly global, sustained, and threatening public health emergency, an independent expert-committee entrusted by World Health Organization (WHO) said at its fourth meeting here on Monday. The Review Committee, tasked to look into the experience gained in the global response to the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in 2009, issued its preliminary report at the meeting. In the report, the Committee said, "global preparedness can be advanced through research, strengthened health-care delivery systems, economic development in low and middle-income countries and improved health status." It recommended that international society establish an extensive global public health reserve corps consisted of experts and public health professionals, which could be deployed to support countries in need, in case of future pandemics. Read more at news.xinhuanet.com

 

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When politics gets into the way of EM

Political interference in emergency management is not new. Social media will only exacerbate the situation as more public pressure on Twitter and Facebook will push some elected officials to meddle in operational issues and information dissemination.

Amplify’d from www.foxnews.com

While Slowing BP Oil Spill, Administration Slowed Flow Of Information Too, Claims Coast Guard Report

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration failed to set up an "effective" communications system during last year's BP oil spill and threatened its own credibility by "severely restricting" the release of "timely, accurate information," according to a newly released report commissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Quietly posted on the Coast Guard's website two weeks ago, the report offers the first major assessment of the federal government's communications efforts during the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

"Several layers of review and approval by the White House and (Department of Homeland Security) prevented timely and effective crisis communications and hindered the Coast Guard's ability to ... (keep) stakeholders informed about the status of the response," the report reads, adding that "accurate and timely messaging from the response organization improves transparency with the public."

Information centers in Houma, La., and Mobile, Ala. -- established by the Coast Guard in accordance with pre-set plans for major disasters -- were "effectively muted," the report reads. Read more at www.foxnews.com

 

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Another take on Fukushima

Hard to say who's providing accurate info.

Amplify’d from www.globalnews.ca

Highly radioactive water leaks from Japanese nuclear plant

TOKYO - Highly radioactive water has leaked from a reactor at Japan's crippled nuclear complex, the plant's operator said on Monday, while environmental group Greenpeace said it had detected high levels of radiation outside an exclusion zone.

Reflecting growing unease about efforts to control the six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi complex, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) had appealed to French companies for help, the Kyodo news agency said.

The plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was damaged in a March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left more than 27,000 people dead or missing across northeast Japan.

Fires, explosions and radiation leaks have repeatedly forced engineers to suspend efforts to stabilize the plant, including on Sunday when radiation levels spiked to 100,000 times above normal in water inside reactor No. 2.

A partial meltdown of fuel rods inside the reactor vessel was responsible for the high levels of radiation although Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the radiation had mainly been contained in the reactor building. Read more at www.globalnews.ca

 

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