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Fukushima Explosion Update: Core Presumed Intact As Sea Water Used To Bring Temperature Down, Radiation Level At 1015 Microsieverts/Hour
The damage control to the Fukushima explosion reported earlier is coming fast and furious. According to CNN, "the explosion at an earthquake-damaged nuclear plant was not caused by
damage to the nuclear reactor but by a pumping system that failed as
crews tried to bring the reactor's temperature down, Chief Cabinet
Secretary Yukio Edano said Saturday. The next step for workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant will be to
flood the reactor containment structure with sea water to bring the
reactor's temperature down to safe levels, he said. The effort is
expected to take two days." While the government is trying to play down the threat from the explosion, it has nonetheless double the evacuation zone radius from 10 to 20 kilometers: "Radiation levels have fallen since the explosion and there is no
immediate danger, Edano said. But authorities were nevertheless
expanding the evacuation to include a radius of 20 kilometers (about
12.5 miles) around the plant. The evacuation previously reached out to
10 kilometers." Next steps are to flood the reactor with salt water. NHK reports: "The
TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture is
believed to be exploded, and in order to prevent corruption, the
containment vessel will be filled with sea water to cool containers and
vehicles used by the SDF pump I. According to the Ministry of Defense,
work will begin at 8:00 pm, and that it expected to end around 1:00 am
on March 13 (or roughly 11 am Eastern)." And while containment efforts peak, the radiation level is reported to be in the range of 1015 microsieverts / hr. In the meantime, confusion in Japan is pervasive as up to a million people are without power. And while we hope the outcome of the Fukushima situation will be prompt and favorable, the economic devastation to the country will be pervasive for weeks to come.
CNN reports:
More damage control:
Radiation levels have fallen since the explosion and there is no immediate danger, Edano said. But authorities were nevertheless expanding the evacuation to include a radius of 20 kilometers (about 12.5 miles) around the plant. The evacuation previously reached out to 10 kilometers.
The explosion about 3:30 p.m. Saturday sent white smoke rising above the plant a day after a massive earthquake and tsunami crippled cooling systems at the plant in northeastern Japan. Four workers were injured in the blast.
The walls of a concrete building surrounding the reactor container collapsed, but the reactor and its containment system were not damaged in the explosion, Edano said.
Before Edano's announcement, Malcolm Grimston, associate fellow for energy, environment and development at London's Chatham House, said the explosion indicated that "it's clearly a serious situation, but that in itself does not necessarily mean major (nuclear) contamination."
Japanese public broadcaster NHK said the injured workers were in the process of cooling a nuclear reactor at the plant by injecting water into its core.
The Fukushima prefecture government said hourly radiation levels at the plant had reached levels allowable for ordinary people over the course of a year, Kyodo reported.
Earlier Saturday, Japan's nuclear agency said workers were continuing efforts to cool fuel rods at the plant after a small amount of radioactive material escaped into the air.
The agency said there was a strong possibility that the radioactive cesium monitors detected was from the melting of a fuel rod at the plant, adding that engineers were continuing to cool the fuel rods by pumping water around them.
Cesium is a byproduct of the nuclear fission process that occurs in nuclear plants.
A spokesman for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Agency earlier said atomic material had seeped out of one of the five nuclear reactors at the Daiichi plant, located about 160 miles (260 kilometers) north of Tokyo.
"This is a situation that has the potential for a nuclear catastrophe. It's basically a race against time, because what has happened is that plant operators have not been able to cool down the core of at least two reactors," said Robert Alvarez, a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington.
Alert.net quotes Chernobyl veterans who are scrambling to calm the public that this will not be a repeat of the Prypiat disaster:
Experts said pictures of mist above the plant suggested only small amounts of radiation had been expelled as part of measures to ensure its stability, far from the radioactive clouds that Chernobyl spewed out when it exploded in 1986.
"The explosion at No. 1 generating set of the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, which took place today, will not be a repetition of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster," said Valeriy Hlyhalo, deputy director of the Chernobyl nuclear safety centre.
He was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying Japanese reactors were better protected than Chernobyl, where just over 30 firefighters were killed in the explosion. The world's worst civilian nuclear disaster, Chernobyl has also been blamed for thousands of deaths due to radiation-linked illness.
"Apart from that, these reactors are designed to work at a high seismicity zone, although what has happened is beyond the impact the plants were designed to withstand," Hlyhalo said.
"Therefore, the consequences should not be as serious as after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster."
We will continue following what appears to be nothing but a prolonged attempt at disaster spin as earthquake aftershocks continue.
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Adam Hously from Fox on - refers to evacuation zone as being called a 'realm of worry'
a "No fun zone"
A really simple way to get the heart of the matter, and to discern that the Japanese Officials are lying with every word they utter, is to simply look at video of the explosion that they claim was caused by a "pump."
O Rly?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q6C8US20jI&feature=player_embedded
That the government told reporters that it was a positive development that the outer walls were blown off is the cherry on top of the bullshit Sundae.
If they're lying about something as fundamental as this, well...you do the propaganda calculations.
That the government told reporters that it was a positive development that the outer walls were blown off is the cherry on top of the bullshit Sundae.
- - - -
Are your Geiger counters reading up-scale yet? If not, core intact ...
That's really all you need to know.
.
A pump caused that explosion? LMFAO. Either we are losing something in the translation, the spokesman is an idiot, or noone in officialdom has a clue what they are talking about. Communication seems really weak here or the global media aren't picking up on it. Though I don't necssarily blame the media at this point - I read the TEPCO "update" as of 5am on 3/12/11...and it certainly gave no indication that there was any cause for concern. So I have to conclude they either don't know exact status at Fukushima or just aren't saying. It was a few hrs later the explosion occured. Communication to the public was a big problem at TMI that was addressed by the US NRC and all US nuclear operators in their emergency plans. Of course in the US circa 2011, we'd probably just issue statements that are just loaded with buzzwords and "remain calm, all is well".
An electric motor on a pump could ignite hydrogen gas that is coming from the uncovered fuel rods. Very possble.
Well, saying a pump caused the explosion vs there was hydrogen gas explosion are two fundamentally different things, aren't they?
Much more significantly, is there really any doubt that the explosion which we can now all witness did NOT do some serious damage in a near 360 degree pattern?
I mean, they are saying it blew the outer walls out, but left the containment vessel unscathed?
Really now.
It looks like a bunker busting JDAM tipped with high explosive material hit that facility. That explosion was ginormous.
Deduced by watching third-hand videos posted on YouTube from overseas news-sources.
I believe you.
Now, how many times in the 'chain' did someone (from the CIA, to editors, special effects artists) modify, obfuscsate, edit, add, delete or enhance features; re-pixel, re-sample and finally post videos?
.
Right, everything's a conspiracy, uh huh.
Like I was saying....
Hard to tell from a video, but the velocity of the explosion would lend credence to a hydrogen explosion. There are too many possible scenarios to know for sure - without of course, reliable information.
Actually, that is what kicked off the Macondo well explosion ... the well ejected a shit ton of gas ... which was sucked up by the power generators ... which promptly raced out of control ... and then exploded setting the whole platform on fire.
I would point out however that it's kind of disingenious to suggest the whole thing was caused by pumps leaving out the obviously important other details.
Cooter
Agree on pump/motor could have been ignition source for H2 going up. Perhaps we're losing something in the translation they are providing. I think that's the case as I've been reading the TEPCO updates and the verbiage is confusing from a technical standpoint and I know they are not stupid people. Not that I could translate a single word of english to japanese mind you. Some of what they are posting as far as plant status makes sense but some of it leaves me scratching my head.
In spanish a "pump" is called a "bomba" which also means a bomb. Maybe Japanese is similar and its just a translation problem? Nan desu ka? Yoi abunai desho! Uruguruguru (not sure what that last bit means - maybe "my name is John Belushi and I am a brave Samurai so bring me some more saki" ?)
fuk US hi ma.
And still nothing at all about the plant closest to the epicenter, where both fire and water leak was reported initially.
That's the Onagawa plant, not to be confused with the Fukishima Daiichi plant in the town of Onahama. Or maybe it's the other way round.
Keep an eye out for news on that one, K?
we (I) anxiously await for a new post from GW to give a picture of what the doomsday scenario might look like and for proof that TPTB are misleading the public ...
I can't wait to learn how GW will tie the meltdown to BP's Macondo well.
Plant Status of Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station (as of 11pm March 12th)
Unit 1 (shut down at 2:48pm on March 11th) - Reactor is shut down and reactor water level is stable. - Offsite power is available. - At 8:19am, there was an alarm indicating that one of the control rods was not properly inserted, however, at 10:43am the alarm was spontaneously called off. Other control rods has been confirmed that they are fully inserted (reactor is in subcritical status) - Status of main steam isolation valve: closed - Injection of water into the reactor is done by Make-up Water Condensate System. - At 6:08pm, we announced the increase in reactor containment vessel pressure, assumed to be due to leakage of reactor coolant. However, we do not believe there is leakage of reactor coolant in the containment vessel at this moment. - At 5:22am, the temperature of the suppression chamber exceeded 100 degrees. As the reactor pressure suppression function was lost, at 5:22am, it was determined that a specific incident stipulated in article 15, clause 1 has occurred. - We decided to prepare implementing measures to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessel (partial discharge of air containing radioactive materials) in order to fully secure safety. This preparation work started at around 9:43am and finished at 6:00pm. Unit 2 (shut down at 2:48pm on March 11th) - Reactor is shut down and reactor water level is stable. - Offsite power is available. - Control rods are fully inserted (reactor is in subcritical status) - Status of main steam isolation valve: closed - Injection of water into the reactor is done by Make-up Water Condensate System. - We do not believe there is leakage of reactor coolant in the containment vessel. - At 5:32am, the temperature of the suppression chamber exceeded 100 degrees. As the reactor pressure suppression function was lost, at 5:32am, it was determined that a specific incident stipulated in article 15, clause 1 has occurred. - We decided to prepare implementing measures to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessel (partial discharge of air containing radioactive materials) in order to fully secure safety. This preparation work started at around 10:33am and finished at 10:58pm. Unit 3 (shut down at 2:48pm on March 11th) - Reactor is shut down and reactor water level is stable. - Offsite power is available. - Control rods are fully inserted (reactor is in subcritical status) - Status of main steam isolation valve: closed - We do not believe there is leakage of reactor coolant in the containment vessel. - We decided to prepare implementing measures to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessel (partial discharge of air containing radioactive materials) in order to fully secure safety. The preparation woke started at around 12:08pm and finished at 12:13pm. - Reactor cold shutdown at 12:15pm Unit 4 (shut down at 2:48pm on March 11th) - Reactor is shut down and reactor water level is stable. - Offsite power is available. - Control rods are fully inserted (reactor is in subcritical status) - Status of main steam isolation valve: closed - Injection of water into the reactor is done by Make-up Water Condensate System. - We do not believe there is leakage of reactor coolant in the containment vessel. - In order to cool down the reactor, injection of water into the reactor had been done by the Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System, however, At 6:07am, the temperature of the suppression chamber exceeded 100 degrees. As the reactor pressure suppression function was lost, at 6:07am, it was determined that a specific incident stipulated in article 15, clause 1 has occurred. - We decided to prepare implementing measures to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessel (partial discharge of air containing radioactive materials) in order to fully secure safety. The preparation woke started at around 11:44am and finished at around 11:52am. Indication from monitoring posts installed at the site boundary did not show any difference from ordinary level. No radiation impact to the external environment has been confirmed. We will continue to monitor in detail the possibility of radioactive material being discharged from exhaust stack or discharge canal. There is no missing person within the power station. We are presently checking on the site situation of each plant while keeping the situation of aftershock and Tsunami in mind. A seriously injured worker who had been trapped in the crane operating console of the exhaust stack was transported to the ground at 5:13pm and confirmed dead at 5:17pm. We sincerely pray for the repose of his soul. A worker was lightly injured spraining his left ankle and cutting both knees when he fell while walking at the site. The worker has returned to work after medical treatment and rest. At 10:15pm, an earthquake occurred centered in offshore Fukushima prefecture. No damage to the plant has been found at this moment.this is the link to the TEPCO news feed
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/index-e.html
Pete - Thanks for the update. More info than the 5 am update...but still confusing. Was this report after the explosion? If so, no mention of it that I saw. They also continue to indicate core cooling is available via the condensate system...at least that's how I read it. Which doesn't square w/ not being able to cool the reactor, or square with the explosion which was presumably due to hydrogen, which could only be evolved to that degree by fuel melting. OR it was an H2 explosion from a hydrogen tank farm and unrelated to reactor fuel melting. Plus...they've got more than one unit w/ complications. WTF.
This report is for Daini (Plant #2). The explosion occured at Daiichi (Plant #1).
A bit of levity.
A man walks out to the street and catches a taxi just going by. He gets
into the taxi, and the cabbie says, "Perfect timing. You're just like
Frank."
Passenger: "Who?"
Cabbie: "Frank Feldman. He's a guy who did everything right all the time.
Like my coming along when you needed a cab, things happen like that to
Frank Feldman every single time."
Passenger: "There are always a few clouds over everybody."
Cabbie: "Not Frank Feldman. He was a terrific athlete.
He could have won the Grand Slam at tennis. He could golf with the pros. He
sang like an opera baritone and danced like a Broadway star and you should
have heard him play the piano. He was an amazing guy."
Passenger: "Sounds like he was something really special."
Cabbie: "There's more. He had a memory like a computer. He remembered
everybody's birthday. He knew all about wine, which foods to order and
which fork to eat them with. He could fix anything. Not like me. I change a
fuse,
and the whole street blacks out. But Frank Feldman, he could do everything
right."
Passenger: "Wow. Some guy then."
Cabbie: "He always knew the quickest way to go in traffic and avoid traffic
jams. Not like me, I always seem to get stuck in them.
But Frank, he never made a mistake, and he really knew how to treat a woman
and make her feel good. He would never answer her back even if she was in
the wrong; and his clothing was always immaculate, shoes highly polished
too. He was the perfect man!
He never made a mistake. No one could ever measure up to Frank Feldman."
Passenger: "An amazing fellow. How did you meet him?"
Cabbie: "Well, I never actually met Frank. He died. I'm married to his
fuckin' widow."
well... I liked it.
I hope this shuts up the nuclear industry for another 30 years. The only solution to the energy problem is reducing demand thru population control.
Flagged as anti-humanity ...
Soylent Green is People!
Sol: Why, in my day, you could buy meat anywhere! Eggs they had, real butter! Fresh lettuce in the stores.
Det. Thorn: I know, Sol, you told me before
Nuke your TV?
Horrific pictures.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1365546/Japan-earthquake-picture...
1015 mSv/hour = 1Sv/hour
Six hours of that and no medical care you are dead. What distance from the core was that that measurement was taken? Radiation intensity is governed by the inverse square rule. Any worker on site is probalbly commiting suicide by staying lets hope they do not know that.
Except it says micro, not milli; so 6000 hours of that and you're dead.
Good point My bad
your units are off, i think. Micro Sv are 1x10^-6...so 1015 microSv = 1.015 milliSv...i did a quick conversion last night and i had 1015 microSv as being 101.5 millirem/hr. US Federal dose limits for workers are 6 (edit: 5) Rem/yr. So while 100 mrem/hr is high...its far from immediately lethal. However, its confusing as to where these various radiation levels are coming from. I've heard site boundary, control room, etc. Reports of rad dose in the control room makes no sense - unless they've had a meltdown and release of radiation. Rad monitors would put Control Rm ventilation on filtered recirc at those levels and as control rm vent draws on outside air...rad levels on site would also be high. And they are stating they are not. A lot of confusion, its hard to draw any conclusions as to what the exact status is.
KZ-good set of posts, thanks.
MCR would be positive pressure, isolated manually or auto, nfw to get the dose up to what was reported, 30 day stay-time (eeeeewwww). I didn't understand the report that had the control room at 212 DegF with the high rad reading, either. Would take a steam line break with jet impinging on the MCR chillers.
Normal background dose for non-flying flatlanders is like 300 mrem/year. I never did get the Sv thing ;-).
- Ned
Ned - LOL and Thx. I'm so used to working with mrem / mrad that the Sieverts thing is annoying, but whatever. There are a lot of reports that aren't making sense. Agree that the MCR is positive pressure and 212F in the CR would mean that noone is in there (alive anyway). Maybe that's the case but I doubt it. Or they are lying about actual conditions -- possible but I think its more a case of translation or a very shitty Public Comms Dept.
it's not just the radiation levels, it's the contamination. If you ingest even small quantities of radioactive isotopes , they can continue to irradiate the surrounding tissues for weeks, months, years, causing damage to DNA, increasing cancer risk, etc.
radioactive
plastic rice
honorable bytches..
FUK U SHIMA!!!!!!
The bottom line is coal and oil are competing by sending more money to the Bambi-in-chief. Obama just laughs his ass off & makes a few more speeches to encourage competing interests to send more money to sway his mind.
Here's the 2005 manual for Japan Nuclear facility regulations.
http://www.jnes.go.jp/english/activity/unkan/e-unkanhp2/e-unkanhp2-2005/book1/index.html?highlightwords=BWR%2CICEA%2Cscram%2Cproceedure#page=1
Meanwhile, the above liar will get exposed for the deception he spins. In time, names of the members of 6 will be exposed. This entire facade created on imagination, illusion, cheating and fraud will come down faster than the NYC twin towers. No one will be harmed during their facial identication renderings to public eye.
An interesting world map showing latest seismic activity:
http://www.oe-files.de/gmaps/eqmashup.html
Latest IAEA update:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/international-atomic-energy-agency-iaea/japan-earthquake-update-12-march-2011-2110-cet/201193423243785
Before and after pictures at:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/following-core-meltdown-reactor-one-fukushima-nuclear-power-plant-explodes-video
Schematic of Fukushima containment with fuel cask being moved to fuel basin:
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/home/2011/3/12/fukushima-dai-ichi-unit-1-reactor-schematic.html
Fuel storage basin is now exposed to the sky.
A dissertation on hazards of fuel storage basins:
http://www.energyjustice.net/files/nuclear/security/nasrptsfp5.pdf
Figure 3.1 shows the alternate concrete constrution of the containment building roof.
Mentions the Zr + steam reaction generating hydrogen.
I assume that core water level got low, generating hydrogen, the pressure was relieved by venting steam and hydrogen to the containment structure,
The steam condenses out leaving an explosive hydrogen concentration. Electrical restoration and an ignition source = boom.
Ask the question of how much inventory of discharged fuel is in the basin on the roof.
(no way the hydrogen could have been generated by water leakage from the fuel storage pool.................................)
If you watch the video of the explosion, you can see the pressure/shock wave above the building before the smoke and the roof panel raising.
Question: Could the internal explosion and shock wave compromise (crack) the fuel storage pool integrity.
The SNF inventory for the Vermont Yankee BWR Mark I reactor which went on line in 1969 and it has about 690 MTHM containing ~75.6 MCi, predominantly Cs-137 and Sr. 90.
The video clearly shows a very fast shockwave but no flames, so the theory that is was hydrogen mixed with air gets some credit. This mix bangs incredible fast without flames
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hsaCh5HbHo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cchBMv0ywnw
Immediatly after that you see the white smoke and that's the complete content of the cooling system in steam, it's gone and the system ruptured or totaly blown
I hope this was all under their control and there is a plan but I also read something about Cesium being detected and that comes directly from the core
With the heat directly going up from the moment of the explosion I think there is no way of fixing a closed cooling system and there is only one thing left and that is breaking up the core (maybe the explosion did this allready) and flood it with water constantly. I hope i'm wrong
How is cesium getting out of the core if the core is not ruptured?
There are several scenarios that can involve detection of Cesium outside the core, most involve some pretty serious stuff. However, one scenario is a late in-vessel release, where decay heating can cause revaporization of various radionuclides - Cesium being one. If the vessel was vented to control overpressure, some of this can get into the reactor building and be detected. Iodine is also common with this reaction.
When I think of these reactor buildings I'm envisioning a series of nested Russian doll-like containment structures. The inner-most one being the actual steel reactor core container wherein the fuel rods generate steam for the turbines. The second containment structure would be the 6-8 feet of reinforced concrete in a dome-like shape. The outer structure is, or rather was, what looks like a steel clad insulated industrial building to keep everything inside climate controlled and out of the weather.
Clearly, the outer building has exploded in spectacular fashion. In the video one can see the shiny cladding material flying through the air at the edges of the dust cloud. This explosion was not caused by a "pump". It must have been caused either by an accumulation of an explosive material (hydrogen?) between the dome and the outer structure or by something inside the concrete containment structure. If the containment structure exploded then I fail to see how they can prevent really bad things from happening to the reactor vessel. If only the outer building blew then perhaps I can see how the core could still survive in whatever compromised state it may have been in prior to the explosion.
If the concrete containment structure (the middle Russian doll) blew up wouldn't the chunks of concrete have wrecked the steel framework that we can still see standing? The fact that the framework stands relatively undamaged leads me to believe that only the thin skinned outer metal surfaced structure blew up. Perhaps the "lens effect" that can be see shooting nearly straight up is caused by the shape of the top of the containment dome - sort of like a shaped-charge effect? Any explosives or demolitions experts on this board?
Also, what is all the gray dust in the cloud? It's typical of a demolished building. We saw it at ground zero and it occurs whenever a building is demolished. I always figured it was a combination of insulation, drywall, cement, light bulbs, etc. But for what appears to be a metal-clad building there is an awful lot of cement colored dust in the air following the explosion.
"The fact that the framework stands relatively undamaged leads me to believe that only the thin skinned outer metal surfaced structure blew up"
Like your analysis.
Still not good though.
Where did the hydrogen come from?
Is the containment structure fractured?
I'm no scientist. But that was not steam.
for what it is worth maybe this explains something
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/uk-japan-quake-experts-idUKTRE72B1KP20110312
The problem might not be catastrophic if they really succeeded to contract the bars during the shutdown and stopped the reaction process and the problem was contained to a cooling problem. Cross my fingers!
From the article:
"At the moment it does seem that they are still contained and it's a release of significant steam pressure that's caused this explosion. The key will be the monitoring of those radiation levels."
I'm having a hard time buying the "steam pressure" theory. First, there was an obvious flash of combustion. Second, the only way steam could have released that quickly would have been through a catastrophic failure of one of the inner containment structures - you know, the one(s) everyone is counting on to contain the radioactive core...
O B: do you know BWR water chemistry (I don't). PWRs add H2 in solution in CVCS to scavange extra O that might be floating around wanting to marry some Fe and screw up the inner cladding of the vessel or the pipes.
When TMI did the LOCA, the H2 came out of solution and gathered up top as it would. There was a containment pressure spike that was postulated to have been a Hydrogen detonation.
Just wonderin' as we try to piece this thing together through the obvious fog(s).
- Ned
It can't have been steam.
The top blew right of.
A build-up of steam pressure would have found the weakest point.
The "explosion" was to rapid for steam.
A link which shows reasonably accurate drawings of the Type 1 system used at Fukushima.
http://uvdiv.blogspot.com/2011/03/some-links-on-fukushima-daiichi-1.html
Great link - those drawings explain a lot. It looks as though the upper crane bay of the building is what blew off. Perhaps this is where the hydrogen gas was accumulating - which makes sense since it's lighter than air. We can still see the framework relatively intact in the "after" photo. The question is how much destruction occurred below in the concrete walled sections of the building. The reports of the roof collapsing may actually be referring the concrete floor of the crane bay.
On this type of reactor, the containment building shell (which is what blew off) is relatively lightly constructed. It stands to reason that the hydrogen was outside the secondary containment shell, or it probably would have blown that apart, which does not seem to be the case. I suspect the hydrogen and the iodine and the Cesium were present due to venting, created by a late-in-vessel release. This seems to make sense. And, there are many things in a reactor building that could ignite hydrogen.
OK.
But where did the hydrogen come from?
Most likely from the core, when they vented it, the same source for the Iodine and cesium. I suspect that there are structural issues with various areas of the piping caused by the earthquake, and it is possible hydrogen leaked into the reactor building during a vent operation and was ignited by some source.
Above 900 C the Zircaloy fuel cladding reacts with steam to liberate hydrogen.
This indicates that the core was uncovered and fuel integrity has not been maintained.
So when they vented the primary containment, they let out hydrogen and any mobile fission products that were released from the damaged fuel.
And why should we believe this chief cabinet minister, who admitted there was an explosion 5 HOURS AFTER THE EXPLOSION?
The government flip-flopped, at one point telling the residents that there was no explosion. More on flipping and flopping, as reported in Japanese media,
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/03/explosion-at-fukushima-i-nuclear-plan...
FWIW, I heard about some story on a Russian language site (sorry, no link) that Japanese Greenpeace bitched about this Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant about two years ago.
I found some interesting nuggets in the TEPCO press releases. Here's a good one, from 2002:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/02121101-e.html
the description in the new TEPCO press release as 'explosive sound' for what the world saw as an explosion, is not confidence inspiring.
latest TEPCO press release
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11031301-e.html
Latest UPDATE: CORE MELTDOWN
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Meltdown Caused Nuke Plant Explosion: Safety BodyTOKYO (Nikkei)--The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said Saturday afternoon the explosion at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant could only have been caused by a meltdown of the reactor core.
The same day, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501), which runs the plant, began to flood the damaged reactor with seawater to cool it down, resorting to measures that could rust the reactor and force the utility to scrap it.
Cesium and iodine, by-products of nuclear fission, were detected around the plant, which would make the explosion the worst accident in the roughly 50-year history of Japanese nuclear power generation.
An explosion was heard near the plant's No. 1 reactor about 3:30 p.m. and plumes of white smoke went up 10 minutes later. The ceiling of the building housing the reactor collapsed, according to information obtained by Fukushima prefectural authorities.
At a news conference Saturday night, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano discounted the possibility of a significant leak of radioactive material from the accident. "The walls of the building containing the reactor were destroyed, meaning that the metal container encasing the reactor did not explode," Edano said.
The amount of radiation detected inside the plant after 4:00 p.m. slightly exceeded the dose people can safely receive in a year, according to information obtained by the Fukushima prefectural government.
The No. 1 reactor shut down automatically soon after a massive earthquake hit the area Friday, but its emergency core cooling system failed to cool the reactor's core sufficiently.
NISA is affiliated with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
(The Nikkei March 13 edition)
From the latesr AP update:
"Officials declined to say what the temperature was inside the troubled reactor"
Kind of says it all right there. It is not moral or smart to withhold the critical (sic) information with this much on the line. So we have to conclude that immoral and foolish people are managing this situation.
Jim, the authorities in the Japanese regulators know the data (unless the telephone lines/internet from site to the regulators was knocked down, in which case TEPCO would have intervened. Industry has it all worked out, BWROG has shared "best practices" and in U.S. law, all baked in. From sensors to data transmission to interpretation to operating practices to ... .
Start here: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0737/sup1/s...
- Ned
[ed. htf did this post get to the top of a thread that I hadn't read 'cuz it wasn't posted? Comment was to Jim MN nice guy.]
[[further ed. onvm-the universe is back to its normal murphy]]
Funny, I didn't see the public mentioned anywhere. I meant informing the public.
u catch my point
UPDATE: CORE MELTDOWN
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Meltdown Caused Nuke Plant Explosion: Safety BodyTOKYO (Nikkei)--The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said Saturday afternoon the explosion at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant could only have been caused by a meltdown of the reactor core.
The same day, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501), which runs the plant, began to flood the damaged reactor with seawater to cool it down, resorting to measures that could rust the reactor and force the utility to scrap it.
Cesium and iodine, by-products of nuclear fission, were detected around the plant, which would make the explosion the worst accident in the roughly 50-year history of Japanese nuclear power generation.
An explosion was heard near the plant's No. 1 reactor about 3:30 p.m. and plumes of white smoke went up 10 minutes later. The ceiling of the building housing the reactor collapsed, according to information obtained by Fukushima prefectural authorities.
At a news conference Saturday night, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano discounted the possibility of a significant leak of radioactive material from the accident. "The walls of the building containing the reactor were destroyed, meaning that the metal container encasing the reactor did not explode," Edano said.
The amount of radiation detected inside the plant after 4:00 p.m. slightly exceeded the dose people can safely receive in a year, according to information obtained by the Fukushima prefectural government.
The No. 1 reactor shut down automatically soon after a massive earthquake hit the area Friday, but its emergency core cooling system failed to cool the reactor's core sufficiently.
NISA is affiliated with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
(The Nikkei March 13 edition)
Now 3rd reactor cooling system down..
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/japan-quake-nuclear-cooling-idUSLHE7EB02D20110312
Number 3 is the one with the plutonium fuel.
EVERYBODY RE-RE-RE-PANIC
reference for Pu?
Company announced they went into commercial operation with plutonium at Unit 3 last October...bottom of page 12:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/useful/pdf-1/brochu-e.pdf
We need that Hugh Hendry quote about now.
It is a mixed fuel (MOX), and unit one was scheduled to be loaded with MOX, but was not sure if it had happened yet.
thx-bombz 2 wattz program. our tax money at (really good) work. - Ned
All low enriched uranium reactors will have a significant amount of plutonium after a period of operation. The U-238 gets converted to Pu-239 during operation. At end of core life, about 30% of reactor power is produced from plutonium fission.
"At end of core life, about 30% of reactor power is produced from plutonium fission."
Please, don't rain on their parade. They obviously need a reason to panic.
Besides, if you tried to explain how it was formed (fast nuetron capture, then beta decay) they might get glazed eyes. Don't even think about trying to explain how Beta-effective changes late in core life due to the Plutonium. (.0059 to .0057?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g82a36LWtcU
VIDEO
IAEA Director General's Update on Tsunami and Earthquake Emergency Response
Plant Status of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (as of 2am March 13th)
All 6 units of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station have been shut down. Unit 1(Shut down) - Reactor has been shut down. However, the unit is under inspection due to the explosive sound and white smoke that was confirmed after the big quake occurred at 3:36PM. - We have been injecting sea water and boric acid which absorbs neutron into the reactor core. Unit 2(Shut down) - Reactor and Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System have been shut down. Current reactor water level is lower than normal level, but the water level is steady. After fully securing safety, we are preparing to implement a measure to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessels under the instruction of the national government. Unit 3(Shut down) - Reactor has been shut down and we continue injecting water by High Pressure Core Injection System. After fully securing safety, we are preparing to implement a measure to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessels under the instruction of the national government. - Currently, we do not believe there is any reactor coolant leakage inside the reactor containment vessel. Unit 4 (shut down due to regular inspection) - Reactor has been shut down and sufficient level of reactor coolant to ensure safety is maintained. - Currently, we do not believe there is any reactor coolant leakage inside the reactor containment vessel. Unit 5 (outage due to regular inspection) - Reactor has been shut down and sufficient level of reactor coolant to ensure safety is maintained. - Currently, we do not believe there is any reactor coolant leakage inside the reactor containment vessel. Unit 6 (outage due to regular inspection) - Reactor has been shut down and sufficient level of reactor coolant to ensure safety is maintained. - Currently, we do not believe there is any reactor coolant leakage inside the reactor containment vessel. Casualty - 2 workers of cooperative firm were injured at the occurrence of the earthquake, and were transported to the hospital. - 1 TEPCO employee who was not able to stand by his own with his hand holding left chest was transported to the hospital by an ambulance. - 1 subcontract worker at important earthquake-proof building was unconscious and transported to the hospital by an ambulance. - The radiation exposure of 1 TEPCO employee, who was working inside the reactor building, exceeded 100mSv and was transported to the hospital. - 4 workers were injured and transported to the hospital after explosive sound and white smoke were confirmed around the Unit 1. - Presence of 2 TEPCO employees at the site are not confirmed Others - We measured radioactive materials inside of the nuclear power station area (outdoor) by monitoring car and confirmed that radioactive materials level is higher than ordinary level. Also, the level at monitoring post is higher than ordinary level. We will continue to monitor in detail the possibility of radioactive material being discharged from exhaust stack or discharge canal. The national government has instructed evacuation for those local residents within 20km radius of the periphery because it's possible that radioactive materials are discharged. - We will continue to take all measures to restore the security ofthe site and to monitor the environment of the site periphery.
Wow, the IAEA is not wasting any time trotting out the "Nukes are Safe" line.
I'd hate to see what they consider "Un-safe".
.
Maybe when we speak of a country formerly known as Japan...I've heard to much BS of them in the past years. They are like the FED. Useless. In 1986 they suggested that the new nuclear plant in Chernobyl could produce more energy...well, that worked well.
PY-: quitcherbitchen: the world knows better than u. IAEA can win a Nobel Prize just like Arafat, Carter, and other non-playaz (not excluding the current laureat), e.g.:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2005/
Why the pressure on Gaddafi was so great (e.g. pissed his pants, no IAEA at all) that he disavowed his weapons program.
- Ned
The killer could be the water the drinking water if contaminated by radiation or germs, but for me I am buying OSG shipping company they carry LNG into Japan or will be for probably the next few years to replace the lost electricity from the nuke plants. I'm sure there are other carriers too, also go long the yen versus USD and short the re-insurance companies exposed to this mess and the major insurance companies exposed to. I have no sympathy for insurance companies, the will try to find a fall guy, and get out of honoring their contracts, just like Hurricane Camille and Katrina, but with the death squads denying treatment for dying people who have policies, I have no sympathy for them. They have collected fat premiums now lets see if they will socialize the losses and privatize the profits. Where have I heard that one before? Pray for the people of Japan, and pray the insurance policies are honored.
dog-
SOP is: a) unit trips, b) did everything work out OK? c) were any limits exceeded? d) hurry up on that root cause analysis (while Xe poison is busy half-lifing itself away), e) we all OK? f) ... er ... boss, it kinda looks like <insert some unplanned-for situation here-it will take {a long time} to make an acceptable determination>.
If the geotech under the units (not plants, each unit) is suspect (that is, if actual matt failures occurred) then stfb.
See other mainline post. seems that the Re pool has caps. You know, socialize the risks.
- Ned
All that hot saltwater is going to play hell with the innards of Unit one.
Follow up: All that "seawater" may soon become a moot point.
yep, Daiichi-1 be a gonner. - Ned
There is a thin possibility they can prevent a total fuel melt if they can get enough liquid/boron into the core. They are admitting to a "partial" fuel melt, which, if you assume the cladding ruptured, there may be enough neutron flux to maintain fission at some undesired level.
.
Breaking News from AP: Emergency Declared at Unit #3, cooling system failed:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_japan_earthquake
I can't even imagine how they will go about disposing of all the debris and wreckage that they must now clean up around the country. Even if it weren't going to be laced with all manner of toxic substances, the sheer size of the accumulated mountains of crud will have to go somewhere. Sad and horrible, all of it.
The core cooling system of the Reactor No.3 at the plant just failed.
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/03/fukushima-i-nuke-plant-reactor-no3.html
CNN now quoting Japanese official that a catastrophic meltdown is now underway.
CNN now interviewing Japanese Ambassador who says a melt down is NOT underway.
This is just another Marshall Plan.
Media Cover-up of Massive Chernobyl Event Underway in Japan
http://www.infowars.com/media-coverup-of-massive-chernobyl-event-underwa...
Forget the "explosion caused by a pump that blew the walls out but didn't damage the core" b.s. for a second, and on an even more fundamental level, ask yourself why they have flooded the facility with sea water. That's about as big a red flag as there is that they have lost control, and there's now radioactive material seeping in unknown (but certainly large) quantities into the air and sea.
Pumping seawater and boric acid into the core to try to prevent total failure is without doubt, a last-ditch effort. Whether it works or not is dependent on a lot of things I have no info on....but I think the odds are not in its favor.
Japanese Ambassador to U.S. doing massive spin control on CNN, downplaying meltdown scenario.
Somewhat similar to the delivery of notification of hostilities just a tad late in Dec 41.
I, too, am an expert in the field of nuclear power.
I didn't realize so many of us posted here! ; )
Well....we are waiting for your opinion......
You seem also to be an expert in kitty kats
Nucular!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlHEJtflcmo
CNN is reporting that Japan is saying there is a possible metltdown.
Official: 'We see the possibility of a meltdown'
Tokyo (CNN) -- A meltdown may be under way at one of Fukushima Daiichi's nuclear power reactors in northern Japan, an official with Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told CNN Sunday.
"There is a possibility, we see the possibility of a meltdown," said Toshihiro Bannai, director of the agency's international affairs office, in a telephone interview from the agency's headquarters in Tokyo. "At this point, we have still not confirmed that there is an actual meltdown, but there is a possibility."
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.quake.nuclear.failure/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1
This is somewhat confusing, since that statement was made by NISA this morning, US time. It was reported at www.Nikkei.com
Tokyo (CNN) -- A meltdown may be under way at one of Fukushima Daiichi's nuclear power reactors in northern Japan, an official with Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency told CNN Sunday.
"There is a possibility, we see the possibility of a meltdown," said Toshihiro Bannai, director of the agency's international affairs office, in a telephone interview from the agency's headquarters in Tokyo. "At this point, we have still not confirmed that there is an actual meltdown, but there is a possibility."
Though he said engineers have been unable to get close enough to the core to know what's going on, he based his conclusion on the fact that they measured radioactive cesium and radioactive iodine in the air Saturday night.
"What we have seen is only the slight indication from a monitoring post of cesium and iodine," he said. Since then, he said, plant officials have injected sea water and boron into the plant in an effort to cool its nuclear fuel.
We have some confidence, to some extent, to make the situation to be stable status," he said. "We actually have very good confidence that we will resolve this."
A state of emergency has been declared for it and two of the other five reactors at the same complex, he said. Three are in a safe, shut-down state, he said. "The other two still have some cooling systems, but not enough capacity."
From CNN's Tom Watkins
Conflicting information during situations like this is usually not a good sign. It can mean that people are at various levels of denial.
-
" MOVE ON, MOVE ON , MOVE ON. . . "
[LED umbrellas in the background]
-
rather co-incidentally, fukushima 1 was due to close permanently march 26th 2011. according to the Nuclear Training Centre (ICJT), the leading research institution in Slovenia.
http://www.icjt.org/npp/podrobnosti.php?drzava=14&lokacija=818
shades of asbestos?
Nuclear Power Plant 1 - Was due to be shut down in next month
German paper: Reactor at Fukushima was scheduled to be closed down this month By: NessTags:
Inglorious past
In the Japanese Fukushima nuclear power plant, an explosion occurred. The fear of a worst-case scenario is there. What kind of nuclear power plant? Who owns it? It is a company that wanted to cover up several affairs. The complex of the Fukushima nuclear power plant is one of the largest in Japan. The power plant consists of a total of six reactors, two more are planned. The Fukushima nuclear power plant 1, which was seriously damaged in the earthquake, is 40 years old.
The problem reactor was about to be closed down according to a database of the Nuclear Research Centre Training Centre (ICJT) in Slovenia. It shows as the "expected date of closure," March 2011.
Read more: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED | The History The US Government HOPES You Never Learn! http://whatreallyhappened.com/#ixzz1GQmxHPRm- The company at the center of a nuclear reactor crisis following the biggest earthquake in Japan's recorded history has had a rocky past in an industry plagued by scandal.
The Japanese government said on Saturday that there had been radiation leakage at Tokyo Electric Power's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi plant following an explosion there.
The blast came as TEPCO was working desperately to reduce pressures in the core of a reactor at the 40-year-old plant, which lies 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
In 2002, the president of the country's largest power utility was forced to resign along with four other senior executives, taking responsibility for suspected falsification of nuclear plant safety records.
The company was suspected of 29 cases involving falsified repair records at nuclear reactors. It had to stop operations at five reactors, including the two damaged in the latest tremor, for safety inspections.
A few years later it ran into trouble again over accusations of falsifying data.
In late 2006, the government ordered TEPCO to check past data after it reported that it had found falsification of coolant water temperatures at its Fukushima Daiichi plant in 1985 and 1988, and that the tweaked data was used in mandatory inspections at the plant, which were completed in October 2005.
And in 2007, TEPCO reported that it had found more past data falsifications, though this time it did not have to close any of its plants.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/us-japan-nuclear-operator-idUS...
Looks like the Japanese government is already pushing the blame. I wonder who they learnt that from.
More on Reactor No.3 just failed.. It failed because the emergency battery died. Apparently they still don't have diesel power generators on site.
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/03/more-on-fukushima-i-nuke-plant-reacto...
The battery died at 2:44AM. They did nothing for 1.5 hours until the fuel rods started to get exposed at 4:14AM. Then, they waited nearly 2 hours to issue a nuclear emergency.
this is the reactor with the 5% weapons-grade plutonium in it. no rush, eh?
So sad. Since the beginning, I was thinking the same thing the article stresses.. Something is seriously wrong with the [lack of] response to this. I mean how hard is it to airlift in backup batteries, generators, etc? As the US we should be jumping in to help--whether they ask for it or not. I am embarrassed as a citizen for my country's apparent total lack of engagement with this. Just like Libya--day late, dollar short. Just embarrasing..
This is a time for ACTION, not WORDS with worthless press conferences and other assorted bullsh*.
me too. the rather lacksadaisical responses do begin to look rather studied. they haven't been able to source generators within 48 hours? with 55 countries offering help?
According to TEPCO they have off-site power available.
I'm starting to think TEPCO hired many of Iraq's Ministry of Information personnel. They have proved fairly inept during this entire process. And likely for a while beforehand. Unfortunately it seems too late in the game for any kind of effective countermeasures.
Time will bear out what "really" happened. Probably more severe structural and systems damage than we can speculate from the outside looking in.
WTF? What's the problem with getting generators to the site?
They should load some diesel-electric locomotives on a barge and park it next to the plant.
the world is falling apart and Obama played golf again today!!!!
While this situation is unfortunate and extremely tragic I would like to take a moment to encourage the Japanese people to remain calm and, most importantly, get down to Tokyo Disney Resorts.
thanks, Dubya......... they needed that encouragement
Implications for the west coast of the US.
What happens when the radioactive junk hits the jetstream?
How long would we have, say the reactor has melted down and it's being covered up?
A lot of factors go into it, but assuming the jet stream is in position over japan and los angeles, for example, and 100km wind speed, a little more than 3 and half days (about 87 hours or so.) Plus the time it would take the plume to reach altitude and drift down to the ground. No more than a week to be sure.
Considering we've set of pretty large nukes in Nevada, the fallout would likely be far less than that from a real-life atmospheric bomb test. It would be detectable with instruments here, but very doubtful it would pose any significant health hazards. Not that I would want to breathing that crap in given a choice.
I fired up my recording geiger counter just to be sure, and will probably bark about it if I see anything beyond 2X normal background here (0.15 uSv/Hr).
It's difficult to quantify the risks with the nuclear plant with so little information from the source, but in the highly unlikely event that the very thick steel casing has ruptured/melted: Implications for the US: Nothing to moderately bad.
Radioactive particles need to be hot enough to be spewed up to +23,000ft. There is a jet stream +90kts directly over the affected zones in Northern/central Japan right now, which accelerates to +150kts over the mid Pacific, then slowing down off the West coast. Worse case scenario - averaging out the speed - 29 hrs to 38 hrs to landfall on the West coast. If there had been a serious leak that managed to eject radioactive particles to the lower stratosphere, you would know by Monday morning. Otherwise, months from now, people might detect slightly elevated readings in cow's milk, and isolated radioactive spots on land.
http://squall.sfsu.edu/gif/jetstream_pac_init_00.gif
According to the LA Times, an official source at the Japan Nuclear Agency has stated that a meltdown could be occuring right now. Nobody has been able to get near the reactor's core to be sure and any conclusions have been based on cesium and iodine measured in the air around the power station. We know the reactors did shut down automatically, and cooling systems were offline for awhile. They can either keep cooling until the danger has passed (Which means everyone can breathe a sigh of relief), or the steel casing has already cracked/melted and the core exposed to the air with the rods in a pile close enough to continue nuclear reaction (meltdown).
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fgw-japan-quake-meltdown-20110312,0,2889362.story
You can animate the jet stream patterns over the Northern hemisphere here for the latest analysis:
http://squall.sfsu.edu/scripts/nhemjetstream_model.html
Set for 4 days, interval 6hrs, and press Build Animation. (NB: This is not a forecast. It's a real time data from the past 4 days)
(I will not be posting any more on this subject. Correctly analysing these tragedies unfolding in Japan is a pitiful pyrrhic victory. I wish the Japanese authorities every success, and my sympathies to the people for their predicament.)
Obama is so in over his head. We've witnessed a total lack of leadership from him at just about every opportunity he's been given to do something - anything - substantive.
George W. Bush & Barack H. Obama are book end examples as to why the U.S. is doomed if something significant doesn't change: The false left-right paradigm in the U.S., spreading just enough bullshit to keep the ponzi going while the BSDs steal all the wealth from outside the camera view. If anyone with a half dozen brain cells or more buys into idiotic slogans like 'ownership society' or 'hope & change,' I guess they deserve who they get as alleged elected leaders.
The only thing I have to add about the Japanese response is that they are obviously dealing with massive complicating factors here, with the loss of infrastructure and ongoing earthquakes, and are neck deep in a logistical nightmare, so it explains some of the apparent response delays they've shown in doing more to arrest these core issues.
We weren't any better with New Orleans. That is, btw, what that part of Japan is going to look like in 10 years, for those of you who think the Japanese are going to make a miraculous come back.
F News focused on Santa Cruz and Crescent City - I hate CNN et. al. but F News is well on the way to joining their pitiful ranks
Keep your eye on movements of Japanese government officials. If they start to leave the country, it's time to worry.
2011-03-12 23:24:50 (M 6.1) NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 38.0 141.8 (4970d)
2011-03-12 22:12:46 (M 6.3) NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 37.7 142.0 (4970d)
CNN's 6:00 news with Blitzer admitted frankly they have no idea what's happening, given 'partial and conflicting' information released by various parties.
CitizenPete , Kaiser Zose , New_Meat , Aristarchan (and I am sure others)
better quality info and updates from you people than any other source that I have been able to identify
thanks
Thx...I work at a GE BWR here in the states...so this is of interest. Trying to piece together details has been tough. I hear CNN reporting the Japanese saying they are pumping seawater into one Rx (assumedly the one w/ the explosion) and also injecting Boron...Boron is only injected if you're concerned about shutting down - or maintaining a Rx s/d - for good. PWR's use dilute Boron in the primary loop to allow longer fuel cycles as it acts as a "poison". You dilute the Boron concentration over a 2 yr fuel cycle till its basically near 0 ppm at the end of the cycle. In a BWR you use just pure water - no Boron. That's only injected as an emergency measure. That they are using Boron makes me think they have more than just press/temp control problems. The one fuel rod not inserted alarm (which I think TEPCO was saying was cleared), is also curious. Wondering if all rods didn't insert due to earthquake. Regardless, I still think that a lot of H2 had to be generated to get an explosion that large. And you won't get that much H2 unless either a) H2 tank farm went up (which would be located outside and not in Rx Bldg), or b) fuel failure & high water/fuel temps (>2200F). One of the lessons of TMI was to improve communications between Utilities, the NRC, and the public. Clearly, Japan has not taken that lesson learned. A lot is not making sense here. Cesium detected? How much and where? I hope primary containment is intact. I probably is, but could be compromised and allow some leakage of gas. I'm trying not to speculate, but postulate what is likely happening given what little garbled information we are getting. Having 3 or 4 Rx's w/ significant complications is also very disturbing. We have no idea whether the problem is no ac power, dc control power/battery problems, mechanical failures, loss of cooling water supplies, or a combination of all of the above. TEPCO states offsite power is/was available. Ok - so then why can't they inject to the cores? Why is RCIC not functioning properly? Many questions, no explanations.
I did Stints with Babcock and Wilcox, and GE...and worked the outage/refuel circuit for several years. Also did stints on Nuclear subs as a tech Rep for General Dynamics. I miss doing those outages all over the country....with a few exceptions, of course.:)
Roadwho..., oops, I mean roadTECHS! That's what I meant ;-) - Ned
http://www.roadtechs.com/
Can anybody shed light on whether or not this story is accurate? Received today at a little after 5pm EST.
http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110312-japanese-government-confirms-meltdown?utm_source=redalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=110312%286%29&utm_content=readmore&elq=85ca035e82cd4422a6efd0d3629d23c6
Agree w/ Stratfor. How could the H2 explosion be at all correlated to reduced rad levels? That just makes absolultely no sense. I pray that the people at the plant are not as idiotic as whomever is putting out these statements.
And I reiterate, IF they have detected Cesium that is evidence of fuel element failure. Radioactive Cs is a fission product that is contained within the fuel rods. If they are detecting it, it's an almost sure sign that some amount of fuel damage has occured. Of course maybe even this report regarding Cs is bogus. Supposedly something like 450K are allegedly being evacuated...and no reports on the ground by any western news media. Or even much out of NHK etc. I find that curious if not amazing. Why not? Is that report even real?
Collapsenet has also issued an alert but Stratfor is more reliable.
http://www.collapsenet.com/
A hydrogen explosion appears to have blown the upper metal panels off the reactor building, which makes sense, as hydrogen would tend to accumulate in the highest closed area. And, it appears that the lower, concrete structure of the building survived. I do not think a hydrogen explosion would be directly correlated with reduced radiation levels (except possibly dispersing them temporarily from a localized detector). The bottom line is, either the core is uncovered, or it is not. I suspect it is not at this point, so in all likelihood the radiation levels are correlated with the venting and the water level in the core. Additionally, any addition of a neutron absorber into the core (boron) would also reduce radiation levels on any subsequent vents.
Great posts all. The crane and top pop off theories are great! The hydrogen originated from the primary cooling system. It was a Hydrogen blast, and it blew the containment vessel into the substraight! Hence the Sea Water infusion! P.S. nice work Snowball. Keep it real! I'll be back in the states Tuesday.
and it blew the containment vessel into the substraight!
- - - - - - - - -
Nothing exists yet to suggest the 'containment' or Reactor vessel 'blew' ... there are pictures which show the TOP of the Reactor Building, which houses the crane, used to service the fuel rods, and basically panel-covered steel beams (think pole barn) that cover the crane area on top of the building: these panels are what 'blew off' from what we have seen.
That would also be consistent with a hydrogen explosion.
Interesting and sad the Japanese would embrace nuclear power given their history with it. As a people I believe they tend to repress certain events, why we may have never heard of these nuke plants until now.
Nuclear power is the only viable option Japan has, lacking massive coal deposits we have in America.
Japan going the nuclear route in spite of what happened in WWII shows vision, not stupidity. There is no other practical way to achieve the energy density needed by their population and industry.
Every day above ground is a good day. I hope someone calls me A Cranky -old-geezer (some day). Family and Friends are the theme.
thanks for the dumb post
if nuclear physics
is any thing like economics ...
maybe we should try some
quantitative radiation ..
that should fix the problem...
just ask the bernakk
IAEA Update from www.iaea.org
0235 CET, 12 March 2011 Japanese authorities have informed the IAEA that Units 1, 2, and 4 at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant retain off-site power but are experiencing increased pressure in each reactor. Plant operators have vented the containment at each of the three units and are considering further venting to alleviate the increase in pressure.
Daini Unit 3 is in a safe, cold shutdown, according to Japanese officials.
Japanese authorities have reported some casualties to nuclear plant workers. At Fukushima Daichi, four workers were injured by the explosion at the Unit 1 reactor, and there are three other reported injuries in other incidents. In addition, one worker was exposed to higher-than-normal radiation levels that fall below the IAEA guidance for emergency situations. At Fukushima Daini, one worker has died in a crane operation accident and four others have been injured.
In partnership with the World Meteorological Organization, the IAEA is providing its member states with weather forecasts for the affected areas in Japan. The latest predictions have indicated winds moving to the Northeast, away from Japanese coast over the next three days.
The IAEA continues to liaise with the Japanese authorities and is monitoring the situation as it evolves.
2110 CET, 12 March 2011 Japanese authorities have informed the IAEA that the explosion at Unit 1 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant occurred outside the primary containment vessel (PCV), not inside. The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), has confirmed that the integrity of the primary containment vessel remains intact.
As a countermeasure to limit damage to the reactor core, TEPCO proposed that sea water mixed with boron be injected into the primary containment vessel. This measure was approved by Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) and the injection procedure began at 20:20 local Japan time.
Japan has reported that four workers at Fukushima Daiichi were injured by the explosion.
NISA have confirmed the presence of caesium-137 and iodine-131 in the vicinity of Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1. NISA reported an initial increase in levels of radioactivity around the plant earlier today, but these levels have been observed to lessen in recent hours.
Containment remains intact at Fukushima Daiichi Units 1, 2 and 3.
Evacuations around both affected nuclear plants have begun. In the 20-kilometre radius around Fukushima Daiichi an estimated 170000 people have been evacuated. In the 10-kilometre radius around Fukushima Daini an estimated 30000 people have been evacuated. Full evacuation measures have not been completed.
The Japanese authorities have classified the event at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 as a level 4 'Accident with Local Consequences' on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). The INES scale is used to promptly and consistently communicate to the public the safety significance of events associated with sources of radiation. The scale runs from 0 (deviation) to 7 (major accident).
Japan has also confirmed the safety of all its nuclear research reactors.
The IAEA continues to liaise with the Japanese authorities and is monitoring the situation as it evolves.