News Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, & Nuclear Disaster

[Urwumpe]

In case somebody will be surprised of this:

The contaminated water from cooling the reactors with damaged fuel elements and likely partial meltdown is currently directly spilled into the ocean. One nuclear threat is likely prevented, a new one is produced.

 

[N_Molson]

It's what I feared. That water had to go somewhere.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Now, be cautious when bying a can of tuna or saury... Or check your fish with dosimeter to be sure.

 

[JEL]

March 15, 2011

9:43 AM

BREAKING: Japanese authorities are now saying part of the structure that houses one of the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant in the country's north-east appears to be damaged.

The time mentioned is Australian time (AEDT (Sydney time))! that's 15 minutes ago from this posting.
Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/#entry-6a00e0097e4e688833014e86b655b8970d

 

[Urwumpe]

The time mentioned is Australian time (AEDT (Sydney time))! that's 15 minutes ago from this posting.
Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/#entry-6a00e0097e4e688833014e86b655b8970d

The two steam clouds that had been visible on the DigitalGlobe image had been already a pretty strong indication of that. You NEVER release steam from a BWR anywhere outside the containment structure, except the torus(suppression pool), which forms an extension of the containment.

 

[JEL]

An to top that off the BBC is now reporting this:

Japanese authorities say another big explosion has been heard at damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

They have it in their breaking-news bar at the moment and says more is to come shortly.

Third explosion? Some tweets say it's reactor 2.

Update:

14 March 2011 Last updated at 23:14 GMT

Japan earthquake: New blast at Fukushima nuclear plant

A fresh explosion has been heard at a quake-hit nuclear plant in northern Japan, local media say.

Technicians have been battling to stabilise reactor 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, after two other reactors exploded in three days.

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12740843

 

[SiberianTiger]

BREAKING NEWS: Suppression pool may have been damaged at No. 2 reactor: gov't agency
08:02 15 March
BREAKING NEWS: Blast heard at 6:10 a.m. at Fukushima's No.2 reactor: gov't

Rumors about breach in primary coolant loop at Unit 2, emergency evacuation of personnel is under way.

Radiation level is reported 8 milli-Sv at the territory of the plant.

 

[JEL]

The tweets are going crazy right now with the same story. Multiple explosions and core breach. Don't know how true it is but the rate of posts about it is rising fast...

 

[dimo_stoianov]

"Picture for good night" (C)

 

[SiberianTiger]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/14/us-japan-quake-explosion-idUSTRE72D8EO20110314

"It was a hydrogen explosion. We are still assessing the cause and unsure whether the explosion was caused by damage to the suppression chamber," an official at the safety agency told Reuters. He did not have any more details.

 

[dimo_stoianov]

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/
Reactor No.2 is in process of critical meltown at this moment
Crack of container vessel. Multiple explosions

 

[N_Molson]

2333: More details on the reported blast at Fukushima's reactor 2. The explosion is feared to have damaged the reactor's pressure-suppression system, Kyodo says. It adds that "radiation tops legal limit" after the explosion.

2340: Tokyo Electric officials are now holding a news briefing. They say the blast at reactor 2 happened "near the pressure vessel". They also confirm that some staff at the nuclear power plant are being evacuated.

I don't like that... This thing is completely out of control ! :uhh:

0005: Radioactive materials are feared to be leaking at Fukushima, Kyodo reports quoting a safety agency.

 

[Urwumpe]

Who ever wanted to learn more about BWRs: http://www.acme-nuclear.com/index.html

It is now without unlock code, which is pretty nice of the guys... BWR was one of the programs I considered buying this year. ^^

 

[RGClark]

Ever happen to you that you're watching a news program or interview and an obvious but very important question doesn't get asked? Remember how frustrating that is?
An obvious question not asked is if these mobile diesel generators were trucked in why is it they did not work? Was it really because the plugs did not fit? After three days they couldn't get adapters to go from one set of connectors to another? After three days they couldn't find a diesel generator of the same type they used at the plant? After three days they couldn't figure out a way to cut off the connectors and splice the cables directly together?


Bob Clark

Explosion heard at Fukushima No2. reactor.
updated at 0:44 UTC, Mar. 15

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano earlier told a news conference that a reactor facility, called the suppression pool, has been damaged.
But agency officials said they have no detailed information yet about the report.
They said that depending on where the damage is done, either liquid or air could leak out of the suppression pool.
The suppression pool is linked to the reactor containment vessel and is designed to prevent radioactive material from leaking outside.
Experts say a breach to this crucial facility has raised the possibility of a radioactive leak.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/15_13.html

Exposed rods spark meltdown fear.
14 March 2011 Last updated at 11:58 ET By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News

According to the main Japanese news agency Kyodo, the rods were exposed when the flow of seawater into reactor number 2 stopped simply because a fire pump ran out of fuel.
With the entire region of Honshu island reportedly low on fuel and other vital supplies, a key question is whether plans are in place to keep the power station supplied with diesel.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12737508

Aaargh!
It's time for the world community to recognize this is not just a Japanese problem but potentially a world-wide problem. With the entire country of Japan in a crisis with the earthquake and tsunamis, dealing with this nuclear crisis is clearly straining Japans capability to deal with it.
It's time for the President to get off the golf course and tell Japan the U.S. and other members of the word-wide community are moving in to assist in solving the problems at these stricken plants.

The plants are on the coast! Bring in the fuel from tankers off shore!!


Bob Clark

 

[Urwumpe]

Too many cooks ruin the meal.

Those people who should deal with the nuclear problems are likely closer to the reactor than anybody in the forum wants to be - in the control room.

 

[Cairan]

BREAKING NEWS: Reactor Unit 4 is on FIRE...

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-new...-nuclear-reactor/story-e6frfku0-1226021782079

Geez, now the shutdown reactors are going to... Where's that big red PANIC button?!!

 

[Zeehond]

Hmm, reactor 4 now on fire and a measurement of 0.400 Sv/h on the site. That doesn't sound good at all.

 

[Cairan]

Could it be spent fuel in a drained out cooling pond on fire? If they have such a hard time maintaining water levels in the reactors, I guess the cooling pools must be drying out on their own too by now...

Some more info from official sources: http://www.nei.org/newsandevents/information-on-the-japanese-earthquake-and-reactors-in-that-region/

The fire began burning at Unit 4 at around 6 a.m. Japan time on March 14 and is still burning. Fire fighters are responding to the fire. The reactor does not have fuel in the reactor, but there is spent fuel in the reactor (pool) and Edano said that he assumes radioactive substances are being released. “The substances are coming out from the No. 4 reactor and we are making the utmost effort to put out the first and also cool down the No. 4 reactor (pool).”

 

[Jamesep3]

Reacently got back from school and looks like what I said to people at school came true. I thought they would not control it and if all this stuff here is up to date O Crap. This is very bad and the so called saftey of being in the sothern hemisphere does nothing to sudue my fears that this could be a terrible chatastrophe. This is bad hope all you orbinorts in Japan are ok.

 

[SiberianTiger]

NEWS ADVISORY: Radiation amount in Chiba Pref. twice to 4 times normal level
NEWS ADVISORY: Radiation 33 times normal level measured in Utsunomiya, Tochigi
Reuters: Radiation levels in Saitama near Tokyo 40 times normal levels: Kyodo quoting local government

That's it...