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Kyodo Reports Radiation Eight Times Normal Near Fukushima Nuclear Plant, 1,000 Times Normal In Control Room
Per Reuters, which cites Kyodo news agency, the radiation levels near the main gate at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant are already 8 times normal. This probably supersedes a prior report by Kyodo according to which radiation could already have been released at the plant. That's pretty much a given the rather dramatic surge in ambient gamma waves. And Reuters has just released this unpleasant development: "Radiation levels in Fukushima Daiichi plant central control unit is 1,000 times normal, Kyodo says."
From Kyodo:
The amount of radiation reached around 1,000 times the normal level Saturday in the control room of the No. 1 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.
The discovery suggests radioactive steam could spread around the facility operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.
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Might worry about this if it was the Russians or Chinese, but I'm pretty sure the Japanese have a handle on this.
A "surge in gamma," huh?
So the price of energy in Japan just got a whole lot more sensitive to a fluctuation in the underlying?
Sounds about right....
If that plant goes down, the cost of energy goes up.
*stealth devaluation*
It's orchestrated.
Never fear, the world's energy needs can be satiated with upshirt boobie shots perpetually.
Upshirt booby shots is all I need.
What's the net result with regards to Japan's energy supply/demand, if the plant is temporarily or even permanently taken down?
[ed. to the Idea Hampster] N-16 is the new function that Underlies Black-Scholes and resolves all Gauss distribution issues vs. underlying statistics distributions. It is extremely energetic and fleeting. Why, half of it vanishes in about 5 minutes. Takes real detective work by the best of supercomputer arrays to find the correlation f(t, t').
- Ned
{I really meant B-S}
They probably thought they had a handle on it.
After all, the US Sec of State said that our Air Force already delivered some pretty important coolant to Fuk u Shima.
However, it turns out she was full of shit.
US military DID NOT provide any coolant... Earlier, Hillary Clinton said Air Force 'assets' had been used to do so...
The World had better start getting an even bigger handle on this...
Slightly on topic...
Earth's magnetic field was violently 'rocked' by the sun yesterday... making earth's magnetosphere 'ring' like a bell.
This event was followed immediately by the Japanese earthquake.
From NASA on the 10th just before the quake... check the images of the solar smoking gun out!!!
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/News031011-xclass.html
And here's a nice little scientific research summary explaining the connection between earthquakes and the sun's triggering mechanism.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/753717276h869880/
Coincidence? Think again. Better start getting used to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and global cooling for the next 20-30 years... it's baked into the cake.
Commodities Bitchez...
I think it is because we are so far above the galactic plane--where no planet has gone before. - Ned
Animals yesterday were so strange...the dogs wouldn't leave my side and all acted totally abnormal...my wife joked there's going to be an earthquake or something (about 5pm yesterday in Portland, Or - bout 4 hours ahead of the quake). Surreal that the animals noticed and were really bothered by something yesterday.
Ned, can you confirm?
BTW - just spoke to my wife and she sez the dogs are acting very unusual again now. Hate to press my luck but dogs are whining and won't leave her side...unusual behavior. Anybody experience anything similiar...or are my dogs just freaks?
Perhaps San Francisco will fall into the sea tonight. LA is 40 years overdue for the big one.
The sad part is the US doesn't have the money to deal with another major disaster. This national security risk was caused by the Federal Reserve Corporation giving away the nations rainy day fund to the international banking cartel and wall Street. So sad.
We're overdue in Seattle too. I rode out the big one in the epicenter Sylmar, CA in 71 as a kid. Jumped out of the top bunk bed to my dad right as it collapsed. Lots of aftershocks. Much more frightening as the orginal cause you never knew how big it would get.
Maybe they have to go pee?
j/k, I put a lot of stock in these stories of animals scoping out natural disasters. Don't think I've ever heard an explanation of how they pull it off, but there seems to be enough evidence to suggest there is something to it.
Stay close to home, is my recommendation.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/11/1111_031111_earthquakeanimals.html
Great links! I can't believe someone junked you on that.
Thanks ZerOhead - good stuff
Same with Bernanke on inflation, they're all full of crap.
A little radiation never harmed anyone. Actually, small doses are good for health, just like inflation.
I expose myself every morning to irradiated steel. A Ph.D doctor once told me nuclear radiation is good for the skin.
Lol, bravo Hamy.
And nice avatar too.
Twitter: Fukushima nuclear reactor now has 10,000% radiation detected in the control room.
Japan just expanded the evacuation range from 3 KM to 9 KM
www.businessinsider.com
If it's on twitter it must be true...
Coming from here: http://english.kyodonews.jp/
Looks fairly legit.
Japan Tsunami – Live Streaming:
NHK Japan Live: NHK Japan Live
Al Jazeera Japan Live: Al Jazeera Japan Live
ABC News Live: ABC News Live
Associated Press Live: Associated Press Live
Aftonbladet Live: Aftonbladet Live
Expressen Live: Expressen Live
BBC Live: BBC Live
CNN Live: CNN Live
CCTV News China: CCTV News China
Daily Telegraph Live: Daily Telegraph Live
Deutche Welle Live: Deutche Welle Live
France24 Live: France24 Live
Khon2 Hawaii: Khon2 Hawaii
Komo News Live: Komo News Live
MSNBC Live: MSNBC Live
NDTV Live: NDTV Live
SVT Play Live: SVT Play Live
VG TV Live (Norway): VG TV Live (Norway)
Japan Tsunami – Live Streaming USA West Coast:
Fox5 Live (San Diego): Fox5 Live (San Diego)
Kacb Live (los angeles): Kacb Live (los angeles)
Katu News Live (portland): Katu News Live (portland)
Kiro TV Live (seattle): Kiro TV Live
Komo News Live (seattle): Komo News Live
Kron Live (san francisco): Kron Live (san francisco)
Twitter – Real Time Updates:
Twitter #earthquake: Twitter #earthquake
Twitter #japan: Twitter #japan:
Twitter #tsunami: Twitter #tsunami
Good work. Thanks!
SWR, I love your brain and your heart. You are in denial on this.
I want facts, and don't have them. Given what I know about nuke plants, and about anti-nuke propaganda, I will try to form an opinion based on what I believe to be happening, and I will completely discount crap foisted on the public by anti nuclear "experts" who are authoritatively predicting outcomes based on the same non-information that I have.
best to remind yourself about the demise of Battra:
At Yokohama Cosmo World, the park goers gazed into the sky as Mothra and Battra clashed above the city. Battra pursued Mothra with his deadly eye beams, and in the process, the indifferent insect caused the collapse of the Yokohama Bay Bridge. Mothra crashed into the ground, and her archenemy's eye beams continued to fire. Before Battra could continue the onslaught, though, he was suddenly distracted by another monster; Godzilla had arrived on the scene. Battra, recognizing the threat that this new entity posed, proceeded to fire his eye beams at the nuclear menace. In the process, the dark moth destroyed the Yokohama Landmark Tower, sending the once proud structure crashing onto his furious foe. Battra flew to the ruins where Godzilla lay, but the devious creature beneath the rubble released his nuclear pulse. Godzilla regained his balance and tossed Battra into the distance. A nuclear ray quickly followed the physical assault, and Godzilla's foe was rendered incapacitated.
Mothra, understanding the futility of the current battle strategy, shot Godzilla with her antenna beams and descended to meet Battra. They communicated and agreed to cooperate. Mothra began to revive Battra, but Godzilla interrupted the process. The determined moth left Battra to fight her true foe. She reflected his attacks with her glimmering scales, but the terrible titan's nuclear pulse sent the majestic moth crashing underneath the Cosmo Clock 21 Ferris wheel in the theme park. Godzilla fired a blast at the Ferris wheel, and it began to tilt and fall toward the immobile creature. Battra caught the amusement ride just in time, and sent it crashing into Godzilla instead. Regaining her composure, Mothra created a bright shield of energy around Godzilla as her ally fired his eye beams at the monster. Godzilla continued to fight on, and in the process destroyed the Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel. The reptile's reign of terror was finally over, however, when the monster was sent crashing into the ground. Mothra and Battra communicated once more, and they made a pact. The former latched onto Godzilla's tail as the latter grabbed onto Godzilla's head and neck. They slowly lifted the detestable behemoth into the air, and they carried him out to sea. However, Godzilla sank his teeth into Battra's neck and used his thermonuclear ray on the creature's wound, which was flowing most repulsively with yellowish blood. Eventually, Battra's eyes lost their glow; the creature had died. Mothra is unable to go any further is forced to released Godzilla's tail, sending her ferocious foe and her late ally into the depths of the sea. The majestic moth sealed the area with a special energy, and departed for the mainland.
It so happened that the year 1999 was going to bring an asteroid plummeting to the planet. Battra was going to be the one to destroy the massive meteor before it collided with Earth, but since he had died in the battle with Godzilla, Mothra would have to halt its approach in his stead. After all, the two monsters had made a solemn pact. After saying their goodbyes to humankind, the Cosmos departed. They joined Mothra and flew into space, for they were about to save the Earth yet again...
That's the info I needed, thank you very much. My wife got me that movie for Christmas one year, she knows I love it! All I have to do now is wait for the twins to sing.
The commenters on that thread are insane. I feel an urge to hurt them.
Is this your first time on BI? Has your BI virginity just been broken?
I warn you - Weaselthal's establishment propaganda makes you want to turn green and smash things.
Kind of you to help me through that cherry busting event!!! Many times the first time is the worst because you don't know WTF is going on.
LMAO.
Fukushima nuclear plant 2 is also struggling to cool down the reactor - emergency declaired
Both reactors now in "freefall"
[link to twitter.com]
Where does it say "10,000"? I followed the link and it's "1,000". Lots of difference.
GS will have a bullish explanation shortly
Yep, long lead [aprons] futures!
Cdiddy, you sure have been vocal today. you must be really really frustrated with little miss euro, and that cute little e. burnett. now you are going after maria b† you like the girls, me thinks!
As is typical with immediate news after a disaster, it can take a while before good and reliable information comes in. It is probably NOT worth making investing decisions based upon such early info.
Those of you who speculate and trade however, GAME ON!
For those here on ZH who were alive and of critical thinking age during Three Miles Island, what I just watched on CNN live broadcasting the Japanese NHK World with translation voice over via the Internet is very similar to 1979. Some expert, a professor complete with color diagrams, is reassuring everyone all is well.
I am not saying it's the same thing. I'm saying that the tone sounds like the same thing, complete with experts telling the people all is well while things steadily are getting worse. How worse we don't know. But at 6 AM EST this morning we were being told that all reactors were shut down with no problems. All day long more and more problems were admitted to. Same type of official denial and bargaining.
http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream3&hpt=T1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident
CD: some facts, and not (necessarily) to challenge your points.
a) Reactor shutdown=all control rods inserted (up in a BWR, unnatural since against gravity, but that's the GE design)=factual statement. At 6 AM Eastern that was the situation.
b) It is "Three Mile Island"--was that some kind of "slip"? Or don't you know what you are talking about?
See http://www.threemileisland.org/ which has links to e.g. Kemmeny, Rogovin, other reports.
The industry has learned, changed, implemented so many improvements since (whiff of canard, but not yet) then. Including in notification of actual factual situation during 'events' and relatively well graded international standards for same.
Thought experiment: wtf happens to Japan if all of the BWRz have to shut down for "safety considerations"
what if the reason for the shutdown is for real?
- Ned
Concerning b) you must be new meat since you can't recognize a typo. New meat is notoriously uneducated because it is new.
If you had actually read my post instead of simply rushing to respond you would see that I was referring only to the media and official public disclosures and announcements. I took pains to say that I was not saying it was just like Three Mile Island.
BTW Tyler just posted another article on this subject.
not to sound cruel, perhaps jimmy carter can
volunteer for japan nuclear plant walkthroughs.
/sarcasm off
Oooh! The Amazing Colossal (ex-)President! :>D
Cavuto just reported 1000 times normal.
Who said that asshat knows anything either?
Is he there? Fux news is always late to the party, unless it is the repuke party, Bitchezz.
As opposed to you, who offers nothing. During shitstorms like this, FOX is no better or worse than any other MSM outlet which is where we are getting 98% of our info. from on this. So unless you are standing IN Japan with a fucking camcorder, how about you go fuck yourself.
I'd add a Geiger counter too.
What is the "normal" count, and what is considered safe for humans?
If the increase is from 1 to 8, with a level safe for humans at say 25, it's not really a big deal. But it could be with slightly different values.
Good question. Without a baseline 8x normal doesn't give much info. I worked in a nuclear power plant once and a guy coming in for his shift set the alarms off and caused quite an uproar. it turns out he had had some medical procedure done the day before that involved radiation. So he was over normal levels. Hmmm....
Exactly, how far above/below dangerous are the current levels?
Normal = 0 (well, skosh at sea level in a black room)
Airplane ride across the US and back = a lot more
10 CFR 20, 10 CFR 100 will getcha' there
We don't know with all of this sensationalism.
And we've seen this thing of energy vs. energy rate = power confusion before.
- Ned
Normal is most likely no more than a couple of millirem per hour; say 2 mr/hr. So going by that, we would have to conclude that it's as high as 2 rem/hour...which is quite insane. As a commercial nuclear working in the US, you'd be allowed to stay in that field for about 5 hours tops before you'd have reached your allowable exposure for the year, let alone the quarter.
With Uranus hitting Aries tonight, things are going to get interesting. The last time Uranus was in Aries was from 1927 - 1935. How did that work out?
How did it work out the last time Aries hit Uranus?
You know Aries would hit that.
only cuz Venus was on the rag
Oh, that was good.
it contaminated it with mercury.
Actually, I'd more more worried about Aries hitting ur anus. That would be worse.
Export only for mine. Nice to see you tho.
Thanks for the telegraph....
I think any sentient person clued in the first time.... jeezus
8 X normal is the new normal.
We are going to need more lead-lined bread helmets.
“In addition to the reactor cores, the storage pool for highly radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel is also at risk. The pool cooling water must be continuously circulated. Without circulation, the still thermally hot irradiated nuclear fuel in the storage pools will begin to boil off the cooling water. Within a day or two, the pool’s water could completely boil away. Without cooling water, the irradiated nuclear fuel could spontaneously combust in an exothermic reaction. Since the storage pools are not located within containment, a catastrophic radioactivity release to the environment could occur. Up to 100 percent of the volatile radioactive Cesium-137 content of the pools could go up in flames and smoke, to blow downwind over large distances. Given the large quantity of irradiated nuclear fuel in the pool, the radioactivity release could be worse than the Chernobyl nuclear reactor catastrophe of 25 years ago.”
Kamps is a specialist in nuclear waste at Beyond Nuclear and conducted research last year assessing the state of nuclear facilities in Japan.
http://blogs.forbes.com/williampentland/2011/03/11/risk-of-nuclear-catas...
This is good news for stocks right?
Shit...I cannot stop laughing long enough to sip my martini, you fucks! Good lord...hello...testing....is this the Truman freakin' Show?
The Japanese are well versed in radiation poisoning.
wwwooww
Junked for speaking the truth.
Can't have the truth here.
No, but there is tastelessness.... whatever. I've been guilty on occasion.
Proper reply is
"Ouch"
That way you can give comedic props while acknowledging the poor taste...
This is not going to end well.
Radiation level in Fukushima nuclear plant central control unit 1,000 times normal: report
http://live.reuters.com/Event/Japan_earthquake2
drudgereport:
Radiation levels at damaged Fukushima-Daiichi nuke plant are continuing to rise... Radiation 1,000 times higher than normal detected. Ministry official: 'Possibility of radioactive leak'...US military DID NOT provide any coolant... Earlier, Hillary Clinton said Air Force 'assets' had been used to do so...
_____________________
"And here we go."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSLlZh9yelk
I asked this on an earlier thread but does anyone know if Chairman Kaga and the Iron Chefs are OK?
By my calculations it takes around 10 million times normal background radiation for a period of an hour to kill you.
I think the locals have a pretty good memory on what it actually takes without a TI-83 needed
Not sure why that happened twice.
This is a terrible thing for such a wonderful culture.
Fuckushima is right.
This will awaken Godzilla.
Then they will summon Mothra.
Houston, the Black Swan has landed..
Two Black Swans in less than 24 hours...
news starts breaking at the close of the markets..Im just saying...
Where's Homer?
Please God help the Japanese People. No nation deserves a calamity such as this. Please bless them in this time of hardship.
o no fookmi
Fox News just reported the 1000 times normal radiation claim.
so does this seal the deal for qe4,5 and 6??
2204: Matt, from Tokyo, writes: "I don't think these aftershocks have been reported enough. Each of these aftershocks have a bigger magnitude than the main quake felt in Tokyo."
www.emsc-csem.org
http://www.livescience.com/13190-japan-earthquake-large-aftershocks.html
The plant workers should take a moment to watch the documentaries on Chernobyl and then make a decision about their overtime.
Thats a no brainer - the Credit cards due next week.
I owe I owe its off to work I go
Potassium iodide, bitchez!
I hear that a big volcano just erupted in Japan!
wow.
link?
Link -
BREAKING NEWS! VOLCANO ERUPTS IN JAPAN - SAKURAJIMA on top of 8.9 quake ! ...
video is straight from the japan volcanism cams..
Takes a while to boot up, tons of traffic but I seen the smoke from live feed ....
webcam-svo2.pr.kyoto-u.ac.jp
webcam-svo2.pr.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Pacific Ring of Fire
I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
I Went Down, Down, Down
And The Flames Went Higher
And It Burns, Burns, Burns
The Ring Of Fire
The Ring Of Fire
Johnny Cash
People on YouTube are calling bullshit on
your "BREAKING NEWS!" video ... would
care to substantiate it?
.
The buzz is that the volcano let go before the quake.
now belching a lot of dark smoke, looks ready to blow...
GOD hates japan right now
plus two avalanches, were set off by the earth shaking. ought to be the next winter X games site.
ring of fire bitches
I think that a conversation of this plants meltdown, is in order, and the ramifications. I'm no
expert and would appreciate a reasoned response. Thank you...fight club
This is called BTRD.
Buy the radiation(induced) dip.
One man missing in California? Well, it seems Robot didn't listen to the warning...
Finally tried to be a contrarian and look what it got him...
A little bit of tritium never hurt anybody. Half life is about 12.5 years. 1000x backgound is a lot for people living in the area however.
Also note that tritium is constantly being produced in the ionosphere and we are regularly exposed to it.
" 1000x backgound is a lot for people living in the area however."
Either the inverse square (good) or the inverse cube law (better) applies here, once it gets released and dispersed ...
.
Today's events make our hoarding-ass tinfoil hats look a little more stylish.
You must have missed the memo, everybody here switched to the more eco friendly bread helmets.
My memo said tofu.
My hat is now of concrete. No wonder I can't get up off the ground.
If this 'leak' is what the authorities claim it is then there should be no problem.
The claim is that they are releasing some of the water that cools the reactor to reduce a pressure build up.
The water, since it has been near a nuclear reaction, has been bombarded by neutrons and contains a radioactive isotope of Nitrogen which has a very short half life of a few minutes. This will quickly decay into (non radioactive) oxygen in no time at all and everything will be fine.
If actual material from the fuel rods has leaked out then they are 'proper fucked'.
"The water, since it has been near a nuclear reaction, has been bombarded by neutrons and contains a radioactive isotope of Nitrogen"
Say whaaaaaaaa?
We're talking water here, not air ... weren't we?
.
The neutrons from the fuel rods interact with the oxygen in the water to make the radioactive Nitrogen.
Nitrogen 16, is produced by an (n, p) reaction on Oxygen 16
A report like this without reference to the safe radiation level is useless and does nothing but stoke fear in people for the only energy source that might save our collective asses.
For example, if the normal radiation level is a million times below the safe level and the actual level increases a 1000 times then this is a non-event.
Yup. I bet you can get 1000x background in many basements in the USA. Radon bitchez!
+1000x
At 3 mile island, the pumps failed. There are supposed to be 3 sets of back up pumps and 3 sets of back up generators. Could they all be out of commission?
Yes. See 'unions'.
Miss Ex - apparently an unfortunate tusanami washed ashore after a historically large earthquake somewhere.
Im told sea water through Cat/ komatsu diesels air intakes makes them cough black blood due to the compression ratio when they start automatically after power loss (Uninteruptable power supply or UPS- look it up). Eathquakes also have the uncanny ability to crack water delivery pipes.
Have you never had a radiator hose leak in a car. It tends to make them fail to proceed in a short distance.
so endith the lecture in cause and effect.
The tsunami head-slaped the whole business.
They are down hard.
Instead of asking Madame Clinton for coolant, the Japanese should be asking Putin for Russian firefighters.
Earlier they were concerned about a pressure buildup so they planned on doing a controlled release of the coolant water to reduce that pressure. But now they are saying there is an uncontrolled leak. That is a much worse scenario.
Update 5:33: Both reactors at the plant have been damaged, and officials say they have "lost control" of the pressure, according to Reuters.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-nuclear-plant-2011-3#ixzz1GKjgTBhU(All times are local in Japan GMT+9)
Japan's nuclear safety agency says some radiation has now seeped outside the plant, prompting calls for further evacuation of the area, says the Associated Press news agency.
al jazeera
Nuclear plants are largely plumbing to cool the rods. The one I have limited knowledge about has two reactors. One is down and the other is up. Then they swap it every 3 months active / passive. If the earthquake / Tsunami screwed the water flow (pipes and infrastructure) to cool the Rods and the reactor they have a problem. We are not hearing half the truth. Those things are locked tight with security. There is no way press releases are exposing the reality of what's occuring. If they widened the evacuation area thy they are probably trying to shutdown the reactor and get the water flowing again. No doubt brave men have already sacrificed themselves. This could be ugly.
Pragmatically, things have to be happening fast and keeping the press up to date may not be top priority. Yes we need to tell folks to get the hell out of Dodge. But a blow by blow may not be doable. In other words, no one "knows" the blow by blow. They are just doing stuff "reacting."
Strange...the update on severity came out right after the market closed. Wonder why you pick up a pop can in the park when BP and now this can destroy ecosystems for many times after we're gone.
1000x "normal radiation levels at the gate [in a Japanese plant]" isn't going to be a fatal dose for anybody unless they stand there for a pretty long time, without protective equipment.
Of course, if the reaction is out of control...well...Japan's population will quickly be falling from ~128B to, well, much, much lower. And energy will get more expensive in every other part of the world, since "Nuclear" will now have more NIMBY hippies.
FT states that 1/4 of the power Japan's uses comes from several nuclear plants that were shutdown. They also stated that liquified natural gas would be used to provid power until the reactors could be brought back online.
I was reading an article on bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-11/tokyo-buildings-shaken-by-7-9-e...
“One of the reactors can no longer be cooled,” Edano told reporters. “Therefore, we’ve decided to request an evacuation just in case there’s an emergency.”
They are fucked. The core sits in a pool of water which circulates via large pipes of water. If the pipes were destroyed in the quake they will need to replace them prior to the pool's water overheating. After that fireworks.
any idea where Japan disposes or stores their burnt material?
Assuming the Japanese use up-to-date reactor designs, they have passive cooling systems that should keep the reactor core sufficiently cooled to prevent any fuel rod damage, even with broken pipes and loss of power.
There will not be any "fireworks." A nuclear explosion is physically impossible.
Modern reactors are not like Chernobyl. The Russians used graphite (carbon) as a moderator in the reactor core. This was (and is) very stupid. Graphite burns very well and very hot. Include the fact that something called "Wegner" heat is trapped in the graphite crystals in reactor cores during operation and this energy is released in the wrong (i.e. loss of cooling system) conditions and you ignite a fire in the reactor core as at Chernobyl. Then put your reactor in a corrugated metal building (as at Chernobyl) that melts immediately and you have a real problem. If I lived near a Chernobyl style reactor, I would be nervous. However, even there the accident was really caused when the operators (for a test) defeated safety systems that should have prevented the accident.
US (and Japanese) reactors are water moderated. No fire or nuclear explosion is possible in the core. US reactors are in containment buildings that can withstand a passenger airliner impact (diving from altitude) without being penetrated. Not familar with Japanese containment designs.
Small (but significant) amounts of radioactive material are produced during reactor operation from the trace amounts of impurities in the reactor cooling water. The release of these radioactive materials is what has happened so far (due to breaking pipes, I assume). The vast majority of radioactive materials are in the fuel rod assemblies themselves and it is these fuel rods that must be kept cool by emergency systems.
The reactors at this Japanese site are "boiling water reactors" (AKA BWR's) and the steam that drives the electric turbine (possibly outside the containment building?) does contain radioactive material and once the steam system integrity is lost, some radioactive material will be released as obviously happened. (Pressurized Water Reactors or PWR's add a extra heat exchanger so that the steam driving the turbine does NOT contain radioactive material--about half the power reactors in the world are PWR's, half BWR's)
The real danger is if insufficient cooling is provided to the core after it is shut down because decay heat from fission products can overheat the fuel rod metal cladding. The decay heat is produced for some time after the fissioning of uranium is stopped by inserting the control rods. (NOTE: the fission process would have been automatically shut down at the time of the earthquake) The decay heat, if not removed by the emergency cooling system, can melt the metal cladding that surrounds the ceramic pellets that contain the fuel and the fission byproducts that are radioactive. This would release large amounts of radioactive material (fission byproducts) into the containment building.
The no possibility of a nuclear explosion. It nuclear explosions were easy to cause, the Manhatten Project would not have been such an huge deal.
The crux of the problem is removing the decay heat produced in the shut down core so that the cladding temperature never exceeds its (very high) design limits. At Three Mile Island, the emergency cooling systems were (incorrectly) shut down by operators and prevented from doing their job. After TMI, additional emergency cooling systems were required for US reactors and I certainly hope these were designed into Japanese reactors (I assume they were as the Japanese are not idiots--compared to the Russians).
I would expect that there are contigency plans to flood the containment building and circulate cooling water with portable pumps if no other cooling systems are available. Remember, the cladding can stand very high temps (greater than 1500 deg C) before failing. They don't need perfect cooling just enought to keep the cladding intact.
The questions I can't answer (but which are important):
1) Is the containment building intact (or mostly so)
2) Do they have adequate emergency core cooling systems. Hopefully, at least one is passive (i.e. no electrical power is required for it to keep the cladding cool)
3) Are the Japanese engineers able to improvise if necessary. (My guess is yes).
Regardless, I think that a disaster similar to Chernobyl is very, very unlikely.
Per your questions:
1. The containment is adequate, as long as it is not damaged. I believe this particular reactor is designed for a PGA (S1) of 6.5. We know that the Accelerometers tripped a shutdown at 90% of S1, so the quake at that particular location was at least that. Damage is possible.
2. The active cooling system went down due to drowned generators, and it is my understanding that the passive system was damaged, so at least for a while, the water was dropping in the core due to evaporation, and no flow was possible.
3. Japanese nuclear engineers are very good. I suspect they are trying to repower the primary cooling system with generators that have been trucked in, and are repairing the passive system ASAP. I suspect they are also making sure the Boron poisoning system is not damaged, in case it comes to that (not likely).
Somebody who read my post and would know, informed me that after the Kobe earthquake, the Fukushima S1 trip point were set lower using different criteria from the PGA Richter, instead now using GAL units on localized ground acceleration. So, they were set lower by roughly 20%. They did not, however, upgrade the plants physical structure.
Way back from reading the book Shogun by Clavell, I knew that Japan sits on all these earth quake faults. How they can build nuclear power plants knowing all of that is beyond me. Unbelievable.
Roughly 20% of the world's nuclear plants are sitting in areas that pose seismic hazard. Historically, there have been several incidents in Japan where earthquakes caused the automatic shutdown of plants, but did little or no damage. Nuke plants are built on hard rock and are typically designed to a 500 or 1000 year seismic event. And, although they are constructed using ground acceleration criteria that might seem small...i.e., the Fukushima 1 facility was originally design with an S2 of 6.7 Richter, but, that was based on that event happening directly under the plant. With the 8.9 earthquake, it is yet unknown precisely what the ground acceleration was under the plant....but we will eventually know, since the plants accelerometers will have recorded it. Finally, California has its share of nuclear plants in seismically suspect regions. Not defending this at all, just adding some info.
Rarrrrrriiieennnnn eeeeeerrrrrrrennnnnnnnnNNNN
(Godzilla speak)
Way back from reading the book Shogun by Clavell, I knew that Japan sits on all these earth quake faults. How they can build nuclear power plants knowing all of that is beyond me. Unbelievable.
The normal background reading is approx. 20-30 microRem/hour. (It varies somewhat but that shouldn't be much off.)
Eight times normal is roughly 200 microRem/hour. For reference, a chest x-ray gives you an approx. whole body equivalent dose of 10,000-15,000 microRem. So, say 500 hours at that location (outside containment building or edge of plant boundary, who knows?) to get the equivalent of a chest xray.
Assuming they have a decent (US style) containment building (and that these figures are roughly correct) this should not be a significant public health issue. It could be quite expensive and technically difficult to repair the plant. That is a big investment to loose but it is dwarfed by the other losses the Japanese suffered today.
100-1000's died today from flooding, fire and building collapse. The nuclear power plant isn't really worth discussing compared to that.
Dudes,
ZerOHead provided a link to NASA info...seems terribly pertitent to what is happening in Japan and elsewhere w/ seismic activtiy (strong support of linkage btwn solar flares and major earthquakes). I've copied and pasted from NASA's website sited above in ZeroHeads message...sorry to sound whack but given the US governments moves in the past months to prepare millions of MRE's and coffins round the new london fault...makes one wonder if smarter folks are expecting something.
UPDATE: Earth's magnetic field is still reverberating from a CME strike on March 10, 2011 which resulted in a G1-class geomagnetic storm. Northern Lights have rippling over the US-Canadian border into states such as Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. Solar wind conditions favor more geomagnetic storming in the hours ahead. Sky watchers, including those in the continental United States, should remain alert for auroras.
03.10.11 - Another X-Class Solar Flare and a CME
March 9th ended with a powerful solar flare. Earth-orbiting satellites detected an X1.5-class explosion from behemoth sunspot 1166 around 2323 UT. A movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (above) shows a bright flash of UV radiation plus some material being hurled away from the blast site.
Coronagraph data from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory show no bright coronal mass ejection (CME) emerging from this eruption. Some material was surely hurled in our direction, but probably not enough for significant Earth-effects. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
In addition, on March 10, 2011 around 0630 UT, a CME did strike a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field. This was a result of an M3 flare that occurred late on March 7, 2011. At 2,200 km/sec, this was the fasted CME since September 2005. Below is an impact image provided from a sky watcher in Canada. Visit www.spaceweather.com for links to more great aurora imagery.
What is going on with all this recent solar activity?
After four years without any X-flares, the sun has produced two of the powerful blasts in less than one month: Feb. 15th and March 9th. This continues the recent trend of increasing solar activity associated with our sun's regular 11-year cycle, and confirms that Solar Cycle 24 is indeed heating up, as solar experts have expected. Solar activity will continue to increase as the solar cycle progresses toward solar maximum, expected the 2013 time frame.
What is a solar flare and what does X-class mean?
A solar flare is an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots. Flares are our solar system’s largest explosive events. They are seen as bright areas on the sun and they can last from minutes to hours. We typically see a solar flare by the photons (or light) it releases, at most every wavelength of the spectrum. The primary ways we monitor flares are in x-rays and optical light. Flares are also sites where particles (electrons, protons, and heavier particles) are accelerated.
Scientists classify solar flares according to their brightness in the x-ray wavelengths. There are three categories: C, M, X, with each one representing approximately 10x more power. The number following the letter indicates another factor applied to the basic classification scheme, from 1-9. At the high end, the X class can go higher than 9 because there is no higher letter classification.
What is a coronal mass ejection (CME)?
The outer solar atmosphere, the corona, is structured by strong magnetic fields. Where these fields are closed, often above sunspot groups, the confined solar atmosphere can suddenly and violently release bubbles of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections. A large CME can contain a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion. Solar material streams out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path. CMEs are sometimes associated with flares but can occur independently.
You may want to check out this new theory.
I second. Clif High is spot on, and if this "Expando-Earth" theory is correct, we will see a lot more rockin' & rollin' before things settle down.
corporate website for plant operator
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html
has updates and news releases
Thanks for the link. The TEPCO 7am update states:Total of about 1.17 million households are out of power.
quick
disconect the cooling pumps
off the bernakks printing presses...
send to Japan nuclear reactors
maybe stop the meltdown...
green ink coolant
might save the day ...
So, should I sell my CCJ on the Monday?
The comments on this thread are absolutely histerical.
My sides are aching!