GRAPHIC: Meltdown Status At Fukushima Station #1; Foreign Bankers Flee Tokyo; Comparing Chernobyl, Three Mile Island To Fukushima

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Comparing Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Accidents: Q&A

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the accidents at Fukushima, Chernobyl in 1986 and Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, in 1979.  The information is drawn from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington, the World Health Organization in Geneva and interviews with radiation safety experts in the U.S., Australia and India.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-16/comparing-nuclear-events-at-fukushima-chernobyl-three-mile-island-q-a.html

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Foreign Bankers Flee Tokyo

(Reuters) - Foreign bankers are fleeing Tokyo as Japan's nuclear crisis worsens, scrambling for commercial and charter flights out of the country and into other major cities in the region.

BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered and Morgan Stanley were among the banks whose staff have left since Friday's earthquake and tsunami, and now a nuclear plant disaster, according to industry sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Expatriate staff at most foreign banks in Tokyo make up a small portion of the total, by some estimates less than 10 percent. But many are often in senior positions so their departure can have a significant impact.

And while Japan's investment banking market is famously tough, it's an essential place for large banks to be and can produce hefty fees.

"The foreign banker presence on the ground in Tokyo now is very thin and depending on how long it takes them to return there could be lasting implications of that," said one banker. "Every time there's a washout of foreigners in Japan they never quite return in the same numbers."

With bankers joining the growing exodus, private jet operators reported a surge in demand for evacuation flights which sent prices surging as much as a quarter. One jet operator said the cost of flying 14 people to Hong Kong from Tokyo was more than $160,000.

"I got a request yesterday to fly 14 people from Tokyo to Hong Kong, 5 hour 5 minutes trip. They did not care about price," said Jackie Wu, COO of Hong Kong Jet, a newly established private jet subsidiary of China's HNA Group.

Continue reading at Reuters...

Reuters Live Blog on Japan

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From yesterday:

Watch Live Geiger Counter From Tokyo

Fukushina Nuclear Status

Comments

[DailyBail]

UN Calls Emergency Meeting as Japan Nuclear Crisis Deepens

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-15/japanese-nuclear-plant-radiation-recedes-as-engineers-restore-water-level.html

[DailyBail]

Comparing Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Accidents: Q&A

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-16/comparing-nuclear-events-at-fukushima-chernobyl-three-mile-island-q-a.html

[DailyBail]

Japan Uses Helicopters, Water Cannons to Quell Meltdown

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-17/helicopters-dump-water-on-japan-nuclear-fuel-rods-as-radiation-risks-rise.html

[DailyBail]

Dangers for Human Health From Radiation Poisoning: Questions and Answers

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-14/understanding-risk-of-radiation-poisoning-in-japan-questions-and-answers.html

[john]

What I am seeing in this video is a helicopter dropping water on what appears to be the reactor (note the steam immediately after the drop) then the others are dropping water at a considerable height downwind moving toward the reactor, but not on the reactor to condense radioactive smoke/steam in an attempt to contain the 'fallout'.

http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/03/helicopters-drop-water-over-nuclear-plants-to-cool-damaged-fukushima-reactors/

[DailyBail]

thanks john....looks like we both took a little spring break vacation...hope you are doing well...

[john]

San Antonio was outstanding!

[john]

High-level radiation prevents use of water hoses on Japan nuclear reactor - TV

http://en.rian.ru/world/20110317/163057423.html

[john]

Russia says ready to help Japan put out nuclear plant fires

http://en.rian.ru/world/20110317/163060350.html

NOTE: These are the only guys in the world that have a chance to do it. If they need help...