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Collecting Donations for Japan

Rick_G

New member
I have not seen any solicitations yet for donations to support relief efforts in Japan. I am putting a jar up on the counter to solicit money to assist the Red Cross similar to what so many businesses did after the 9/11 attacks. As horrible as 9/11 was, the extent of devastation to families and communities caused by this tragedy far exceeds that event.

I don’t think I will bring in much money for the cause, but if everyone does it like after 9/11, it can make an impact.

Rick
 
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There was a think tank discussion a few years back about doing fundraisers for victims of natural disasters. Most on here thought it looked very negative, like you would be profiting from the disaster. I guess everyone needs to find the negative in situations.
 
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It is a delicate balance, I don’t intend on a message of “Buy your pizza here to help disaster victims”, I was just thinking that if all merchants in the area collected a little and sent it to the Red Cross it would amount to a huge donation. After 9-11 a middle school in my delivery area started soliciting donations and rounded up enough to buy a new fire engine for one of the fire houses in NY. They rounded this money up a dollar at a time.

Rick
 
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I applaud noble causes, but it probably isn’t going to make a big difference in Japan. You can’t get it to Japan, and Japan is pretty self sufficient in situations like this.

It might be better used to send your press back to 7th grade so they convert units properly and study how nuclear reactors work and function during a shutdown. The units for radiation released earlier in Japan were in μSv (microsievert). Your press is reporting it as mSv (millisievert) or converting that into the old unit, rems. Take the value of mSv or rems reported and divide that by 1,000 to get the real amount. There is absolutely no danger from radiation.

All of the reactors except one are in cold shutdown. The remaining one is under control and will cold in about two days.

There never was any danger that the mythical “China Syndrome” could ever occur. Melting fuel cannot reach a temperature hot enough to penetrate the steel design of the containment vessel. Chernobyl didn’t have any containment at all, so that was a different situation, also.

The 40 year old plants have survived everything thrown at them. They have exceeded all design limits by a factor of 100. The workers did everything possible to try to keep them operational for later startup to supply power to the area. When that become impossible, they did what they had to do to keep them safe - and they did it. The radiation release that came from the pressure release was tiny. And that radiation is very short-lived and cannot even be measured after a few more weeks.
 
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I used to hate bouncing between mRem and sieverts. I came up old school Rems, Rads, etc less than 5R per year, 25R to protect equipment, 100R to save a life. Then I started dealing international and they threw sieverts at me. Never expect the press to get it right, especially about something they either love or hate. The media was amazed you could treat contamination with soap and water. I was never fond of BWR’s when I was in the industry.

I spent a lot of time in Asia but never did business in Japan. I am watching to see, but I expect Japan will require a good deal of outside assistance on this one.

Rick
 
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