Japan's latest daily shocker

It's Thursday so it must be yet another overnight revelation from Japan:

Radioactivity 10,000 times standard at Japan plant

Okay, so, get ready.  First there's the shocking revelation of the day:

By RYAN NAKASHIMA and MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press

TOKYO – Officials with the company that operates Japan's tsunami-stricken nuclear plant say radioactive contamination in groundwater underneath a reactor has been measured at 10,000 times the government health standard.

Then there's the sure-to-be-given reassurance from the government and nuclear officials:

A spokesman for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. says the company doesn't believe any drinking water supply is affected

If you go to this article (link below), you'll see the updated article seems to have quite additional alarm, too.  It seems the Japanese have now put out a plea to the world nations, asking for all the help they can get.  

Yikes.

Anyway, check out this quote from a Japanese official:

"U.S. nuclear plants aren't by the ocean, unlike Japanese ones, so we think the French may be able to help us more than the Americans," said TEPCO Manager Teruaki Kobayashi.

Excuse me?  Ever heard of San Onofre?  As in California?  On the Pacific Ocean?  

And Diablo Canyon?  Also in California?  Ever heard of those?


And then there's the Salem reactor in Salem, Delaware incidentally right next to the Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station (link below)  but,yeah, other than those...

Anyway, for the poor Japanese people it seems things are quite desperate and getting worse.  Hopefully the bad news and additional revelations end soon--as soon as possible and as positively as possible, given all they've been through and what they're still going through.

Links:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_japan_earthquake;  http://www.exeloncorp.com/powerplants/oystercreek/Pages/profile.aspx;  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/31/MNT31IMGTS.DTL; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Canyon_Power_Plant;  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/31/MNT31IMGTS.DTL; http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/nj_nuclear_power_plant_less_th.html; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_Nuclear_Power_Plant