Tokyo Earthquake

[nemofinder22]

From the Tokyo Disney Resort website-

http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/en/index.html

A Message from Tokyo Disney Resort-

The following Tokyo Disney Resort facilities are closed due to scheduled blackout and reduced power supply as a result of the Tohoku Region Pacific Coast Earthquake on March 11. The reopening dates are currently undetermined.

Closed Facilities-

Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disney Sea
Disney's Ambassador Hotel
Tokyo Disney Sea Hotel MiraCosta
Tokyo Disneyland Hotel
Tokyo Disney Resort Welcome Center
Tokyo Disney Resort Ticket Center
Tokyo Disney Resort Reservation Center
Tokyo Disney Resort Information Center
Tokyo Disney Resort Online Reservation and Purchasing Support Desk
Tokyo Disney Resort Online Reservation and Tickets Website
Online Reservation Guest Relations Center
Bon Voyage
Ikspiari
Cirque Du Soleil Theater Tokyo
Tokyo Disney Resort Group Reservation Center
Magic Kingdom Club Administration Office
Special Group Reservations Center
Executive Club Administration Office
Tokyo Disney Resort Park Fan Club Office
Disney Resort Line

 

[Master Yoda]

From the Tokyo Disney Resort website-

http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/en/index.html

Sounds like the right thing to do. With the electricity problems that they are having right now I can not imagine the parks being able to run with any reliability. Not to mention that power is needed much more to run essential services.

 

[flavious27]

Closing likely has something to do with rolling blackouts & allowing cast to attend to their families & personal lives. I don't think any of Disney's parks across the globe have ever been in the position Tokyo's currently are with proximity to such a massive mega-disaster. This feels like new ground.

My heart truly goes out to everyone over there. It's not just the loss & fear of what could come, it's the uncertainty in survival. I've had a taste of that. I cannot imagine what it's like on that kind of scale.

9/11, the parks were not directly affected but they were closed and air traffic was grounded for a couple of days.

 

[nemofinder22]

From the Disney Parks Blog-

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/03/japan-earthquake-update-march-15/

First and foremost, our hearts go out to all of the people in Japan who have been impacted by last week’s devastating earthquake in Japan. In response to this disaster, The Walt Disney Company is making a $2.5 million contribution to the Red Cross to help aid in the disaster relief. The company has also coordinated a charitable giving program for all Disney employees and will match donations, dollar for dollar, up to an additional $1 million.
In regards to our theme park operations, Tokyo Disney Resort will remain closed this week so that a comprehensive safety investigation can be performed. While there was only minimal damage to the resort, the safety of our guests and cast members is always our top priority so we want to be as thorough as possible in our inspections. The quake caused considerable damage to the local infrastructure and transportation systems in the area so we need to take that into account as well. Fortunately, all of the guests who were at the resort when the quake hit have been able to leave despite these transportation challenges.
A decision regarding operations at the Tokyo Disney Resort will be made on March 21 and we will continue to post updates on the Disney Parks Blog as the situation progresses. The thoughts and good wishes of the entire Disney company go to our colleagues in Japan, their friends and families and all of the Japanese people as they begin their recovery efforts in this difficult time.

From MousePlanet.com

http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showpost.php?p=1637236&postcount=42

Yomiuri Online reported (in Japanese only) that the water from Tokyo DisneySea's Mediterranean Harbor is being used to provide water for the restrooms in a nearby municipal elementary school. You can read a rough translation using the Google Language tool, but a very helpful Twitter user named Eriko (@ErikoYaybee) translated the article for us:
On Marth 14th, Urayasu City,Chiba announced that Tokyo Disney Sea decided to provide Mediterranean Harbor's water for Urayasu City's local people. They are to use the water for the toilets at junior schools in the city.

Accorting to Urayasu, 2 water wagons will carry the water from Disney Sea to 5 schools in a week. On 14th, almost half of all the families(37000 families) are lack of water. Tokyo Disney Sea and Tokyo Disney Land are closed now and OLC says "We want to help Urayasu as much as possible. We have responsibility as a local company of Urayasu."

<2011.3.15. 05:28 Yomiuri News Paper>

above bold by me, nice to see.

 

[loaloa]

Is the unthinkable becoming a possibility at TDR? Will Tokyo region be hit by such radioactivity levels that TDR Parks will have to close indefinitely? D&M explores today this possibility:





http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2011/03/tokyo-disneyland-is-unthinkable.html

For those who might think this is exagerated, Japan prime minister Naoto Kan announced this morning that "radioactivity levels have considerably increased in north-east region of Japan and up to Tokyo. At Ibaraki, north of Tokyo, the radioactivity level was 300 times superior to the normal level with 15,8 microsieverts per hour". Japan authorities consider that this level of radioactivity is not dangerous for human beings but this is what is happening only five days after it all began....

 

[Master Yoda]

Is the unthinkable becoming a possibility at TDR? Will Tokyo region be hit by such radioactivity levels that TDR Parks will have to close indefinitely? D&M explores today this possibility:





http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2011/03/tokyo-disneyland-is-unthinkable.html

For those who might think this is exagerated, Japan prime minister Naoto Kan announced this morning that "radioactivity levels have considerably increased in north-east region of Japan and up to Tokyo. At Ibaraki, north of Tokyo, the radioactivity level was 300 times superior to the normal level with 15,8 microsieverts per hour". Japan authorities consider that this level of radioactivity is not dangerous for human beings but this is what is happening only five days after it all began....

From everything I have been reading a Chernobyl style accident, something the blog author mentions several times, is simply not possible with the Fukushima plant. They are entirely different designs.

That is not the same, by any means, as the accident at Chernobyl in 1986, where because the reactor had a completely different design, the physics of the reactor produced a power excursion and that led to an explosion of the reactor under conditions in which the reactor had no containment to withstand the pressure from the blast.

And we know what happened: a hole was blown out from the side of the reactor, and a large amount of the radioactive inventory from the fuel was propelled outside of the reactor building. That cannot happen here. These reactors are water-moderated. They're not graphite-moderated. There won't be any power excursion of this kind. That's just physically not possible.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14910961,00.html

 

[loaloa]

You're right, the japanese reactors have a different design and may be the same kind of explosion is not possible, but unfortunately that's not the problem. The problem is to have radioactivity elements leaked and moving in the atmosphere whether it is by an explosion or gentle winds. And this what is happening now, several explosions damaged the reactors and since two days there are leaks. Also, it was not the case then why the radioactivity level in Ibaraki, 120km from the nuclear plant was this morning 300 times superior to the normal level?

Until yesterday all reports were saying that the worst scenario was "under" what happened at Tchernobyl. But the situation is evolving so quickly (and badly) that this morning they were saying that now the worst scenario could be worst than what happened to Tchernobyl - which doesn't mean it will happen the same way it did 25 years ago.

The main problem in all this story is coming from the fact that man think he is stronger than nature. Unfortunately he is not and has never been. Saying that it can't happen in Japan because the reactors are not build the same way than in Tchernobyl is right but it also mean that it can't happen because, this time, "we build it in a way that nothing can happen", in two words: we're stronger than nature.

As we can see in what is happening in Japan it's still not true, and the sooner men will understand that nature is stronger than them, the better it will be.