إطلاق نار كثيف و قذائف دبابات من كتائب القذافي على المجمع الصحي بمصراتة و سقوط قتلى Concentrated shooting and tank granades from Gadafi units on a [hospital] compound at Misrata left [many] dead.
The International Alliance - Targets and Combat Zones
قائد بريطاني: دمرنا سلاح الجو الليبي A British commander [says]: "We destroyed the Libyan air force."
قائد بريطاني: نتابع قوات القذافي عن كثب و نهاجمها متى هددت المدنيين A Brish commander [says]: "We are following Gadafi's troops from close and we attack them whenever they are endangering civilians."
"What did the foreign minister of Germany have in mind all the time ? First, he acclaimed Arabic freedom fighters in their revolutions and made himself acclaimed on Tahrir square in Cairo. Then he demanded the overthrow of Gadafi - only to shrink back in the security council afterwards. This has not much in common with a foreign policy based on values."
This is what Germany's former minister of foreign affairs Josef Oskar "Joschka" Fischer said after the actual foreign minister Guido Westerwelle (Liberal Party) defended the position of the Merkel government that had come to the decision not to take part directly in the military action against Gadafi. Such leaving all activity within the European Union to France who then shared the international military action on its own.
"Was hat sich der deutsche Außenminister dabei gedacht? Erst schlug er sich auf die Seite der arabischen Freiheitsrevolutionen, ließ sich auf dem Tahrir-Platz in Kairo feiern, dann forderte er den Sturz Gaddafis - nur um schließlich im Sicherheitsrat den Schwanz einzuziehen. Mit einer an Werte gebundenen Außenpolitik hat das nicht viel zu tun gehabt."
News of the Day:
Libyan radar facilities destroyed near Benghazi during nightly attacks by the international alliance. CNN reporting. March 22, 2011.
In order to complete my earlier comment on danger to the people of Japan by radioactivity emerging from that damaged plant of Fukushima, I have to stress again the importance of photon energy when it comes to the impact on human health.
Any radiation characterized by a low energy of photons (which is comparable to a high wavelength) is especially hazardous to human health. That will mean a very high risk of developing different types of cancer for all those who get in direct contact with or incorporate particles emitting low-energy beta-radiation. This is the case for some most important nuclids of Iodine and Caesium now emitted from the power plant.
It should be noted that biological effects are triggered off rather by the exposure to such "soft" beta-radiation which is very common in the reaction chain of nuclear fission than by short-time exposure to "hard" gamma-radiation or X- rays. This might be due to a greater absorbance efficiency for low-energy particles or X-rays with a rather long wave- length while any high-energy radiation like fast neutron bombardment or gamma-rays simply passes through the human body without being absorbed by human tissue if the time of exposure remains relatively short and the intensity of such radiation within certain bounds.
Therefore, the Japanese government recently launched restrictions for the shipping of raw milk and vegetables like spinach from Fukushima prefecture to other parts of the country.
After the Paris Summit for Support of the Libyan People, yesterday March 19, 2011, about 112 U.S. and British missiles have hit special targets in Tripolis and Misrata. The U.S. are using their Tomahawk cruise missiles to be launched by navy vessels while the British have fired Polaris missiles from submarine. Furthermore, British and French air force are prepared to enter Libyan territory whenever they want. According to German radio news, the coordination of all military action of the allied forces should be located on a U.S. base in Germany, even though Germany is not directly involved in any combat mission.
U.S. navy ship launching a cruise missile (above)
البنتاغون: 112 صاروخا أطلقت من بوارج و غواصات أمريكية و بريطانية According to the Pentagon, 112 missiles were launched from U.S. and British [navy] ships and submarines.
دوي انفجارات و انطلاق المضادات الأرضية في العاصمة الليبية طرابلس Sounds of explosions and of [responding fire i.e. anti-aircraft fire] in the Libyan capital of Tripolis.
Polaris missile launched from submarine (below)
French Mirage jets taking off (above)
مصادر للجزيرة: الطائرات الفرنسية دمرت 4 دبابات تابعة للقذافي في قصف جنوب غرب بنغازي [Different] sources told Al-Jazeera that French planes destroyed 4 tanks [of the Gadafi forces] in a bombardment South West of Benghazi.
French air force jet ready to take off (below)
Late evening news of Al-Jazeera:
شهود عيان: تجدد القصف في طرابلس ودوي مضادات تطلق من محيط منزل القذافي Eyewitnesses report on a resume of bombardment in Tripolis and the noise of [responding fire] spreading from the residential area of Gadafi.
شهود عيان: تجدد القصف في طرابلس و إطلاق مضادات قرب مقر إقامة القذافي Eyewitnesses report on a resume of bombardment in Tripolis and [responding fire] near the residence of Gadafi.
Eyewitness report from Misrata township (marked on the below map)
مصادر للجزيرة: قصف عشوائي في شارع طرابلس بوسط مصراته [Different] sources informed Al-Jazeera of a risky bombardment of the center of Misrata on the road to Tripolis.
موسى: قصف القوات الدولية لليبيا يختلف عن الهدف من فرض حظر الطيران الذي أقرته الجامعة [The secretary-general of the Arab League] Moussa said that the bombardment of Libya by international forces is different from the aim of an obligation to prohibit any flight as has been declared by the League.
After the United Nations imposed a no-flight zone on Libya, Gadafi sent his foreign minister to declare his government's will to stop all military action at once. Libyan opposition, however, is still suspicious and is celebrating the no-flight zone.
رويترز: فرنسا و بريطانيا و الولايات المتحدة تطالب قوات القذافي بالتوقف عن التقدم نحو بنغازي According to Reuters [news agency], France, Britain and the United States demand the troops of Gadafi to stop their advance towards Benghazi.
رويترز: نائب وزير الخارجية الليبي يقول إن كتائب القذافي لن تدخل بنغازي التزاما بوقف اطلاق النار According to Reuters, the Libyan vice-minister of foreign affairs said that Gadafi's units will not enter into Benghazi [immediately after] a cease-fire.
YEMEN
مراسل الجزيرة: مواجهات عنيفة في شارع الرباط قرب ساحة التغيير في صنعاء A correspondent of Al-Jazeera reported about violent confrontations in Rabad Street near Tariir square in Sanaa.
الأطباء في المستشف الميداني في صنعاء يناشدون زملاءهم الالتحاق بهم لاسعاف المصابين Doctors in urban hospitals of Sanaa are calling their colleagues to join them in order to help the victims.
قيادي في الحزب الحاكم اليمني يعلن سحب مبادرته لاحتواء الازمة و ملاحقة المسوؤلين عن أحداث اليوم Leaders of the ruling party of Yemen announce the beginning of [their party's] initiative [to solve the] crisis and a criminal prosecution of those who are responsible for today's incidents.
So far, dozens were wounded or died. The dead and the wounded were brought into a nearby mosque. Pictures delivered by Al-Jazeera, Arabic service, are showing some of the most violent scenes ever seen since the uprising against the actual president began.
Mourning the Dead (above) Counting the Dead (below)
After earthquake and tsunami, Japan is now mourning the dead. Meanwhile at the Fukushima nuclear plant no.1, the desperate fight against nuclear catastrophe is reaching its final stage. The water cannon provided by municipal police was not efficient enough to help cool down reactor 3 and its storage department of unused uranium rods. Therefore, water cannon trucks provided by an airport fire brigade had to be used. Such trucks are able to produce a greater water pressure. NHK World, Tokyo, March 17, 2011.
Latest news: Tokyo fire brigade provided 5 vehicles and 20 fire fighters. As two of the vehicles are using water cannons mounted on special cranes, water injection into the reactor 3 casing from above and at short distance is now possible. Meanwhile radiation at the facility seems to be stable at 20 mSievert.
In order to cool down reactor 3 at the Fukushima nuclear plant no. 1, there have been made efforts to fill the roofless reactor building after the explosion with water dropped from helicopters. Such, the outer receptacle of the reactor could be cooled down to a certain degree. Another project to be started soon includes the use of a water-cannon provided by the municipal police.
The following picture is showing a list of dead and missed people in the region affected by earthquake, tsunami and / or nuclear catastrophe. The confirmed death rate sums up to 4377, three municipalities being extremely hit by natural disaster. Among the most haunted districts is the Fukushima township near to its destroyed nuclear plant with 533 recorded deaths. The overall number of missing people in the coastal region is 9083.
The below picture is showing a map of the nuclear plant and its environment in Fukushima prefecture. Both nuclear plants and the security belts of 20 and 30 km around the exploded reactors of plant no. 1 can be easily found in the lower part of the map. Straight above is the airport of Sendai township that should not be affected by either earthquake or tsunami because the Japanese comment (written in Chinese Kanji characters) is reading that its runways (1200 m and 3000 m) are operational between 7:30 and 21:30 and that a 24 hours service might be possible. That seems to be due to the distance from devastated area (*) of 708 m and 400 m of those runways which obviously saved them from tsunami impact and makes them an important destination for aid to be delivered now. * = "distance from devastated area" is the only realistic explanation of the 708 m and 400 m data given in the map, as, this time, the Japanese comment is given in Japanese Katakana or Hiragana script which I cannot interpret.
After the horrible development at Fukushima nuclear plant no. 1, Western countries are discussing the risks of nuclear energy on a high national level:
Members of the French parliament are gathering on a symposium where reactor security is being debated [Telesur TV, Caracas]. France is one of the nations extremely dependent on nuclear energy. Up to now, a vast majority of citizens has been in support of the long-standing energy concept in France.
- blueprinteditor.blogspot.com - Excerpt from visitor statistics for the last 30 days, showing most frequent recorded visitor countries:
The actual state of reactors 3 and 4 after their explosion:
After the explosion of reactor 3 and 4 at Fukushima energy plant, there is now only one option left to reduce fire and cool down reactor 3: Pouring water down from army helicopters. Additionally, damaged water pumps will be replaced as soon as possible by U.S. company General Electric who delivered the original pumps that crashed during the tsunami impact. NHK World, Tokyo, on March 16, 2011.
Cooling off reactor 3 by helicopter:
Comment by Ulysses: As to the explosion of reactors 1, 3 and 4, it was said they were due to hydrogen emitted from the reactor. Now, hydrogen can be produced from water that is used as a coolant fluid in such reactors. It is known that reactor fluid usually contains a certain amount of H2O2 that has to be generated from water H2O under the influence of radiation. Thus, the formation of hydrogen H2 must be due to the following summary equation: 2 H2O => H2O2 + H2 The mechanism of H2 formation should be based on a so-called radical type reaction. Under high-temperature conditions, however, H2O2 will soon decay to water H2O and oxygen O2 that is adding to the oxygen atmosphere inside the reactor receptacle. The explosion observed in all three reactors is now a violent recombination of hydrogen and oxygen in a mixed atmosphere: 2 H2 + O2 => 2 H2O This formation of water H2O from the gaseous elements hydrogen and oxygen can be triggered off by any spark inside the reactor casing. Such spark might be generated by the electric system of the reactor or by accumulation of electric charge in the moving mechanical parts of the facility. Unfortunately, hydrogen molecules H2 are of a very low size that makes it possible to them to "tunnel" through any regular building material. Hence, the exlosion can take place anywhere inside the reactor building what makes it difficult to determine the actual damage of such explosion from the outside. Only an increased amount of radiation leaked from the reactor building can therefore be a sign for possible damage to the inner or outer receptacle of the reactor's core.
A short description of the development at the Japanese nuclear power plant that lead to the present situation of two reactors being exploded and probable core melting. The documentation is followed by further news from the area that has been devastated by earthquake and tsunami. NHK World TV, Tokyo, on March 14, 2011, 19:00 GMT.
According to Japanese authorities the radiation level near the exploded reactor 1 could be described by an equivalent dose of 50 µSv (micro- Sievert) which is generally regarded as rather harmless. In comparison with a value of 50 mSv per year which is the German standard limit for occupational exposure to ionizing radiation, that measured value can be interpreted as follows: 50 mSv or 50.000 µSv per year is equal to 50.000 : 200 = 250 µSv per day (on 200 days of work!) or 250 : 24 = 10,4 µSv per hour.
Therefore, one might hold the measured 50 µSv to be an acceptable dose under the present circumstances of an exploded reactor.
Yet, it should be stressed that the equivalent dose H is by definition including a factor q intended to weigh the influence of the kind of radiation observed: X-rays, alpha-, beta- or gamma radiation with different wavelength or energy ( short wavelength means high energy ).
equivalent dose: H = q x D with D = energy dose [J/kg] and q = "1" (usual setting for the weighting factor)
Now, the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of radiation is known to differ in a range of about one order of magnitude depending of her energy. That leads to the necessity of determination what kind of radiation is present and refixing of the weighting factor q. A study made at the German university of Marburg has come to the conclusion that the standard weighting factor of one has to be reduced at least by a factor of 50-60. Same goes for the standard equivalent dose which must be reduced equally from 50 mSv per year to 1 mSv for occupational exposure. For public exposure a reduction from 1 mSv per year to 0,02 mSv per year has to be considered.
The proposed limit of 0,02 mSv per year for public exposure is equivalent to 20 µSv per year. Now compare these " 20 µSv per year " to the 50 µSv measured at the Japanese power plant at "time zero" after the explosion !
As we can assume that a broad variety of isotopes is leaving a broken reactor, and that such isotopes are falling apart by emitting different kinds of radiation, the real long-term danger to the public cannot be predicted. The measured isotopes of 137-Caesium for example are decaying by emission of some kind of beta-radiation that is usually regarded as especially harmful to human tissue.
By the way, many years ago I had been in charge of radiation security for my working group which includes a special preparation course to be finished with an examination. Such are the requirements in my country. Therefore, you can believe that I still know what I am talking about.
Next are the evening news of NHK World, Tokyo, recorded on March 13, 2011, 18:00 GMT:
UPDATE for the same day: 1. Reactor 1 of the damaged nuclear plant exploded => Refer to the attached video with latest news from NHK World, Tokyo, 17:30 GMT.
Leakage of radioactivity after the explosion of the Japanese reactor: تسرب لإشعاعات نووية من المفاعل الياباني بعد انفجاره According to a German scientist, allegedly dealing with the research on possible failure of nuclear power plants, all earlier published news of an increase in radioactive Caesium emission prior to the explosion should have already been interpreted as the beginning of a devastating nuclear core melting. [Source: German radio news]
After the explosion, the outer receptacle of the reactor seems to be damaged. It was used to pump in seawater in order to cool the inner receptacle with its primary cooling system that did not work sufficiently after the earthquake. Even though the inner receptacle ( which contains the nuclear core ) did not explode, it could be damaged and, therefore, leak radioactivity. Even if it were fully intact, some radioactivity always present in the outer receptacle could now easily leak into the environment. By the way, the Japanese authorities classified the accident as belonging to the category 4 on a scale that reaches from 0 to 7.
2. Libya: Unexpected approval of the Arab League for the temporary installation of a no-fly zone under United Nations control. This was announced by secretary-general Moussa and the foreign minister of Oman (photo). The day before, Britain and France had already stated their firm will to establish such zone if they were able to find sufficient international support. Even U.S. president Obama did not rule out the option of a military intervention in Libya. Within the European Union, only Germany refused its support of a no-fly zone at this time because of the risks involved.
French president Sarkozy (left) and German chancellor Frau Merkel (right): As to the probability of an earthquake to happen, Japan and the South East Asian maritime regions are among the highest-ranking places on earth. This is due to three tectonic plates that are meeting each other in that region: The Eurasian Plate, the Philippine Plate and the Pacific Plate. Their indepen- dent moves are causing an enormous tectonic stress that is finally giving way to an eruption of energy shaking the earth and creating abnormally huge waves.
Even though, Japan is used to such calamities of nature, the resulting damage cannot be predicted. At least one nuclear reactor finds itself in a dange- rous condition and has to be cooled down after being shut down with the help of additional cooling fluid brought in by the military.
The same situation can be observed in Indonesia where an earthquake of similar strength in 2004 killed more than a quarter million people. Even more difficult for a third world nation to handle the consequences. Yet Indonesia is additionally haunted by volcanic activity as the country is built on a chain of volcanoes that is connecting Sumatra and Java, its main islands, with Bali and the Northern parts of New Guinea. Especially in the central region of Java, a densely populated island, Merapi Mountain has inflicted heavy damage on the infrastructure in recent years.
In comparison, Japan's main islands are relatively free from imminent danger of a volcanic eruption as the volcanoes to be found here are not active any longer. While in the central region of Indonesia's most important island of Java the fumes of vaporized sulphur are locally emerging from under the earth, the glowing minerals lying only some centimeters away from the surface, Japan seemed to be more secure and better adapted to natural disaster. But with a power plant at the brink of a nuclear disaster, even the huge economic power of Japan and the discipline of its people might not be able to cope with the forces of an unwilling nature.
This morning, the international news program of Al-Jazeera included a special report from the front line by their correspondent Jacky Rowland at Ras Lanuf. Even though Ras Lanuf is held by the rebels, there are bomb raids and mortar attacks directed at the oil installations. With grenades flying over her head, Mrs. Rowland seems to be closer to war than any other correspondent. The video below begins with the daily news.
مراسل الجزيرة بجبهة القتال في منطقة صناعية نفطية من راس لانوف
مصطفى عبد الجليل, رئيس المجلس الإنتقالي الوطني المؤقت في البيطاء: لن نلاحق القذافي قضائيا اذا تنحى خلال 72 ساعة و توقف القصف Mustafa Abad-al-Djalil [picture above], President of the Temporary National Council of Transition at al-Baida, announced: "We will not prosecute Gadafi if he abdicates within 72 hours and stops the bomb raids."
مراسل الجزيرة: مدينة الزاوية محاصرة و تشهد عمليات كرو فر بين كتائب القذافي و الثوار A correspondent of Al-Jazeera reported that the town of Zaouia [West of Tripolis] is being besieged and alternating [military] operations have been observed between Gadafi's units and the rebels.
قناصة من كتائب القذافي تقنص مدنيين وسط مدينة الزاوية غربي ليبيا Snipers from Gadafi's units are shooting at civilians in the center of al-Zaouia city in Western Libya.
الكتائب الأمنية تقتحم بعض المنازل بمنطقة أولاد عمارة في الزاوية و تقتل ساكنيها بمن فيهم النساء Security units are [pushing forward against] some dwellings in a region prospering with children in al-Zaouia and are killing its inhabitants also including the women.
مراسل الجزيرة: قصف الثوار براجمات صواريخ و مدفعية ثقيلة قرب بن جواد A correspondent of Al-Jazeera reported that rebels were under fire of rocket-launchers and heavy artillery near Ben Jawad [West of Ras Lanuf].
مراسل الجزيرة: وصول عشرات الجرحى من الثوار إلى مستشفى راس لانوف A correspondent of Al-Jazeera reported that dozens of wounded rebels arrived at a clinic in Ras Lanuf.
مراسل الجزيرة: المجلس الوطني يطلب من الثوار التوقف عن التقدم غربا حتى وصول الجيش A correspondent of Al-Jazeera reported that the National Assembly [of Transition] has requested the rebels to stop their advance to the West until the arrival of the army.
British Air Force Bases that could maintain a Flight Prohibition Zone: ليبيا: فرض منطقة حظر جوي Libya - Possibility of a Flight Prohibition Zone وزير خارجية بريطانيا يقول إن منطقة الحظر الجوي على ليبيا واقعية و عملية و ممكنة British Foreign Minister declares that a flight prohibition zone over Libya is "realistic, practicable and possible".
A recent estimation of power for the Libyan Air Force:
